Spinybacked Orbweaver

Spider Species Gasteracantha cancriformis

Okay the tractor post is not even cold yet and I'm posting again, but I just had to put this up. We came across this spider on a web on the property this weekend. It's apparently commen from California to Florida but nothing like we'd ever seen. It looks like a crab with spiny appendages, hence the name. The little tuffs of cottony web along the web are a defense mechanism to allow birds to see the web and not fly through it. That's what I like about our property. You get to see nature in all it's glory and species likely long since killed off in our cities and urban areas. We have alot of pictures of unusual insects. One day we'll post all of those.

Happy 40th Birthday to our Tractor

Thought it was about time to post to our blog again. This year is going fast. The picture above is of our 1969 Massey-Ferguson Tractor. I thought it was about time to give it a facelift and have been working these past few weekends on a new paint job. Not really a true refurbishment, but mostly to keep down the rust. I've painted the red coverings, part of the rims, the front grille and most of the darker grey engine and drivetrain items. Still have some work on the wheel rims, but it's almost there. Looks too good now to use.

As for our garden, from the last post, we produced alot of Blue Lake green beans from the 5 rows planted, but most everything else did not produce. We had problems again with our watering system. We bought a new system and it worked for a while, then quit as well. We're now on our 3rd system. Not sure what is going on. Could be the heat we guess. We tilled under everything except some tomatoes that are doing better, and replanted a full garden of Black Eyed Peas on July 4th. Within 2 weeks, the plants have grown to 12-14" high. It's quite amazing and we're hoping this trend continues and we get some peas for our efforts later in the summer.