Radishrain

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I finally discovered what the dark-headed sparrow-like birds that come on our property probably are: Dark-eyed Juncos (the Oregon-type)!

Also, the yellow-eyed blackbirds we have are possibly Brewer's Blackbirds. We have yellow-headed blackbirds, too.

Here's a list of some more, in no particular order:
• Hybrid doves (they're crosses between mourning doves and collared doves; the mourning doves were native, but I'm not sure if any pure ones persist); other kinds of doves seem to live here, too
• Robins
• Seagulls (usually, we just see them in the sky, at parks, and in parkinglots)
• Canadian geese (usually, we just see them in the sky, but they land in parks and stuff, at times)
• Starlings
• Herons
• Ducks
• Red-tailed hawks
• Barn owls
• Great-horned owls
• Sparrows
• Ospreys
• Finches (including yellow ones)
• Hummingbirds (three+ sizes)
• Woodpeckers (at least two kinds, probably more)
• Sandpipers
• Crows
• Magpies
• Turkeys
• Pheasants
• Quail
• Chukars (presumably they're in the Treasure Valley, but I haven't seen them, to my knowledge)
• Stellars jays (I only saw one)
• Oregon Juncos
* Blackbirds
• Yellow-headed blackbirds
• Pigeons

Reported by other people I know:
• Cranes
• Pelicans
• Swans (in Boise)
• Bald Eagles
• Golden eagles
• Snowy owls (a relative says she almost hit one with her car; I don't think they're otherwise known to live here, however)

Our most abundant birds seem to be these, right now (2017 through 2020):
• Blackbirds
• Sparrows
• Doves
• Oregon juncos
• Robins
• Magpies
• Red-tailed hawks
• Robins

Bird feeders on my street almost exclusively attract blackbirds (both types), sparrows, and juncos.

The birds I hear singing the most (and identifiably) are blackbirds, doves, and robins. Cries from red-tailed hawks are fairly common, as are general tweets from unknown kinds of birds. I used to hear magpies a lot as a child; they're still around, but not quite as vocal. A few years ago, I heard a lot of barn owls at night, and one year I heard a lot of great-horned owls at night.

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• 7 Pot Gigantic SR Chocolate
• Aji Habanero (seeds saved in 2019)
• Big Mustard Mamma
• Black Mustard Bhutlah (seeds saved in 2019)
• Bulgarian Carrot
• Georgescu Chocolate (saved seeds)
• Jimmy Nardello Italian x Corbaci F2 (saved seeds)
• Lipstick (saved seeds)
• Neapolitan (seeds saved in 2019 and store seeds)
• Randy Sine's Evil Jalapeno, orange (seeds saved in 2019)
• Ring of Fire (Baker Creek one, saved seeds, 2016, not labeled for the raised bed in the shade)
• Sweet Banana (seeds saved in 2019)
• White Cloud (saved seeds)
• White Fatalli
• Others

If I obtain seeds:
* Paper Lantern

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This article is interesting: https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.12560

It gives us to know that sunroots are hexaploids (among lots of other interesting things).

Here are some seeds from the sunroots I grew (I say they're wild because I got my original seeds from a wildflower store).



Anyway, I have a lot more seeds to go (these are all of this year's flowers):


Those pictures were taken maybe a couple days ago or so. I got more seeds out of some dried flowers, and zapped all of the seeds I have out so far, in water. They're drying, now.

Some flowers have several seeds. Some have none. Some have one, two, three, etc. Some have seeds that are soft and maybe empty-ish.

I know our first frost was in October some time ago, and we've had lots of hard freezes since then. All the tomato plants are long dead, and most of the fruits are flat, soft, and/or and drained and dried (including the green, unripe ones). However, my Galapagos Island tomato plant (also long dead) had a number of fruits on it that look and feel good enough to eat! (I'm not planning to actually eat them, btw.) You wouldn't know they'd been frozen. Anyway, I'm wondering if the seeds I plan to save from them will sprout and whether this freeze-resistance will be genetic.

Here's a picture of them I took minutes ago (all but one or so were still attached to the dead and mostly dried up plant):


There were plenty more from the same plant that were softer than these, but otherwise were similar.

So, I'm making some Red-seeded Citron watermelon (AKA Colorado Preserving Melon, AKA Tsamma) crisp. It's basically a mock apple crisp. This is my second time making it. It tastes approximately like apple crisp. Sorry—I don't have exact proportions to tell you.

Filling ingredients:
* Citron watermelon
* Natural brown sugar (natural just means the molasses wasn't taken out and added in later)
* Nutmeg
* Cinnamon
* Citric acid

Topping ingredients:
* Old fashioned rolled oats
* Butter (ideally soft or melted)
* Brown sugar

Directions:
Cut the rind off the watermelon and then cut the watermelon into quarters. Remove seeds. Cut the watermelon into small to small-ish pieces, and remove seeds as you do so. Put the cut-up watermelon into a mixing bowl. Add brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and citric acid to taste (you can taste the filling raw to see if it tastes right). Mix. Put the filling in glass baking pans (cassrole-style pans). Separately, mix the butter and brown sugar, and then gradually mix it into the oats (mixing the oats while you do so); alternatively, use another apple crisp topping recipe. Put the topping on the watermelon filling. Bake on 400° F. for about 35 to 40 minutes.

If your topping can't handle being cooked so long, you may want to add it after the filling has been baking a while.

You could probably use the filling for pies and such, too.

One regular Citron watermelon is enough for about two full-sized watermelon crisps.

We were low on brown sugar, today, so we melted some raw sugar into the butter to make up for it (for the topping; we had enough for the filling). Hopefully it works! (It worked.)

You may like it with milk (especially if you added too much citric acid). Letting it sit in the milk for a while before eating may improve the taste further.

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