Invasive Species

 I got 'em.

In north Georgia, the Joro spider has become pretty well-established and is expanding its range.  I first noticed them at my old house in the exurbs in late summer / early fall, 2018.  That was the same time this article appeared.  They seemed to be sort of centered on Braselton, along I-85, and were spreading up and down the freeway.  This article notes they were in 23 Georgia counties as of early 2021.

 

In late 2018, I moved to my new house, which is farther north and east.  No Joros at first, but in late summer, 2020, I saw a couple.  This year there are more.  The above pictures were taken at my former house.  The little spider seen in the web is the male.  The first article notes that the Joros seem to be getting along okay with no adverse impact, but I have seen fewer barn spiders around--and writing spiders.  I do, however, see spiny orb weavers in close proximity to the Joro webs.

Then there's this thing:

 

 

It's a hammerhead worm.  I had never seen one before a few mornings ago.  I lifted it with a stick and put it in the grass; by the time I found this article, it had disappeared.  I'm not sure I want a toxic carnivorous earthworm-eater to get established in my back yard. Alas.

Muscadine Harvest, 2021

 I have a muscadine trellis with six plants.  They have been in the ground for several years but had been growing rather slowly, root-hog-or-die style.  Last year I harvested a few from my Ison muscadine vine, and one or two from a couple of the others.  Then last winter I did some aggressive pruning and set them up for a good crop (I hoped).

In early August, the crop was looking very good.  I started picking in mid-August, and have pulled about 10 pounds off so far, mostly from the Ison.  Ison is listed by Ison's, the nursery that developed it and where I bought my vines, as an early variety.  Two others are early-mid season, Darlene and Summit.  I have been picking Summit for a while now--its yield will be about what the Ison was last year, a couple of pounds--and Darlene is just coming into harvest now, in mid-September.  The other variety I will harvest some off of this year is Late Fry, which should be ready in October sometime.

So far I am not doing anything with them other than eating fresh and freezing for further fresh eating.  At some point I might try to do something else with them.  If they continue to grow well, I'll have ... a lot... to deal with in good years.

I'm seeing some fruit flies and yellow jackets around the Ison now that they're ripening, and I have also seen a stink bug or two.  Overall, however, pest pressure has been minimal.  Hopefully it stays like that.