July 8, 2025
On June 27 (Friday), I had a follow up doctor’s appointment in Florence, AL. On the way home, just south of the Singing River Bridge, was a flock of wild turkeys next to the road. I tried to get a picture of the flock, but fumbled the phone. I did manage to get a picture of one of the turkeys.
We had another beautiful sunset, with the fireflies flashing their lights.
On June 28 (Saturday), Nox got me up just before sunrise to go outside. The moon and Venus were visible just above the yellow orange of the beginning sunrise.
I stumbled back to bed, tried to go back to sleep, and realized I couldn’t get back to sleep. Time to get up and check the garden once there was more light.
I took my cup o’ death (soapy water) with me to knock Japanese beetles into.
I did some Japanese beetle hunting.
If the Japanese beetles weren’t so destructive, I would admire them. They are a pretty insect with their shimmering green and gold-brown shell. Since they consume grapes and beans (as well as other plants), I dread seeing the pest.
I managed to collect a large number in my cup o’ death.
I took some additional gardening pictures.
I went back outside to harvest the squash flowers to make fried squash blossoms.
I also picked a patty pan squash to add to fry with the squash blossoms.
I fried the patty pan squash and squash flowers for breakfast. A bit of an unexpected surprise for Bruce, who loves fried squash blossoms.
Around 1:00 PM, Bruce and I walked down to the mailbox.
I looked for fish in the creek and damselflies. We snacked on blackberries on the walk back to the house. I saw several buckeye butterflies.
Later in afternoon, I walked to the garden and pulled up the very sad English peas and sugar snap peas.
The sunset wasn’t a colorful one, but the fireflies produced a stunning show.
It was a nice couple of days.
Blackberry Homestead 
I have never eaten fried squash blossoms; nor, have I ever heard of it. The fireflies sound so beautiful!
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They are a crispy crunchy treat. In Italy, squash blossoms are stuffed with cheese and fried. Squash blossoms are stuffed with a rice stuffing in Turkey and Greece and baked or steamed.
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I’ll have to ask my daughter if she ever heard of them. Thanks for the info, and have a great day!
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I am also interested in how accurate cookbooks are about squash blossoms!
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What kind of flavor do squash blossoms have? I never heard of eating them before.
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They have a slightly sweet squash flavor. In the past (35 years ago), I grew a variety (I don’t remember the name…too many years have gone by.) of zucchini that was grown for the flowers. That variety’s flowers had a delicious sweet faint squash flavor. The blossoms of the varieties I have this year aren’t as sweet. The crisp crunchy texture is lovely.
You could use rice flour instead of wheat flour to dredge the flowers in. I used coconut milk instead of cow milk since Bruce has trouble with cow dairy. You could use a milk substitute that you can eat.
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I’m not sure I’m brave enough to try, but it’s been fun learning!
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