Flying by the Seat of My Pants: July 2025

Okay, I exaggerate, barely. Weeks now of 90 degrees temps and 70-80 percent humidity. All things green and plant species are loving it, all things human are melting away. But there is work to be done, and we just need to altar. While it's still hot and muggy to even walk around out there, especially in the sun, it's a good time to be able to get eyes on things, make plans, and observe what Mother Nature wants to show me.

I am still finding Oxeye daisies, and pull them as I do. Luckily, each time I go to the land, I find less and less 👇

It is time for the Wild Carrot to start showing up! The deer like to eat these, even before they bloom, but these are a problem here in Indiana and I pull them as I find them. They do smell of carrot! These are also known as Queen Anne's Lace. 👇

Finding a native grape plant on the land is a breath of fresh air! I am used to finding the ones that like to strangle trees. The native ones seem to prefer the front forest and the other grape beasts seem to prefer the back one. This one is known as Pigeon's Foot. 👇

I went to pull some Sulphur Cinquefoil, but left this one because of the special friend that I saw on it. Can you see it? 👀👇

Remember, even native plants can be aggressive. This Nut Sedge is native to Indiana, but can become problematic. I am leaving this, as for now there are no issues. 👇

I am amazed at how cleanly a deer can snip off a plant part! Makes me think that the morels I found earlier this season had been eaten by them, or some other animal, and not cut by a human like I was thinking might have happened. 👇

We have various kinds of berries on the land, but I super excited to see the Black Raspberries! Native. I tried one, super seedy. If I do anything with them when we move out there, I will strain the seeds out. 👇

The amount of dragonflies on the move right now is fascinating to watch! We always have lots of meadow and pond hawks, and some damselflies as well! This one is a Sympetrum, Meadowhawk. 👇

Panic grass....which no, I do not panic when I find this. I don't know if this is the Witch's Grass, which is also a panic grass, or if it's another kind of panic grass. Grass. Confusing, I know! 👇

The elderberry are getting their flowers! I know that you can make wine with them, and other drinks, but I feel bad taking them at this point. I still have some elderberry from last season in the freezer with the hopes of making some elderberry chewables (vegan). I need to get on that! I noticed for the first time that we have some worm sacks on one of the trees, and parts of it aren't looking healthy. I'll need to address this on a future trip out! 👇

The back ditch continues to drain well, even with rain we have had, and the pipe coming from the North from who knows where has not being draining into the ditch. Once the vegetation start to die off, we will need to hit the front ditch again to get it cleared out more, and maybe even eventually get it dug out. Working our way towards it, I guess. Fixed the back ditch drainage to the pond, fixing the slumping pond this month, then hopefully this year we can get the ditch coming off of the pond excavated. 👇

Okay, so. Remember when I said that I don't get things right on the first try? And that if I am in doubt about a plant, I watch it and keep researching it in its various stages? Well, this was the most recent one to do that with. My plant i.d. pulled up various options, one of which being wild yam, another being in the Smilax species. I was getting excited about the idea of it being wild yam! But alas, the more I've watched it mature and researching photos I am taking at various stages, it is indeed in the Smilax species. There is a possibility of two kinds growing right here, but they are twined together: Smooth carrion flower, Smilax Herbacea, and also Blue Ridge Carrion Flower, Smilax Lasioneura. Native. 👇

The native roses, Swamp roses, smell heavenly! Even the insects are intoxicated by their aroma. 👇

As I am walking the land, it is not lost on me how when I am trying to find shade and shelter from the burning sun, the animals likely are as well. Woodchuck tends to lean in the direction of wanting to take a lot of things down, and I lean in the direction of wanting to leave too much. The animals have A LOT of places to get shade and hide from predators, etc. Eventually we will learnt to find some common ground and meet in the middle of cleaning some areas up while leaving things for the birds and other animals. I know I am grateful to be out of the sun on days like this. 👇

Maybe the animals are so hot that they just aren't thinking right and just poop as they are walking across the foot bridge. Always poop on the foot bridge. 😂💩👇

I found a few of these along the very back corner of the back ditch. Timothy grass. Non-native. BTW, my brothers name is Timothy. 👇

The watershed is sweltering hot and humid. It's hard to breathe, the air is so wet. But there is work to do and I need to keep pushing on and this trip out was about to be special one! You can see by the bundle of Autumn Olive in this picture that they are loving this kind of weather and season. 👇

It makes me smile to see the old familiars coming back out there! Black-eyed Susan's are one of the first to bloom. Native. 👇

Once again we have large patches of Silphium Integrifolium, a.k.a. Prairie Rosinweed, spread out over the watershed. Native. 👇

It can some times look like all one kind of flower when you look out over the distance. All you see are flowers that are yellow, but once you get closer, you see that there are different ones. Such as this Smooth Oxeye. Native. 👇

I knew that Woodchuck would be mowing the fire break path soon, and I needed to find the last trail cam, so I decided to walk to the very end of the path. Wowza! How did we not see all of the Autumn Olives when we do the work of removal out there? Maybe we did but had so many others to contend with? I don't know. But this wall will be coming down. 👇

But friends, if I had not made the decision to walk all the way to the end, I would not have found a plant that I have not seen out there before! The leaves are what caught my attention first. They are gathered near a milkweed, small oak tree, and patch of Black-eyed Susan's. Leadplant, also known as Downy Indigo Bush. It will get small purple flowers that will attract butterflies, beetles, bees, moths, etc. It is in the pea family, and it is native. 😍👇

In many other areas not on our land, I have been seeing milkweed flowering. I was excited to see how ours was holding up! Most of them were not flowering yet, and the ones that were were in the distance. This particular milkweed was about 4 foot tall. 👇

One of the most fascinating things I saw were these oak galls! I have never found any like these before! Usually it is some sort of wasp that makes them, but I don't know the specific species that made these. They were good sized, one of which being about the size of a large lemon. 👇

I love how on so much land, the tiniest of things can find what they need. 😍 This is a Batyle Suturalis beetle. A native insect. 👇

I am starting to get overheated and tired, and need to start heading back at this point in my adventure.

As I walk back the way I came, I'm struck by how the Oak trees are growing so quickly! They hold hands over my head as I walk underneath them. I started recording at this point, a bit of nature walk to share with my friends, and got a feeling that a deer would dart across the path right in front of me. A couple of moments after I stopped filming and took a couple of more steps, I saw a Doe nursing two fawns as she ate some vegetation. I filmed them for what felt like minutes (but wasn't) and she smelled me, took a couple of steps towards me, and I moved just enough to let her know that I wasn't a big flower and she and her babies took off. Woodchuck told me that I should have let her come to me, but that's not the way I want to interact with the wildlife out there. I want them to have shelter and food resources and feel safe, but I do not want them approaching humans. While it would be safe to do so on my land, one step over the border is deadly for them anyway when hunting season starts.💚👇

There is SO much vegetation! Green everywhere and at times you have to really focus on an individual plant or else it all looks like one big green mat. This one is White Meadowsweet. Native. 👇

Isn't it funny how you see different things on the same path but just when you are walking the opposite direction? Some sort of a spider sac? 👇

I keep stopping to look and take pictures and smell and.....I've got sweat dripping and there is no break from the humidity and sun. 😓😰👇

And yet another thing to stop and observe. The playful Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly, likely a female, wanted me to see her. She kept following me and darting around me. I think she knew I was struggling, but also I just felt like there was something she wanted to show me. It ends up that she darted away, came back, and was snacking on a fly! Right there next to me! What a gift to have her present that moment in her life to me! 👇💚

I have made it off of the watershed, but there is still a lot of ground to get to the front. I see this Fallopia wrapped around a phragmite, but because of the lack of cell phone signal, I couldn't identify the Fallopia until I leave. One more thing to add to the list to eventually get rid of. Hopefully it chokes the life out of that one phragmite. 😒👇

Just as I was getting ready to step away, I noticed this huntsman arachnid. I watched it walk down to the flower of a white avens, and take a little drink from inside. 😍👇

I took this picture for my niece who has a jungle theme bedroom! It is like my own jungle, isn't it? 👇

The pond reverts back to being covered and stinky. Work to fix the pond slumping should begin within the next week or two! If you would like to contribute, you can send donations to paypal.me/badassnaturegirl. You will be able to see the progress here! Transparency, to date, we have not received any donations and I do not have this blog set up to make money because I don't like trying to read blogs that are overrun with ads and I don't want to make you do that either. 👇