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Small Wonders

September 23rd, 2014

One of the things I love about gardening is that it make me very observant, when I’m out I see all sorts of lovely things, often tiny things that are barely noticeable. Perhaps it’s that gardening keeps our eyes keen to see insects that we label as pests, or perhaps it’s that we learn to look for small details in flowers. Whatever the case, I notice so many tiny things that I’d probably never see if I didn’t spend so much time outside in the garden.
tiny toad 2
Yesterday I spotted this little guy while I was mowing. I like to push mow, partly because I like the exercise, partly because it’s therapeutic, partly because I can scan the grass in front of the mower and slow down to stop to rescue snakes, butterflies, lightening bugs and other insects.
tiny toad3
I rescued him and moved him somewhere so he’d be safe from the mower. What a sweet little guy this was, I haven’t had time to Google an identification yet, so if you know speak up.

What tiny wonders do you notice when you’re out in the garden?

4 Comments to “Small Wonders”
  1. Sara on September 23, 2014 at 7:40 am

    What a cutie! I’m thinking a wood frog?
    http://www.maineherp.org/index.php?display=native_species&show=frogs

    I LOVE to look up insects and creatures, and I love that gardening creates a big diversity. This weekend I spent a lot of time photographing the bees on our fall flowers. This is a halictid bee that is a native pollinator in Wisconsin:

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/breadninja/15117064107/

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  2. Nebraska Dave on September 23, 2014 at 7:54 am

    Susy, gardens are filled with life if just take the time to look close enough. Since Terra Nova Gardens is close to a wooded area on three sides, I occasionally get creatures that wander out of the woods. Well, and there is the partially developed spring that provides a nice water hole for all the critters. So far I’ve seen, of course, the wild turkeys, squirrels, snakes, feral cats, groundhogs, and deer. I know there’s raccoons and possibly Opossum around as they decimate the sweet corn in a single night. I haven’t found any toads or frogs yet. I don’t think the turkeys really care if a bug is good or bad. I really don’t have bugs in the garden.

    Have a great garden creature day.

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  3. bonnie knox on September 23, 2014 at 9:46 am

    I have little gray tree frogs that are about that size when they outgrow the pollywog stage. (The adults lay eggs in the rainbarrel.) I found a tiny tree frog on a leaf. (It had turned green to blend in with the leaf.) I don’t know what kind of frog you have there, but if it had just leaped from a terra cotta pot, I would want to think it was a tree frog that had changed colors to blend in with the pot. But I’m not too familiar with all the different kinds of frogs.

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  4. Eliza J on September 23, 2014 at 4:19 pm

    When I mow the lawn I always notice small frogs ~ only once have I seen one as tiny as you found. I did mow the lawn today and came across a curled up Wooly Bear. I moved it out of the way and on my next trip across the yard, got to see him stretched out and on the move ~ albeit a slow move. Gardening and mowing the lawn is a great way to be “in the moment” and conscious of the things around you. LOVE being outside to see this stuff ~ not a fan of Winter that will be here in a few months…..

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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