I am such a geek! ....about many things.....fabric, furniture, purses, agave, blah blah blah. But I think my biggest geekness (is that a word?) comes out in my garden.....usually in the form of plants, but this time it is more on the garden hardware side. I was flipping through a copy of "Lawn and Garden Retailer" (geek) and came across an ad for "The Garden Cam" ......ooooooooooo...what's that? Ok, so you take this Garden Cam or their other option Birdwatch Cam (brinno.com), configure it with your computer and stick it in your yard. The Garden Cam is time lapse photography for your plants - SUPER GEEK! YIPPEE!!!! Let's say you have just started some cool veggies or dahlias or a new variety of agave - ok, maybe not agave since it is so slow...but you aim the camera - pick a setting - like one photo every 5 minutes, one hour, 2 hours, etc...let it sit for a week or two or a month (which is about how long the battery will last), load it into your computer and see the growth that you have no other way of seeing! See, I told you - SUPER GEEK! I love it.... Needless to say, I ordered them and should have them in the shop next week. I will also have a series of photos from my own garden to show the progress. This afternoon I will be aiming it at the daffodils starting to bloom up my walkway, and then I will aim it at the hostas that will be unfurling themselves soon...I can't wait to see that. The hostas are always so beautiful emerging but you never really get to see the actual unfurling, so this is the perfect device to watch.
"Bodacious" dahlia from Swan Island Dahlias at dahlias.com - my favorite variety and the biggest flower in my garden - always impressive!
Hostas emerging and unfurling in Spring.
"Orangerie" daffodil from Brecks at brecks.com. True orange and way beautiful!
As for the Birdwatch Cam, it is a motion sensitive camera that you can aim at a birdhouse, bird feeder, bird bath or at your back door to watch the parade of raccoons on your yard - anywhere you might expect wildlife in your garden. When a motion occurs the camera will take 20 photos in 20 seconds to record the action (action is a funny word - it makes we think of Starskey & Hutch or something...) and then go back to sleep until the next motion occurs. I have already learned about a few birds visiting my garden that I was not aware of..... The super cool, bright orange and yellow Western Tanager. At first I thought it was a tropical bird that got out of a cage or something since I have never seen one! We also are looking forward to catching our three resident Anna's Hummingbirds that are always duking it out over our water feature for water rights. I am always amazed at how such a small bird can be so aggressive. Their antics are hilarious - they even chase away a herd of at least 20 bush-tits that like to bathe together.
The Western Tanager.
Anna's Hummingbird - does not migrate from the Northwest - stays in residence all winter - much to our enjoyment.
Pack of Bush-Tits. They always travel in groups of 20 or so. So cute and little!
Both of these cameras are super easy to use, come with their own data storage chips and are under $200 each.....way cool! Wouldn't it be funny to have an outdoor dinner party and set up the time lapse cam and watch the progress...watch the light change, the garden lighting illuminate, your friends with cocktails and so forth......Woo Hoo! Outdoor dinner party!!!
We should be getting these cameras in the shop within the next week, so please stop by and we can show you how it works or give the shop a call and we would be glad to mail one out to you! I am so excited to share this with my fellow garden geeks! Thanks for reading and here's to dirt under your nails!
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