I decided to stay another day in San Juan Bautista so that I could do some more photographing and enjoy one of Mary's special salmon dinners! Saturday (a perfectly gorgeous day) I drove down the mountain with my camera, but before I got to the highway I encountered these five hen turkeys strolling along the road. I pulled over and stopped and, of course, they headed away from me. After I had snapped a few images my camera flashed the 'out of battery' alert. I flipped it off and on for another picture and then again, but then it was REALLY out of battery. So, I drove back up the mountain to charge the battery for half an hour - enough to carry me through the rest of my photo excursion. 
The hens think they will get away from me and cross the road.
But I was still too close, so they went on into the field at a fast clip.
This is the most clear and focused image I took - unfortunately their heads are missing. Might be some kind of ominous forecast.
I drove west on Hwy 156 to Hwy 1 and turned south to where I had seen the artichoke fields close to the highway. Several readers were interested in the artichoke picture I posted the other day. Here is another view of a field.
The round green baseball sized "fruit" sticks up above the leaves.
In the picture above showing the field you can see a patch of oxalis on the left. This is a better image of a single wild oxalis blossom and bud. The foliage is clover like and the plants are usually found in fields, along roadsides and other places where the soil has been disturbed. The hybrid plants found at nurseries have leaves of different colors and shapes along with flowers of many colors. They are sometimes sold as "Shamrocks" for St. Patrick's day. It is easy to tell the difference between a field of wild mustard which is a bright yellow and grows about a foot tall and a field of oxalis growing at most about eight inches tall and is a greenish yellow - very pale. I probably have a hillside full out back, but I haven't looked since I came home. Tomorrow?
The hens think they will get away from me and cross the road.
But I was still too close, so they went on into the field at a fast clip.
This is the most clear and focused image I took - unfortunately their heads are missing. Might be some kind of ominous forecast.I drove west on Hwy 156 to Hwy 1 and turned south to where I had seen the artichoke fields close to the highway. Several readers were interested in the artichoke picture I posted the other day. Here is another view of a field.
And here is a closeup of artichokes on the plant. Mary tells me that the one that grows right out of the top of the plant is the best one - it looms large here. I don't know how many times they go through the field harvesting the 'fruit' that is ready, but I'm sure it is quite a few. A local produce stand has different bins for different sizes of artichokes from baby to primo.
2 comments:
o my, Del, the artichoke fields are so close to our CA home! We lived (and still own) just off Hwy156. Did you stop at Pezzini's farm stand? That was where I always pulled off on the way home from Monterey to pick up my evening artichoke! Or if I needed a snack, to the Giant Artichoke directly in Castroville for the deep fried baby artichokes. You've done it again--started my day with delicious nostalgia! -- Linda
I have never tried Artichoke. It seems strange, in all the plentitude of vegetables, & fruit we have here. We have Oxalis here, our garden ones are bright pink, but I have seen the bright yellow ones too. They are regarded as a weed here, & are almost impossible to eradicate from the soil. So many small bulbs!
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