Friday, July 15, 2011

Good Tomato, Bad Egg.

***WARNING-- Contains graphic turtle embryo picture--***

We had our very first Cherokee Purple tomato, and I was thoroughly impressed with the flavor! I was incredibly surprised that this thing ripened the full way through as well, considering how strange it looked! It was absolutely delicious, and was a great "first tomato" of the season. It was the first non-cherry tomato type that we ate, and it definitely did not disappoint! I've got another ripening out there, and I'm considering bringing it in to ripen as well!



I had a Brandywine (the one and ONLY on the plant...) that was snacked on, so I brought it inside to HOPEFULLY get to ripen, so that I could eat around it.  No good. It molded, got really nasty and juicy. It worked for my neighbors with one of theirs, but I still don't think I'm going to get a Brandywine this year, and don't think I'll be wasting my time on them next year, unless I find a cheap one at a nursery.

This one was HUGE too... 

I picked our first cucumber yesterday, and will probably pick our first couple okra today for frying for dinner tonight. The cucumber plant is starting to look strange, so I'll be researching diseases with those too...


In turtle news...


A few days ago, I noticed quite a large crack in one of the known-viable turtle eggs, and some of the yolk contents were spilling out. I thought I would leave it alone in case it "clotted" up on its own or something, but upon checking on the eggs today, I decided that it was finished. It had a very unpleasant smell, and I assumed the worst.  I was able to tell that there are in fact TURTLES in these eggs, this one just didn't make it.


Hopefully, if you didn't want to see these pictures, you got the warning at the top!

These are Nadine's eggs, and egg B-2 is the one that was damaged.

Upon pulling back the crack...
The ridge along the back of the shell is pretty incredible.  Turtle babies do not completely absorb the yolk part until they are hatched, and once they do, they will start to eat.


I guess it was appropriate that I was still wearing my scrubs for this "procedure".  It's amazing to get to see this stage of the development. You can clearly see the shell section and the head and where the eye would have been. This makes me really sad that we lost one, but very hopeful with the rest of them, since this is the first time (after three years) to actually see truly fertilized eggs. The others have become more opaque as they are filling up their eggs, so hopefully in the next month or two we'll have babies.  


6 comments:

  1. wow, did you notice the face in that green brandywine? it's winking at you. i'm sorry about your turtle egg :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Emily- I did notice the face! I almost think it looks like a frog-- a cartoon, but a frog :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sad, Thank you for sharing the photo's. I have eggs and have been searching to find a site that will show me the progress of a fertilized turtle egg. Yours is a close as I have come. I used topsoil for mine and I don't want to rinse them to see. but I could see the air pocket longways in the upper egg. and they feel heavier. is this good I am wondering. I used to do bird eggs in a incubator

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ivystone- You're welcome! I have had three others split of this clutch. One of which I have more pictures of. I tried to seal the others up with triple antibiotic ointment, and I'm trying to hold out. Two are left in there that haven't split (at least not that I can tell). I have searched and searched for the same thing, so if nothing else, it's nice to learn from something sad! Definitely don't rinse them and pick them up more than you have to. I have read about some using an incubator for turtle eggs as well. They put them in something first though, to avoid radiant heat. I'd love to see your pictures! Good luck with your eggs!

    ReplyDelete