Even Eden had a serpent....

Whose idea was it to live next to a gazillion acres of parkland again? Oh, yeah -- that was mine!

I was crouched down, tending to the bean plants on my patio when I heard a faint hissing. Looking down, I saw a tan-colored snake just inches away from my leg. I reacted by springing up and back, and then quickly ducking back inside the patio door.


Once I reassured myself that I was out of danger, I grabbed my camera and took the photos above. As I prodded my unexpected guest off the patio with a broomstick, a funky odor filled the air. I thought a sewer line had backed up somewhere, but after a little online research, I found that this was the "calling card" of the water diamond back snake. It releases a stink when it feels threatened. While this critter wasn't poisonous -- this area's venomous snakes are the copperhead, the cottonmouth and the coral -- it did do a good job of startling me!

Just earlier in the month, I came home to find a migrating colony of bees swarming around the same patio. Yup, living closer to nature has been interesting!

Otherwise, the patio garden itself is chugging along with production. The swiss chard is producing its first broad leaves, which I used as the foundation for a salad. Atop the chard and baby spinach, I piled on apple slices, strawberries, and raisins:

And green bean production is in full swing. Here's the season's first harvest, sauteed in olive oil and garlic before being paired with a cajun blackened salmon filet:

The only crop that hasn't made it to my plate yet is the roma tomatoes. They have some small, green fruits on the vine, though. So far they seem to be requiring a lot of effort to tend and water, so I'm interested to productive they turn out to be.