THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT

Mike applies graphite to the wind gauge

The Fourth of July 2022 is history now, and we made a mental note to spend it at the farm next year because Bess was inconsolable as fireworks popped all around us. She hasn’t been troubled by them in the past. Perhaps changes in her hearing made the difference, but whatever, she was agitated and needy. After sitting up with her two nights in a row, we decided we could better tolerate the Gilbert neighbor’s afternoon target-shooting event than losing sleep trying to reason with Bess.

Enough about town. We’re back at the farm. I relented on my resolve not to feed the fickle hummingbirds and hung a feeder outside the kitchen window last week. We saw one or two hummers now and then, and when we left on Saturday, I made fresh nectar in order not to lose what little momentum we had. One hummer visited the feeder this morning, and I also hear them when I’m outside.

Note bee ornament in foreground

Last year, Mike bought a plant identification app, and it has been such fun to identify plants and weeds practically on the spot. We often don’t remember and have to do it again, but that’s okay. And now that Mike isn’t mowing the orchard/meadow, we see more plants – er, weeds, but some weeds are more desirable than others and worthy of encouragement. Many perennials are really weeds, if you want to look at it that way. I mark our plantings and the unusual “weeds” that we want to watch with decorative stakes from the Dollar Tree, and we like those, too.

When I first bought those yard stakes, the Dollar Tree had a full display of them – bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, trucks, and tractors. I didn’t buy many bees – kinda turned off by them, I guess, even though we know bees are important pollinators. However, I discovered the few bee stakes I had were most effective in the meadow, and I returned to the store to buy more. I guess I wasn’t the only one bypassing the bees because only the bees and a few butterflies were left in the display. After my visit, far fewer remained.

Over the holiday weekend, our gardens progressed nicely. The zucchini plant came out of its slump, and the tomato plant set on a few blossoms. The zinnias and lettuce look especially good. Today, I planted more lettuce, carrots, and beets.

I picked half a cup of strawberries last week and probably ¾ cup yesterday. I made an angel food cake from scratch on Sunday and served it with our homegrown strawberries last night. KW