SUMMER?

 

The atmospheric river, a.k.a. Pineapple Express, didn’t cause much trouble in our region as far as I know. The wind blew, but in my opinion, we could have used more rain. The paper said that the rain would really help the winter wheat, but as I worked in my raised beds today, I noticed that the soil was already drying out.

Now the weatherman says it will be suddenly summer beginning today. And he might be right. It was 55 when we came to the farm on Tuesday. The fire in the grate felt good in the evening. Today it’s 77, but the sun was hot as I planted the raised beds. The coolness of the house is welcome.

I’m not much of a gardener, but I keep trying. The zucchini and tomato plants I started from seed look good, but I lost the climbing yellow crooked-neck and the pumpkin. I replaced them with spinach, lettuce, carrots, and green beans. We’ll see what happens. (The spinach and lettuce are both heat-tolerant.)

The little calliope hummingbirds visit the feeders now and then. It’s not a flurry of activity. In fact, sometimes it seems like a waste of sugar to make the nectar. Two young whitetail buck passed by the livingroom window last evening and later I saw them ambling down the lane. And this morning I saw a real bumblebee – a special sight these days.

Two weeks ago, a mama duck was parading her tiny brood on the pond. I never saw them, but I was pleased that some of our visitor did. We haven’t seen them now, so we don’t know if she’s there and hiding out or if she’s gone for whatever reason. KW