Seems like every year I'm surprised by how fast summer goes. When I was a kid summer stretched out in front of me like an unending, leisurely stroll in the woods and now here we are looking August in the face and wondering what happened to July. As a kid, I had no plans beyond the softball season, swimming in my friend's pool, riding my bike, and reading about 50 books. I would mow the lawn and help out around the house, but most of my days were empty, waiting to be filled with rock collecting and climbing trees.
This summer I have played no softball, but I have managed to swim (in a lake), read (but more like 50 pages than 50 books), and collect some rocks (with Calvin at camp, his introductory expedition into rock collecting).
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| The jar on the left is mine, filled over the past three years. Calvin's is on the right. |
I've always enjoyed "capturing" nature. I don't remember a time when I wasn't dragging rocks, sticks, and feathers inside or catching caterpillars and toads. Now I usually capture nature with a camera, but I still like finding little things that have been left behind by nature and bringing them inside. I'm so happy to share this love with my son.
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| This shadowbox shows off a few of my gleanings from outside. A wasps' nest, some prized rocks, fronds from my autumn ferns, a dragonfly I found (dead) on the sidewalk, and two unfortunate butterflies who looked so pretty in death that I couldn't leave them to be swept away into the trash or the gutter. So I kept them. |
The lawn needs mowing and the whole place desperately needs weeding. But looking on the bright side, the crazy hot weather and diligent watering have produced major growth in the vegetable garden. Though I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps my green bean seeds were of a special non-flowering variety. They keep on climbing, but to what end I'm not sure.
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| Left hand picture is from early June, right hand picture is from late July (today). What incredible growth! |
The lettuce has just about had it with the hot weather, so I'm thinking we'll finish off most of it this week then scatter seeds for late-season greens in its place. I've got to remove some foliage that has powdery mildew. And I'd like to find out what is eating the flowers off my pumpkin and squash plants. Anyone have any ideas? Raccoons? Opossums? Gnomes?
While I wonder if we'll have any pumpkins, squash, or melons come fall, summer rolls on. It cannot be stopped or slowed. Time is relentless. Are you treasuring your time on this beautiful earth?
Powdery mildew is less of a problem in rainy weather - it is a fungus that is more likely to attack drought-stressed plants. To control it, make sure your plants have good air circulation, water and mulch well. An organic fungicide called Bacillus subtilis can help control the disease when infected plants are sprayed thoroughly.
Flowers partially or completely consumed can be from garden beetles, blister beetles, May/June beetles or Japanese beetles. Not sure which of those you have in your area, but they are common causes in at least parts of USA.
Squirrels and chipmunks also eat flowers - do you have any of them hanging around?
Love the contrasting photos of your garden - it's so amazing how fast they grow!! I'm really looking forward to spring/summer here; we've already begun planting and I'm getting impatient to see results already (ahh the joys of living in a snow-free climate!). :)
P.S. 'The Organic Gardner's Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control' by Bradley, Ellis and Martin, is a very handy resource for gardening if you're interested - I have it and the above hints are some of the things I found in it. I hope it has been helpful. :)
Wow! What a difference.