July on the way out. . .

 

Yesterday's harvest is somewhat typical for this time of year. The cherry tomatoes are just starting, and the summer raspberries are on their way out. I'm picking the zucchini early because I've had such trouble with rot on them as they grow larger. I'm pretty sure this is related to our inordinate amount of rain. Green beans continue to dribble in, though with a couple of days harvest we get enough for a side at dinner, and several days gives me enough to freeze for the future. The blueberries have been fairly steady, with the early ones just about done, but the later varieties now starting to earnestly bear.

All as it should be. I do forget, from year to year, how slow the harvest season is to get going here. The peaches won't be in until August, and the apples late October.

The primo-cane bearing raspberries are in full bloom right now, and it's amazing to see the variety of bees that are attracted to their sweet nectar.

I sent the image on the right to a horticultural friend who knows more about insects than I do. That's a small bee. . .maybe half the size of a honey bee. . .and it's iridescent black. Really a handsome species, but I have no idea who it is. My old knowledge tells me that honey and bumble bees are the best pollinators, but it will be interesting to see if my friend knows anything about this guy.

Other things of note today:

I'm pretty sure this hydrangea was blue last year. So I'm wondering if something acidified the soil around it to make it pink? Or is this just some sort of daft dog-lady illusion? I's a joy to look at closely, regardless.

Another hydrangea surprise. I have several of these along the back of one of the beds here. I don't remember it showing pink before. More pink! I do remember  it being white. So here's a thought. Maybe there's a pink fairy that's testing my sanity. I'm not complaining, of course. While I don't go out of my way for most pinks, these are quite agreeable.

The cherry tomatoes. Those stakes are 8' tall. They are filling out well, and their fruit has been developed from the bottom up. Lots of bending over in the garden, as usual, which will put the new spine to the test.

The apples are coming along beautifully. These are on the tree that has slightly larger fruit. . .Macoun. It made for wonderful sauce, pies and dried slices last year. I AM looking forward to that, though as my mother used to say "Don't wish your life away. . ."

Lastly, a revisiting of the double-file viburnums. I thank the former owners and/or the landscaper they hired for planting these beauties. Because my expertise is all centered around food crops, I would not have know to plant a mass of these along the side of the house. They just keep giving. I posted the ranks of white flowers on them in previous posts, but I don't remember the berries being quite so lovely in previous years.

I'm thinking that the birds will love these, but I'll need to look that up. 

It is funny how memory does and doesn't work. My gardening journal (an old-fashioned one with paper and pencil entries) helps me go back to see when what happened in a given year, but I don't tend to include things like the Double-file viburnum berries. As frustrating as my poor memory can be, it is absolutely wonderful to experience something like this anew. . .it gives that sort of burst of feeling. The intake of a sharp breath. The increased heart rate. "That is so beautiful, and I am so lucky".