12 Oakdale

According to our dear leader, we have “a memorandum of understanding” about the war, I mean little excursion, in Iran. Details TBD. Please let that mean our people are coming home. Here we are sweltering. For some reason, I’m still getting heat alerts for Miami-Dade, but all good since they remind me to take care. I’ve started mixing electrolytes in my water, (leftover trial packets from races last year) which even half strength still tastes terrible. One was chocolate which was a disgusting surprise. The print is very small on those packets! I’m also cut back on my work time. Slower progress but seems necessary. My eyes get blurry if I do too much. Last week was National Garden Week, as proclaimed by the National Garden Clubs. Always the first full week in June, obviously a northern idea. Van, 2nd VP of Bloom and Grow, organized tours at 4 of our club gardens and 1 private home. Grant and I went to 4. Danged hot, even in the shade. Tuesday morning, we rescued the young red shouldered ...

I was a zone leader again this year for Spring Fever, Bloom and Grow Garden Society’s huge fund raiser. My cohorts and I arrive at 5:45 AM, so vendors can begin offloading and setting up from 6:00-7:00. Last year, we were freezing. This year it was 76° to start and got hotter. My SF t-shirt and high-viz vest were more than enough. Technically opening at 9:00, by 8:00 a lot of the vendors were ready to sell, and customers were there to buy. I cruised all the booths along Plant Street, talking to the several native plant sellers, a vendor with carnivorous plants, and the artist from whom I’d bought a piece last year. I liked the ceramic orchid pots at one booth. Nothing for me today, although the $85 cat sculpture did call to me. Perhaps I’ll grab something when I come back Sunday when I oversee my zone’s closing. Other people were filling their carts, wagons, and pet strollers with plants, mostly the pretty flowering ones. The last 17 days, since Grant’s fall, have stressed me...

Dang, it’s hot. Yesterday, our thermometer sensor on the boathouse got to 99°. And not a cloud in the sky. I’ve restarted sprinkling every morning, but the plants don’t seem to notice. By 7:30-8:00, I’m out working in the yard and quit at 10:00. My clothes are soaked, not just sweated on. When I take off my shirt, it’s so wet, it seems like it just came out of the washing machine. Even my belt is wet.  I’ve given up on the vegetable garden. There are 2 eggplants left, and I don’t see any more forming. The okra gave up after producing a couple of pods. The one bright spot is my southern peas, which our resident marsh hare has been eating. A couple of days ago, Grant restrung the monofilament lines to create bunny-proof fencing. The peas are coming back, so perhaps it’s working. Or the rabbit doesn’t like that I’ve cleaned out the huge patch of Spanish needle (Bidens alba)  that was its cover right next to my garden. Question: why don’t marsh hares eat that? It’s a native, alway...