Are You Even Releasing Beneficial Insects, Brah?
How do the cabbage beetles KNOW I've planted brassicas?
We started June out with nearly record-setting heat and by now I should just stop worrying about the hail that’s inevitable. There was a line of thunderstorms that rolled through last week and we got a couple inches of rain and a smidge of hail (pea-sized or smaller). I think between the bit of ice and the driving rain some of my lettuces got a bit beat up, but they were in need of a trim anyway.
We Didn’t Go Camping Last Weekend…
…mostly because I was sure the first weekend in June was “too early” and boy was I right. Between thunderstorms, a rising creek, a threatened bridge and 6+ inches of snow at the Beartooth Pass, it sounded pretty miserable for my friends who went anyway. When you tent camp with dogs you also have to be very very aware that you’re bringing mud into every situation: tent, sleeping bag, car, ears, etc. Rain + camping is kind of what I expect (I am camping cursed with at least one big rainstorm), but if I have the choice, I’ll go later in the summer.
In fact, we’re planning on camping at least once a month this summer . It’s going to be the closest thing we get to a “vacation” this year. The COVID Summer — full of socially distant exchanges and not enough hugs. We’ll pack up the car and the dogs and have one or two brief fights about “bringing too much stuff” and then have a slightly fun weekend in the woods close enough to our friends but not too close. Oh, and there will be marshmallows. That’s a plus.
Last weekend I dripped sweat from my head while I weeded a bit in the garden and today I had to go inside and get a sweatshirt because I got too cold sitting on the porch. And it snowed 7 inches in Butte the other night. Yep, that’s June in Montana, alright.
Luck, Be a Ladybug Tonight.
I released about a thousand ladybugs last week in the garden. It was finally warm and I’m hoping they made it through the cool down this week because things are getting buggy in there. I had a scale problem on a gifted bay leaf tree and needed those ladybugs to go crazy on that stuff. In just a few days they seem to have stripped it clean of any offending bugs and their little babies. Just amazing.
I love using ladybugs in the garden. I buy them from a local store (though you can order them online, it seems odd) and I had to wait a week or so to get them. They work best in something more like a greenhouse, but if you have something they like to eat in your garden, like aphids, scale or other soft-bodied insects, they’ll hang around as long as the buffet is well stocked.
I’ve seen a half dozen ladybugs or so before this deployment, so I’m hopeful there are ladybugs who’ve gotten the memo that my garden has some good noms. I found at least one in my oregano the other day, so that’s a good sign I think.
A lot of our plants and trees are slow to grow this spring. They even put out a notice via the Montana Extension Office to not go to town on bushes or trees that look dormant still. They said that due to a cold snap and hail at the end of last summer, a lot of plants are taking longer to wake up. Our river birch is definitely one of them. Fully leafed out until about 2/3rds the way up, then just sticks. I’m to give it another month or so and see how it’s faring by the Fourth of July. Till then, I suppose.
Some Places You Can Buy Things (If You Feel Like It) and Support Black-Owned Businesses
Bookshop.org helps indie bookstores (whose owners just want to sell books, not spend all their time online figuring out how to make a digital commerce site) is a great resource for helping out a local book store, or even one further away that you’d like to support. You might want to order from them if you’re thinking about getting some books or puzzles or things, instead of a big box store (that, let’s face it, will be just fine after COVID is done.)
You also might want to spend your money with businesses that are black-owned. Here’s a list of bookstores that are black-owned where you can order books and things right this second.
While last Friday was a day when Bandcamp had a planned revenue share day (where they didn’t take their customary download/sales fees from artists on their platform), many artists and labels also took that day to donate sales proceeds (or a percentage of them) to different BLM charities. You can see what happens on the first Friday in July when another Bandcamp revenue share day is planned.