Saturday, June 25, 2005

When you can't see the deer, it's time to hay the field

It is a day that reached the 90’s inland and I am bundled in a sweatshirt here on the back deck awaiting Hunter’s arrival.

I thought I was going to get to add a new hummingbird to my Life List today, but it turns out to have been a moth, a sphinx moth, known as a hummingbird moth. It was attracted to the purple flowers now out on my sage. I watched carefully and realized that it had two little antennae. It looked a little like a flying “cootie bug.”

The spinach has been disappointing. It just sat there for the longest time and then decided to bolt on the only really hot day we’ve had. So I have pulled up the last of it and will stir fry it tonight after a quick dunk in boiling water.

I shall also throw a few garlic scapes on the grill tonight. It is fun watching them curl up on the plants. The rocamboles are gathering into a tight curl. The porcelains are dipping their heads like graceful swans. In only a few days I will remove the scapes to facilitate bulb growth.

I was able to hand fertilize a few of the zucchini this morning. I haven’t seen any bees. There are bees in the clover, but they don’t seem to want to venture into the garden. By the way the mystery “Amazon” zucchini is solved. Those unfertilized females never took off.

The hayfield is rippling with the same beguiling rhythms as the ocean. I can see a fawn’s head emerge from the tops of the grasses, but when she puts her head down to feed she disappear like a cormorant looking for an underwater supper.

Time to put on pants.

1 comment:

Sandy said...

Haying time always seems to be the hottest day of the year!