I did another ph test in my blueberry beds today and was once again disappointed. Try as I might, I can’t get the ph to drop. It is stuck at 7. We’ll add more sulfur and I’ll put down leaves once they fall from the trees, but come spring if the ph still hasn’t budged, Bookman and I will have some serious thinking to do. Keep trying or get rid of the blueberries and cultivate more currants and other berries instead. Fingers crossed it won’t come to that decision.
The anise hyssop is still blooming and covered with bees and over the last two weeks it has also been covered in monarch
butterflies. I walked out one afternoon and counted eight of them fluttering around on it. Amazing! Bookman and I have decided we are planting a second one somewhere in the garden next spring. The pumpkin flowers are also attracting bees like crazy. This afternoon I saw three big fat bumblebees all crammed into one flower jostling for position.And oh! During the week I looked out and saw a hummingbird at the red bee balm! I was so very excited because I chose it in order to attract hummingbirds and it worked!
Yesterday while sitting in my reading nest I glanced up at some movement outside my front picture window to see a female goldfinch chowing down on coneflower seeds. She was out there for a good ten minutes before I decided I just might be able to snap a photo. Sadly she saw me moving in the window and flew off. Then I felt really guilty about interrupting a meal she was so much enjoying. I kept hoping she would come back but I didn’t see her again the rest of the day.
Bookman got out the extension ladder to try and reach the big apples at the top of Bossy, but he only had limited success. They were still too high up on branches not strong enough to put a ladder against. So we will just appreciate what we could pick and have decided to invest in a long reach fruit harvester for next year. What we are going to do when we can reach all those apples way at the top, I am not sure. Apple pies, apple crisps, apple sauce, apple butter. I think I might have to learn how to make apple chutney which sounds so good. I might have to try that with the apples we have now. Yum!
This has got to be one of the nifitiest things ever: swallows that figured out how to use automatic doors (via Sociological Images)
And as I am reading a book about why our brains are programmed to ignore climate change, the largest climate change march in history took place today in New York City. An estimated 310,000 demonstrators showed up to demand action on climate change. In support, other marches took place around the world from Paris to Papua New Guinea. The United Nations is scheduled to meet on Tuesday in Manhattan for a climate summit. Is it too much to hope for that such an outpouring will actually spur world leaders and politicians to do something? Of course, we all have personal responsibility in the matter as well. Does such a gathering inspire you to make any changes?
One thing I wonder about, many people came from far away to attend the protest and with their transportation they have added carbon into the air. I hope they have done something to offset their usage, if not, that’s just sad, demanding action on climate change while contributing to the problem. Something to think about, especially for the people who came from far away countries to join in the march. Why not organize a march closer to home?We’ll see what the UN does later this week. And following that, what each country is willing to do. I don’t have much hope but at the same time I can’t help but hope.
On a happier note, someone I know who lost a big tree in her backyard earlier this year has been inspired by all my gardening talk and has decided to get rid of the lawn and grow a prairie meadow. How awesome is that? When she told me I was thrilled and tickled silly. It’s been so hard to not pester her and ask her what she’s going to grow. I explained to her how to kill the grass. I’m hoping over the winter she will want to talk plants.
Autumn Equinox is Tuesday or Spring if you are down under. Be sure to celebrate. Take a walk, enjoy a seasonal treat, spend some time with your favorite tree or sitting on your favorite garden bench. Whatever you do, just take some time to enjoy the changing season.
We had our last meal of the season outside on the deck tonight. Sometimes we do this two or three times before deciding that the season is entirely over!
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What a wonderful video ans apple chutney does surely sound delicious. I will be fascinated to read what the book on our brains and climate change has to say. 310,000 marchers – that is impressive.
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Ian, isn’t that apple chutney mouthwatering? The climate change book is really fascinating. And of course it isn’t just one thing, it is combination of things both evolutionary and cultural. The turnout for the march is a good sign but sadly it hasn’t been much in the news.
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Jeanne, what an enjoyable way to have a meal. I hope you will be able to get in one or two more meals before the season really is over!
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The bird video is amazing. Animals, birds, insects, fish, they’re all so much smarter than we give them credit for. As far as climate change, they’re SO much smarter than we are!
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Joan, I agree, animals are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. Their learning process would have been really interesting to see.
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My milkweed is still in full bloom–but then it was 95 degrees here yesterday, and the milkweed has not retreated to a fall cycle yet. I love the way it has reseeded itself in my garden.
Have you seen John Oliver discuss climate change? Too funny! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjuGCJJUGsg#t=13 “We’ve all proven that we cannot be trusted with the future tense.”
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jenclair, yikes! That’s hot!
I had not seen Oliver on climate change. Oh is he funny! It is a sad but true statement about the future tense. Thanks for the link!
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Stefanie, have you tried used coffee grounds to help with the acidity of the soil? I’ve heard it works for hydrangeas – plus it is a way to recycle. I imagine you’ve already tried that, though. My blueberries never bore fruit. I think it was explained to me that I needed a male and a female plant. Someone could have been joking around with me, though.
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Grad, yes, we tried coffee grounds last year when we first planted the bushes. Turns out grounds from one pot a day on three shrubs gets you nowhere! There are no male and female blueberry bushes but you do need two for cross-pollination. We’ll try a little longer, we love blueberries too much not to.
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Many years ago making chutney was one of my late summer pleasures. And marmelade, and lemon curd…. I still have the recipebook but the making has disappeared from my late summer. Apple chutney is so good.
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Cath, you have just sealed it. We will be making apple chutney!
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Is it my imagination or have we seen a decline in use of the term global warming and people using climate change instead?
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BookerTalk, you are not imagining things. The shift in language has come because global warming doesn’t mean everyplace is getting warmer and it confuses people. the globe is warming, average global temperatures are rising, but climate change as a result of global warming is easier to talk about because then you don’t get all of us Minnesotans who just had the coldest winter on record denying that global warming exists.
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Oh you have to hope that the march will make some impact – though, gosh, I do see your point about people organising things close to home. I still do as much as I can. We’ve now got an electricity meter showing us how much we’re using at any time and I get a kick from going round turning things off. This does not bode well for my impending little-old-ladyhood.
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Litlove, LOL, I can just picture you as a little old lady peering at your electric meter and tsking because Mr. Litlove is using too much power with his wood working tools. Unless, of course, he is building you a new bookcase 😉
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My experiment to kill the front lawn is succeeding (cardboard, compost, mulch) — hopefully soon we will get some rain and I can plant a drought-friendly garden with lovely California natives! For now, it’s just a big brown mulch patch but that’s better than a horrible dead dry lawn. Although I’ll take dead and dry over lush and green right now, because at least dead and dry shows the owner is paying attention to the drought!
I have a crabapple tree that showers the patio with crabapples. I’ve often thought I should make crabapple jelly but haven’t. Maybe this year is the year… I’ve got bushels to work with!
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wherethereisjoy, hooray! California has been having quite the time of it with the drought and fires. Once you have it all planted, you must be sure to send me some photos 🙂 I am envious of all your crabapples since the squirrels stole all of mine!
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I tried to sit outside earlier today on my break and it felt decidedly like fall–a litlte too crisp and cool to sit outside with no jacket so I didn’t get much reading done! I am ready for fall, though I won’t mind the summer days that are still expected (as in low 80s–nothing too hot). Have you tried gowing blueberries before? I hope you get your soil just right–how cool would that be to have resh blueberries to add to your cereal or oatmeal every morning! I wonder if I could try and grow some kind of wild grass in my backyard–I am very good at growing weeds….it is far too shady to grow much at all so for me it is all an eyesore! Good luck on the apple crop!
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Danielle, as long as it is sunny and in the 60s I eat my lunch outdoors because there aren’t too many pleasant days left before going outdoors will no longer be fun even when bundled up. We just planted the blueberries last year and have not tried them before. We would very much love to have fresh blueberries from our garden because local organic ones are so very expensive. There are a variety of prairie grasses and some of them are even shade tolerant.
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