(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Street Prophets Friday: Remote Gardening [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-28 Hello? I'm trusting the queue to get this out to you this week. I'm off traveling the wide world. Perhaps I'm standing behind you right now … Far from home, perhaps romping in the deep woods. Who knows? And then there's next week, I'll probably still be bopping about somewhere. At any rate, I owe you good folks a fluffy, little open thread. Dive in and mingle like a swingin’ single. Speaking of diving, the European Barn Swallows were dipping and diving, swooping and shrieking around our place in the country. One would perch on a corner of the door and shriek until another swallow would fly in and flutter around it and join in the shrieking. In years past, the swallows have been known to nest in our little, cave-like entrance hall. That prompted Mrs the Werelynx's family to cut a little access window in the door (now blocked with a pane of clear plastic.) Out in the garden, the pumpkins have been spreading out. As my dad would say, corn should be, "knee high by the Fourth of July.” And my patch of sweetcorn is patchy— but most of it was nearing waist high last week. Black currants on the bushy left, a tiny tuft of lemon grass in front of that and in the lefty foreground, next to that length of rusty scaffolding pipe laying on the ground— are the beets. In the right foreground corner we’ve got carrots— somewhat smothered by the palely-blooming peas. Then that mass of greenery in the center is a low strip of young dill, three tomato plants and a clump of sweetcorn, with a few bean vines intertwining and a squash plant or two. Pretty sure it's a butternut squash— but it might be some odd volunteer. Those same beets line the right edge of this photo. In front of the triangular raised bed I've got sweet peppers and marigolds— and one lone onion at the right end. More black currants behind the box (and our bigger walnut tree behind the fence). In the planter box, you can see an eggplant nearly ready to bloom in the left corner, the four dark green bushy-bits are cherry tomatoes with a few tiny fruits each. There's also some terribly sad looking basil plants in there between them. but you might also be able to spot a tuft of bright green along the right edge in front of the currants— in the back there— it's asparagus! The large leaves in the left foreground is zucchini— finally starting to bloom. Blooming just as I abandon the garden for 3 whole weeks! What? Who left the door open? Mrs the Werelynx needed some help shooing a swallow out of the main room. It did a lot of flying around and perching in out of reach corners— Weedy zucchini! Yes, I managed to clear out the weeds before we left. Should be a good crop this year if the slugs leave anything. Next to the zucchini, blooming yellowly, is lovage. To the left of the lovage, blooming purplely, are a couple of sage plants in a planter box. The stalks of my thriving onions help fill in the foreground. Looking out over the rhubarb. While taking a break one morning, I heard a strange scratching and scrabbling. There was a Black Redstart fledgling fluttering and desperately clinging to the garage doors. We have nesting boxes for them above the doors which were made by Mrs the Werelynx's grandfather about 50 years ago. They're occupied every single year. And because these beautiful, beneficial birds nest three times during the year, we've got three boxes. Getting up on a ladder to clear them out in the autumn is not a pleasant chore, but having these little critters in the garden is well worth it. For some reason, the little chicks leave the nest a bit early. I watched the one clinging to the rough wood of the garage door eventually plummet the last few feet to the ground. Baby birds are made of rubber. It wasn't such a bad fall. It sat there in the sun, blinking a bit before making a few attempts to get back up on the door. I suppose the target was actually the nesting box, but its tiny wings were not up to the task. After a flurry of quick attempts, it hopped into the shade and greenery along the wall of the barn and I eventually lost sight of it. The parents knew where it was though. I watched them gathering insects in the trees nearby and flying down to their hidden baby. Later, in the afternoon, I startled the youngster inside the barn where it fluttered up to perch on the pile of logs in the back. I avoided the area for the rest of the day. By evening the little bird had found it's way between the logs of the barn's walls and perched on an iron spike about four feet off the ground. It was still there as dusk rolled in. It was a sheltered spot, behind the wide-open barn door. I thought to check again before going to bed and it was gone. I was glad to be able to close the door. But thought of country cats and marauding martens had me worried for the tiny critter's safety. In the morning, I noticed the adult redstarts flying into the barn. Seemed a good sign to me. Thanks for stopping by— especially today because I probably won't be able to. Eventually I hope to be checking up on you, so make me proud, or ashamed, you know where the key to the liquor cabinet is. This is an open thread. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/28/2248702/-Street-Prophets-Friday-Remote-Gardening?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/