I love this picture of a dad and daughter out collecting crabs from their traps on Linkhorn Bay in Virginia Beach.  It was Father's Day, 2018.  It was early morning, and I watched them for a while.  They didn't talk much, but I could see that they worked well together.  Probably been doing it for a long time.  See the lookout?  
 

I have happy memories of my dad; (very old memories,) he died in 1975.  I don't send him cards anymore, but I always celebrate Father's Day with happy thoughts.  
 

The Father's Day cards I send now are from Ranger, our cat.  Not sure he'd like the boat, but he'd probably love crabbing with Jon, his dad.  

 

To all the great dads, and granddads:  Happy Father's Day!!!  
 

 

 

 

 

This year the Summer Solstice is on June 20th.  It marks the beginning of summer.  
 

The summer solstice occurs when one of the Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun.  This creates the longest day of the year.  
 

I added the picture of STONEHENGE, because over the centuries there have been festivals, ceremonies, and rituals associated with the summer solstice.  Lots of interesting lore.  You can find out more at:  

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

 

                                                    American flag and Juneteenth flag

 

As I was putting in today's date, I realized that today is Juneteenth.  My blog today isn't about gardening, it's about history.  

 

I have heard of Juneteenth, but didn't really know much about it, so I looked up, and learned some good stuff.  Here's my internet source:  

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth?wprov=sfti1  
 

I don't need to copy and paste the whole article, but it is very interesting, definitely worth the look-see.  I made it easy for you;  all you have to do is click on the link, and go read for yourself.  It's good to be informed.  
 

Thanks to Patty and Bill for putting up the Independence Day decorations in time to include the Juneteenth Independence.

 

It's important to celebrate our nation's holidays.  

 

HAPPY JUNETEENTH!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Our beautiful view.  Looks so good all cleaned up, thanks to Lopez tree service.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

We had some tree work done this week, and these guys are great!!!  I took some videos, but I still can't load them.  

 

It was so amazing to watch Lopez climb the tree to cut off limbs, and the other two guys dragging off the cuttings.  It started to rain while he was up the tree, but when we heard thunder, he came down.  They came back early the next day.
 

We learned about him from Fidel, the Five Forks lawn maintenance crew.  Nice guys.  When you need tree work done, you can reach him through Fidel, or use the phone number on his truck.  It works for texting too.  I tried it to say, "see you tomorrow."

 

Here's an amazing picture that Jon took of Lopez up one of our trees:  at 8 am.  

 

 

 

 

He trimmed up 7 trees, and now our view is fabulous!!!  Highly recommend.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

It's a never ending battle:  squirrels and food.  My friend Nick understands it this way:  that's all they have to do all day, figure out ways to get food.
 

I watched last week, as a squirrel jumped from the ground to a horizontal limb about 4 feet up.  I stomped and yelled and made a bunch of noise, sending it right up into the apple tree!! AAK!!!!  Nope, that didn't work out too well.  

 

So, off to Home Depot for a roll of flashing.  Hey, it works to keep them out of the bird feeders.  So here's how we hope to get some apples this year.  We've got our fingers crossed.  Hahaha!!

 

I'll let you know if it works.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is another species of Asclepias. It is Asclepias variegata, also known as Redring or White Milkweed.  It is native to eastern North America, and can be found in Canada and the US.  We've seen it a lot in our travels on the Skyline Drive in Virginia, and right here in western North Carolina.  They're easy to spot on roadways and in the meadows, especially when they're blooming.  Just like other milkweeds, it is also food for Monarch butterflies.  
 

This one stands about 2 feet tall, and lives at Meeks Park.  We go there a lot.  There is a 2 mile walking path with gentle hills, (not like our neighborhood walk with its 600 foot vertical climb.)  And there is always something interesting to see.  
 

The genus was formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, who named it after Asclepius, the Greek god of healing.  I just looked this up, and found that I've been spelling the plant genus name incorrectly.  The Greek god's name is Asclepius, and the plant genus name is Asclepias.  I'll go back and revise my writings, because it matters to me that if I'm teaching you something, I should have my facts straight.  
 

I hope you see some milkweed blooming;  it means there will be food for the Monarch butterflies.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

Didn't need SEEK to identify this guy.  This is the groundhog that lives at Meeks Park.  We've seen him lots of times, always in the same area.  Usually, though he scoots back into his den.  I guess he was sunning himself, or trying to catch a breeze, because he sat right there while we took 6 pictures, and didn't try to hide.  I don't know scientific names for mammals;  I guess I could look it up, if I needed to know.  OK, here we go...

The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as a woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. It was first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
 

The groundhog is also referred to as a chuck, wood-shock, groundpig, whistlepig, whistler, thickwood badger, Canada marmot, monax, moonack, weenusk, red monk and, among French Canadians in eastern Canada, siffleux.

 

Groundhogs are true hibernators, spending 4-6 months sleeping in their dens.  They spend the fall fattening up, storing energy to maintain their bodies through the winter.  They can slow their respiration to 1 breath per minute, and lower their heart rate from 110 to 4-5 beats per minute.  They also lower their body temperature from 96 degrees to 40 degrees, just above freezing.  Then, sleep and sleep and sleep.  
 

I love seeing groundhogs in the park, and now I have new respect for their resilient nature.  I'm glad I looked them up.  I learned something new.  I still don't want to see them in my garden or tunneling under my deck.  
 

Maybe you'll get to see him next time you're in the park.  
 

 

HAPPY CRITTER SIGHTING!!!

 

We have been noticing this ground cover for years, but didn't know what to call it.  
 

Now we know what to call it:  fan clubmoss, groundcedar, or crowsfoot.  You could call it by its scientific name:  Diphasiastrum digitatum, but I wouldn't know where to start to pronounce that, so I'm running with fan clubmoss.  
 

I have this cool app on my phone that identifies plants, fungi, fish, reptiles, amphibians, arachnids, birds, mollusks, mammals, and insects with common and scientific names.  I take it with me on our walks in case we see something new or unfamiliar.  Today I found out that this app doesn't JUST identify species, it also gives some interesting information about them.  And it was FREE!!!

 

So, about this plant:  fan clubmoss is native to eastern North America, and grows in mostly shaded areas.  It is a moss, so it reproduces by spores, rather than seeds.  The fruiting bodies should be visible soon, July through December.  I'll get back to you on this.  I'm excited to learn more about it.  
 

Be on the lookout, it's in our neighborhood too.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is garlic growing in the garden.  They look a lot like spring onions, but this is just the above ground part.  In July we'll harvest the underground part, the garlic bulbs.  I'll show them to you then.

 

Garlic is in the Liliaceae family.  Yep, along with onions, daffodils, and those beautiful oriental lilies.  We plant garlic in the fall, at least by Thanksgiving.   We bury the individual cloves about 6 inches deep, then pile on leaves and straw to protect them through the winter.  This year I planted 40 cloves from last year's harvest.  That will give us garlic for the year, plus enough to plant this November. 
 

I cut the scapes (flower heads) a few days ago.  Then I saw a farmer pull the scapes from the center of the plant;  she got a little more of the delicious stem.  I'll do that next year.  Last year I learned that by removing the flowering part, more energy goes to the bulb, making it grow bigger.  I also learned that garlic scapes are very tasty.  Unfortunately, you only get one harvest of scapes per year.

 

This picture also shows some gorgeous red and green lettuce.  We grew those from seeds too!  Seeds that I collected from last year's lettuce.  I love the process!!!
 

This fall, try planting a few garlic cloves in your garden, and see for yourself how easy it is to grow good garlic.  Best to buy organically grown bulbs, that haven't been treated to not sprout.  I've seen it in Ingles and sometimes at the Union Co farmers market.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!