Would you make every month June? I think I would. What better month of the year is there? June is when the roses bloom and the
strawberries ripen, and the world is vibrant and fresh, but mature enough to
satisfy. I suppose if we had June all year round, we would weary of it.
Today is a beautiful day here. We had a light rain overnight to refresh the
plants and now it’s sunny and just warm enough to be pleasant. I am hoping that
now June is here our weather will even out a bit. Last week we had temperatures
that swung between 40 and 92 F. The poor plants must be confused. And the
hummingbirds- I am beginning to wonder if the cold spell chased them south
again. I haven’t seen any in a few days.
The lilacs and redbud are fading. Bearded iris are beginning
to bloom. Our pond has a huge clump of yellow flag iris in bloom. Weigela,
dogwood and viburnums are blooming. There are big buds on the peonies, poppies
and early roses. My akebia vine is blooming.
And yes, the strawberries are in bloom and I have even seen some tiny
baby berries.
The creeping phlox are still pretty but I confess I am
thinking about ripping them all out. It is almost impossible to keep grass
weeded out of them. I find sitting there pulling long strands of grass out of
the clumps of foliage time consuming and frustrating.
There’s lots of weeding to be done here, that’s for sure. I
may get caught up if I don’t have to do a lot of watering this week and those
stormy waterings we have predicted allow me enough time between them. Grass is
my biggest weed problem right now, although burdock and thistle are also
growing vigorously.
My planting is pretty much finished. I planted sweet corn
and pumpkins this weekend. Maybe we will
get a good crop this year. We raised the height of the wire fence and when the
corn gets growing, I will probably hook the electric fence back up to discourage
the bad bambi’s. That’s if it makes it through cats scratching it up and the
chicken looking for kernels to eat. And it doesn’t get blow over by the wind. I
love the taste of fresh sweet corn- but it can be hard to get it to eating stage.
June begins wildflower season in earnest.
The worse part of June is that the year is half over. The
longest day is just a few weeks off and then the days start getting shorter. The
days fly by this time of year because they are so perfect. But maybe getting this year over quickly will
be a blessing.
Those in the Eastern half of the country keep an eye on the
weather this week. Lots of storms are predicted.
June almanac
June is a wonderful month in the northern hemisphere, the
month when strawberries ripen, and roses begin to bloom. Indeed, this month’s
full moon, (June 5th), is called the Full Strawberry moon in North
America and Full Rose moon in European countries. There probably won’t be any
strawberries ripening here on June 5th but maybe there will be some
further south. Moon perigee is today the 2nd and also June 29th. With the first perigee close to full moon the
gravitational pull will be stronger. Expect wet weather in many places. Moon apogee is the 14th.
Meteorically summer begins June 1st. The
astrological start of summer is summer solstice on June 20, 2020 at 5:44 pm.
EDT. At the time of the solstice the sun is at its highest point and the point
farthest north that it gets in the northern hemisphere. Solstice comes from Latin, roughly meaning
sun stands still. At the solstice the
sun seems to pause for a few days, and then slowly reverses its direction,
moving back toward the south and lower in the sky. Sadly, it’s the longest day of the year and
the nights start getting longer after the solstice.
In ancient times this event, the solstice, was always
celebrated. Many people are celebrating summer solstice once again. It’s a good
day to have a campfire, gaze at stars and wonder at the immensity of the
universe and our place in it. After a year like 2020 a little reflection on the
state of humanity is very worthwhile.
Back in May I talked about May folklore. The first Ember
Day, which is supposed to predict the weather for June, was May 22nd
and it was warm and sunny. So according to folklore June is going to be warm
and sunny. So, we shall see.
June’s birth flower is, of course, the rose. There are 3 birthstones for June (thanks to
greedy jewelers), the pearl, the moonstone and the alexandrite. The month of
June is named after the Roman goddess Juno, the goddess of marriage, family and
childbirth. To marry in June was said to make a couple fertile and blessed with
prosperity.
June is National Rose, Dairy, and Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
month. It’s Adopt a Cat month. It’s also
Gay Pride month and Fight the Filthy Fly month.
June 4th is Old Maids Day and the 5th
is World Environment day. Flag Day is June 14th and Father’s Day is
June 21st this year. The 17th
is Eat your Vegetables day. The 26th
is Forgiveness Day, what a wonderful day to celebrate.
A new
disease is killing rabbits
In Europe, China and Australia a viral disease has been
wiping out wild rabbits and threatening domestic rabbits for a decade or more. The
disease has now reached North America and is spreading in the Southwest.
Scientists believe it will soon spread through all of North America.
The disease, rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2, also
called L. europaeus/GI.2) is highly contagious and remains viable
in the environment for months. It can be spread by rabbit predators and
scavenging insects also. If you don’t like rabbit damage in the garden, you may
think this is a good thing, but the virus also kills endangered rabbit species
and domestic pet rabbits. Rabbits are also part of the food chain and their
loss will disrupt many ecosystems.
To learn more, you can read this article.
Mealworms
that can eat Styrofoam may transform plastic recycling
Plastic pollution is a major concern for people everywhere.
A way to break it down and naturally recycle it would be ideal. Researchers
announced last year that mealworms could digest Styrofoam, (considered to be
plastic), treated with a flame retardant
called hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD, and remain healthy. When the mealworms
were fed to shrimp, they too remained healthy.
New research is building on this and this year a study has
been published that used giant mealworms, (Zophobas atratus) to devour polystyrene.
The researchers found bacteria in the gut of the mealworms, called Pseudomonas
aeruginosa, that was responsible for breaking down the polystyrene.
Further study revealed that the bacteria produce an enzyme called
serine hydrolase that can be extracted and used to digest or dissolve polystyrene.
It’s believed this enzyme could be used to break down other forms of plastic. If
this enzyme could be produced in quantity imagine what a game changer it could
be. Plastic waste could be collected and broken down before it ever reached the
sea or the landfill. Let’s hope
technology and science can solve the plastic waste problem while allowing us
the many benefits of plastic.
More reading
Bumblebee bites can make plants bloom
faster
Researchers studying
bumblebees in an enclosed environment were attempting to understand how global warming
and plants blooming earlier affect bees. They stumbled upon an interesting phenomenon
science was totally unaware of.
When bumblebees were
hungry because they lacked pollen they frequently landed on plants and bit or
nibbled on the leaves. They weren’t eating them but inflicting wounds. Scientists
wondered why they did this and began to study the plants. They found that tomato
plants that bees damaged produced flowers 30 days earlier than undamaged plants
and mustard plants flowered 14 days earlier.
The researchers next
studied bumblebees and plant biting in the wild and found the same pattern. Bee
bitten plants were stressed into flowering earlier. That made more food
available faster for the bumblebees. It seems to be a behavior that is natural
and instinctive by bumblebees and bees bite more species of plants than
tomatoes and mustard.
Don’t get the idea
that pinching the leaves of your tomatoes to stimulate bee bites will help you
get tomatoes earlier. Researchers tried that and found it only accelerated
blooming a few days. They now believe the bee bites may involve a chemical
secreted by the bees that somehow prods the plants into producing pollen, bee
food, faster. It does suggest that
bumblebees should be encouraged to frequent the garden.
More reading
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| Bumblebees on beebalm |
Composting doesn’t need to be hard
Every year new
gardeners hear about the wonders of composting and want to start doing it. But
they start reading about it and get confused because there seems to be so many
methods, so much to learn, and it seems like a complicated process.
Here’s the
thing. Composting is a natural process that’s
been around forever. It isn’t
complicated, it’s just letting nature do its thing, breaking down waste
material into food for plants with microorganisms. It’s happening in your
garden right now. Don’t be scared or intimidated by the composting process. Don’t
worry about getting it “right.”
Composting can be as
simple as finding an out of the way place to dump all your waste garden
material, like weeds you pull, and grass clippings and you can add certain food
waste items from your household. Just pile it up and let it rot.
Compost can also be
made complicated. You can worry about the percentages of browns and greens and
the temperature the pile obtains. You can debate over what to add and whether
it needs turning. Some people enjoy complicated procedures.
There are things
that can help speed up the composting process and there are some things you may
want to learn about how the composting process works. There is no doubt that
good compost is like black gold for the garden. I’ve written about, taught about,
and done my own composting for many, many years. If you would like to read about a commonsense
approach to composting you can go to this page;
Mothballs are hazardous- don’t use
them in the garden
Every year about
this time people start asking other people how to discourage pest animals. And inevitably
someone will recommend sprinkling moth balls around. Here’s the reason you
should never, ever use mothballs in the garden.
Mothballs contain
one of two (sometimes both) highly toxic chemicals, naphthalene and Para
dichlorobenzene. These chemicals are classified as hazardous and a possible
carcinogen by the EPA. There are sometimes other hazardous chemicals in
mothballs too. The chemicals in mothballs can cause hemolytic anemia, damage to the
liver and kidneys, neurological damage, cataracts and damage to the retina in
humans and other animals.
Children, pets,
people who already have liver or kidney problems or some forms of inherited
blood disorders are at special risk. Deaths have occurred from naphthalene and
Para dichlorobenzene exposure in both children and adults. The chemicals also
pass through the placental barrier and a pregnant woman who handles mothballs
or even exposes herself to the fumes for an extended period of time can damage
her baby.
If you can smell the
mothballs you are inhaling vaporized poison. If a child or pet swallows just
one mothball it can cause serious problems and the poison hotline should be
called immediately. (1-800-222-1222).
The pesticides in mothballs can be absorbed through the skin by children
handling them or pets walking on them.
Mothballs placed
outside will dissolve and leak chemicals into the soil. Any food plants grown
in the soil will contain the toxins and the poisons remain in the soil indefinitely.
The soil where mothballs have been can be considered a toxic waste dump. No
organic gardener should ever use mothballs.
No conventional gardener should consider mothballs as safe to use in an off-label
manner.
Like all pesticides
it is illegal to use mothballs in a manner that is not on the label. Using
mothballs to repel animals outside is not on the label. And the irony is they
don’t even work that well as a repellant. Mothballs are a hazardous material.
Don’t put your health and those of children and pets at risk or permanently contaminate
your soil by using mothballs in the garden.
Here’s national
pesticide hotline page on toxic effects of mothballs.
What to do with baby animals and
birds
It’s June and baby
animals are everywhere. Baby birds, fawns and bunnies are popping up all over
it seems. What you do when you encounter these babies can make a
difference as to whether they live or die.
Our instincts are to help the helpless, but leaving these babies alone
is usually the best thing you can do for them.
Many animals such as deer, rabbits and most birds do not
remain with their babies constantly, so not seeing parents around is not a sign
the babies are abandoned. Deer leave young fawns in a protected spot except for
a few times a day when they come to nurse them. A fawn is usually moved to a
new resting spot every day or two by its mom but may stay in the general area
for days. Twin or triplet fawns are usually hidden in several different places,
so if you find one there may be others nearby.
Rabbits also leave their bunnies alone in the nest for most
of the day. Other animals may generally stay with their young but may leave
them alone from time to time to hunt for food. Some animals leave their young
when humans approach hoping to draw attention away from them. If you go away
they will come back.
Human scent will not scare the parents away
It’s a myth that human scent will make parents abandon their
babies. The mother- baby bond is stronger than that. But when you find babies, or
a nest do not handle them if possible. Most baby birds and animals have little natural
scent. Human scent may draw predators or disturbing the location may make it
more visible to predators. Don’t leave food or try to feed the babies. The
scent of the food may attract predators.
Don’t pet babies because they are cute or pick them up to
get pictures with them. This can be harmful to both you and the baby and could
be illegal in some cases. Taking pictures without touching is fine, if it’s
done quickly and then the babies are left alone.
Children should be taught not to pick up baby animals or
birds they find but to notify an adult if they think the creature needs help. Children
can be harmed by baby animals or their parents and they can also get diseases
or fleas and ticks from some animals. They may harm babies unintentionally and
may not remember where the baby was found if they move it. Ask them not to show
or tell friends where the baby is.
If pets were with you when the babies were found, or the pet
found them, make sure they cannot get back to the nest or babies when you are
not there. Even a baby taken from a dog is not likely to be abandoned by its
parents if it’s not injured. Cats almost always harm babies if they find them
so in this case consider the baby abandoned and probably injured. See what to
do below.
Moving babies or nests
Sometimes a baby or babies must be moved to save them from
the mower, traffic, pets, or other harm. Don’t worry about leaving your scent
on them. Mothers can usually find their babies/eggs if they are near where they
left them. When babies must be moved, move them only to the closest spot that
they will be safe. If you were going to mow or prune where a nest or baby is,
consider just leaving a patch of vegetation around the nest or baby. It/they will probably be gone in a few days
and you can mow or prune.
If you did mow over the nest and the babies or eggs aren’t
harmed just leave it. You may want to lightly cover the nest with some pulled
weeds or branches for shade and camouflage.
Don’t try to move babies from under a porch or found in an outbuilding
unless you absolutely have to. Animal babies grow fast and will generally be
gone in a few weeks. Be patient. After they are gone you can seal up or prevent
animal access to the spot. Also do not try to move birds’ nests because the
spot is inconvenient for you. The babies will be gone quickly, often in days, then
remove the nest and prevent access.
Animals may move the babies if they are disturbed and I have
even seen ground nesting birds roll eggs to a better spot. Babies are rarely
abandoned if disturbed but eggs may be. Leave the babies alone if you can and
they may be gone the next day.
Baby birds can be returned to a nest if they fell out, or a
whole nest returned to a spot near where it came from. Fledglings, baby birds just starting to fly,
should be put in a tree or other high spot away from pets and children, but
near where you found them. The parents will return and care for them.
Baby birds that are like chicks (called precocious) and
running around on the ground should be placed on the ground near where they
were found if you know the parent is somewhere nearby. They will call and the
parent will answer if they are nearby. Leave if this happens so they can
reunite. If no parent answers the calls after fifteen minutes or so, you may
want to take the babies to a wildlife rescue.
Baby ducks and geese should not be returned to water unless
you see the parent there with other babies. Some ducks and geese will accept
babies from other parents if they are about the size of their own but try to
reunite these babies with their own parent. If a parent or potential foster
parent can’t be seen, you may want to bring the babies to a wildlife rescue.
Baby ducks and goslings can’t survive well in water on their own.
 |
| Baby barn swallows make a mess. but they are soon gone. |
How to tell if babies are truly abandoned
Experts estimate about two-thirds of baby animals thought to
be orphans and brought to rescues were not really abandoned orphans. Once babies are
moved far from home by well meaning people it’s rarely easy to return them to
their mother. If you find babies in a nest/den leave them alone. Careful quiet observation
from a distance may reveal parents or it may not, even if they are there. If
the babies do not appear to be in distress check on them the next day. If they
still seem fine leave them alone, if they are gone, problem solved.
Baby animals that are true orphans may cry and make food seeking
movements when found. They may be found wandering aimlessly and crying and be
less afraid of humans than normal. If they are too young to be out of a nest or
den naturally it’s a good sign the parent is missing, but this can also be a sign
of disease.
Baby animals that remain still, try to hide or try to escape
are usually not abandoned. Fawns that are really orphans may cry and follow
pets, farm animals or humans. Ones that stay still or run from you when you
find them are rarely orphans. Baby animals may feel cold and shiver if
abandoned, but trembling can also be from fear.
Baby birds may cry for food too, but it usually just means
they are responding automatically to stimuli resembling a parent’s return to
the nest and doesn’t mean they are abandoned. You can look at a bird’s croup, a
sack like structure on its neck to see if it’s been fed. The croup will look
full if the babies have been fed recently.
Babies found near a dead female are probably orphans, but
this happens less often than people think. Because you saw a dead deer on the road does
not mean the fawn hiding in the woods by itself belonged to it.
What to do if they are abandoned or injured
Injured babies and babies you are certain are orphans should
always be brought to a wildlife rescue. Do not try to raise baby wildlife
unless you are trained and licensed. It is also illegal to keep most types of
wildlife and native birds as pets, even if you are just trying to save a baby.
Wildlife belongs to the state, even if it was found on your property, that is
the law. No one may care if you keep a baby starling, but if you keep a baby
owl you may be in for a big fine.
Baby animals and birds can carry disease and parasites. They
may have exacting needs you don’t know about or can’t provide. It’s not as
simple as pushing worms down a baby birds throat or giving a bottle of milk to
a baby bunny. You have to know the right formula to feed and how often, and
what assistance the baby needs for elimination for example. Babies must also be
raised so that they are not too dependent on and attached to people so they can
be returned to the wild.
Baby animals like raccoons can make adorable pets when young
but can turn aggressive and dangerous as they become mature. In fact, baby coons are notorious for
this. Even fawns have been known to turn
on people who raised them. Hand raised babies have no fear of humans which can
put their lives in danger when they can’t be kept as pets any longer and are
released into the wild.
Call your local animal welfare shelter or animal control if
you cannot find a wildlife rehab/rescue. They will refer you to one. The DNR
office may also be able to refer you to one.
Some rescues specialize in certain animals, but they generally know
where to refer you with a species they don’t accept. Most vet offices won’t
take abandoned wildlife although some may treat injured babies. Zoos and pet
stores also rarely accept baby wildlife.
Most people want to help a baby anything when they find it.
But helping often means just leaving it alone. And if leaving it alone isn’t
possible always take the baby to an animal rescue.
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| Baby groundhogs |
Not till June can the grass be said to be waving in the
fields. When the frogs dream, and the grass waves, and the buttercups toss
their heads, and the heat disposes to bathe in the ponds and streams, then is
summer begun.
-Henry David Thoreau
Kim Willis
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And So On….
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Love your blog. My hummingbirds disappeared too :( I miss them!! Veggies seem slow to grow so far this year.
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