https://vermontalmanac.org/virginia-barlows-calendar/

Mashed up jewelweed plants applied to poison ivy and other rashes really does relieve the inflammation and the itching. It’s the aloe of the north.

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There’s a positive side to the earwig: the female lays about 30 eggs and stays with them until a few days after they have hatched. They are omnivorous and eat mites and insects as well as your flowers. The nasty looking pincers are used in defense.

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Red efts have sort of adapted to life on land, but having limbs on the outsides of their bodies makes them slow walkers. A easy catch for a child

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Groups of whirligig beetles often swim in circles. Each of their two eyes is divided in two: one half looks up, and the other looks down, below the waterline. You’ll need a hand lens or a microscope to see this.

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Our stone wall features a female garter snake on some mornings. These live-bearing snakes spend much of the day basking, incubating their developing young at between 84 and 90 degrees.

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Newly metamorphosed green frogs stay within jumping distance of water, ready to splash in if startled.

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Wondering where the chipmunks went? They may take a break about now and stay underground to eat stored nuts and seeds. They will be back, no doubt

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The white-faced hornet nests in our greenhouse are getting bigger, as a growing population of workers adds layers of paper, made of chewed up weathered wood, to the outside. They’re testing the limits of peaceful coexistence.

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Giant puffballs may not be the best tasting mushrooms in the world, but they are pretty good. (Butter, salt, pepper.) Plus, sometimes they are huge. When young, the pure white insides look like stryofoam balls. Older ones may be wormy.

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