July 2020

July 1, 2020

A Buckwheat Planting for Soil Health

Dave Mance III, Dispatches, July

The people who founded this publication all come from the...

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July 2, 2020

Birds that make a second nest are at it. Empty robin eggshells, the phoebe fee-beeing away, bluebirds at the bird boxes, and wrens carrying twigs are all back.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 3, 2020

Now that the wasps have filled all the ground holes in all the electrical outlets in the garage, they’ve begun using the fancy solitary bee and wasp apartment house that was made of reeds especially for them. The female lays an egg, tucks in provisions for the larva, and fills the hole with fine mud, without my noticing. I’ll try to catch her in action from now on.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 4, 2020

The berries of red baneberry are ripe, shiny, and bright. But they are named baneberry for a reason.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 5, 2020

Versatile Milkweed

Carolyn Haley, Dispatches, July

It’s hard to think of another wild plant that that...

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July 6, 2020

A lot of things are described as “growing like a weed.” In our garden the weeds really take it to heart.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 7, 2020

As of the end of June, 30 percent of Vermont was experiencing moderate drought conditions.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 8, 2020

The Year of the Earwig

Dispatches, July, Patrick White, Summer

According to the Chinese Zodiac calendar, 2020 is the Year...

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July 9, 2020

Most of us have heard that the CO2 level in Earth’s atmosphere today is higher than it’s been in a million years, but a new study, published in Geology, concludes that there’s now more CO2 than there has been in the past 23 million years. Something to think about while we fan ourselves.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 10, 2020

The year’s first chanterelles should be glowing brightly on the forest floor.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 11, 2020

Twin fawns are frolicking in the evening. It’s so innocent seeming, it’s hard not to feel a sense of anthropomorphic dread on their behalf.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 12, 2020

Taking Responsibility

Dave Mance III, Dispatches, July

Wendell Berry once pointed out that if we believe that...

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July 13, 2020

Vermont Almanac on WCAX

Dave Mance III, July, Patrick White

Dave Mance and Patrick White appeared on WCAX on July...

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July 14, 2020

The height of the severed plants in your garden can give a clue to the culprit. Rodents leave roughly inch-tall stumps. Cottontails between 2 and 3 inches. Mature deer between 12 and 16 inches.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 15, 2020

When woodpeckers feed their fledglings there’s a big racket, including relentless shrieking.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 16, 2020

So far this summer has been dry as a bone (“near- drought conditions,” the weather service calls it) followed by stream-filling thundery deluges (“rain, heavy at times”).

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 17, 2020

If you have a flashlight and a bit more patience than I have, I think you could see squash plants grow. Overnight they leapt through the garden fence and onto the grass.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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July 18, 2020

Abuzz

Dave Mance III, Dispatches, July

The pleasure of my summer has been watching the food...

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July 19, 2020

Cow parsnips are setting seed and Canada lilies are flowering – two field edge favorites.

Dave Mance III, July

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July 20, 2020

What a tail! Nothing like a gorgeous comet to take a person out of this world. Just after dark, just below the big dipper, in the northwest.

Dave Mance III, July

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July 21, 2020

If you’re working outdoors in the heat of the day, consider taking some switchel with you: roughly three cups of cider vinegar in ¾ of a gallon of water, plus some honey and some ginger. Cider vinegar supplies potassium and the ginger helps potassium absorption. Honey both revives your energy and reduces the tartness. Variations of this concoction have been used by farm workers since before the Civil War.

Ginny's Calendar, July

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