Farmers Market

It is always a delight to go to Ithaca Farmers Market in the summer. With produce sourced from local farms within a twenty mile radius, the range of vegetables and fruits is astonishing.

While we were supping apple cider by the lake, we spotted a cormorant sunning itself on a log...

Nicholas

Evening Primrose

We've been blessed with a profuse display of Evening Primrose (Oenothera) plants this year at the end of the garden...and one of the benefits of these lovely plants is that they enrich the soil with Gamma Linoleum Acid, an oil which promotes health.
Oenothera flowers are pollinated by insects, such as moths and bees. Like many other members of the Onagraceae, however, the pollen grains are loosely held together by viscin threads, so only insects that are morphologically specialized to gather this pollen can effectively pollinate the flowers. Bees with typical scopa cannot hold it. Also, the flowers open at a time when most bee species are inactive, so the bees which visit Oenothera are generally vespertine temporal specialists: bees that forage in the evening. The seeds ripen from late summer to fall.

Today, the humidity is incredible and being outside for a few moments brings sweat to the brow!

Nicholas

Drought

This summer we have had such little rain! The creek is dried up and grasses are browned...
but wildflowers thrive....
Here is some Joe Pyeweed growing in the creek bed.

And a profusion of yellow and purple flowers have sprung up in our garden annex.

Meanwhile, our garden beds look magnificent! Attracting butterflies, a hummingbird and lots of bees.

Lets hope we get some rain soon!
Nicholas