Bring on the butterflies, moths,
and, of course, the bees!
I can’t hide my penchant for pollinators.
“The Wonder of Discovery: Pollinators All Around” by Carolyn Vibbert
It’s that time of year …
Blooms are bursting open around the farm, spiffing up the place with color and fragrance. I welcome the annual buzz and whir of those wondrous little magicians who make food happen. Last weekend, I was showing my grandgirls some flowers that were covered in our honeybees. I explained how it all ended up as honey, but more important, I explained that without the bees buzzing around the flowers on our blueberry bushes, we wouldn’t get blueberries. (Blueberries are Mia’s favorite food.)
Photo by Aiwok via Wikimedia Commons
Six years ago, the U.S. Senate unanimously declared the third week in June as “National Pollinator Week” to help address the declining pollinator crisis, and Pollinator Week has blossomed into an international celebration.
This year, the party kicks off on June 17, and the Pollinator Partnership website offers ideas about how you can get involved.
For my part, I’m focusing on some of my garden’s most charming guests:
hummingbirds.
Have you ever wondered whether the money you spend ends up funding causes you oppose? Like an industry that hurts honey bees?
That’s the burning question posed by a new app called Buycott …
and it’s out to find the answer.
“A buycott is the opposite of a boycott,” explain the app’s socially conscious creator, Ivan Pardo. “Buycott helps you to organize your everyday consumer spending so that it reflects your principles.”
How?
After you download the app (free from iTunes), you start “buycotting” by searching for and joining available campaigns—or creating your own—in order to establish a profile of your social conscience.
Then, you can scan a product’s barcode with the Buycott app and it will set out to determine what the product is and who owns it. Buycott will then trace the product’s ownership back to its original parent company and cross-check this company against campaigns that you care about, from homelessness to GMO foods and beyond.
Conflicts between a company and your campaigns will send up a red flag, helping you make an informed choice about how you spend your money.
Buycott already boasts over 100 campaigns and the list is growing. If your cause can’t be found, it’s quick and easy to add it. All you need is a goal and a list of companies that you know either support or undermine your cause.
Did you catch my musty book coffee fix post earlier this year?
Just the mention of “musty” makes my nose crinkle (although coffee is a pleasing antidote).
With our noses now inside a book, let’s turn the page … or pick up another edition?
Something like that.
Last week, on a spontaneous hunt for poetic inspiration, I spied my old copy of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass—the one that survived my house fire many, many years ago. It has been sitting unopened for so long, tucked inconspicuously among other faded fabric spines, I was prepared to pinch my nose upon opening it.
Courtesy iPad E-Book Library
But, there was no must, no mildew …
just that heavenly “old book smell.”
Ahhh.
Courtesy Eakins Press Foundation
Do you remember the last time you fumbled upon that nigh forgotten fragrance?
There’s just something completely charming about ladybugs.
Even people who get uptight at the mention of the “b” word are often more than okay with these beautiful and benevolent little beetles.
That glossy red shell, those dainty polka dots …
Photo by Gilles San Martin from Namur, Belgium via Wikimedia Commons
Darling!
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that ladybugs are marvelous allies in the garden.
But, first things first …
How Did the Ladybug Get “Her” Name?
Legend has it that during the Middle Ages in Europe, a swarm of aphids fell upon fields of crops, leaving desperate farmers with little choice but to implore the Virgin Mary for help. And what do you know? Legions of tiny crimson beetles soon landed, as if descending straight from the heavens. They began devouring the aphids and saved the crops. In gratitude, the farmers named their fortuitous visitors “Our Lady’s Beetles.”
Divine Diversity
Over 450 species are native here in North America (who knew?), and they can sport a surprising array of outfits: orange, yellow, pink, gray—even brown or black.
Photo courtesy of Ladybug-life-cycle.com
Gardeners and Ladybugs: A Love Affair
Aphids are the bane of many a gardener, and as luck would have it, ladybugs are excellent aphid eaters, both in their larval and adult forms.
FYI, these are ladybugs at three different life stages:
Photo by Sebastian Ritter via Wikimedia Commons
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Kristina Smith!
Kristina Smith (kristina72, #5176) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Cross-stitch Merit Badge!
“This turned out great. I tried to cross-stitch as a child but didn’t have the patience to complete anything. I was looking through the Merit Badge lists and thought that this would be a good way to try again as well as have a gift item for the “Summer Surprise Swap” that I signed up for on the Farmgirl Connection site.”
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
