2024

This morning at the garden, I'm going to dig up and remove those big clumps of grass in the front of the Garden Square...

I think getting that mess out of the way will make the entire garden plot look better!

But then I decided to get photos of all angles of the garden!

Welcome to the garden plot tour!

So! Here is the front right, an area I call the Garden Square... Pre-Grass-Clump-Removal!

There's a Brandywine and a SunGold. And then the Lemon Cucumbers are in the front, you can just barely see the trellis. The dead leaves top middle are the Elephant Garlics which are dying back already.

Here's the view of the Garden Square from the other side...

Yeah, that's a lot of Borage! I love Borage. There's also some Amaranth in there too. And, hard to see, but the Eggplant is there on the far right, just below center.

Then if I walk down the pathway of the plot at the right border... There's more tomato plants, then the Wax Bean trellis and then the Squash Square in the back corner...

The biggest tomato is the primary SunGold. There's also an Old German, which will have large, orange tomatoes and a Black Tomato, which will have medium sized fruits.

The trellis on the Wax Beans is 6feet long and 4feet high. But you can see the bean plants are still small. I planted these way later than I wanted to because my little problem with Non-Compliance took priority for several unfortunate weeks in June.

The bean seedlings are very cute tho! And here's the Squash Square behind them...

The bright yellow leaves belong to the poor over watered Crookneck. The smaller plants are a mix of Spaghetti Squashes and Crooknecks, grown from seed. And then the bigger leaves on the right are two Butternuts. In the top right corner is a yellow Patty Pan.

And here's the view from the back, of the other side of the plot, looking towards the front...

The stake and the Leeks mark the start of the Tofu Patch. and beyond it, closer to the front, is the Supplementary Squash Square which has three Zucchini plants and a couple extra Lemon Cucumbers. On the other side of that, at the front, is a clear area where I'm trying to kill the two Comfrey plants.

But let's talk about that big pile of green at the bottom of the above pic. *laughs*

When the first two plants popped up, I assumed they were sunflowers and was happy to have them. Volunteer Sunflowers sometimes come up in awkward places, so it's nice when they are mostly out of the way!

But then more and more came up, and you see what it's like now. It's a whole bush!

And it slowly dawned on me. Those aren't Sunflowers. It's Sunchoke!

Haha!! Sunchoke! I've been wanting and trying to grow some for a couple years now... and here it is, and I mis-identified it!

Well. Sunflowers and Sunchoke are very closely related. So I don't feel too bad about the mistake.

But it's a bummer that the clump is so close to the border... They will get very tall and they are so dense they will block the morning light into Mia's Kids' plot! Not that they have anything growing there. but still. I want to be a good neighbor!

I got to eat five Sugar Snap Pea pods today!

And I've completed the work in the front... Big ol' grass clumps have been dug out, and I've hand weeded a lot of grass roots too.

It does look better! And in this photo you can see the two tomato plants better. And the pink seed heads of the Elephant Garlic are visible in that photo too, in the top right!

When I return the fork to the shed, I see that our Milkweed is blooming!

Our native species is Showy Milkweed and it's definitely interesting looking!

It's been mid-80s over the weekend, absolutely perfect summer weather, if a bit over the normal of 80° (26°C).

But we've got hot weather on the way. So it's time to start attempting some thermo-regulation tricks in the house.

We do not have air conditioning. We don't have central heat, so any air available to us would be the crappy kind that sits in your window.

I refuse. I just refuse.

It's tough surviving the days that go over 90°... and the forecast is calling for days over 100°. And I suppose at some point we will have to get an air conditioner. But for now, I'd rather not.

And the bugs like the heat... Here's a Dragonfly on the bike path, going home.

He's a Common Whitetail Skimmer!

Democracy died here, today, with the SCOTUS decision granting un-constitutional immunity to Trump and presidents. (But let's face facts, here... it's just Trump. Nobody else!)

Trump v. United States (23-939)
The nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority; he is also entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts; there is no immunity for unofficial acts.

∞ Justices rule Trump has [some] immunity from prosecution

King Trump. The very thing the writers of the Constitution wanted to prevent. It's disgusting.

I'm not going to type about it. I'm just marking the day.

The hot temperatures start on 4th of July. So I've decided to head to the river today, before I have to dedicate excessive time at the garden for watering!

But today is lovely. And the Climate Change Wind is blowing and it almost makes it chilly over the river!

Huh. There's actually some water coming over the spillover into the ponds!

That's surprising! Usually the river is too low this time of year.

All kinds of birds at the ponds today!

Awww! So little! Just a couple of inches! And all by herself.

This is our native species, Western Pond Turtle. Probably doesn't even know how cute she is!

The invasive turtles are cute too.

Around the corner... oh my GOSH! Tree Swallows have been using this hole for their nest again this year. And the kids must have fledged today!

The Tree Swallow family is all over the place! *laughs*

Haha, the begging baby!

So demanding. And the other one is all Ack! Get away from me! *laughs*

Well, that is super cool! But I've got a walk to get to!

Haha, I walked right on by my meditation spot, and had to come back to it... it looks so different in the summer with leaves on the trees!!

I stay on the east side of the river, but when I look across... I see an Osprey in the platform nest on the other side! Foo. I should have gone over.

Oh well. Ha, photobombed by a Swallow!

Well, this has been such a great walk. And it's so nice to get away from the bike path at home and see different things.

But I stop by the garden on the way home... Just a quick watering.

The first zucchini is well on it's way!

And the Giant Marigolds are doing a lot better since I added some support. Nobody likes flopping around in the Climate Change Wind!

I love these rusty red Sunflowers!

I'm at the garden to get some work done. But I can't resist a little walk about to look at other people's flowers!

Love in a Mist and a profusion of Nasturtiums!

I used to have Nasturtiums in the back corner of my plot... where the Squash Square is right now. They reseeded themselves for a long time. But last year, when I did a good job of weeding in prep for the Tofu Patch, only a couple popped up. And none, this year.

I kind of miss them. I'll have to try again with them next year!

Oooh! These Daisies are something different!

Wow! I Like!

Smartweed is blooming in my plot...

It's a native but you have to be careful with it because it tends to form mats and chokes everything else out. But one or two, here and there are nice. Because native plants support native pollinators!

Yum... I ate five Sugar Snap Pea pods today! I'm trying to pick the fatter ones, since those are sweeter!

I've cleared another little section of weeds in the Squash Square. It's slow going here...

Ugh, there is tons of Crabgrass and it is SO hard to get out! The blades of grass break off easily if you just grab it. The crown is buried a bit, and the roots make it hard to get up under it.

The Wax Bean seedlings... Grow faster please!

The Old German tomato, with some of the Giant Marigolds in the background! The Old German has a couple baby fruits growing too!

But the Black Tomato is still so very small. Grow!

I wonder who munches little holes in the Eggplant?

Happy Lemon Cucumbers, starting to climb the trellis!!

And some of the borage is blooming!! But where are the bees???

I've noticed an unfortunate LACK of European Honey Bees this spring. And it's highly unusual to have Borage blooms without Honey Bees dancing around them!

But, without the Honey Bees, I've been paying more attention to the other pollinators!

Bumblebees of course! But also Hover Flies, Bee Flies and Sweat Bees!

Wasps! Several different kinds of Wasps... Yellow Jackets of course, but there's these amazingly beautiful black and red wasps! Wow, they are lovely, but I can't even get close to getting a photo! They are shy. But I want to be your friend! Nope! *laughs*

There's the Cabbage Whites, of course, the most abundant of the butterflies.

And even House Flies are around! They are beautiful in the sunshine, with their iridescent colours!

I love bugs! And I'm so glad to have them in my garden plot!!

A fledgling!

*laughs* I could tell this was a child even without seeing that bit of gape on her face... She was tripping over her own feet as she tried to walk along the board of the fence!

Today I worked in the Squash Square again. Crabgrass. Stupid Crabgrass. But I've freed up some little Spaghetti Squashes.

And I pulled off the first Green Zucchini!!

I ate a few Sugar Snap Pea pods, but I'm taking some home for Partner!

The Crookneck is doing things!

And the first Old Germans are getting bigger!

But ARG! The SunGold in the front has a droopy and wilted branch!

I guess I'm not watering it enough. And what a bummer to go into the oncoming heat dome like this!

It's 93° today (34°C) but the forecast is saying the 100°+ days will be piling up thru the weekend.

This is the secondary SunGold -- yeah, I've got two plants because I am crazy -- so I guess it's not a huge deal if it loses a few branches. But! It's right next to my precious Brandywine... and I am determined to get at least a couple of those tomatoes this year!

So I watered the heck out of both of them!

On the way home, I was finally able to get a photo of this little one... uh, never mind that bit of litter...

This is a Hydaspe Fritillary, such a small butterfly, their whole wingspan is probably less than an inch! But I see one fluttering around these apartment gardens that I pass, every day! Glad I was able to finally figure out who they are!

And yes, I picked up the trash and threw it away at home!

To be 101° today, and it was already up over 75° when I was leaving the house. I decided to take both of my water bottles to the garden today! I put a couple ice cubes in each of them... Hydroflasks do really well with insulation, but the ice only clinked in the bottles for a couple of blocks.

Once I got to the garden, I kept the bottles in the shade, and the water was still cold even when I finished drinking it a couple hours later!! Well. Maybe luke-cold is a better way to describe it. *laughs*

So I was going to weed out more Crabgrass... At the edge of the Squash Square is my little experiment of Buckwheat...

The Buckwheat is there in the middle, the Sunflower I bought is on the left and the big Crookneck on the right with some smaller leaves of probably Spaghetti Squash.

The rest of the green in there is Smartweed and Crabgrass... And you can see a couple leaves of the Black Bindweed as well. The weeds here need to go! I want the Buckwheat to live!

But... I didn't get very far with the weeding. The heat got to me!

Well. I watered for a good long while. And I hosed myself as well... the cold water felt good, tho there's not much wind today for an evaporative effect. But I def felt better after watering!

The Brandywine...

I'm a little concerned because not all of the flowers are getting fertilized on the Brandywine and the Old German. I mentioned the other day that there weren't many European Honey Bees around this year, but you'd think with everyone else buzzing around here, the flowers would get fertilized! sighs.

This little guy is growing at the edge of the Tofu Patch...

Yay! It's a volunteer Tomatillo! So happy to see it!

When they are small, they look almost exactly like Amaranth! There's plenty of Amaranth around, but I waited before I weeded it out because yeah, I was looking for some Tomatillos!

I am very pleased with the Squash Square...

And it'll be even better once I finish weeding around the Buckwheats under the Sunflower!

But the Wax Beans, there on the right at the base of the trellis... I am not so pleased with. GROW!

*laughs*

and the Supplementary Squash Square is a happy place as well.

Green Zuc on the left, Yellow Zuc on the right, and there's actually a smaller Yellow Zuc behind it.

Yeah. That's a lot of plants for one person. Partner has never been interested in eating zucchini. But I love Zucchini! And I'm looking forward to trying to eat it all!! :)

And speaking of Partner...

The other day, he was here at the Community Garden, dropping off our compost. The Garden has a big place designated for organic waste, which is hauled away with dump trucks a couple times a year. A local company then uses that for compost.

And since Partner and I live in an apartment, we don't have a place to put compost. So we take our kitchen scraps to the garden and add them to the pile.

And when he went the other day, a person yelled at him and told him he wasn't allowed to bring kitchen scraps to the compost pile.

???

I have no idea why this person would think that, or why they would want to stop someone from adding kitchen scraps to a compost pile!!

But, having pondered for a little while... it's possible this person thought our kitchen scraps would include dead animal parts.

And yeah. If you eat dead animals, you definitely do NOT want to put those kinds of kitchen scraps into your compost! The rotting process will be all kinds of stuff you don't want! With flies and smells and rats and other omnivores!

But I'm vegan, of course. And Partner is mostly vegan at home. So our kitchen scraps are 100% good for the compost pile.

There's a good bit of coffee grounds and paper filters... which makes for very high quality compost. And then there's the vegetable trimmings. And before too long, those vegetable trimmings will be mostly from veggies I have grown at the garden! Exactly the kind of stuff that is supposed to go into the compost pile!

So the yelling person was a little bit misguided... but only because they didn't have all the information. That's okay.

My neighbor gave me a little bouquet. I stuck the flowers in a favorite coffee mug and decided to show you how the Pansies are doing as well!

Day Two of the heat dome, todays high is 104° (40°C).

This blurry guy was way over on the other side of the creek... but he's so bright I could see him a mile away!

Flame Skimmer!

And the Hydaspe Fritillary...

The bugs must like the heat.

As for me, I suddenly noticed a good thing about our new Climate Change Wind... It was blowing a little bit today, and when it quit the heat suddenly got so oppressive and I could feel it radiating off the bike path! And then the wind blew again and took the heat away!

Oh yeah, the walk home, with wet clothes is going to be much nicer!

The Giant Marigold in the front of the plot is doing really well. It's the only one with yellow blooms, the other three have orange blooms.

I have more energy today, I guess the body is starting to adapt to the heat! I've weeded the Leeks again (with the two volunteer beets).

But the Tofu Patch? I might need to give up on it...

I had re-seeded the Soybeans for the Third time on Jun23, and I don't think any new plants have come up from that. And the plants that have come up, are just not growing like they should. They are staying small.

And the Smartweed is taking over again.

So maybe I'll weed it again, leave whatever Soybeans are there, of course. and the Tomatillos I want to keep. And maybe I'll plant some more Buckwheat in the space that's left as a nice summer cover crop.

Such a bummer. Maybe there's something wrong with the dirt over on this side. idk.

But check this out! The first real harvest of Sugar Snap Peas!

WooHoo! There are about 30 pea pods here, and I ate 10 before I took the pic... so 40 total for today! And lots of smaller pods left to be picked later!

And the Primary SunGold!

I also weeded a bit under the Buckwheats, at the edge of the Squash Square.

The stupid Crabgrass growing here takes such a long stupid time to work out of the dirt. And my fingers hurt from digging under each little plant to get the crown out. bah!

But this is nice:

I'm out... but I glance back as I'm leaving...

Look at all the dead dirt pathways. I worked so hard to meet their stupid expectations. But I guess it does kinda look like a real garden this year. heh.

All that Borage notwithstanding! :D

On the way home, Nutria youngsters!

Some ran away as I approached, I think there were five kids altogether! So Cute!

Third day of the heat dome, 103° today.

Not only are we breaking all-time record highs, but it's looking like we will also tie the Oregon record for most consecutive 100°+ days... Portland had five days of over 100° heat in 1941.

And I finished weeding around the couple of Buckwheats, growing at the edge of the Squash Square...

That stupid Crabgrass growing there took forever to murder! Getting up, under each plant's base to pull the whole thing out was just time consuming. And there was just so much of it... the seeds must have come in with the winter leaf mulch I put down last year.

So annoying. Means I'll probably be fighting it off for years to come. sighs.

As I was leaving, this lovely one showed up! They were flitting around, and I asked them to sit somewhere so I could get a portrait.

A Painted Lady Butterfly!

I am happy with all the bugs in the garden plot, but it's always nice to meet with the more beautiful ones!

Fourth day of the heat dome, 105°.

Good Morning Beautiful Kitty.

Hi, Knotty!

Oh my gosh! The other Barn Swallow nest is being rebuilt!!

Well! This is exciting!

And then I get to the garden, and noticed this right as I walked in!

Yay! Ripening!

Today I'm weeding the Wax Beans... Don't they look so much happier!

I wanted to keep most of the Borage, going down the middle of the trellis. But there was Crabgrass and Smartweed making the bean seedlings feel crowded.

Definitely, much better!

The Buckwheat must be happy with the weeding I gave it the other day... The first bloom!

The Green Zuc is being crazy!

And the Yellow Zuc is being slightly less crazy!

The Crookneck is also less crazy!

A pretty good harvest of Sugar Snap Peas today!

(along with some of the Borage I pulled from the Wax Beans... Not only is Borage easy to pull up where you don't want it, but it also breaks down very quickly to return nutrients to the soil! I love Borage for so many different reasons! :)

I guess the next project needs to be clearing out the failed Tofu Patch. Bleh.

But then I get home and discover the first Pansy bloom!!!

Yay!

Fifth day of the heat dome, 106° and we've tied the Oregon record for most 100°+ days in a row.

There was a dead baby bird on the bike path. Too young for me to tell what species. Too hot to live.

And makes me worry about the Barn Swallows, who are rebuilding their second nest for another brood. sighs.

At the garden, the Old German has folded up all the leaves on the west side.

Well, at least they haven't wilted. I pour water like crazy.

Today I begin Project Tofu Patch... here's the Before pic:

Filled with Smartweed and Crabgrass, that's got to go.

And After:

It will take a few days to finish.

I ate about 20 Sugar Snap Peas at the garden, instead of bringing them home... I've got too many at home!

I need to step up my squash eating at home too... they are starting to pile up alarmingly! *laughs* I picked todays Zucs pretty small...

And, ya know... I felt kind of bad, picking them so small. It feels like I am wasting food by not letting them grow to the size I would normally pick them.

Yes. I am crazy.

Walking home, I came across this one, right as they caught a snack. Crustacean maybe?

And, hey! This is someone new! Hardly has any shoulder patch at all!

Welcome to the neighborhood!

And at home, more of the little Pansies are blooming!

We are done with the 106° heat dome... tho it's still 97° today. But that is significantly cooler and it definitely feels nicer today.

I'm at the garden and will continue to hand weed in the Tofu Patch.

So! The French people!!

When they were first coming in, I could hear them chatting, but they were too far away to hear their actual words. But the cadence of their speech was wrong, and as they got closer it sounded like they were literally talking gibberish! I honestly thought the heat had finally gotten to me and I was hallucinating!!

But as they approached, I heard a couple Ouis and I realized they were speaking French! They came up the aisle, went past my plot and into the diagonal plot across the path.

The men were lagging behind, looking at everything and they stopped in front of my plot. He pointed at the big Zucchini plants in the Supplementary Squash Square and said Courgette! I laughed and said YES! He added something else, and I probably had a quizzical look, and the other man translated for me: Nice Garden! :)

I was working in the Tofu Patch, but I was delighted by their French back and forth conversation, punctuated by excited declarations and garden joy!

About mid way thru my watering routine, the man came back to check out my plot. No speak English, he told me. I nodded and let him know I don't speak any French. He pointed and said stuff and I was sorry to be the ignorant American. *Laughs*

But the others came by, and I got more translations. They were admiring the front Garden Square. The woman pointed to the Borage, and said a word similar: bourrache, Boo-Haush (like hush, but with a long A sound). They said you could eat the flowers, and I was all Meh! But she went to pick one, and I did as well and we both ate. I said, It's fuzzy! I told them the Borage was for the bees, and they agreed the bees love it.

And then they pointed at the Amaranth. That word is the same in French, just with an accent. They discussed it and said you can eat the seeds but it's a lot of work to get them. I told them the Amaranth was for the birds.

*laughs* I only wish I could have more plants in the garden that are only for the wildlife!!

It was very fun to meet them and I loved talking with them even tho I had to wait for translations!

So, I've gotten another little strip of weeds out of the Tofu Patch. I think the Soybeans appreciate it!

There's a glorious Volunteer Sunflower growing in the Tofu Patch as well.

I mentioned the other day that it's nearly impossible to tell the Amaranth from the Tomatillo... Here are the growing plants, side by side...

Amaranth on the left, Tomatillo on the right.

The Tomatillo has a first bloom on it!

There's a Sunflower and a Tomatillo growing next to the Wax Bean trellis as well. Perfect! It's great when the Volunteers place themselves so well!

And here's the Sunflower I bought, overlooking the Squash Square.

It looks like it's going to bloom before it gets tall. It's only just a bit over 3feet tall right now. eh, that's okay.

And when I got home, I discovered I had a blister on the tip of my finger, right above the nail. Ha! That damn Crabgrass! Trying to get under the base of it... Stupid hard work!

To be 91° today, but there's still some upper 90s in the forecast. So we're not quite done with the hot temperatures around here.

And the new Climate Change Wind is very gusty today. The weather page said 9 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. I'm still not used to the wind, but 28mph sounds like a lot!

I'm getting a fork out of the tool shed at the Community Garden, so I'm having a wander to look at other people's plots. Roz has some Echinaceas blooming.

Sunflowers are starting to bloom!

Kevin's Opium Poppies still have some blooms.

Ha, photobombed by a cute lil House Fly!

These flowers should be loaded with Honey Bees, but I just see the one today... sighs.

Okay. Here I am at my plot.

I'm going to use the fork to dig up what I can of the recurring Comfrey.

I've lost track of how many times I've had to chop at it!

And the After picture:

I did pull some good size roots from the small Comfrey in front, but just leaves and stems from the big one. It's just the deepest roots left on that one, it looks like.

That first SunGold is still ripening.

The Brandywine looks a little rougher every day... some leaves are dying, a bunch of flowers not fertilized.

The big Yellow Zucchini is doing good things.

And I got the first Crookneck today!

And that Black Bindweed is getting all over the place. ha.

I take the fork back to the shed. And someone else is growing Sweet Peas as well. Crazy people! Sweet Peas are poisonous!

We have a pollinator flower bed at the front of the Community Garden. It is not as tended or exciting as last year, but these red flowers ... are they Crocosmias?

I saw an Anna Hummingbird darting around them! Unfortunately, she didn't stick around for photos. oh well.

At the garden, I've cleared another little section of Crabgrass and Smartweed from the Tofu Patch... working around the blister I have on the tip of my pointer finger! Ha!

As I was watering the tomatoes in front, a female Hummingbird stopped to look at me and the spraying water.

I was instantly reminded about the nest I watched a couple years ago. (March 2022) I wonder if this Hummer was that Mama... or one of her children!

Altho I've seen Hummingbirds in the garden, occasionally, I do miss having a Garden Supervisor. A male Anna Hummer, who claimed the Community Garden as his territory, and sat on a trellis in the plot behind ours.

He was used to having me around, and let me get really close for photography. And I enjoyed seeing him thru the year and listening to him sing, while I worked.

Ha, this cracks me up...

I've never planted Lemon Cucumbers so close to Zucchini before! I love how they are interacting!

Oh Hey! Eggplant blooms!!

Well, that's exciting. Yeah, I don't really like to eat eggplant, and I've never cooked one for myself. But it's fun to watch this thing grow!

Today's harvest, with the Black Bindweed vine!

There have been homeless people camped under the Barn Swallow bridge, since the heat dome. It's a decent place for humans... you've got shade all day and the wind is funneled thru to keep things a bit cooler.

But I'm so frustrated about it!

There was a parent Barn Swallow IN the far nest, today!

I glance up to see, but I don't want to stop, because I don't want to give away a nest location to humans who might not be respectful.

So I don't know if the Barn Swallow parents are sitting on eggs again. They might be!

This Little One was out by herself, and letting the humans get Way too close! So little and so clueless!

Okay! Homeless people under the bridge are gone, except for their trash. sighs. But I'm glad I finally get to watch this second nest for the Barn Swallow parents!!!

That's Papa in the nest and Mama is waiting to take over.

They must have eggs, already!! But are they going to be okay with this hot weather???

Papa is shifting around, but he's not ready to leave yet.

Okay. I'm at the garden and here's the BEFORE pic of the Tofu Patch. Continuing to slowly pull out Crabgrass and Smartweed.

And AFTER. Just a little strip cleared, again, you can hardly tell the difference.

But there's some Soybeans growing that feel much better without the choking weeds...

That flopped over plant, top left, is a Sunflower... it had gotten spindly with all the Smartweed. I will prob remove it. I think one Sunflower in the Tofu Patch is probably enough!

I get distracted by the flowers in the neighboring plot.

Okay. Back to my garden plot!

The Black Bindweed is ... um, flowering?

Well. That's kind of... heh. Whatever!

And I thought I was going to pick a couple of these today...

But growth has finally slowed down with the heat. These zucs are too small to bother with.

So I just pulled that weird one at the bottom... Today's harvest is kind of meager!

The Buckwheats are starting to bloom in earnest!

I planted these soaked seeds on Jun9... so that's just over a month to bloom time! Awesome!

And then on the way home... hmmm.

I waited a minute or so, but no one showed up.

That makes me wonder. Were the Barn Swallows having a consultation this morning about whether to abandon this nesting attempt?

The heat just hasn't let up, after our 106° heat dome. It's 97° today and the forecast says the highs will stay in the mid and upper 90s for the next few days.

Abandoning eggs is a bummer. But probably easier to do before you get too emotionally attached... I'm fairly sure the eggs were laid just in the last couple days or so.

This stalk of Snap Dragons is the only thing left from the little bouquet of flowers I got the other day.

No one here. As I suspected yesterday, I think the Barn Swallow parents have abandoned this nest and the eggs in it, due to the heat. The high today is 96°.

You gotta keep hydrated when it's this hot!

Mama is close by.

I'm at the garden, but no work today! Just watering to give my poor fingers a rest from clutching at stupid Crabgrass.

Under the Lemon Cucumber leaves...

Heh, she's too quick for me!

Still no one...

A couple degrees cooler today, and I can feel it this morning! The heat is much less intense for my walk out! The high today is 93° instead of the upper 90s it has been.

The forecast for the week is a mixed bag... near 100° again tomorrow, and then the highs fluctuate between upper 80s and mid 90s.

You know what would be nice? The normal temperature for this time of year is 84/52. Doesn't 84° sound blissful? 29° C. Aahhh, that's the dream!

Homeless people have set up another camp under the Barn Swallow bridge, but I guess it doesn't matter now... I glanced up and saw neither parent occupying the nest. They have definitely abandoned it.

At the garden, and I've decided to murder the Black Bindweed today...

Since it's new to me, I just wanted to see what it did. But the internets tell me that it spreads with seed, and since it started making some seed, with tiny, non-impressive and pointless flowers, I figured I should head that off.

It pulled up easily, I grabbed near the bottom of the stem and a little root ball popped right out! Surprisingly different from the regular Bindweed around here... which spreads thru roots, so there's always a long root that stays behind.

I spent some extra time today, and finally finished weeding the Tofu Patch.

I adore this Sunflower growing in the Tofu Patch!

The orange bits over there are blooming Nasturtiums in Mia's Kids plot.

These are the second and third squashes I've pulled off the Crookneck. It's gotten so big, there are actually two places where it's flowering and making fruits!

There's a Spaghetti Squash growing on the vine in the front Garden Square.

That first SunGold is still ripening... you want to leave the first one on the vine for a while, because the chemicals coming off it will help the other tomatoes around it ripen as well! But it's so hard to not just grab it and eat it!! *laughs*

This little one looked like a black butterfly when she was flying around. Some kind of Wood Nymph.

This afternoon there was a major brush fire near the edge of town. It had gotten so bad, so quickly, they issued a Level 3 GO NOW evacuation notice for the people living there!

∞ Evacuations downgraded after brush fire near Eugene Airport causes scare

The thing is, Greenhill Humane Society is just outside the boundary for the Level 3 and I was terrified about what they were going to do with everyone there!!!

But they had the situation well in hand! They got all the animals evacuated!!!

Damn, they are awesome!

The fire had been called in at 3:30pm, and firefighters had it under control at 7:30pm. All the area evacuation levels were downgraded to Level 1 Be Ready. And they started bringing the animals back to the shelter at 8pm.

∞ Greenhill Humane Society: Fire Update

Yay! I am so glad the Humane Society has such a great disaster response... They are always there for people and their pets when wildfires happen outside the city. But knowing they can take care of themselves as well is so reassuring!

Partner is getting stuff done at the hospital, and that's where I'm walking today! It's right on the river -- our other river, the McKenzie -- and it's a beautiful place.

There are loads of birds here, I can hear them singing!

Ha, that looks like a nice place to hang out!

A Wood Pewee...

Is that a meal for one of your babies?

And you've got kids to feed as well?

Well. It was nice to walk some place different. I take Partner home and make sure he's okay and then drive to the Community Garden.

It's 98° today and I need to water the garden. And while I'm here, I pulled some zucs!

A glorious day, much cooler and I am going for a walk!

It looks like the overly hot weather might be done, after yesterday's 98°! There's still a couple days of mid-90s in the forecast, but more ordinary highs are on the way!

And today is 87°! I will still need to water at the garden, a little bit. But I'm going to enjoy some more time away today!

The abandoned Barn Swallow nest. I suppose the eggs are still in it?

I'm thinking I should check the next bridge down, to see if those Barn Swallow parents are having a second nest.

Past the garden and past the Flicker hole, where those parents had to abandon their nesting attempt this spring due to cold weather.

Momentarily distracted by the cute little minnows!

And then I look over... I have to lean over the retaining wall, but I think I see movement in the shadows...

Yes! A parent is sitting!

I wonder what kept these parents on the nest thru the heat, when the other parents abandoned. Or will this nest get abandoned as well when those couple of 95° days come along on Friday and Saturday?

Well! We shall see!

But seeing that parent on the nest makes me happy!

I turn around at the Fallen Leaning Tree... still bare of leaves, sighs. And looks like they are setting up for the fair.

Oh, hey! I thought I heard a Moo!

American Bullfrog. It's cool to see him, but he's terribly invasive on this side of the country.

And going under the far bridge again... Happy!

And then a Painted Lady greets me at my garden plot!!

The Black Tomato is starting to make some fruits.

The Wax Beans are still small, but the Squash Square in the back is becoming exuberant!

Some of the Giant Marigolds at the edge of the Tofu Patch, with the Leeks and volunteer Beets in the background.

I only ate one Sugar Snap Pea pod today, and that's a bummer. The heat has overcome several of the plants in the Pea Patch.

And I pulled the zucs very small... I've got such a ton at home, I'm trying to catch up eating them! ha.

The tiny Buckwheat blooms make me happy.

*laughs* How many times will I photograph This Particular SunGold, before I finally get to eat it??!

The Passion Fruit at the end of the aisle has one last bloom on it.

And these invasive Blackberries, along the bike path, are tempting but I know they will be hard and beyond tart right now. But it won't be long!

Wow, that was a lot of photos for the day! But I am happy!

To be 88° today, so much nicer!

Going past the garden to see the second Barn Swallow family... The Bullfrog is still hanging out!

Oh. Empty?

Hang on! Someone just flew in! Good!

She stands there on the edge of the nest for a minute...

Is she checking eggs? Or Babies??!

*Laughs* I don't know! I just started watching this nest yesterday, so I have no idea where we are!

The minnows are fun to watch as well.

I wonder if they can see me.

Okay! I am going to be weeding around the Wax Beans today. Crabgrass and Smartweed aren't too bad here, but it needs to go before they cause a problem!

There! That's better!

The Brandywine doesn't look great with all it's dead leaves... but it's making some tomatoes!

And the first teeny tiny Butternut!

I've mentioned this before but dang it, I feel bad about picking the zucs so small... it really feels like I'm wasting food by not letting the zucs grow another day or two!

I stop to admire the garden plot as I leave. Here's the left side, with the Giant Marigolds and the Supplementary Squash Square:

That empty spot behind the yellow Marigolds is where I'm killing the Comfrey.

And the right side, where the path along the border is starting to disappear!

The Lemon Cucs are in the front, along with a lot of Borage and Amaranth! The Volunteer Elephant Garlic blooms. And then the tomato plants are hiding the Wax Beans and the Squash Square behind them.

There's a little bit of grass coming up in this path because stupid neighbors over water their plot. It makes it hard to hoe there since the ground is always damp. Hopefully I won't get dinged for that with the picky powers that be.

I love the Sunflowers with the rusty red colour!

The red blooms in the background are a Trumpet Vine on an arbor!

... You know what? I like that Sunflower so much I think it needs to be a postcard! :)

And here's the Sunflower I bought for my garden plot...

It's still very short, just a bit over a meter tall. Laughs!

The big Crookneck has all kinds of happy going on, under it's leaves!

And the first Yellow Patty Pan... is... not yellow! haha, what an interesting colour!!

I realize now that I should not have brought it home... that weird colour probably means that one is bitter. Plus it got way too big anyway!

Looking over the newly weeded Tofu Patch...

You know, there really isn't all that much room in there. But I'm definitely going to put in some Buckwheat, but maybe not all the flowers I had thought about.

On the walk home, I encounter a little flock of Bushtits. But they always bounce around too fast for me, I don't even know why I bother!

There's some Chickadees hanging out with the Bushtits! But that's another little bird who's too quick!

*laughs*

These Blackberries are starting to ripen!! I ate one! And then another! Yum!!

A couple on a double bike passed by slowly, Any good? I gave a *thumbs up* and an enthusiastic Yes!!

Back at home, this was in my YouTube feed...

∞ Hot Butter - Popcorn - remix COVER on Tyros 3 - VST

This is a fun song! It's interesting that the worldwide hit in 1972 was a cover of a song written in 1969.

I love to meet new dragonflies!

She's a Varigated Meadowhawk!

There's a change of the guard right as I arrive at the further Barn Swallow nest! I missed the one flying away, and this one comes in, to take over nesting duties.

And then some movement on the other side of the creek catches my eye... Oh Wow!

There's a damselfly caught in a spider web! The motion that caught my eye was him fluttering and trying to get out. But the big o' spider has come along now and bitten the damselfly and he's quieting down now. Going to be eaten by that spider! Sorry, little damselfly. But the spider wants to live too.

I think the damselfly is a Northern Spreadwing. They are on the big side for damselflies, but that spider... she's huge! And that's pretty bold to take down any kind of dragonfly!!

I double check the nest, yep, he's all settled in there.

And then I head back to the garden.

The Wax Beans are finally starting to vine!

The Buckwheat has to peek up thru the leaves of the big Crookneck.

The Buckwheat blooms are small but really quite delightful. I'm so glad I accidentally bought them and finally planted them!!

The Brandywine seems happier... now that I'm finally giving it enough water.

But the Primary Sungold has a wilted branch... I just can't keep up with the watering!

This is the last time I will photograph this group of ripening SunGolds...

I ate it!!

It wasn't sweet enough! haha! I always pick the first SunGold too soon!

But there will be a ton, before too long!

And the Lemon Cucumbers...

Lots of blooms!

Gasps! Yipee!!!

It's buried pretty deep, and needs a couple more days of ripening and getting bigger... I hope I can find it again! Haha!

Happy Pollinators! ... aka Bee Butts! *laughs*

Here's what the Eggplant is looking like...

I wonder if the flowers got pollinated.

Heading out, I go look at that Trumpet Vine that was in the background of the photo I liked so much yesterday.

Thunderstorms last night! Just a couple sprinkles, tho. And lightening this time of year is always worrisome.

There were thunderstorms across Oregon on Tuesday last week. And the paper reported there were 1,050 lightening strikes, which set off a LOT of wild fires all over the place!

There's still some clouds this morning, tho and that's very welcome! Makes for a much cooler day, just 82° today!

Oh hey! Is this a new heron? The shoulder patch isn't as big as Henrietta's, and way bigger than Knotty's. Hm!

Nutria youngster! Their two siblings ran away, but this one stayed a moment at the top of the bolt path, to look at me!

Okay! I'm at the garden and today's project is putting some Buckwheat seeds down in these open areas in the Tofu Patch...

The internets told me that Buckwheat needs to soak for 20 or 30 minutes before being put into the dirt. So before I left the house, I threw a handful of Buckwheat seeds into a ziplock and then added some tap water. It's been a bit over 30mins, since I went to the Post Office first this morning. But I was really glad to see the bag hadn't leaked! heh.

I put the seeds in pretty densely here... The seeds are old, from 2019 I think, but also I'm thinking there's something wrong with the dirt here since the Soybeans haven't done well.

And then I watered!

Since my plot is a Bee Paradise, I often accidentally hit bees with the water. Arg! I feel bad! I don't want to make their lives more difficult!

Sometimes I'll scoop someone up...

And they can dry off on my hand! The Bumblebees especially like to buzz their wings to help dry off. But this one was happy just to take a rest!

Oh, nice! Sugar Snap Peas would like to make a come-back after the super hot weather!

And that white in the background is a Queen Anne Lace bloom...

Not native, but is related to carrots and has an edible root. There are some very poisonous look-alikes tho, so I'm not going to eat this!

The Sunflower I bought is starting to open up!

I try to get artsy! *laughs*

Yeah. I have to admit, I'm bored going to the stupid garden, Every Single Day. Water, water, water. And the only thing I get for it, is more zucchini. Boring!

But the thunderstorm has broken the overly hot weather! We're looking at a good week of more reasonable summer weather... Today is 83° and the forecast for the rest of the week is mid-80s.

Unfortunately, because I just planted those Buckwheat seeds yesterday, I will still need to go to the garden to water. Sighs! But today I'm walking on past to look at different things, before I get stuck at the garden.

One of the Barn Swallow parents is tucked up, in the nest.

And the Willow tree that got damaged in the ice storm in January is doing well... Just not as big as it once was.

I'm so glad they trimmed this huge limb off, rather than cutting the whole tree down!! Because it really is a beautiful tree.

Hello Mr Bullfrog.

Still up there!

Oh! Hello?

Morning stretches?

You just need to fix your feathers?

Okay!

Okay. I'm at the garden. Water, water, water. Boring. Get more zuc. Boring.

I admit, also getting a crookneck is nice... I do love zucchini, but the crooknecks are just a bit more tasty. They have kind of a subtly sweet flavor.

And there's Lemon Cucumbers on the way. That's nice too.

And my short Sunflower does make me happy.

Even the neighbor's sunflowers make me happy.

And these Morning Glories are pretty gorgeous.

I walk past the Community Garden to see the Barn Swallow nest, but get distracted by the cute little minnows!

But here's Mama Barn Swallow!

And I'm back at the garden. Today's project is to remove the Horseradish from my neighbor's plot...

The faucet marks the back corners of four plots... My plot has the upside-down bucket. My back neighbor has the raised beds, where I've leaned my backpack. And the Horseradish is growing between my diagonal plot neighbor and my left side neighbor.

Technically you should never mess with someone else's plot. But I'm tired of looking at this invasive disaster!

I forgot to take a pic of the results, but it was pretty satisfying to dig that out. I didn't get all the way down to the original roots, of course, so they'll be back. But that is the nature of invasives, after all!

I also chop off the leaves from the Comfrey I'm trying to kill in my own plot... It is even more persistent than the Horseradish!

After watering, I go around my garden plot checking plants and getting today's harvest. I'm pushing aside leaves in the back Squash Square... And, um? What the heck is this?...

A Straightneck Squash? I didn't plant any Straightnecks!

I wonder if I could have bought a mislabeled squash start from my farmer at Saturday Market.

But that didn't seem likely.

I thought about all the seeds I randomly planted thru here. I had some saved Spaghetti Squash seeds. And I had an old seed packet of Crookneck seeds.

You know what? I may have consolidated some other squash seeds into that packet, thinking they're all old, they probably won't grow anyway.

*laughs* I'm not sure, but that def sounds like something I would do!

And while I'm very happy to have another kind of summer squash in the garden... Lordy! I'm having trouble keeping up with the eating of the summer squash!!

On Friday I had 13.5 summer squashes in the house to eat...

On Sunday, I peaked with 15 squashes. I ate big portions of squash, and then ate some more.

Today... One more Crookneck...

And I've got 12.5 summer squashes at home to eat. Hey, I'm making a dent! *laughs*

And yeah, I totally ate the three SunGolds I picked today as well! They were nice and sweet! Ah, the Taste of Summer! :)

I'm still going around the garden, but I've been hearing emergency sirens for a few minutes. I live in the city near a major thoroughfare, and hear sirens often, so I was ignoring these, even tho they were pretty close.

But then a cop car speeds down the bike path!

Whoa! And then another one! And a third!

They seem to be congregating under the car bridge just to the west... The direction I'm walking home!

Yeah. I admit. I'm curious! I want to see what's going on!

But as head out, one of the cop cars is leaving, coming my direction on the bike path. I've stepped off the path to let him go by, but he rolls down his window and stops to talk to me.

We had to arrest someone just up there. So if you don't have to go that way...

Okay! I say. I'll go around! Thank you!

Back at home, I looked up the police dispatch logs to see if I could find out more information... But that incident never did show up on the call logs.

So I don't know. But having another, possibly violent incident on the bike path, is concerning.

A Squirrel Story!

One of my townhouse neighbors in my apartment complex at home, had been doing some landscaping work in their front yard.

They had a couple bags of Miracle-Gro potting soil and had spread out some soil under their little Saucer Magnolia sapling, and around the flowers and plants they have growing under their living room window. It looks really nice, and I'm sure the plants and sapling appreciated the extra nutrients! The dirt there at the apartment complex is really terrible.

But they had an extra bag of potting soil left over... I don't know if they bought too much, or if they maybe had other plans for the bag. But they have left the bag on the ground, right next to the sidewalk. And it had been there for a week or two...

Today I walked by and there was a squirrel! She had ripped open the plastic bag and was sitting on top of the soil and patting it down like she had just buried a nut there!!

Pat, pat, pat, with her little hands!

Bahaha!! And then she noticed me, and ran away before I could get the camera ready. foo.

Because that was ridiculously cute!

I am so bored with the garden, I've decided to be a rebel today. I'm walking in a different direction, and the plants can wilt all they want without their daily watering! HA!

I'm walking thru the neighborhoods, on my way to Wild Iris Ridge again.

I glance over to the west and realize I can see the Coastal Range!

... And I think those branches on the left there? Looks like Tree of Heaven. Lordy, lordy. Very invasive! What a shame.

This beautiful thing is called a Balloon Flower!

The lavender is attracting all kinds of pollinators!

Okay. I've finally arrived at the park... and there are 12 cars in what I Thought was a 10 car parking lot! Haha! It's a very popular park!

I love the forest here. It's filled with Oak trees and native Pacific Madrones.

Yep, that's normal for the bark to shed like that on a Madrone!

And then I get to the Acorn Woodpecker's granary tree...

Well, foo. No sign of them. I go up the trail a little bit further and sit on the bench for a moment. And then come back down...

I hear one, and eventually find him, way up in a nearby tree, straight up from the path...

SIGHS!

But look who else is here!

*laughs!*

But I can't get a decent angle on the one guard.

Today's photos are about as bad as Hidden Trail ever was!

ha! Oh well. Back thru the neighborhoods, on the way home!

Back at home...

She wouldn't sit for photos but our new stray kitty did let me pet her... just let me run my hand down her back as she walked past me. ugh... she's skin and bones under that beautiful fur.

Poor Girl. I hope the cat lady neighbor is able to fatten her up!

The squirrel who greets me this morning is a fighter!

I've not seen him before... I wonder if he was the winner or the loser.

Oh, ducklings! One last batch for the season!

Gah!

*laughs* They are just itchy and preening. Well. And they don't have hands. And actually, kinda cute. just weird that they can move their neck like that!

oh, bahaha!! It looks like I've photoshoped a clone! *giggles*

The Barn Swallow parents have a change of the guard right as I walk up again! The sitting parent has flown away, and this one has just come in.

And again, I don't know if she's looking at eggs or babies. If I would visit more often, I would know these things!

Okay! I'm at the garden. And after not watering yesterday... Lordy. the Old German looks as bad as it ever did...

And the secondary SunGold has folded up a bunch of it's leaves as well.

And, oh crap! The Sugar Snap Peas were not on my radar at all, but they are all pathetic as well. Well, shoot.

I look at the healthy plants to cheer myself up. Wax Beans are still growing up! The Squash Square behind them is still exuberant!

The Sunflower I bought is very happy, if short!

And the volunteer Sunflower next to the Wax Bean trellis is happily growing.

I do find one Sugar Snap Pea pod! So it's not like the pea plants were being productive or anything.

There's some Creeping Speedwell growing here.

Technically invasive. The flowers are tiny, but pretty and I like them! I let them grow, where ever they happen to show up.

The Eggplant has several more blooms on it... and maybe that one is turning into a fruit?

Oop. A cute lil Yellow Jacket got wet while I was watering the Giant Marigolds in front.

She's buzzing her wings to get them dry!

But she notices me watching her...

Our precious, precious pollinators!

Yellow Jackets are one of our native species... and it makes me so, so angry when I see people putting wasp traps near their damn bee hives. Honey Bees are invasive from Europe, and did not evolve with the native plants here in the Americas... Honey Bees are inferior pollinators for many of our garden plants, especially in the nightshade family: Tomatoes, Potatoes, Tomatillos, Eggplants, Peppers! All these plants do Much better with our native Bumblebees, and our wasps play an important role here as well!

So Yellow Jackets and all our native wasps are much more important to the ecosystems here than the stupid European Honey Bees. And it drives me crazy that amateur Honey Bee keepers want to kill our native wasps.

Okay. Rant, done! Look at my cute little friend! Her wings are still wet, but she'll be okay!

Oh, hey... I missed a Lemon Cucumber and it's turning dark yellow already...

But when I picked it, it had a hole on the bottom. Was a mouse munching on it? huh!

First blooms on the Wax Beans!!!

As I leave, I turn and look into the Pissant Pot Peoples plot, my right side neighbor. They have a lot going on in their plot.

And at home, the stray kitty is tucked up for a portrait!

The Bittersweet Nightshade berries are ripening.

As I walked past the bridge where the Barn Swallow are nesting, one of the parents flew out and dropped something in the water...

It must have been a poo sack! Which means we have babies!!!

Yeah, we keep moving around in the nest...

Awww! Everybody okay in there?

Okay! I'm at the garden. The Old German is still looking overly pathetic, even tho I watered the heck out of it yesterday.

The Surprise Straightneck has several fruits coming on, and I decide to pick the bigger one today!

And this makes me happy... Butternuts!

I didn't plant any Sweet Potatoes this year... which feels kind of weird. I Always have Sweet Potatoes! They are a very pretty vine!

But I have never gotten a great harvest with the Sweet Potatoes. So it's not really worth the time and effort and hope I put in.

And that's why I have several Butternut plants this year... Butternuts basically taste the same as Sweet Potatoes. And they keep a lot better. You have to eat Sweet Potatoes right away, whereas the Butternuts can languish in your pantry for a while!

But, you know. Now that I'm thinking about it. Maybe next year I could plant a bunch of Sweet Potato vines around the Comfrey that I'm trying to kill in the front. The leaves could cover the dirt... I just hate having bare dirt up there, right at the front of the plot!

Of course, I'd have to place the plants carefully, so that I could still dig up the Comfrey as it sends up leaves. But I'd have the Sweet Potatoes for their pretty vines and flowers, NOT for the food harvest. Hmmm.

The Sunflower I bought:

Flight of the Honey Bee! *laughs*

Ha, a Spotted Cucumber Beetle has joined the Honey Bees to pollinate!

I have become rather exasperated with my right side neighbors, the Pot People. They've planted big plants right at the border between our plots, and it's just really annoying. Especially this grassy plant that's leaning it's seed heads into my plot.

So annoying.

I love the variety of today's summer squash harvest! And yeah, one of the Yellow Zucs really did not want to let go of it's fruit! And instead of just getting the scissors, I pulled harder. oops.

And then I put a tomato cage around this volunteer Tomatillo that's at the edge of the Tofu Patch...

As I'm leaving the garden, I check out the Passion Fruit plant that someone else has.

A perfectly decent summer day today with a high of 85°F, 29°C... The forecast says 83 and 82 for Monday and Tuesday, tho. Cool enough that I can maybe skip watering at the garden. Maybe I'll go out to the river or something.

Unfortunately, after those two cooler days, the forecast says we'll be back to mid-90s again. Ugh. So I def need to enjoy the normal weather right now!

I get to the Barn Swallow nest... The babies were being born possibly on Thursday, and they had definitely arrived yesterday. Today, the parents are out catching bugs to feed.

But, amidst the grass stalks in there...

That's a baby beak!

And then I get distracted by the same three duckling family I saw yesterday...

Duckling number three has to Paddle, Paddle FAST to catch up with the others!

I look up, just in time to see a parent Barn Swallow swoop in and feed someone!

Wow! So Cool!

And we're off again to get more bugs!

The County Fair is happening this weekend, and I walk to the Events Center to check it out.

The horse and riders are directing cars to their parking spots in the field.

They must be testing the rides... no one is on this one.

But doesn't that look fun?? It goes so far up off the ground!!

Okay. I've walked back to the Barn Swallow nest.

And I wait patiently for some action! Soon the parents are swooping above the bridge and twittering their arrival!

Just the one, poking up her face.

And then to the garden. I'm just here to water a little bit.

The Lemon Cucumbers have a zillion blooms!

There are lots of small Crooknecks coming on, but they aren't big enough to pick yet.

Kevin, the Community Garden Volunteer ... helper... um, I'm not sure what his exact title is! Anyway, he was in his plot behind mine and we were chatting a bit. And I asked him if he knew what this plant is...

I've tried for a long time to figure out what this thing is, looking online, but can never find it. Kevin recognized it, but didn't know it's name either. Small, light pink flowers, related to geraniums. Yep.

As a weed, it's not too bad he added.

And I explained I liked to keep some of the native plants to have a good variety of blooms to keep the bugs happy. You have got some pollinators!

Ha! Yes I do!! I Love all the bugs in my garden!

And then he asked if I had ever seen a snake at the garden. Yep! I haven't seen a snake yet this year, but I do see them from time to time! I'm always glad to see snakes... because I've seen some mice here, as well!

That surprised him, but when he considered it, he realized the garden was probably a mouse paradise! *laughs*

Heading home. I stop and eat some Blackberries along the bike path.

I've seen several people picking them here... filling buckets! And still plenty for passersby like me!

When I get home, this one was eating nuts in front of the neighbor's townhouse!

My heart hurts briefly for Wesley Crusher... sighs... but I'm glad to see another of our native Western Grey Squirrels around.

It's cloudy and 61° as I leave the house today and the forecast is 81° (27°C). So nice!

Henrietta! Long time, no see!

I hope he had a successful nesting season. He's probably still feeding the kids, somewhere. But it's nice that he took a break from that and swung by to see me!

*laughs* I thought he was holding a fish!

He was preening and got a feather stuck on his beak! haha!

I get to the Barn Swallow nest... but because of the clouds, I have trouble with the camera settings. But I see movement in the nest.

A parent flies in with food... oh my gosh! Three babies pop up!!

The parent isn't too sure about me... I haven't been around this nest enough to gain the parents trust!

I get to the garden and do a walk about.

I get to my plot and start watering. I'm kind of in my own little world, but I've started with the Tofu Patch, like usual. The left side neighbor has some Nasturtiums blooming close to the border, and I like to give them some water too...

But when I moved around to hit them with the hose today... They were gone.

I look... and realize they aren't gone... they've been pulled out of the ground and thrown down. And there they lay, wilting and dying on the dirt.

???

And then I take in the rest of the plot. And ALL the plants in the back have been ripped out of the ground and thrown down! Even the big 6foot sunflower!

I am shocked at the destruction!

Blooming dahlias, zinnias, marigolds and the nasturtiums that I was watering. There was a small rhubarb plant just getting established. All so beautiful and now... they're just... ugh!

But then I see their rainbow coloured windsock has been ripped from it's hanger and is crumpled up in the dirt. And now I'm alarmed!

Several people at the Comm Garden have these Pride windsocks, I am always happy to see them! But if we have a violent bigot here, destroying plots...

I glance around, looking at other people's plots. My plot is untouched, and so are the plot neighbors at the back and other side. And the big Dahlia's in the front of the destroyed plot are fine as well... Which means that someone just walking down the garden path might not see the destruction that's happened in the back of the plot.

This was personal.

I take pictures from different angles. I'm extremely worried at the destruction. And I really, really want to try to re-plant the Nasturtiums and the Zinnias and the Marigolds. Some of the flowers look like they've been chopped, and everything is pretty wilted, but I want to give them a chance.

I wish I could give them a chance. But this is a crime scene. I've walked thru, taking photos, but other than that, I leave everything alone.

I water my garden plot... And I obsessively double check to make sure all the plants are okay. But the destruction does not cross over the line of the border...

I gather the day's harvest.

And then head out. I look into the couple of plots with Pride windsocks, but everything else looks fine and normal.

And when I get home, I send an email and photos to as many people as I can find email addresses for!

The forecast says 80° but actually it only gets up to 76° today... which... That's weird. The normal high temperature for this time of year is 86°F, 30°C. But I'll take it!

The cooler weather means I don't need to water at the garden and I head to the Rose Garden. I want to see if the Cliff Swallows ever showed up at the bridge I found them at last year!

The ancient Cherry Tree.

Yeah, I just can't stop myself for going crazy with the roses!

My favorite, Silver Lining, still has some blooms.

I wonder if anyone nested here this year? I never walked out here at the right time to see, so I really don't know!

Yep. That's normal. A flock of Bushtits.

*laughs* Oh well!

Collecting seeds!

Part of the Whilamut Natural Area includes some Oak Savannah.

I'm at the pond, and I do see a couple of Tree Swallows swooping for bugs above the water... but I don't think any are Cliff Swallows.

And under the bridge... yeah, the Cliff Swallow nests are still all cobwebby! Definitely did not get used this summer.

So this is interesting. In general, small birds never return to old nests, altho they may build a new nest in the same area. But I think that swallows do return to nests, since they are protected from the elements under the bridges. Barn Swallows do return, and I kind of assumed that Cliff Swallows also return...

AllAboutBirds says that Cliff Swallows return to their nesting area, year after year. So I wonder what happened here.

Did the community decide to nest somewhere else? Will they return in the future? Or did the entire flock die? Will another community of Cliff Swallows find this nesting area and use it?

Strange and sad.

And finally, an Osprey!

I've been hearing them, all up and down the river! Mostly the kids begging! *laughs* I'm glad I finally caught one sitting for a minute!

... Along with two crows who are keeping a close eye on the situation! ha.

One last, gloriously cloudy morning before the heat comes again.

But it will get up to 85° today, so I'm going to the garden to give it some water.

But First! The Barn Swallow nest! A parent flew in right as I arrived... who then noticed me as I leaned over the railing to take pictures!

And the parent flies off for more bugs.

And here's Baby Number Three, over on the right. Are there just the three?

There is a lot of action in the sky above the bridge... there's a whole flock of Barn Swallow here...

What is going on??!

The babies are all just where's the food? *laughs*

The food is arriving...

And arriving...

This is crazy! Is the whole flock feeding these kids?

*laughs* Maybe! But I've got to get on with my day... Heading to the garden!

The Garden Vandalism Story So Far: On Sunday the plot neighbor on the left side was vandalized. All the plants in the back had been pulled out of the ground and thrown down to die in the dirt. I took photos and when I got home, I emailed the Community Garden director and our two volunteers.

Kevin is the volunteer who is my plot neighbor in the back, and we have a friendly connection this year. He emailed me back right away, saying he would look into it and report to the city and Ugh. That's a heart-breaker.

He did great detective work and found out what happened very quickly!

The details are very convoluted and pretty personal. I'm not going to go into the nitty gritty here, because that's not my story to tell.

But basically this is a family feud. A mother had a disagreement with her adult daughter and destroyed the back of the plot in retaliation.

But... ... damn, you know?

What is wrong with people?

So. Kevin tells me the Community Garden director and her bosses are trying to figure out what to do. I haven't heard from them, which annoys me quite a bit... They made the volunteer do all the work, which does not seem appropriate for the level this situation is at.

So that's where we're at. More to follow?

Meantime...

I've arrived at the Garden.

The Green Zucchini is getting busy again!

And the Wax Beans have started to vine past the top of the trellis.

The volunteer Sunflower next to the bean trellis is approaching 4feet as well!

The blooming Sunflower, behind is the one I bought. And you can see a bit of the Squash Square behind the bean trellis.

Lemon Cucumbers are very blossomy!

And keeping the bees happy.

And making some little cucs!

Brandywines and a Spaghetti Squash blossom...

And yeah, all those dead leaves are typical Brandywine... The tomatoes are my absolute favorite, but the plant is so temperamental and low producing and pathetic. Many years I plant Brandywines and never get any tomatoes out of it!!

But there's lots of tomatoes coming on this year, so I'm thrilled about that!!

Oh boy...

WooHoo! Four Crooknecks, two green Zucchini, one yellow Zucchini, and a couple of Sugar Snap Peas and SunGolds!!

It doesn't quite fit...

I had to leave my Dandelion tool behind! And the backpack was lumpy and uncomfortable on the walk home! haha!!

To be 91° today (33°C) and to be mid- and upper-90s for the foreseeable. Heading to the garden to water.

Heh. Well, it would have been a good picture...

No cooperation!

I'm at the Barn Swallow nest. There's a fly-by, but no other parent activity.

They just don't trust me yet. I wouldn't either... because in order to see this nest, I have to lean way over the retaining wall. Like this is not normal human behavior, right? Even other humans stare at me! And it def catches the eye of the wildlife... some of whom are predators looking for an easy meal of helpless bird babies.

So yeah, on top of the lean being physically awkward for me to see around the corner, it's also calling attention to their nest location. I don't stay very long, and the nest is far enough away that most predators would just think Another Crazy Human and go on their merry.

But I do understand why the parents would not want to fly in, to the nest when I'm there!

The cute little baby fluff on their head!!

I'm back at the garden, and Kevin the Community Garden Volunteer is here too. He tells me a bit more about the vandalism thing... The City is taking this situation very seriously.

uh huh. It sounds like nothing will be done.

Which is exactly the outcome I expected. And I'm extremely disappointed.

Because we've got a person in our community who destroyed a garden plot. The garden plot of her own daughter.

And I do get that the higher ups want to step softly, because this person has access to a lot of plots, which she could destroy at a whim.

But doing NOTHING? Seriously?

Sighs.

Kevin mentioned that the Garden Director would be coming by, later today. So I run the hoe down the middle pathway of my plot to remove the grass that she complained about at the end of May.

and I water and gather.

And then calm myself by looking at the beautiful plants!

This is the Secondary SunGold plant, the first cluster of fruits that are ripening on it.

And there is a lot of fun stuff happening in this photo. The blooming Sunflower is the one I bought. It's relatively short, a bit over a meter tall, but the seed head is huge...

The birds are plucking the petals, to get at the sunflower seeds more easily!

The tiny white flowers in front of the Sunflower are some of the Buckwheats I planted experimentally as a summer cover crop.

The orange blooms to the left of the Sunflower are the Giant Marigolds at the edge of the Tofu Patch. And the big leaves to the right of the Sunflower belong to the volunteer Sunflower in the Tofu Patch.

And the Sunflower growing to the left of the Marigolds, is the volunteer at the edge of the Wax Bean Trellis!

I really am so happy with the garden plot this year!