Blessed rain

We have been so rainless for so long that I forgot what it is like to wake up to the sound of thunder or open the door to the smell of rain. This past week, the weather gods blessed us with several little soaks and one big one. Maybe watching those Native American rain dances on YouTube helped.

I made salsa with some of my garden Roma tomatoes and was rather disappointed over how bland they tasted. Is it because of the weird weather? Or from being watered from a well instead of the sky? Or maybe it's the potting mixture they are growing in? There is not much I can do about the first two suppositions, but Saturday my SO and I did something about the last: brought in a trailer load of horse manure. I am fortunate to have a source that is not only free but mixed with wood shavings instead of straw, so it is virtually weed seed free. My little trailer held enough to top off five of the seven new beds, and I threw a little of my own homegrown compost on top, to add some starter microbes. Next weekend we hope to get another load. We'll let it all cook, then in the fall, stir it up and distribute it to the other beds. That should help.

Speaking of weeds, I spent some time clearing the area around the gas meter. It tends to get a bit overgrown, to the point where in the not so distant past, I have received a nastigram from the gas company about it. But now it is all neat and tidy.

Pea gravel is not my favorite landscaping tool, but in this case, it is perfect. I hope the meter reader appreciates my efforts.

This is the first year I have grown hyssop, and almost every bee that visits it has orange saddlebags loaded with pollen.

And did you know that goldfinch eat the seeds of lemon balm? I did not until this past week. Or if I did know it, I had forgotten. Why watch TV when there are so many interesting things going on in one's own backyard?