Squash garden update

May 9

What a difference a few weeks makes in a garden! I took the photo above of my squash garden, then never got around to posting it. In April, I planted a bunch of squash and zuchinni seeds, then promptly forgot which row was which. We decided not to plant a full-fledged garden this year because of our drought. But I thought, what the heck, I'll plant some seeds and if they come up, great. If they don't, no big loss. Well, as you can see, a row DID come up, and it's yellow squash! More specifically, 'Early Prolific Straightneck' (Ferry-Morse). I've got at least four squash ready to pick ASAP. James says it's our best garden EVER, and all the plants came from seed!

May 22

Lemon Queen sunflowers

Meanwhile, the eight or 10 sunflower seeds I planted in a little row are also coming up. They're from the packet of Lemon Queen (Helianthus annuus) mailed out by the Great Sunflower Project. As soon as they start blooming, I can get going on counting bees that visit the flowers.

Arugula Rocket Salad

AND I picked up some free out-of-date vegetable seeds in Hamilton, Texas, several weeks ago. Again I thought, what the heck? I planted some out of both packets of lettuce. Some are coming up now but I don't know what they are: either Arugula Rocket Salad (Eruca sativa) or Arugula Wild Rocket Salad (Eruca vesicaria sativa). If I get any lettuce at all, I'll be thrilled!

Firefly Day

Bet you didn't know that today's Firefly Day!

Well, at least in Boston. That's where scientists at the Museum of Science are conducting a nationwide "Firefly Watch" project. It's similar to the Lost Ladybug Project, which I've contributed to. I also signed up with the firefly folks and will send data to them in the summer when fireflies appear in our back yard.

And today our sunflower seeds arrived in the mail. I'll be planting those soon so we can participate in the Great Sunflower Project, which monitors bee populations across the country.

Bees and sunflowers

Never fails. I'm researching a specific subject (like now it's ladybugs) when–WHAM!– something else along the way catches my eye, and off I go. Down yet another verrrrryyyyyy interesting rabbit trail.

This morning, it was the Great Sunflower Project, which–like the Lost Ladybug Project–recruits people like you and me to help researchers survey bee species across the nation. You can read more about San Francisco State University's project in this article "Of Sunflowers and Citizens," American Scientist (Sept.-Oct. 2008). There's also more info in this PDF article, "Remarkable Students."

The project sends out sunflower seeds, which participants plant in their garden. Once the flowers bloom, then people watch and report on the bees that visit their sunflowers.

You bet I signed up! Our sunflower seeds should arrive later this month.