The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note of any observations you have made of the world around you. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
|
Castro Valley, CA
Continued below the orange pollen grain
We were able to harvest some apricots on June 28th and take them on our camping trip. It has been a while since that tree threw any fruit, so I'm not at all sure, but it seems early.
Touring the yard upon our return, I noticed that we have a Hollyhock that is over 6 feet tall already.
The pears and apples seem to be on schedule for a more or less normal harvest in early and late August, but the real surprise is the grapes. I have pretty much normal clusters, and the grapes are still green, as they should be at this time of year, but the individual grapes are generally larger than any I've ever had, even at harvest time, and not just one or two, but a goodly number per cluster. I don't know what to attribute this to at all. We did have some unusually timed bursts of rain earlier in the year, but we also had less rain overall than has been the norm lately.
Tomatoes are still green which is, I believe, normal. We've also been getting a pretty good number of strawberries, which is also pretty much standard. The parsley is going to seed or gone to seed and dying off. My notes show the flowers opening last year in late April, but I really don't have any track record with them at all.
Overall, other than the size of the grapes, things seem more or less normal at this point in the year. The parsley is later than last year, but that was the first year and was planted at a random time.
**
"Spotlight on Green News & Views" will be posted every Saturday and Wednesday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time on the Daily Kos front page. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.
**
Now It's Your Turn What have you noted happening in your area or travels? As usual post your observations as well as their general location in the comments.
Thank you.