It’s been a cranky weather week here friends. Tuesday we got up to 96F, and I am just so relieved that the tropical dew points that were forecast did not happen. One day of heat was followed by one day of cool rain that the garden drank like a sponge and temperatures didn’t get past the mid 60sF. Then Thursday we had 20+ mph wind with even bigger gusts. Usually when I stop at a light on my bike I only put one foot down, but I was so worried I’d get blown over that I put both feet down and still found myself swaying back and forth as the wind gusted.

And now the heat is back, like it seems to be everywhere in the northern hemisphere right now. We are under an excessive heat warning until Tuesday morning. We have a chance to hit 100F on Monday. I know that might not be hot for some people, but the last time we had a 100 degree temperature was 2018. We are much more comfortable when the temperature is -20F! In addition to the heat we have humidity, which means the heat index, or “feels like” temperature, is even higher.

I was out weeding in the garden at 6:30 this morning. The chickens are panting and trying to keep cool by wallowing in the shade of the monster elderberry. At least it is windy, if the air were still it would be unbearably oppressive.

I’m really working on learning about edible “wild” plants, as I have mentioned before about eating my garden weeds instead of buying very expensive lettuce and kale at my food co-op. I am also working on learning herbal medicine. I think I have mentioned I tried stinging nettle tea with a little mint for my seasonal allergies and how well it worked. Today I tried plantain—no not the banana-like fruit!—but a very useful “weed.” I used to dig them up, but now I let them be and their numbers are slowly increasing. I have not used them before today.

Something bit me on the leg Friday and then it was only a little red, slightly itchy bump. Today it had become a very itchy, very red bump, with the skin around it looking red and inflamed, probably because I kept unconsciously scratching it. Plantain is good for bug bites and skin irritation and I decided it was time to give it a try.

I pulled a leaf off a plant in the garden, gave it a good wash, chewed it a little to break it up and let the juices flow, and stuck it on my itchy bite. Within 5 minutes the itch was gone. Within 30 minutes the inflammation was gone. What a handy little plant to have in the garden! Next time James gets a mosquito bite welt, we will be trying plantain on that!

Which reminds me, I want to make a comfrey salve. It sounds like it is better to use dried leaves for the oil infusion. Have you ever made comfrey salve? If so, any tips? I am making a note to pick a bunch of comfrey leaves from the garden to dry.

In other garden news, I have only seen Baby Rabbit twice this past week and nothing appears to be nibbled. My peas have flowers! My pole beans are climbing! We got some additional fencing to finish off rabbit-proofing from our Buy Nothing group. Now if only it weren’t so blasted hot we could get it done.

My virtual cycling team does an after the holidays “secret fairy” gift exchange, and two years ago my secret fairy gifted me with solar powered garden lights that had bees that blink. Last year I wound the blinky bees around the herb spiral and they looked lovely, only I rarely saw them since I don’t spend much time in the garden after dark.

This year I decided to garland them in the witch hazel next to the deck. I put them out in early May and could see them blinking during my early morning breakfast and as we were getting ready for bed at night. They made me happy.

Thursday I was sitting at the table chatting with James as he got dinner ready. There was a squirrel on the deck rail next to the witch hazel having a little groom. Then the darn squirrel jumped into the witch hazel and proceeded to chew through the string of blinky bees! The squirrel chewed off a bee and jumped back onto the deck rail and tried to eat it! I lept up from the table, flung open the sliding glass door, and started yelling obscenities at the squirrel. The squirrel immediately ran off with the bee!

I took the severed length of bees from the tree. James thinks he might be able to splice them back together. Meanwhile, the remaining length of bees still works and blinks merrily in the dark. Yesterday, I look out onto the deck and there is a bee on the deck rail. Squirrel strikes again! This one was taken off the end of the string and one of its wings was eaten.

I have no idea why, after over a month, the squirrels are suddenly interested in the blinky bees, but clearly they have it in for them now. I need to get the working length out of the tree and figure out where to put it that the squirrels might leave it alone and I might be able to still see it. Forking squirrels!

In not garden news, we bought an induction range! We’d decided over a year ago that we wanted to get rid of our gas range, and since the control panel on it is wearing out, it seemed like a good time. But we live in a 1950-built house and need to have the electrical updated to run the induction range. Not yet comfortable having strangers in the house due to COVID, we’ve been waiting. The time has finally come.

The range will be delivered mid-July (supply delays). In the meantime, we had an electrician out last week. He didn’t do the electrical for the range because we don’t know if the plug is two or three-pronged, so he will be coming back the day the range is delivered to do that work. But we did have him install two ceiling fans for us (wow! why did we wait so long to get these?), install a light switch at the bottom of the basement stairs, and fix an outdoor light that has been broken for a number of years.

We also asked about a heat pump and what would be involved for that. He said we’d need a whole new fuse panel $$$$. Needless to say we won’t be getting a heat pump any time soon. Hopefully there might be some kind of tax credit for them one day that we might be able to take advantage of. Until then, we will keep our gas furnace and dedicate any extra funds to upgrading our old windows and adding extra insulation in the outside walls. Last fall we added insulation in our attic, and y’all that was some cash well spent! Our winter heating bills were lower, we didn’t have any ice dams, and now in the summer heat, our house is staying cooler.

If you are under a heat dome or having a heat wave, take care, stay safe, check on friends and neighbors, drink lots of water, and keep out of the sun as much as you can. Be well y’all!

Reading

• Book Review: Revising the History of DDT’s Long-Tailed Legacy by Rebecca Altman The book under review is How to Sell a Poison by Elena Conis. I have added it to my library holds queue.
• Article: Halving air pollution could yield up to 25% more food. Air pollution, particularly nitrogen oxides, which come mainly from burning fuel, decreases crop yields. Cutting air pollution could make a big difference.
• Article: Pollen and heat: a looming challenge for global agriculture. We’re going to need to increase yields as much as we can because higher temperatures kill pollen and interfere with crop fertilization. We are on the razor’s edge my friends.
• Essay: A brief history of trying to breathe in cities. Air pollution isn’t just bad for crops, it’s bad for people too. The World Health Organization estimates that 4.2 million people die every year from outdoor air pollution, and another 3.8 million die every year from indoor air pollution (mainly from dirty cooking stoves).
• Essay. And the hits just keep on coming, here is an essay from The Atlantic on how the end of Roe can open the door for forced sterilization and eugenics.
• Book. I just started reading a book called Thin Places by Kerri ní Dochartaigh and oh my it is breathtakingly gorgeous writing. It’s a mix of memoir, nature writing, and history. And also has one of the prettiest covers I’ve seen in awhile, dark blue with a sort of inlaid silver that shimmers.

Listening

• Cities@Tufts lecture: Tamika Butler presents: Transportation inequities: what’s data got to do with it? The link is to the webinar recording, but they also have a podcast, which is how I heard it. Look for them in your fav podcast venue.
• Nate Hagens, The Great Simplification podcast: Dr. Shanna Swan, “Sperm and our Future.” How all the chemicals in our environment are affecting human reproduction. This is not a “could happen in the future” thing, this is happening now.

Watching

• Downton Abbey: a New Era. It was a little all over the place, but enjoyable fun. As always, the downstairs cast are the best part of it.