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| Pictured left to right are Regina Schieltz, Terry Tonovitz, Marilyn Banks and Andrea Long. Photo by Jane Staley |
The volunteer cucurbit species of an as yet undetermined parentage covers a few yards of ground acting as weed control. They are climbing the fence on both sides of the garden gate. Their large yellow-orange blossoms are a good sign. A few of them are already setting fruit - or vegetable or whatever they may become.
That cucurbit mystery vine, accounts for one of the traditional three sister plantings of pioneer gardens, squash or pumpkin. The other two sisters are beans and corn.
Elsewhere a corn stock grows taller than the bumper crop of milkweed which will vector in the Monarch butterflies to feed upon their only food. Shawnee Prairie Preserve of Darke County, Ohio is an official Monarch butterfly banding station. Monarchs banded there have been tracked into Mexico.
Beans planted earlier in the summer have succumbed to the weather or hungry burrowing critters such as voles. Another anonymous critter has caused the Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage to disappear. Both will be replanted.
Some green apples, one showing rosy coloration, hang from the Winesap apple tree located inside the stockade fence for protection from deer.
Surviving perennial herbs such as wooly thyme, winter savory, santolina, tri-color sage and chamomile surround the apple tree. Newly planted pineapple sage, basil, chives and lovage look healthy.
Lemon balm thrives outside the fence as do blooming Golden Yarrow and Purple Coneflowers. The wormwood is so thick and bushy the rain storms seem to have put it in a prayerful position.
The Olde Thyme Gardeners may supplement their weeding and reseeding with a few prayers in hopes of a more favorable weather pattern.
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