Jul 18, 2011

Summer Storms & Sunflowers


This is a picture of the general state of our skies this past weekend...and currently.  We seem to be getting some good July rain this year, which is great to keep forest fires down, but not so great for the fruit crops that are running about three weeks late here in the Valley.

I wasn't up to putting on my galoshes for the farmers market on Saturday, so my veggie drawer in my fridge is sadly lacking this week.  Luckily the garden is giving baby carrots, beet greens, self-sowed lettuce that just popped up out of the blue and a purple pepper.  I'm hardly suffering.

I am however, mourning the loss of my yearly sowing of sunflowers.  I didn't put any in this year, and I couldn't seem to sneek any seeds into my mom's garden without her hawk eyes seeing the seedlings and pulling them out.  So they take over the whole bed, leave a mess of seeds and giant root balls behind...what's not to love?

In my search for sunflower love online, I came across a couple towns that have festivals named after the pretty yellow plants.  So this is your (belated) farmers market/festival advice for this week:

If you are in or around Mayville, MI this weekend, stop and see some of the great events at their Mayville Sunflower Festival!


Picture from Mayville Sunflower Festival website (linked) 


 Also - planning ahead - if you are in the La Porte, IN area in September, check out their 13th Annual Sunflower Fair on September 17th.

I'm a big fan of any kind of festival that supports your local businesses, charities and agriculture!

And hopefully with a bit of sunshine and some perseverance (with a good dose of invisibility potion) my mother won't notice that one little sunflower seedling I've hid away in the back of her acorn squash bed!




6 comments:

Magaly Guerrero said...

I'm sending more energy toward your invisibility shield. I expect to see pics of baby sunflower (hiding behind a ginormous squash) soon!

And a festival on teh 13th would be lovely, just because it is in such a magical day, but if it supports local progress... well, that is extra lovely

Debra She Who Seeks said...

South of Winnipeg in Manitoba Mennonite country, farmers grow vast fields of sunflowers. It's quite a sight to see on a hot summer day -- all those big sunflower faces turned toward the sun.

mxtodis123 said...

You gave me a giggle this morning. Your mom sounds a bit like me a few years back. My mother-in-law, may she rest in peace, used to plant beans in my garden. Hubby and I would watch for them to break through the soil and we'd pull them up. Poor thing couldn't figure out why, if everything else grew, her beans would not.
Mary

Dreaming of Jeanie said...

Wow! You photos is beautiful. Is this the scenery you get to spy everyday? If so, I'm jealous. ;)

FreeWitch said...

Oh gosh, Rue. Sunflowers are my all time favorite. I have no idea why. I think it's because they are so awkward, yet at the same time beautiful. Irony in a flower :)

Dede said...

Oh Jen, you know that mamas don't miss anything. She is going to see it and your phone will be ringing. I missed the market this weekend too, weather. Frozen is okay, but just not the same.

(((HUGS)))