Happy Sunday!

Our Amazing Planet: Top To Bottom

Oh They're Comin' Baby!

Back in March I planted 10 varieties of Heirloom Tomatoe.
I've got Amazon Chocolate, Giant Black, Sunset's Red horizon, Brandywine, Isis Candy, Todd County Amish, Carmello, Cuostralee, Efemer Red Ukranian, and Ava's Amish Stripe.
They are absolutely beautiful!

And now they are ripening!!!

The First Lettuce Harvest!

Releasing The Ladybugs!

We ordered 1500 Ladybugs from The Gardening Zone online.
They arrived in this mesh pouch, all alive and eager to kick some aphid butt!

The Lady Bird Beetle should be released in the cool evening after watering. This ensures that they won't fly away, but will bed down in the garden and start munching in the morning.

But it has been really cold around here all summer, so the morning felt like autumn.
And if the temperature is below 55F they won't fly. Instead, they gather together on the sunny side of a leaf and try to stay warm.

Here's a few facts about Ladybugs that we learned ....
There are nearly 5,000 different kinds of Ladybugs worldwide and 400 live in North America.
A Ladybug beats its wings 85 times per second.
Ladybugs chew from side to side and not up and down like humans do.

The spots on a Ladybug will fade when it gets older.
The male Ladybug is usually smaller than the female Ladybug.
And Ladybug can swim! They paddle around.

Lark Camp 2010

I have been away for the past week and a half at Lark Camp in the Mendocino Redwood Forest.

This was my 4th year attending the world music camp, and Nancy came with me.

This is some music that we heard while we waited in line for our dinner.

It's craziness amongst the redwoods.