Happy Father's Day (and other stuff)

Happy Father's Day to all!

In particular, my hat is off to those of you who are "fathering" kids who are not your biological kids and those who are busting their hump trying to father kids they no longer have custody of.

You throw a long shadow.

Something that made my ears perk up

"Before you know it, it's gonna be illegal to plant so much as a potato in your yard" Kubota grumbled the other day.

That caught my attention for a few reasons. He works in construction and I don't know how tuned into politics they are. For another, the crowd Kubota hangs out with are more interested in diesel trucks, girls and beer (not necessarily in that order) than in gardening or backyard-chickens.

Did he know something?

A quick trip to the internet revealed that it is illegal to plant a potato in Idaho; more specifically, it is illegal to plant potatoes with uncertified seed pototoes (like the ones you saved from the year before). In other places, laws are in place that authorize officials to destroy "uncared-for fruit trees" as "nuisances" since they attract stinging insects, raccoons, bears and serve as reservoirs for diseases and insect pests.

The primary motivation in both cases involves the risk they pose to commercial operations. Med Fruit Fly in California and Citrus Greening in Florida come to mind as examples.

In other places, zoning ordinances are exist to protect the value of the housing stock. Many of those ordinances focus on aesthetics. Not every would-be-house-buyer is enchanted with the frowsy, exuberant, bustling, in-process aura of a working garden. Or, they might allow "gardens" but it has to be done by a professional selected from a curated list which sort of undermines the garden if the goal is to increase self-sufficiency.

In other gardening news

"Golly, why isn't that impulse sprinkler working?"

Raccoons, raccoons, raccoons! I am not going to give a lot of details, but if you decide to trap nuisance raccoons then make sure the trap is well away from any garden hoses.

Motherswort

Motherswort is an introduced species and it is one of the weeds I casually encourage in my orchard. I encourage it because it hosts a wide range of pollen consuming insects (including predators of orchard pests), produces large amounts of pollen over a wide time horizon.

The bumblebees and honeybees are visible in this video. There were many, smaller pollinators as well. The primary thing I want you to walk away with is the SOUND of the video. This clump HUMS with bees.