Garden report: I am harvesting a bumper crop of snow peas. The pepper plants have blossoms. The dahlia has bloomed while the classic orange day lilies have begun to bud. I can cut basil leaves for recipes as well as the mint and dill.

Local strawberries can now be picked.

***

However, if you are in Maryland, blueberries can now be picked. I went to see my twin granddaughters and we did our annual visit to Butler’s Orchard in Germantown. The picking was excellent.

The difference there is you have to pay to enter the orchard and get wrist bands. It is quite an operation that includes a ride to the picking site via a trolley pulled by a John Deere tractor. The site includes play equipment for children and animals.

When I told friends I was driving to Maryland they warned me about the collapse of a section of Route 95 in Philadelphia. However, the warning wasn’t needed since I never drive through Pennsylvania to get to Maryland. I take the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike. I cross at the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

***

It is now officially summer. The solstice was June 21. I missed noting the events at the UMass Sunwheel to mark the solstice in last week’s column. However, the effect is still visible if you go today or tomorrow. As long as it doesn’t rain.

***

The second annual Community Safety Day will be held Saturday, June 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mill River Recreation Area. The event features representatives from the Senior Center, police, fire and sheriff departments, CRESS, and the Northwest district attorney’s office. Lots of information will be available as well as food, live DJ, children’s activities and Touch-a-Truck. It’s free.

***

Shoshona King of Amherst sent an email with good news and I am very happy to share it. “Arwen King earned her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. She received the award at a ceremony on June 15 in Worcester. Her project was called Free to Be 83, which is considered to be the ideal blood sugar. For her project, she educated the public about Type 1 diabetes & how eating low carb meals with recipes she developed can aid in reaching good health. To celebrate her achievement, the town issued her a special citation from the Town Council,” she wrote.

***

The Summer Reading Club for children and adults is now registering participants at the Jones Library and the branches. The theme is “Finding Your Voice.” I always participate and enjoy the book choices, items I wouldn’t generally think of. I can highly recommend one I read last summer: “Braiding Sweet Grass.” What a find!

***

Send items for the Lehrer Report to phyllehrer@gmail.com.

]]>