Garden report: The pink peonies opened in a swoop, then we’re hit with the rain. The white ones will open this week. There are blossoms on the pepper plants. Something devastated the sunflower starts I planted. The stalks were toppled in the bed. Fortunately, I have a few more sunflower seedlings that I didn’t get around to planting last week.
I have staked the tomatoes and pinched off the suckers.
Bad news: I found poison ivy in the Columbine bed.
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June is the garden month, according to the notes from Fred Cole printed in 1963. “In June we bow to our garden and weed on hands and knees. This humble approach to nature is a just tribute to its wonders,” he wrote.
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I saw Tim Anderson, who is head of the UMass Minuteman Marching Band, at the Farmers Market and told me the Amherst Community Band will be performing live concerts again this summer.
Pencil the schedule in your calendars: June 24, 6:30 p.m., Sweetser Park; July 31, 6:30 p.m., Sweetser Park; Aug. 19 6:30 p.m., Sweetser Park.
The last concert is Aug. 23 at 6 p.m. We hope South Church will continue its chicken barbecue, which makes for a lovely end to summer event.
There is also a concert scheduled for Look Park in Northampton but the date is tentative.
The band also plays at the Amherst Fourth of July fireworks, which I read will be held July 1, which is a Friday.
The band welcomes musicians of all ages. If you want to play, they rehearse on Mondays.
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Everyone is invited to have coffee with U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern on Saturday, June 4 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Bub’s Barbecue in Sunderland. I wouldn’t bother with coffee, but go directly to barbecue menu.
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The bird nesting on my porch has three very hungry children who are getting bigger every day. Their beaks seem to be always open ready for mama to return. Mama bird is constantly flying in and out. Her energy ***
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