Right now, here, summer feels a lot like the golden days of late September. I almost needed a sweatshirt when I went out early this afternoon. And yesterday was rainy and chilly for the whole afternoon (read, involuntary nap).
But, it’s also clearly not September - it’s June. It’s definitely June.
It’s June because it’s yard sale season. So many yard sales. It’s warm! It’s sunny! Let’s put all our old things in the driveway and sell them.
Side note: when the adjuster came to look at the hail damage on my car, he said you’ll always see a lot of garage sales right after a hail storm goes through a town. People are cleaning out their garages in order to make room to park the car in the garage to avoid hail damage. But that has nothing to do with summer.
I stopped by one garage sale on Saturday, and among the live, laugh, love signs found this gem. Vlog like a boss, yooooooo.
Here’s how I really know it’s not September:
The elderberry plants are abundant and in full bloom.
Year before last I made elderberry liqueur for the first time. This year I wanted to make elderberry liqueur (a la St-Germain). And as with every recipe for a foraged concoction like this, I can now confirm this takes way more than 25 minutes of prep time because you have to pick all these little flowers off the stems.
Was it time consuming? Yes. Did I do it anyway? Of course.
I’ll report back in 2-4 weeks on how it went.
How else can I tell it’s the start of summer?
The black walnuts are just little green babies on the trees!
Have you heard of nocino before? It’s an Italian liqueur made from young black walnuts. I’ve tried to make it in past years…but I haven’t gotten to it soon enough. Young green walnuts are easy to cut in half…but when they get too ripe it’s virtually impossible to cut through them with a knife. So, all to say I’ve missed my window in the past.
But not this year! I’ve had a note on my to-do list for years (just says ‘nocino’) and I’m so glad I got to it during the right window this year. Process is pretty straight forward (I mean, if you consider finding the black walnut trees with fruit and harvesting that fruit) cutting the baby nuts in half and putting them in jars and adding vodka and spices. And then wait six months. SIX MONTHS!
I’ll open the jars on the first days of winter, and report back.
Also, this afternoon I found a walnut that was just past prime for this project.
Other ways I can tell it’s summer:
Roux in the bird bath (jk, she will literally do this year-round)
The prairie looks like this! Soft greens and the first flush of flowers that aren’t…yellow (Golden Alexander, Coreopsis).
The prairie turns ten years old this fall!
Penstemon (One of the few earlies that’s not yellow)
Compass Plant. It’s so huge. See the size of that stem!
Rattlesnake Master!! I knew I seeded some in the prairie, but this is the first year I’ve seen it flower! It’s so cool.
White Prairie Clover. This is one of my favorites. It has a partner - purple prairie clover which has this amazing citrusy smell.
Parthenium integrifolium, Wild Quinine
Dragonfly! Right there in the middle.
Last one - here’s one way to tell it’s June in Wisconsin…That corn is still real green and young (but it is well beyond knee-high and it’s not the fourth of July) and the walk to the creek looks like this. (And yes, that’s one of the big elderberry bushes I harvested from on the left side of the road.)
That’s it! That’s the latest. That’s how I know it’s just the start of summer.
Last note, this note!
This was on my desk when I got into work last Tuesday. I still haven’t figured out who wrote it. But I can tell you how much I appreciate it!
Lately…work has been…a not-totally-great-place-to-be. Not great for anyone. But little gems like this really make it more tolerable. And what also makes work tolerable…four work days until a full week of vacation. Woot.
Happy Summer! If you’re in the Snail Mail Club - your latest goods were plopped in the mailbox this morning!
🌈vanessa
Gorgeous! Happy summer.
It's fascinating to see plants that grow in different places. Love the white prairie clover (we have the little round Dutch clover here). Summer!