Today in the orchard
The cool breeze reminds me not to get too cocky about summer’s arrival. It’s still ten days away, and spring is trying her best to get in the last word. It was a very pleasant temperature to be working in the gardens and orchards. The spring planting marathon is coming down the home stretch. Now it’s time to put on that last-minute sprint and get everything in. When the garden is full of plants, the assortment of new perennials have been transplanted here and there in the orchards and the trees are looking silver under their dressing of Surround, we’ll breathe a few deep breaths before we begin the summer work.
Year’s ago I was on a Morris Team. We danced pre-Christian, ritualistic, springtime dances with bells strapped to our ankles. The tunes and occasional shouted lyrics were all traditional (although I did have the audacity to write one for our team.) We sung out in unison, leapt into the air and then clashed our ash sticks:
“When the spring is sprung and seeds are sown beyond the garden gate,
The scythe is hanging in the barn while the patient farmer waits!”
Comfrey in bloom with Bombus sp., June 9, 2025
Bumble bees (Bombus spp) were out feasting on Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) pollen all day today. There are 17 different Bumble bee species here in Maine. (Who’d have thought?) I don’t know which ones we have, but they always seem to be around. The Comfrey bloom is a reminder that it is approaching time to take the old, apple-handled scythe down off the wall in the barn and make compost. Comfrey leaves and stems make some of the best. Never put the roots in the compost, however, or you’ll have Comfrey growing across every inch of your garden.
