It’s summertime
It’s official. Summertime is here, along with our rainy season. This time, along came the Strawberry Moon that is rarer than a Blue Moon. The Strawberry Moon is when a full moon happens on Summer Solstice.
Native American tribes gave distinctive names to each full moon because they used the moons phases and cycles to keep track of their seasons and to identify the entire month when it occurred. The Algonquin tribes that lived in New England and west to the Superior River had a profound effect on the early American settlers, who then adopted their habit of naming the full moons. The Strawberry Moon was identified as the time to start picking strawberries; other names are Rose Moon and Flower Moon. The reddish/pink color of the moon is caused by atmospheric conditions on Earth or at a partial eclipse of the moon. This year, it was its normal grayish white, for those who tried to see it
Did you feel like you had extra time on your hands last Monday or Tuesday? The Summer Solstice arrived on my calendar at 12:38 Eastern Daylight time or 22:34 Universal Time, Monday, June 20. The solstice comes from a Latin words sol (sun) sister (stand still). It is the longest day of the year because our ol’ Earth in taking a whirl around the sun, slants 23.5 degrees in its elliptical spin, causing the Northern Hemisphere’s axis to face the sun. This begins our decline in sunlit hours during the day until the Winter Solstice on Dec. 21. ( little September Song here, “and the days grows shorter when they reach September.”) We can now enjoy about 17 hours of sunlight, which starts slowly decreasing.
This day marks the ancient middle of the summer for traditional Gaelic culture, their midpoint between their summer (May 1) and fall (Aug. 1). Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” wove this into its theme.
The 2016 Summer Solstice marks the highest exposure of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the sun’s heating radiation. The ocean’s rising temperatures provide the energy necessary to produce stronger hurricanes later, around September. Having had 3 named major storms already this year, let’s hope all goes well. El Nino is not around this year to keep things moderate. Now, and September, will be the major start of the hurricane season.
With our heat and rains, summer gardening is complicated. Our evenings are too hot for tomatoes to set fruit, and cause our lettuces to bolt and turn bitter. Brassicaceae oleracea species, the cabbages, collards, broccoli, cauliflower and kale, need some shade, as they peter out above 80 degree temperatures. We now have a whole new set of plans for growing plants during summertime here, called our summer crops.
While summer is too hot to start herbs, my established herbs are doing well in very partial shade, such as rosemary, my mint is everywhere, parsley, sage, dill, chives, anise, thyme depending on whether they are annuals or perennials. Parsley is a two-year plant and develops a deep carrot-like root. My African Blue Basil is a perennial that provides a great pesto with its small leaves, and rarely freezes. It does shrivel up from a lack of enough water, but makes a nice shrub. My big tub of sweet potatoes has grown gang buster shoots, it’ll be 9 months before I harvest them, tho’. Cherry tomatoes do well, vining everywhere; okra, peppers, and eggplant are forever plants.
My caladiums have popped up again, flourishing. I threw thyme seeds into the pots and didn’t realize that watering these seeds would start my caladiums in the pot growing again. Their colorful leaves cheer me up.
With the tremendous heat, we try to stay indoors as much as possible during the day, and the evening hours are plagued with mosquitoes. Summertime in South Florida isn’t easy, but my trips to the local farmer’s markets yield crops brought from elsewhere. I did find plentiful lychee nuts in three sizes – yum, and fresh sprouts. What fun to shop at the farmer’s markets!
School is out and the Trafalgar Middle School gardens are laid to rest for the summer with the wonderful news that Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam had recently announced the winners of the second annual Florida Farm to School “Golden Shovel” Awards, recognizing Florida students, educators and community members for their extraordinary school garden efforts. Trafalgar Middle School was named the recipient of the “Best use of Produce” Award for Secondary Schools. Schools had to demonstrate impressive use of their produce from their garden during and/or outside of school hours.
Al Piotter is the teacher/mentor/advisor of the school’s Builder’s Club that works the 27,000-square-foot garden, providing thousands of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to the citizens of Lee County through the Community Cooperative Ministries Inc. and through Farm Share. They also provided healthy foods for up to 500 needy families at a time. Al will be able to pick out a prize packet for the school from this award. Congrats! Job well done and executed.
Don’t forget that Saturday, June 25, is the Annual Taste of Lee, a tropical fruit fair, at the Gate Ministries, formerly the First Baptist Church, 1735 Jackson St., in downtown Fort Myers, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free tasting and parking, hourly raffles, informative classes and information galore. It’s $2 general admission with under 12 free. This is sponsored by the UF/IFAS Lee County extension and the Caloosa Rare Fruit Exchange.
Buy a fruit tree that provides more than the regular oxygen and carbon dioxide elimination trees for which trees are noted, thank it for all it provides.
Joyce Comingore is a Master Gardener, hibiscus enthusiast and member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral.