The first sunflower bloomed today. Several weeks ago we noticed a cluster of volunteers under the birdfeeder, and when the chickens uprooted this one and its sister, I transplanted them into the vegetable garden. They seem to like it there, growing quickly with thick stems and lush leaves. It’s a small bloom, but I am happy to see it. We had planted three rows of giant sunflowers at the top of the property, hoping to fill in a bare patch in the grass with some color. Instead, we have a patch of tall weeds with maybe half a dozen sunflowers mixed in, the rest having been nibbled off by the deer. The survivors haven’t bloomed yet; I’m hoping they make it that far.

Our trees are laden with fruit, and I’ve been walking through them periodically, plucking the fattest ripest looking apple I can reach for a taste test. They’re not ready yet, but they’re closer than they were. A sister of mine is picking now down in Pennsylvania, so I’m figuring we have another three to four weeks to go – an estimate our neighbors also shared with us the other evening over dinner. Which is fine by me – we have a lot of sunshine to soak up still. I’ll take a few more weeks of summer for sure.