GARDEN DIARIES

Last week, when I met Mom and Dad for brunch, Mom said her squash plants had bloomed but never produced any squash. She said the same was true for the gourd plants she'd planted. This was something I was beginning to worry about with my own squash. I had seen blossoms, but I still didn't have squash. I didn't know if I was just being inpatient or if I had the same problem as mom. Mom and I talked about the possibility that squash needed bees for pollination (they do). Niether one of us knew and it was something we never really paid attention to before because there were always bees buzzing around my parent's yard. Our neighbor was a beekeeper, but when he passed away, the bees disappeared. Last year I watched Vanishing of the Bees while walking on the treadmill. This really wasn't a good idea because the more I watched, the worse the panic attacks got. The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder keeps me up at night. It's my new obsession. I'm convinced I'm going to have nothing to eat but kale and we're all going to die because of bees. That's going to be my new disaster phrase. Any time something bad happens? Because of bees. I can only speculate about what's going on with the bees. I'd bet money that it has something to do with GMOs. We are not the best stewards of our environment. Remember when we though DDT was a good idea?

Any way...the bees...my squash. When I went out take pictures of the squash blooms I noticed one lonely bee traveling from bloom to bloom. I also noticed that I have squash, one even ready for eating. That one little bee has been busy. I also have cauliflower and lettuce that has gotten out of control.

There's spinach out there too, but it's pathetic looking. I bought kale seeds yesterday. I guess kale is really my new spinach.