I admit that my memory is becoming a bit faulty but I cannot recall ever getting reliable rain in the month of August. Don’t get me wrong. I’m completely happy about it. Not having to haul hoses for a couple of weeks is a huge gift.

By the time this hits the newsstands, the annual Agricultural Fair should be in full gear. I’m sure a good time will be had by all.

Most of my garden knowledge comes from old wives’ tales or simply making stuff up.

I heard years ago that the first cicadas are heard six weeks before the fall equinox. Sure enough, I heard them a week or so ago. Big thanks to some of my workers who helped in the vegetable garden. My daughter Naomi has been tackling the wild morning glory and mugwort like a trooper. Maria and Sam dug all the potatoes during my Covid downtime. What a huge help.

Then, thanks to Maria for helping spread buckwheat on all the now-empty areas. Both the potato and onion beds were ready to receive.

Buckwheat is an interesting cover crop. It will not take a freeze but will quickly produce nice flowers loved by honeybees. I figured that even planting it this late in the season would still give it time to bloom and do its job of suppressing weeds and adding nutrients.

Later on after the blooms fade it can be over-planted with winter rye sometime in late fall. I always add a bit of lime to the soil for each new planting. It’s inexpensive, cuts any acidity and allows for release of soil nutrients.

There are a few large areas of interest to enjoy in daily travels. The field across from Nip ‘n’ Tuck Farm is awash in Queen Anne’s lace. That field was home to a couple of large draft horses in years past.

At the right fork to Katama, there is a large planting of cosmos. Folks often stop for photos of themselves in the flowers.

There is a new planting this year of tiny Leyland cypress along State Road up from Morrice the Florist. They have literally more than doubled in size in just a few months. I think that tree can put on three feet of growth in one year.

Its only drawback is being a favorite winter food of deer.

Two late-blooming trees are mimosa and crape myrtle. Check out the mimosa hovering over the mailboxes at Snake Hollow.

Crape myrtles took a hit this past winter. Some died right to the ground but nature had its way and most grew back and are blooming. There is a nice one at the Visiting Nurses Association building on State Road just up from the Martha’s Vineyard Bank location in Vineyard Haven.

I was born the same year as Donald Trump. It takes effort to maintain my very simple lifestyle. I’m not running for president, facing multiple legal problems and paying probably millions to law firms. I hardly feel for him. His woes are self-inflicted.

I do, however, feel for Joe Biden. I think many people in this country know the heartache of a loved one in the throes of drug or alcohol addiction and the consequences of that affliction. Hunter is the last of Biden’s first family and is now the object of national attention. The GOP will do anything to take the heat off their leader. I don’t think Hunter should get a pass for wrongdoing but is it the same as a sitting president’s alleged crimes? Joe Biden is a decent man who loves and supports his child.