Ah, the start of summer, I remember it well. Only four short months ago and all was anticipation. Everything smelled new, green, vital. I was listening to Seals & Crofts’ “Summer Breeze,” “Summer Rain” by Johnny Rivers, “Nightswimming” by REM, ‘Wagon Wheel’ by Darius Rucker, and one of my long-time favourites, “Summertime’s Calling Me,” by The Catalinas while I drove with the windows down, singing along.
Of course, in June there’s a lot of garden work to be done — and thus a sometimes sore back — especially if you procrastinated in the fall and then again in April and May. In that respect, I’m happy to be looking backward at June from a vantage point well beyond harvest time. All that remains to do now is a bit of weeding and the planting of garlic in a couple of weeks.
Walks and Sights in … New Hampshire
In June I made a couple of trips each to Low Plain and Kezar Lake, and one trip to four other spots, plus frequent walks in town.
LOW PLAIN (NEW LONDON)
KEZAR LAKE (SUTTON)
OTHER NH TRAIL & TOWN WALKS
Walks and Sights in … Maine
At LAUDHOLM FARM
Food
(All food & drink enjoyed at restaurants was eaten outside on a porch, deck, or patio — or in a beer garden!)
beer and list at Polyculture Brewing beer garden cod, olives, artichokes burger, fries, and rye whiskey –Father’s Day special ‘Parasol’ cocktail and iced tea horseradish-crusted cod mango smoothie homemade cacio e pepe white wine at Warrens, Kittery ME breaded cod salad with cheese and salsa another beer garden at Polyculture Brewing
Zoom
Besides my weekly groups, I attended a few webinars, including one from Longwood Gardens about their conservatory (history and current renovations), a NH Audubon presentation by Heather Holm on native predatory wasps and another from NH Audubon on native bees, with Michael Veit.
House & Garden
CAT
He has trouble relaxing.
HOUSE
Well, turns out most of the inside stuff was the cat. But I finished a puzzle of the Sonoran desert. It barely fit on the card table. (I also read nine books.)

GARDEN
To make up for lack of pics inside the house there are a bazillion photos from the garden, which I have trimmed to fewer than 25.
Prunus x kerrasis ‘Crimson Passion’ dwarf cherry ‘Rozanne’ geranium dianthus roses primrose Bowman’s root ‘Pink Profusion’ sage white peonies comfrey bush clematis ‘Blue Ribbons’ geranium Rodgersia black bear tiny Menesta tortriciformella (diurnal) moth Tetracis cachexiata (white slant-lined) moth male goldfinch pink peonies ‘Moonlight’ yarrow ‘Summer Pastels’ yarrow Sweet William Sweet William lupine with insect front of house with rhodos
From a webinar by NH Audubon in June 2021 on NATIVE BEES:
Featured photo: elderberry flowers.