A GREAT YEAR FOR FRUIT

JUNEBERRY FRUIT

SUMAC FEMALE FLOWER SP[IKE

SUMAC MALE FLOWER SPIKE

FOURTH OF JULY BOUQET

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  66 degrees F at the ferry dock, 67 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with occasional light gusts.  The sky is clear with some haze.  The humidity is 91% and the barometer steady, now at 29.71".  It feels like rain, and we may get a thunderstorm this evening.

   We watched the Madeline Island fireworks from the back porch while listening to the Bayfield display, which the big pine trees in the back yard block from view.  It was a nice Fourth of July, with a lot of people in town and the ferries loaded with folks going to and from the Island for the parade.

   There will be a bumper crop of berries, cherries and finally apples, as it has been a perfect year for fruit growing.  That includes wild things like the Juneberry in the garden, which is loaded with fruit.  The birds and chipmunks are having a feast.  I hope a bear doesn't decide to pull the tree down to get the berries; that would be a capital offense.

   The staghorn sumac flowers, male and female on different bushes, Rhus typhina, in the Cashew Family, are just starting to bloom.  The flowers are minuscule, but there are very many in a flower spike and are evident now.  Both male and female flowers are greenish yellow in color at this point.  The male cones will shrivel and disintegrate after shedding their pollen, and the female will turn first pink and then eventually deep maroon, and will stay on the bush through the winter.  The hard seeds have a very acidic, lemony taste, and can be used to make a refreshing cold tea.  Sumac berries are also used for flavor in various ethnic dishes and should be interesting, although I have never used them myself in cooking.