The other three sets of hops arrived!

Tom planted some Cascade hops a few weeks ago in one planter, and he ordered some more because it's the hop he uses most in his recipes. Then we've got Centennial and Northern Brewer. We'll see how they all do! We'll have far more hops than we need, but as I've said before, there is some evidence that the pollen from hop flowers prevents varroa mites in honeybees. So we're not just growing hops for the beer.

In other news, I'm going to battle. My foe? Earwigs.

They are eating everything in my garden; it's become not just a nuisance, but a massive problem. I'm going to put out black plastic bowls filled with oil, molasses, and soy sauce, buried in the soil and flush with the surface. Apparently this catches earwigs by the hundreds. I'm going to put three bowls in every raised bed. I'll let you know how that works. Hopefully I'll have lots of dead evidence to show you after a few days. (Do you think the chickens would eat dead earwigs soaked in soy sauce?)

Meanwhile, Tom and I have something exciting planned. I can't tell you about it yet, but I promise to update you before the end of the weekend. It involves food, cooking, farm produce, and probably a hike or two. Stay tuned!

I'll leave you with a lovely picture of some California native wildflowers I found in a local park. Someone thoughtful (the Native Plant Society?) scattered these seeds last fall. I love Baby Blue Eyes.

By the way, it's still raining! Putting a dent in our drought....