The burn ban is finally over and now I can start cleaning my yard so that I will be able to mow as we get toward the end of May. My lawn is about eight to ten inches high right now and of course I haven’t mowed because of the no mow May project. But besides helping the pollinators getting off to a good start this spring with wildflowers blooming in the yard, there is another added benefit. My grass has gotten so high that it has gone to seed, so when I do mow my lawn around Memorial Day Weekend I will be reseeding my lawn with free grass seed. This in time will make for a thicker lawn that will naturally choke out weeds. In fact I don’t have a lot of dandelions in my yard but there is plenty of ajuga, dichondra and violets. So by no mowing in May not only will you help the bees, but you will create a better yard in the future without spending any money. And one note for all you season allergy sufferers, take at least a tablespoon of local honey a day and eventually you will build up antibodies to the local pollen. This doesn’t take effect right away, it is something that builds over time. 

As I mentioned earlier this month, I already planted my garden this spring and now I have my flowerbeds halfway done. It seems like I am living in a zoo, but in my case, I’m the one living behind the fence as I have to fence in every one of my flower beds or they will get eaten by the deer. I never bothered planting annuals in Swan Lake because the rabbits and woodchucks would take care of them, so now I’m planting annuals again for the first time in twenty-five years. But the deer are driving me nuts, they are practically knocking on our windows looking for handouts. I don’t feed the deer because I don’t want to attract them. but my flowerbeds are just so tempting. Now, I had prepared for frost just in case, but the night of the full moon on May twenty third looks good for no frost. 

Last year we had a frost on May eighteenth, right in the middle of a thirteen day dry streak with daytime temps in the seventies. Now are temperature hasn’t been consistently nice this spring and it has been quite wet, but we also haven’t had a cold snap either. So now spring is in full swing and I can start my fire pit again in the backyard. All those limbs that came down during those multiple storms will make for a nice campfire to roast some s’mores. But even though we had all the rain lately burn with care. Don’t burn on windy days, have a water source nearby as well as a shovel and rake. You don’t want a burn to get away from you if a high wind comes up. Remember last spring with all the smoke in the air from the Canadian wildfires, that could happen again this year. 

There are already fourteen wildfires raging out of control in Canada right now. Minnesota is being effected right now with air quality alerts as the prevailing trade winds are blowing the smoke down across the border. Hopefully eastern Canada won’t have as much of a problem this year as they have had almost as much rain this spring as we have had here in the northeast.