Levi robinson is a rare variety, grown (as far as I can tell) only in Maine. I got my seeds from the Waldoboro school seed project many years ago, and have been saving them ever since. Their chief good attribute is their excellent flavor. They are strong growers, as a rule, also. They have a smaller second (post-picking) crop than other beans, and they are not as prolific as some; also, they are only average-tasting after freezing. Good sized, stringless, and delicious when fresh. There is a variety called levi that is commonly available as a shell and dry bean, but it is different from this one. Back in the pre-internet days when I belonged to the Seed Savers Exchange, I offered levi robinson but the Exchange mistakenly listed my offering as levi. That was one among a few reasons why I dropped my membership.
The mild weather has been kind to the broccoli, which requires a cool June if it is going to head up well. A hot spell will result in premature, small heads and a short life.
The white-throated sparrow, which had been a permanent resident in this part of the island, seems to have been displaced, in the past three years or so, by the song sparrow. These latter behave much as the white-throats, even to the point of nesting in the tall grass by the porch at the rear of the house. Although phoebes had nested here, in the eave of the porch two years ago, and inside the barn last year, they are not nesting here this year. Fewer hermit thrushes are singing at dusk, perhaps because the weather has been so cool in the evenings--almost no nights above fifty degrees F. More bluejays than in past years, slightly fewer crows, and about the same number of warblers. The raucous cry of the pileated woodpecker can be heard from time to time, but I hear fewer downy and hairy woodpeckers knocking on the black locust trees than in past years. Robins, chickadees, nuthatches and goldfinches, the major songbird species here, are ubiquitous as usual.
I've been doing some outdoor chores in the afternoons in the mild weather. I reserve the mornings for writing, but the afternoons are variable and recently I've been repairing things that I had installed or built or repiared in earlier years. One thinks on making a repair that it will last, and it is unnerving to find out that occasionally it needs to be re-done years later.
Golden Russet apple tree in bloom, May 30, 2016 |
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