Good morning, Relatives! 

This weekend will be fairly hot compared to the delights of last weekend. There's food to harvest (tomatoes, okra, peppers, and I saw the first green bean!), a little bit of planting to do (more green beans, for sure), some weeding to do, more bug removal (good BYE squashbugs!) and maaaybe we can get those last tarp pieces out there? But it'll not be a good day for hurrying, so maybe, maybe not.   Please wear lighter colors, looser fitting, ideally woven, lightweight fabrics; closed toed shoes; and plan to start the morning by drinking a tall cup of water.  

Have we not seen you for a bit? We've missed you! Please come back. Some of you are reaching some higher levels of absenteeism and that's going to mess with your fall stipend check. Nobody wants that. I've been in the garden on Monday and Wednesday mornings the past few weeks, some folks have made up time during those hours. Next week, MONDAY MORNING ONLY.  I'm out of town Wednesday. Are these mornings not working for you? Look at your August schedule- perhaps there are some evenings that I can come and be there with you? I'm rooting for you, you just have to let me know what you need and we can work something out. Sometimes these side sessions become private tutoring sessions- when it's just me and one or two students, they really get my full attention. Check out the trellis in the Turtle Clan quadrant that Earl and I made when we were able to focus on the work!

Another opportunity to make up some time will be August 10- we're scheduled to have a booth at the Discovery Days event, 10-2, on the East Campus Mall. We have openings for a couple of youth to stay late and staff that booth. It'll be a great opportunity to practice interacting with the public and letting them know about our program.

This week, I want you to look at the flowers around you. "Wildflower" is a weird concept- for most of history, they were all wildflowers. What I want you to look at are how the flowers are formed. Picture yourself with some pieces of paper or fabric and going to "build" the flower you are looking at- how many pieces would you need? Do any of them need to be folded? What kind of symmetry do the flowers have? We'll take a look at more on Saturday morning and see how they can help us identify plants and decode which other plants are their closest relatives.  If you want to read about flowers, the chapter on Asters and Goldenrods is wild. Who knew?!

See you Saturday!
Molly