If I Knew You Were Coming
I Would Have Baked a Pie
Hello Friends,
Tomorrow is the Summer Solstice, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. It's the day when we get the most amount of daytime sunlight. Often, it's said to be the longest day, but that's not true. All our days are the same length, around 24 hours.
In the Southern Hemisphere, it's the Winter Solstice. That would be the day with the most darkness. I would think that would feel like the longest day. Like many events in our physical world, it all depends on where you're standing.
Now that it's almost officially summer, I can declare that here in the Northeast, we haven't had much of a spring. My vegetable garden is a rather anemic, bordering on flaccid. The days have been cool and humid, as they can occasionally be here on the coast of Massachusetts. And the Bruins didn't even make it to the playoffs.
Usually around this time (a week or so before July 4th), I wait with salivating anticipation for my blueberries to ripen. I have two bushes in my yard. I can see them outside my window as I work. In the early spring, they start to show the white flowers that will eventually become the berries.
Throughout the spring, I watch the pollinators buzz around, from bud to bud, doing their thing to help my berry bushes become full of fruit. I am thankful for these little critters, even though I am not a fan of bugs or anything, really, with a stinger.
The interesting thing is that blueberry plants are self-pollinating—they possess both male and female, err, parts—called stamen and pistil, respectively. So, a good strong wind, like we have had plenty of this spring, will do all the work to create blueberries without the help of bees' knees.
But, it works way better when you add a second bush and a bunch of nature's little helpers—the plants produce more and larger fruit—yummier berries, in my case.
Coincidentally, a group of scientists in Italy reported they observed plants (snapdragons in this instance), actually producing more nectar when they heard pollinators close by. So my blueberry bushes possibly responded to the rhythmic flapping of curious bees and sent out an invitation to a floral three-some.
Plants don't have ears—that would be silly, but they do have specialized mechanoreceptors that allow them to notice when a friendly buzzer is close by, kicking their pollen production into high gear. Further more, this seems to only work with bees and wasps that actually want the pollen.
Non-pollinating insects do not illicit this response from plants. Who got that kind of time?
Makes sense (even though it's crazy cool plants do this). I mean, who doesn't want to look their best when the right type of friend pops over? All we all are doing is looking for our people, right? Even if our people are a different species.
This further underscores the evidence that our world depends on symbiosis. So much so that we wouldn't have life on this planet if we didn't.
It's too easy to forget that we rely on each other when we’re doom scrolling the news.
Perhaps, instead, call a friend and go share a piece of pie.
Happy reading, happy writing, happy pollinating,
David