Over the past week we’ve had a series of beautiful days. The humidity hasn’t killed us and the temperatures are reasonable for July. Violet’s college roommate lives in Missouri. They talked recently and she said it has been more than 100 degrees for days out there.

I’ve lived on the Vineyard for more than 50 years. I bet we have not had a single handful of days in the triple digits. For all my complaining, I am very grateful for this fact.

Also, the dry days have allowed the garlic that I pulled to cure perfectly. This was a crop I seeded from last season’s bulbs. I’ve done it three years in a row but I think I will replenish this fall and order new starts.

I like to use both the hard neck and soft neck varieties. Hard necks are much easier to prepare but do not last all winter, so they need to be used first — hopefully by Christmas.

The soft necks can be braided, if you are so inclined, and snipped out of the braid as needed. I’ve had them last until April although they become less wonderful as the weeks go by.

Onions are usually ready to harvest by August when the tops are turning brown and some are laying down. This is for winter storage. The fresh ones are ready to eat practically a few weeks after planting. Right now I have plenty of Ailsa Craig. They get quite large and are very sweet. They come from an island off the Scottish coast. For you trivia fans, it’s the place where the stones used in the sport of curling are found.

Since I seem to be on the subject of alliums, I think I finally figured out shallots. For a few years I started them from seed in January when I start onions. I would promptly forget which row they were occupying and would pull and treat them like any other onion.

I put them in the category of garlic. The bulbs should be planted in November along with garlic. I think my seeded bulbs should be replanted this fall. Wonder why it never occurred to me to look them up somewhere. Live and rarely — if ever — learn has been my lifelong motto.

My usual advice concerning mugwort is to sell the property. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. It is a heinous weed that cannot be controlled. I’ve found it growing happily underneath a tarp left for years. It was pure white from lack of sun but nonetheless thriving.

I left an area in the vegetable garden unplanted and unattended, not really by choice but from pure lack of time and for gumption.

Mugwort is now shoulder high. I know I can be the queen of superlatives but seriously this stuff is tall!

With the help of my daughter, we stomped it to the ground and covered it with black, heavy plastic weed mat. I might add that the dust coming from it sent me into a coughing fit. Good thing I always have my Covid mask at the ready.

See how I did that? Folks, we still need those masks indoors!

Marge Greene, congresswoman from Georgia, commented recently. Like Tucker Carlson she simply “asks questions.” She wondered why the Fourth of July shooting happened on a MAGA holiday and no one shot up the Pride parades. She mused that it was so Republicans may be convinced to support gun control.

So, let’s get this straight: the right-wingers now own national holidays and the flag just like they think they own Jesus. What’s next, apple pie?