By LYNNE IRONS

If I could rename my perennial bed a meadow, I would feel smug in the knowledge that I was a raging success as a gardener. There must be something about this karma thing; how could a person get so far behind in one lifetime? I have learned to live with many of my weeds. In the early summer I had a huge amount of daisy fleabane which has reseeded everywhere. This aster relative (Erigeron annuus) received its common name from a belief that the dried flower heads of the plant could rid a dwelling of fleas. As if!

Hey, in the world of bird watching there is nothing better than a bird that is easy to identify. And when you are dealing with sparrows it is particularly exciting. Most beginning birders barely even look at sparrows, claiming that they all look alike and they are just little brown jobs! This weekend we had a visit from a sparrow that is far from an LBJ (little brown job).

It’s derby time and the competition is fierce. But anglers aren’t the only ones out and about on the water; there is another land animal that likes to spend its time near water. Lucky for those that fish, this beast has a preference for fresh water. I, for one, would be a bit disturbed to find myself next to a fishing spider, which is more or less an eight-legged trawler.

Friday, Sept. 19: Partly sunny. Clouds running along the horizon are threatening. Damp. The air smells of the ocean at South Beach in Edgartown. Rolling surf. Fishermen line the Norton Point opening. Breezy.

Saturday, Sept. 20: Excellent visibility across Nantucket Sound. Large sailboats race in the annual gaff-rigged schooner race. Steady east-northeast wind brings choppy seas off East Chop. Five Corner traffic is light in the afternoon. Topsail schooner Shenandoah sits at her mooring without sails. Bright, sunny afternoon.

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

The best of the fin fishing season is far from over, but already attention shifts to the start of the bay scallop season. Oct. 1 was traditionally the start for the recreational season. Not so anymore, except in Edgartown.

AARP Tax-Aide, the nation’s largest free volunteer-run tax assistance and preparation service, is seeking Cape and Islands volunteers to be part of tax assistance and preparation and to become leadership coordinators. Volunteers of all ages and backgrounds are welcome; you do not have to be an AARP member or a retiree to volunteer.

Carol McManus, the owner of Espresso Love Café in Edgartown, wants you to eat more at home .

Living Local Harvest Festival Saturday Events

Panel Forums

9 to 9:45 a.m. Waste, Recycling and Composting:

Cleaning Up Our Act

10 to 10:45 a.m. Home Energy Options: What’s Right for You?

11 to 11:45 a.m. Thinking Big About Island Energy:

What’s Right for Us?

12 to 12:45 p.m. Increasing Island Food Production:

Connecting Farmers to Land

1 to 1:45 p.m. Island Fisheries:

On Sunday, Sept. 28, there will be tryouts for two original one-act musicals about Vineyard history:

Nancy Luce, The Musical was originally produced in the summer of 2007 as part of Children’s Theatre Workshop summer program, with a book by Dana Anderson and music by Linda Berg.

An Island of Women, Life on the Vineyard, 1850-1852, written by E. St. John Villard, takes place at a time when much of the male population was at sea whaling. Philip Dietterich has written the music and lyrics.

A couple of years before Tiny Tim tiptoed through the tulips of America’s oddball garden of novelty singers, Mrs. Elva Miller (1907–1997) of southern California sharpened our appetite for the camp pleasure of the over-warbled, excruciating and off-pitch note. Now in the world-premiere of Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing at the Vineyard Playhouse, Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway director and writer James Lapine brings us the story of the rise and fall of this songstress and, well, the truth must be told: laughingstock.