Late in June as I looked out over my back yard I could only guess how long it would be before my lawn would succumb to the dry conditions. Hot weather and limited rainfall had made left my lawn looking like it was August.
And then it happened! There were a couple of late night rains that amounted to well over 3 inches of moisture. The once forgotten lawnmower would now be dusted off and gotten ready to attack the now growing grass.
Not only did the lawn benefit from the July moisture, which was near a record for Minot, a trip to the Metigoshe area, and Lake Metigoshe State Park, also revealed great camping and hiking conditions in the Turtle Mountains.
Pretty much everywhere we drove you could tell that outdoor recreation conditions had vastly improved over the past couple of weeks. Not to be a naysayer, but we may be back to normal conditions for mosquitoes. Yeah, I know, why bring it up? Well, if you are headed out to do some walking or hiking, be aware that you might want to bring along bug spray to fend off these pesky critters.
Farmer’s Market Report
My friend Anne Gates tells me that she’ll have a lot of what she had last week. Radishes, garden lettuce, kale and elderberry preserves. “Add to that crookneck squash, onions, banana peppers, onions and garlic. Plus, the Saturday starting at 11 AM we’ll have the kids’ market so there will be kids with booths this week as well. Always a lot of fun…” according to Anne.
Another friend of mine, Elizabeth LeDoux is at the other Farmer’s Market in Oak Park and says that she has a good supply of potatoes, “Yukon Gold and Norland Reds.” And we are really lucky “we hope to bring fresh garden carrot to market this week” says Elizabeth.
Mark Your Calendars
The Brass Band of Minot has been informed that a group from the 188th Army Band will be joining us for our October 12th concert. The “The No Brass No Ammo Woodwind Ensemble” will be part of our Salute To Veteran’s concert held at Anne Nicole Nelson hall on the campus of Minot State University. “We’re super excited to have the No Brass No Ammo Ensemble join us for our Salute to Veterans concert on October 12th” said Director Wayne Schempp. “The ensemble will take center stage for about 20 minutes doing their own music and then will join the Brass Band of Minot for a couple of songs including John Phillip Sousa’s Stars & Stripes”.
Bacon & Brew Scheduled for September 4th
The always popular Bacon & Brew will be back on September 4th according to Amanda Manuwal of the Greater Minot Zoological Society. “We have a lot of new features this year including VIP tickets, many new vendors and of course the new tiger cubs will be on display” according to Amanda. Stay tuned to next week’s Northern Sentry for a detailed interview about with more about this year’s Bacon & Brew.
Best Kept Secrets
Last week we stopped at the Fort Stevenson Marina store for a “little” bit of ice cream. 1 scoop we said…with Juneberry being the most popular. We could not believe the ice cream that was piled into one little plastic cup for, get this, $3.00. So, we are calling this a best kept secret, especially the Juneberry Ice Cream from Pride Dairy in Bottineau. It just doesn’t get any better than this.
Today’s Chuckle
It may be a free country, but you’ve still got to pay the operating expenses.
