Herb bed 5-25-14The sun will rise at 3:50 this morning, and set 19 hours 57 minutes later at 11:48 this evening. By next week, it’ll be setting after midnight. The rate of gain of daylight is slowing down by a few seconds a day, now.

It’s also warmed up at night, although cooling down in the daytime, as the air flow has shifted to the southwest, bringing moisture to the interior of Alaska. Not Strawberries 5-25-14much precipitation yet, though we’ve had a few sprinkles and enough clouds to warm things up at night and cool them down during the daytime. With luck, it will stay above freezing now. With even more luck, the fire danger will ease off.

I’m crossing my fingers on the squash and basil, but we planted most of the garden Saturday. I still have the plastic up on the hoops, but I hope I won’t have to use it on anything but the squash. I’ve planted two of the raised beds with mints and herbs, surrounding them with flowers, and tried something new this year with strawberries. If it works, it should keep the berries cleaner and much easier to pick, but I won’t know for sure for a few weeks yet.