7/12/2021 | This resource was created by Joanne Vogel and Kate Reilly.
Summertime will sizzle on the Duke Farms Distance Learning Portal through an eclectic array of environmental topics that feature the sights, sounds, and smells of this sensational season as was artistically captured in Dunbar’s historical work. We hope that you are inspired to find your own nature-based adventures and create reflections and memories to last a lifetime.
Summer in the South
The Oriole sings in the greening grove
As if he were half-way waiting,
The rosebuds peep from their hoods of green,
Timid, and hesitating.
The rain comes down in a torrent sweep
And the nights smell warm and pinety,
The garden thrives, but the tender shoots
Are yellow-green and tiny.
Then a flash of sun on a waiting hill,
Streams laugh that erst were quiet,
The sky smiles down with a dazzling blue
And the woods run mad with riot.
Paul Laurence Dunbar, born in 1872, is the author of numerous collections of poetry and prose.
He is one of the first African American poets to gain national recognition.
What’s more refreshing on a hot summer’s day than a bowl of plump, juicy blueberries? Just their color - deep ocean with a frosty bloom is enough to entice, but the mouthwatering flavor of the sweet berry is irresistible... and humans aren't the only ones to enjoy these sweet berries! As we've learned firsthand in our permaculture garden, birds and mammals can and will raid bushes for a chance to eat fresh berries. What you may find surprising is that at least 277 species of butterflies and moths depend on blueberry shrubs as host plants to lay eggs and feed their caterpillars - and that means bird food! Learn about all the different living organisms that depend on this keystone shrub to survive.