Page 39 - the NOISE June 2012

It’s good ol’ Summertime: July! First a crack, then, sud- denly, BOOM! Thunder announces the arrival of rain to parched land, and the beginning of Monsoon Season. Clear morning skies become full of cottony white clouds by midday, which can look almost black by late afternoon. Mois- ture means the continuation of life at a time of desperation.
As temperatures soar, dehydration and heat stroke can be life-threatening out in the elements. The threat of sudden flash floods should also be taken seriously, especially in the canyon gorges, but even out in the flatlands.
Lightning strikes tend to favor the highest points of the landscape, and sizable metallic objects. Even though light- ning can be intensely destructive, it also has a beneficial side: one strike of lightning produces 600 pounds or more of available nitrogen, which falls with the rain into the soil in the immediate vicinity. The actual strike site, however, may be incinerated, melted, or exploded into bits; this can set wildfires into motion.
Fire used to be a frequent natural rejuvenator of the forests, but with improper logging practices and fire suppression, these commonplace, natural fires may erupt into superfires. Sometimes there is enough rain to douse them, but more of- ten, they are “dry strikes,” in which lightning may touch down up to 30 miles from its cloud source.
This is often the time of year when the most precipita- tion falls. It is a good plan to be able to retain the precious moisture and slow its runoff so it can more deeply soak into the soil. Check dams, swales, and meandering courses are beneficial in places of water runoff. Retaining ponds and bar- rels can be used as water reservoirs. Cover barrels with fine screening to prevent mosquito larvae habitat.
And if you haven’t noticed, the day length is getting short- er by 2 minutes a day, and will continue until the Winter Sol- stice, 6 months from now.
Finally, after much anticipation, we have the glory of the first ripening of nectarines and peaches. Peaches and nectarines are a result of intentional human interven- tion, or hybridizing, by cross-pollinating almonds with plums to create a fruit with the best qualities of each parent plant. Prunus persica most likely originated in Persia some 6000 years ago or more. It has been improved on ever since through selective breeding and grafting. Peach varieties come in gold or white; cling or freestone; and produce early, midseason, and late ripening times. Peaches and nectarines are usually available fresh in July, August, and September. There are no populations of naturally occurring wild peaches in existence on Earth.
The majority of commercially available peaches and nec- tarines are sad charlatans when you bite into them. This is because they were likely picked well before peak ripeness in order to be shipped to their final destination without becom- ing bruised and moldy. Peaches do not ripen well once they have been picked, unlike the plum, which just gets better the longer it sits around after picking.
If you want real peaches, you may have to grow your own, or at least pick them yourself. You can also ask around for someone local who sources them in the area. Don’t rely on a volunteer or seedling peach; plant grafted peach and nec- tarine trees for superior quality fruit. Peach and nectarine seedlings with their own roots are susceptible to diseases, but grafted trees are paired with hardy rootstock from either the almond or plum (the original parents to begin with!). Al- mond root is chosen for dry growing conditions and plum root for wetter locations.
Once you have a large supply of fresh peaches, you’ll want to preserve them. Some people prefer to peel the fuzzy skin off, and then thinly slice the flesh into sections for dehydrat- ing. Too-ripe, mushy trimmings can be frozen for smoothies or future baking projects, and halved peaches can be fro- zen or canned in Mason jars. You can make peach syrups, scones, pies, BBQ sauce, fermentations, and liqueurs. PEACH PLEASE!
High Quality Seeds from ThunderfooT Earth- works can be purchased at Mount Hope Foods (Cottonwood), Windmill Gardens Nursery (Corn-
ville), ChocolaTree Eatery (Sedona), CSA Store and Flagstaff Native Plant & Seed (Flagstaff)
thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news magazine • JULY 2012 • 39
JULY TWENTY-TWELVE
CAPRICORN: Captain Jean-Luc Picard shows up at your doorstep and demands that you accept the undeniable fact there are, indeed, FOUR lights. He won’t leave until you acquiesce, so just tell him what he wants to hear, and take him to dinner. He likes dinner.
AQUARIUS: You finally realize, after 30 years of faith- ful study, that you’ve wasted your life with astrology. You stop relying on the stars, you take charge of your own energy, and you finally LIVE.
PISCES: You trip and fall face-first into a pan of deli- cious pot brownies. You accidentally consume them all, then you start to finally understand life, ya know? Totally cool, man. Life isn’t a box of chocolates; it’s a rainbow-colored unicorn with solid gold hooves and a taste for freeform jazz. And it can project itself into space, dude. Awesome!
ARIES: People begin to question your sanity when you graft wings onto your Chihuahua. They become absolutely convinced of your lunacy when you try to prepare him for his bar mitzvah. What’s weird is that you never knew before last Thursday that he was Jewish; you always suspected Canadian, though.
TAURUS: After last month’s death in a snow blower incident, where George Lazenby had some verbal fun at your expense, you’re pretty much laying low for July. Pretty much on the mulch pile.
GEMINI: You order a pizza and it arrives late, but you pay full price anyway. You’re too mousy to ask for a discount. Tiny, tiny human you are.
CANCER: The last time you felt this good, you were moments away from losing four fingers in a freak wheat-threshing incident. This time your fingers are safe. You’ll just be hit by a bus instead.
LEO: What makes you so damned irresistible is the fact that you are super-easy. An absolute all-you- can-eat tart buffet.
VIRGO: Your wife is mixing perfumes and coming up with some pretty bizarre results. Play along and don’t be critical, or she’ll get her Jewish Chihuahua to give you a serious talking-to. Oh, and pet a kitten. Kittens rule.
LIBRA: When milk drops out of the carton in chunks, don’t drink it.
SCORPIO: You’ve made it this far without anyone knowing what you did to Captain Kangaroo. But people are starting to get suspicious. Your cosa nos- tra connections will come in handy this month.
SAGITTARIUS: Kitty purrs at the thought of your violent death.
OPHIUCHUS: By the end of the month, you realize that what you did to that apple pie is not natural at all. Should’ve been pecan. With whipped topping.