The Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks on July 28 but may be obscured by the waxing full moon of Aug. 1. This first full moon is a super moon, the second of the four super moons we will see in 2023 as the moon’s orbit brings it closer to earth.

Unique to August will be two full moons, the second on Aug. 30. The unusual occurrence of double moons in one calendar month gave rise to the phrase in around 1830 of “once in a blue moon.” The use of the word “blue” applied to the moon is recorded even earlier, in the 16th century, when the moon appeared blue from volcanic dust in the air. 

Luckily, once in a blue moon is not when we can harvest summer fruits. The native blackberry (Rubus ursinus), which is dime-sized, is ripe in many full-sun areas, such as Millerton Point. Larger, quarter-sized Himalayan berries (Rubus armeniacus) are still green but should come along soon.  

One roadside white flower that I left out of my last column is the large, white Matilija poppy, sometimes called the “fried egg poppy” because its white petals surround a large yellow center. This California native takes its name from a village of the Chumash, the Indigenous people of the Ojai and Ventura area.