🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙

Writer, Folk artist, “Old Central Jersey," Pine Barrens woodsman, Biodynamic gardener, MarquetteU Jesuit-educated.

Past: Newspaper staff writer, 1978 to 2017.

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

Follow my Facebook page: The Jersey Midlands.

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

LOOKING THROUGH THE ROSES at the world from my Central Jersey backyard.

It is OK to escape, sometime.

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, HELMETTA, N.J., looking toward the former George W. Helme Snuff Mill.

This is the heart of the Snuff Mill District on both the federal and state Registers of Historic Places. The mill stopped manufacturing in 1993.

About 5:10 to 5:15 a.m.

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

I CAME ACROSS THIS FOWLER'S TOAD as I was watering the garden, this afternoon.
.
"Anaxyrus fowleri" is easily identifiable in 2 ways -- the light line down its back and 3 or more warts in the black splotches. It is a native and good species for my yard's ecosystem.

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

https://t.co/Z2JdHq1k9z

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

I GOT AN HOUR IN ON THE HAMMOCK tonight -- and I did NOT fall asleep. Actually, I got a lot of Facebooking done. It was still relaxing.

-- Middlesex County
at Helmetta-Jamesburg;
2026, June 16, Tuesday,

[NY NJ PA Weather @nynjpaweather]

One of the best and worst things to happen to meteorology in the past 20 years has been the storm chaser.

Positive: The trained ones provide important observational information and help to enhance research on these storms.

Negative: The ones looking for "fame" or viewers tend to put themselves and others at risk and impact those trying to save lives like EMTs.

If your source of information turns every weather situation or development (like El Niño) into the end of the world, I would suggest following a meteorologist with a calm approach, a level head, and an understanding that integrity is more important than fame.

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

VENUS AND JUPITER, shining in the Night Sky after Monday's sunset.

Here, on the boundary of Mercer County's Princeton and Middlesex County's Plainsboro.

Venus is the brighter, or upper, of the two planets. Being planets, Jupiter and Venus are simply reflecting sunlight.

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

TODAY'S HARVEST from my Central Jersey garden -- roses and cherry tomatoes.

The tomatoes are two types of the Chef Jeff brand -- "Tumbling Tom Red" and "Patio Trailing Trio."

The roses are the Knock Out brand.

[Rutgers University @RutgersU]

The grass at @FIFAWorldCup 2026™ is backed by Rutgers University's world-renowned Center for Turfgrass Science. Ten of the tournament's 16 official pitches will feature natural turfgrasses bred by university experts.

⚽ MORE: https://t.co/gOxB285vDF

[Jeremy Siegel @jersiegel]

Norway fans are doing a “Viking Row” up the escalator at Boston’s South Station before heading to the World Cup

Adding this to the list of things I’ve never seen before and probably never will again

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

ROSEBUDS ARE ARGUABLY PRETTIER than the flowering roses they become.

These are Knock Out Roses in my Central Jersey yard.

[Marquette Basketball @MarquetteMBB]

Championship-level success. Congrats to NBA Champion Tyler Kolek. 🏆

#MUBB | #WeAreMarquette

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

Godspeed, Bill Ritter.

From a viewer to a newscaster. From one journalist to another. From the son of a father who had dementia.

Forge ahead! It is not yet time to put a "--30--" on the good you do. 🕊️🙏

[Eyewitness News @ABC7NY]

Beloved WABC Anchor Bill Ritter steps away from the anchor desk; reveals Alzheimer's diagnosis https://t.co/DRA8l9xC52

[NWS Mount Holly @NWS_MountHolly]

Unfortunately, there has been little change in the Drought Monitor from last week. Most of the region remains in at least a Moderate Drought, with the exception of the Poconos. An extreme drought is now posted for portions of the Delmarva & southern NJ.

#NJwx #MDwx #DEwx #PAwx

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

https://t.co/olm5r6Adhr

[NEW YORK KNICKS @nyknicks]

THE GREATEST COMEBACK IN NBA PLAYOFF HISTORY.

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

VIEWS FROM MY HAMMOCK. What a beautiful night.

-- NJ, Middlesex County,
Helmetta-Jamesburg;
2026, June 10, Wednesday,

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

IT IS NOT MUCH, but it is just the beginning.

The first harvest of my summer garden in Central Jersey. 4 cherry tomatoes and picked just enough roses for 3 small vases.

Looking forward to sweet corn, cantaloupe, carrots, and zinnia soon.

[🫜🧑‍🌾 Joe Sapia 🕊️🌙 @JosephSapia]

THIS CHRISTMAS POINSETTIA still has its red leaves.

It is my newest addition to my 50-plus houseplants. Helping to bring the outdoors indoors.

-- Middlesex County,
Helmetta-Jamesburg;
2026, June 9, Tuesday,

[Emmanuel Macron @EmmanuelMacron]

The Patrouille de France flying over the Statue of Liberty today. What a symbol. 250 years of shared history.