Thursday, July 5, 2012

Survival mode

Temps are climbing higher into the 90s and you can see 100F from here with no relief in sight.

A couple of days ago a storm (they are our only source of rain this time of year - no fronts) gave us almost .4" of water.  Most of it evaporated right off the grass and leaves and the ground shows no effect.

There is no really good news.  Nothing encouraging to report.  Outside projects (like building, staining, moving heavy objects) are unfeasible in this heat and even the little bit of watering I do in the early A.M. soon leaves me overheated and enervated.
German chamomile grown in a pot

I have picked 4 cucumbers, but am not expecting much more out of the 6 plants.  Where the deer didn't eat the leaves, the heat is making the plant drop blossoms so even though I'm watering the vines daily, there seems to be little payback for the effort.  I'll keep watering, though -- for a while -- and see if the vines make new blooms.

Otherwise, I'm inside.  It's depressing.  I don't have any  'inside' fall back direction for this time of year and  I'm at odds.  And even with the novelty of reading on the iPad, an antsy gal like me can only sit still for so long.  (Yet even though I'm getting bored, rest assured I've NOT turned into a housecleaning machine. Ha!)

I thought these kind of days would make for some extracurricular excursions to street fairs, farmers markets, and other outdoor events.  But the weather is killer and the very thought of walking around in it ON PURPOSE strikes me as a little insane.

There is one item to report.  I've not mowed the lawn for 4 weeks now.  The grass is burnt, but the clover is still green (most blooms are now blown, brown and making seed - although the honeybees are still pervasive, even in this heat).  Still, I think my less-than-manicured lawn looks better than the closely shaved dead grass that others have.  AND (here's the pony in the poo), I've saved between $6-7/week for lawnmower gasoline.  By the end of the month there will be plenty left in the wallet to pay for all the A/C I've used lately.

I should go water the veg bed now.  But, like the cukes, the peppers and tomatoes are not making flowers.  Haven't for the past couple weeks.  I'm trying to decide if I should just let them fend for themselves as I'm pretty sure that there will be no harvest, per se, this season.  As for the produce I see at outdoor stands, I sure wonder where the heck it comes from.  Not from around here, I'm betting.

P.S.  On a more positive note,  I've put up 2 new posts on the VEG PAGE.
One for CARROTS.  < = click
One for CUKES.  <= click

12 comments:

  1. Hang in there and keep looking for the pony in the poo. XOXOXO

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    1. Actually, we organic gardeners enjoy the poo along WITH the pony! ;-D

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  2. Oh you poor lovely, you're never going to look back on this season with happiness, are you?

    Personally, I might give up on the tomatoes. You could end up spending more on water than the value of your crops. I cannot remember the exact number but at a certain temperature tomato flowers will not set - it's why I have gone to such lengths this year to keep the temps down in our greenhouse (and then we have the wettest summer since 1910 ...)

    I'm with you on clover in the lawn instead of grass - better for bees, better for not having to mow. Maybe you take this opportunity to get some Yellow Rattle seed which needs to be sown in Autumn, will parasiticise (sp?) the grass and kill much of it off leaving good conditions for wildflower seeds next year.

    I suppose I shouldn't tell you that after a warm, sunny day (which came as a surprise) we've now got rain and I must rush outside and finish clearing away all the tools before collapsing into a hot bath.

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    1. Oh, don't worry about me, my dear. I've worked through the 5 stages of garden loss: shock; anger; retaliation; acceptance and - right now - I'm working on hope/anticipation (for next year).

      As for the YR - no. I prefer to have a lawn that's a mix of grass and clover with just enough odd bits (Queen Anne's lace, violets, violas, lamium, etc for when I let it grow long.) I don't want to diminish the grass - I love it when it gets long, the seed heads turn burnished gold, and it all ripples - ebbs and flows like waves - when the breeze catches it.

      Hot bath? Not here! In this heat I only look forward to brisk cool showers. LOL

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  3. It's supposed to be 106 here tomorrow. ACK! My water bill rivals the GNP of a small third world country and an obese squirrel ate my last almost ripe tomato. Hang in there!!

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    1. Your LAST tomato? Waaaaaah! Mine are a loss - so much BER due to heat. Guess I'm gonna have to stock up on a lot of jarred spaghetti sauce this Fall. This year is just a wash out. You hang in there, too! Try to keep cool in this heat. I imagine you're dealing with criminal humidity there too. *pant*

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  4. and we all started out with such high hopes! Like you I am about ready to throw in the towel this year. Iguess I will keep watering the sweet corn and tomatoes...peppers look great.

    After fighting the JB with the wrong spray and finally changing to Sevin, I found something had pulled most of the peaches off the tree and DH found the seeds laying on the ground. I see they are now working on the vegetable garden tree.

    One bright spot: I don't have blossom end rot!

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    1. As bad as it is for me, Glenda, I'm sure it's worse for you because this would be the 2nd year in a row of heat and lack of rain for you. I didn't think I had BER here, but just this morning I saw that ALL the romas on one plant have it. ^%W#! I picked them all off. I'm not planning on freezing any harvest this year. *sigh*

      Now, would you like some deer??

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  5. Summer's not over yet!! Heads held high, troops! What is BER? I have more tomatoes growing, fat balls of tastiness. Give your plants some water that you've enriched with epsom salt (1/4 cup par gallon) and a few big glugs of liquid kelp. It will help them withstand heat stress. They'll love ya for it!! :o)

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    1. BER stands for 'blossom end rot'. It's a calcium problem - either too much, not enough, not in proportion, etc. You'd know it if you had it. Glad yours are holding up. Thanks for the tips!

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  6. Oh dear, our extremes of weather are getting us both down. You can't get out for the heat, and I can't get out for the rain. We have had the central heating on. We haven't sat outside in the garden once this year - like you it is so strange just to be indoors at this time. Hoping we both get some respite.

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    1. Oh Linda, SO many UK blogs are posting about your lack of summer this year. I read about folks lighting fires in the evening, wearing jumpers and otherwise trying to keep warm - IN JULY! It's just not right. I think most of us are just about ready to give up this year and focus on NEXT year. But that gives no comfort to our summer activities and the decidedly lack of harvest. Keep warm. Keep dry. Stiff upper lip and all that.... We'll soldier on.

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