After a week of 80-degree weather, we dropped down to lows of 36 F! Boy, were we worried it would frost. When you have 5 acres in gardens, there’s no covering anything, so we just prayed like crazy. In the mornings it was cold, but nothing frosted. Just two miles away from us, it was white on the ground! That’s close.
As we’ve had such a crazy growing year, everything is late. Tomatoes, corn, peppers, beans — everything. As I had to replant the corn, we’re sweating it to make mature seed by frost. Usually, we don’t get a killing frost until about the first week of October. I don’t know about this year though…
It stopped raining and Will started cutting hay again. He made two rounds of a field, and the bearing went out of the haybine. We called around and nobody local had the right one. His haying friend had a few but they were the wrong size. We ordered a few online and via phone, hoping one might get here in a day or two. There’s always something.
I picked more tomatoes and will be seeding them this afternoon. I’ll also be canning up more tomato sauce or salsa. I haven’t made up my mind which yet.
Our potato vines are starting to die down and the onions are starting to tip over. It won’t be long before we get them harvested now. Both look like they’ll make a good show.
This year, I bought a few gladiolus bulbs and planted them in the tomato rows. They’re flowering now and sure look gorgeous.
–Jackie
I agree on how crazy the weather has been this year. I have nothing except a gut feeling that we might have an early frost. Crops are looking like mid-September since the first of August. We’ve had so much rain that tomatoes are rotting instead of ripening. I planted 4 rows of carrots and harvested 17 carrots. Lettuces bolted due to the extremely how weather. Bug and weed pressure is the worst recall seeing and I’ve been gardening since 1962.
If the amount of moisture we’ve received continues as snow, I’ll probably be snowed in until next May or maybe June!
I’ve been inventorying my pantry and other supplies and have started a re-stock which I usually don’t do until October. Part of that is sometimes the stores are out of what I need so it takes several months (I only shop once a month) to get find everything, but the main issue is I “feel” the need to do so now. Not a panic “feeling” just a push to do it now.
Corn and soybean crops are looking very good in my area. Since they planted early this year I would assume harvest will also be earlier than typical. It has been drier lately which should allow heavy machinery to get into the fields.
Last weekend a soybean field not far from me is dying off. I know all the corn and “beans” are GMO but this is really early for either to start showing signs of not far in the future harvest.
Temps here have been cooler and the remaining cuke plant and tomato plants are not kicking out the harvest like they were. Okay by me – I was able to share tomatoes and cukes with workers from a company we hired. Only one wanted cukes so he scored big time lol. No wise person turns down food these days.