Friday, July 17, 2009

Mama, Will We Starve This Winter?

No, 'tis not a panic situation . . . and I promise we won't starve this winter. But, holy smoly, what a crazy gardening season we're having.




Since it is now past the middle of July and the above zucchini (which I sliced up - after losing it twice on the counter - and put in our scrambled eggs this morning) is the first one we've had this year, I think I oughta turn in my trowel and take up playing bridge, don't you? (Oh, yuck, I'm sorry, but card games are BOOOOR-ING.)



We've had one hot spell (and I will admit it was HOT) but it lasted only a few days. Other than that, our temps have been way below normal. Our dry spell seems to have been broken as we're experiencing a very moist period . . . which, granted, is much welcomed and I'm not complaining about that. (Right before the inch of rain we received a couple of days ago, we had a small forest fire in the area but it was thankfully contained and put out in short order.)





Perfect weather for peas now that we've gotten some good moisture. Yes, we are that far behind that our peas are just now in full blossom with a few pods forming. Wanna know what my shivering bean plants have to say about the situation? "Phfttthppp." That's bean talk for giving you the ol' raspberries.


It's drizzling rain as I write and our forecasted high for the day is 58 degrees. When we got up this morning it was 64 in the house and I said oh, the heck with it and built a fire in the wood stove. Cozy in here now . . . I'm fighting the urge to curl up with a book . . . it's that kind of a day.


As we ate breakfast we were discussing what we were going to work on today. We've got plenty to do and even some things outside we can easily accomplish . . . if the rain doesn't turn to ice.



6 comments:

Jordan said...

I've begun to call this the year without a summer! If it snows in October like it did last year, there's not much summer left. Sad. When you get a chance, can you post pics of your cold frames so I can see how you put them together? How many of them do you have, and what do you start in them? Thanks!

Jennifer Jo said...

That's impressively cold. I see I have nothing to complain about.

About losing the zucchini on your counter: at first I thought you meant you puked on your counter, twice. It took me a couple minutes before I realized that illness didn't play a role in that paragraph! (Giggle-giggle.)

Mama Pea said...

Hey, Jordan - Okay, I'll put "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cold Frames" on my list of things to blog about. :o)

Mama Pea said...

Very funny, Mama JJ. Also gross. On the counter even! (Although I must confess to knowing a couple of people who think of upchucking at the mere mention of zucchini.) And, okay, I'll admit it. Sometimes what makes perfect sense in my head doesn't translate that way to the written word. (And the way I TALK is sometimes even more confusing!)

Erin said...

I know what you mean about the summer. Down here in VA, I have been referring to it as a "MN summer"! It is usually 90-100 with intolerable humidity daily - this year it has been pleasantly in the lower 80's with no humidity. Not complaining, since it is so much more comfortable, but my tomatoes are taking twice as long to mature, and I have to wonder what the fall season will be like?

Mama Pea said...

Hi, Erin - In reading blogs from people all over our country, it seems as though the weather is doing s-t-r-a-n-g-e things this summer. 'Bout all we can do is learn to flow with it! (I'd be thrilled to have 80 degree temps for my little, green wannabe tomatoes!)