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| Piglette enjoying the sunshine |
... have not yet arrived here in the SF Bay area. Granted, given our latitude and proximity to the sea, temperatures rarely reach extremes, but we usually have an "Indian Summer" around late August/early September. This summer has seemed cooler than in the past. I wear sweaters and long sleeves more often, and heat-loving tomatoes don't seem to be flourishing as they once did.
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| The veggie garden |
Actually, the tomatoes are downright sad. By now, the plants are usually starting to outgrow and tip over their cages, so I have to jerryrig extra support for them. This year? The little yellow pear has two wimpy branches, one of which shot out a dozen sad fruits early on and then turned brown. The glacier has halfway filled a small size cage and is producing a fair number of golden fruits for its size. The paste tomato plant is doing better in size, but the stink bugs went nuts and there's not enough tomato left to eat after cutting away the damaged bits. The paste tomato issue may have more to do with the fact that I have swiss chard running rampant in the garden for the bugs to hide out in, than the weather, but it could be a contributor, somehow.
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| Gigi thrives in all conditions |
Beyond the tomatoes, the bell peppers and summer squash are, as my housemate says, lilliputian. The basil is yellow. And the cucumber plant is a single, tiny vine that has produced only one actual cucumber and three flowers so far.
On the bright side, cooler weather means I don't sweat much riding my bicycle to the accounting gig. Sweat means sticky clothing, even if you change once you get there!
Still, I am hoping for a few nice, warm days here before the coolness of autumn hits.
Strange weather we all are having. I think the rest of the country must have taken any heat you would have gotten. Our summer was hot, hot, hot. I wonder if the horticulturalists are working on developing new seeds for the climate changes?
ReplyDeleteWe are just having our Dog Days of Summer after very cool and humid months. I was even wearing a hoodie now and then, bah. Mushroom season started early in July.
ReplyDeleteAnd now in the last days it was up to almost 40°C, sigh.
Nice to see you blogging again :-)
My cukes consist of one tiny cuke and many flowers... The peas were just flowering two weeks ago. The only thing that did grow was my tomatoes, which I'm still waiting to ripen. (and then it was only about half of the plants. The tiny Tim variety was too tiny to count as fruit!)
ReplyDeleteYou have a very pretty cat and cute dog :)
We are having the opposite summer ... throughout May, June and July we had massive drought and heat waves... Now, in August we're getting our June weather..
ReplyDeleteGardens have long since died.. and those that did manage to stay alive.. are yielding meagre servings... it's sad.
Btw.. How do Piglet and Gigi get along?
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid of some of the seeds they're developing these days, Goldie, particularly the ones with animal genes!
ReplyDeleteWow, Martina, it rarely gets that hot here on the bay, although it does inland. I've been pretty uninspired -- I don't take as many photos, these days, and have less to write about.
I wonder if there's some kind of funky pollen drift from gmo plants, Miki & Miskinak, because my veggies were inconsistent last year, too.
The only time Pig & Gig have a problem is when Piglette catches Gigi stalking her food bowl. The rest of the cats are none too pleased with her, though, since she's part border collie and programmed to chase anything that darts around. They are slowly learning not to make sudden moves, though, and Piglette knows they are "my" cats, so is good with them most of the time.
I've not gardened this year. One tomato plant. After last year's drought, I was afraid to plant.
ReplyDeleteSuch a nice tone to this post.
(And writing about Pinterest has ebbed my compulsion somewhat. I was hoping for that.
Pinterest was a passing fancy for one of my cousins, too, Julie. Her Facebook wall was flooded with her Pinterest activity for about two weeks, and then... nothing!
ReplyDeleteI found the baby armadillo on pinterest today ... ;-)
ReplyDeleteSummer here has been roasting and humid. I believe we reached 113 degrees at one point. One of the local lakes I enjoy walking around is looking more like a pond and a river I cross over every morning for work is more like scattered puddles. Sorry to see your plants have suffered. I would gladly send some of this heat to you!
ReplyDeleteWhen it gets hot hot, hot, I head for Nevada to gamble and swim. I see the Devil's hook, and yet cannot help nibbling at the bait.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is blazing, Lindy Lou! I guess I shouldn't complain about moderate weather.
ReplyDeleteStill trying to count cards, Walter?
This summer has been awful on the fruit and veg side for European countries, too! My hubby is a keen grower and this year has resulted in pure tosh! I did manage a little tomato plant, myself!
ReplyDeleteBe thankful for the cooler air, in Scotland the temperatures went nuts to cold in hours! lol
I think that even commercial growers have had problems this year. They are projecting skyrocketing food prices this winter.
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