Northern weather

[rogruth]

I hope and pray our Roger is going to be safe and sound amidst Hurricane Gordon's assault today.

Should have gone way West of Roger, but a lot closer to Jon

We haven't seen any of this one and I like it that way.
I hope the rest all go up through the central Atlantic Ocean.
I do appreciate the thought.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Still brutally hot here in No VA - supposed to be another day in the mid-90's with humidity that's going to make it feel like it's in the 100's.

Went to the garden this morning and watered everything; picked peppers and the next wave of tomatoes are starting - grape tomatoes and small yello plum tomatoes. Pulled the last of the carrots whether there are any more or not! Still got a cantaloupe or 2 on the vine...

[healey36]

Garden was a disaster this year. Building new raised beds, starting over next year. Slash and burn...works for the Brazilians.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Garden was a disaster this year. Building new raised beds, starting over next year. Slash and burn...works for the Brazilians.

We had so many tomatoes that I made pots of tomato sauce every other week or so....in the freezer now with many pounds of beans. Still have peppers coming in like crazy, and as I noted a 2nd planting of tomatoes are coming on line now. Still.....I need to clear out the raised bed (sort of...) that the carrots were in.....weeds are taking over and the prior user of the plot had gladiolas in there and those are still coming up.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Judging from your harvests and narratives, you are certainly one very experienced and successful gardener. What would you say are the key principles and customs that keep your gardening so successful, Rufus, if I may ask?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Judging from your harvests and narratives, you are certainly one very experienced and successful gardener. What would you say are the key principles and customs that keep your gardening so successful, Rufus, if I may ask?

Paying attention to what your grandparents taught you about gardening; it's really not all that hard. Pulling weeds as needed, and keeping after it all good and tidy. They had at least an acre of veg garden at the house (now mine) in Pa. I also spent a few years long ago working for a large landscaping and sod farm operation.

Not sure about success though......some things don't do well but that's something you learn by trying - soil conditions and qualities vs. weather/climate. Peppers grow like weeds and bush beans are something anybody can grow. Tomatoes seem variable and sensitive to soil and weather. I have no understanding on the bountiful carrot production this year. I do know that I turned that entire part of the garden over by hand before my son planted the carrot seed. OTOH, the onions were a total no-show -- way too much rain this year and they were put in too late.

[rogruth]

Do you suppose that the "climate change" we are experiencing is also involved?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Do you suppose that the "climate change" we are experiencing is also involved?

The weather this year has been unlike anything in this area for the past 30+ years. Wet and more wet. And then hot and more hot. If that flips around in a few months, I'll be out of gas & shoveling snow by hand.

The pepper plants love it and my big Opunta braziliensis on the front porch is out of control

[rogruth]

I looked up the Opuntia plant. Now that is an interesting looking plant.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I looked up the Opuntia plant. Now that is an interesting looking plant.

Mine is over 8' tall and is now 36 years old - grew it from a single leaf.

[J. S. Bach]

Not the best photo but I had a similar cactus (which I simply called a prickly pear) growing by my queen palm, it was originally planted with just a couple of pads. As you can see, it GREW!

000_0071.jpg (705.05 KiB) Viewed 2552 times

Unfortunately, Wilma blew away a lot of it; well, trimmed it down to about six feet tall. I never saw much of the debris from the cactus; probably blown into the next county. Note that every plant (except the queen palm) was planted with someone's discarded remnants.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

J.S.Bach/Dave, You are fortunate to have that much foliage. Our uninvited, insistent, visiting deer would have wiped you out, leaving even less than what you have there by that in-window air-conditioner.

[healey36]

Fifty-seven degrees here at 0700...blimey. Good thing, too, as my zone 2 a/c unit gave it up on Friday.

Florence the hurc should be here by Wednesday or Thursday...

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/084537.shtml?mltoa34#contents

The Maryland Midland has temporarily halted operations east of Union Bridge due to washed out track. Maryland Midland operates over a long section of the old Western Maryland mainline between Highfield and Glyndon. All traffic has been diverted to the MM's connection to CSX at Highfield until repairs can be made. This was a problem for the Western Maryland throughout much of its history, especially its right-of-way along the North Branch of the Patapsco east of Westminster.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Been raining since Friday evening and there's a small lake forming in the back yard.............again.

[rogruth]

We had enough rain so I didn't need to water HER plants.