Finally Fall?

It appears and feels like it is finally fall.

Sunday morning I emptied the rain gage with 1.5" (which was from Thursday, Friday and Saturday). It cleared up Saturday afternoon and the sun came out. The wife sent me to the nearby convenience store for some rolls for dinner and I went in shorts, a Tee shirt and flip flops. It was still that warm. Saturday night it went down into the 50's and stayed in the 60's on Sunday. On Monday morning when I got up it was 31. Luckily I had heard the day before of a frost warning and I picked the remainder of my tomatoes.

I also picked some radishes, a little bit of spinach and about a dozen small to medium sized peppers and those were my only peppers this season. Still I had a salad last night with some peppers and it was good.

Sunday afternoon after church I mulched all the leaves in my yard and bagged them up and filled my compost piles. I will use this for mulch next year. My piles are filled but will settle and every week I will add more as will fit and as my yards needs cleaning from leaves.

While I mulching, I did notice that I was getting a fair amount of grass clippings in with the leaves. We've had some warm temperatures and some rain so I shouldn't be surprised, but it is the end of October. I also noticed the areas where I put down grass seed this past spring was doing fine.

Notes for October 25, 2007

It rained nicely yesterday and last night. Nothing real hard and we got 0.75". I can hear the foliage say thanks. I will try to get a picture of my carrot patch to show you.

Notes for October 23, 2007

We did get 0.6" of rain on Friday last week and I can really see the difference in my carrots. I am still picking tomatoes and I have some small peppers. I am also picking radishes and I have a little bit of spinach I could pick. Enough for a bowl for a salad or probably enough for one helping of cooked spinach at dinner.

We were near 80 again yesterday and we did have to turn on the AC on Friday it was so muggy and warm. Our temperatures are about 20 degrees warmer than they are usually or so they say. We are forecasted for more rain tonight into tomorrow. Southern California really needs it right now.

Notes for October 18, 2007

Rain is forecasted tonight and tomorrow and it would be nice to get some more rain as well as getting it out of the way before the weekend.

I had the two servings of my Lima Beans the other day and they were very good. As a kid I didn't like Lima Beans. They were always starchy and I guess my mother never dressed them up with anything (butter, salt and pepper), anyway they were good. I will probably grow them again but not until the weather is warmer (since I couldn't get them to sprout until summer).

Today we are starting out in the 60's and going up near 80. Yes its mid October and 60 is supposed to be our high temp. go figure, but I am still not convinced of global warming. Two weeks ago we had the AC on, last weekend we had the heat on (night time lows were in the 30's) but haven't used since Monday.

Notes for October 16, 2007

Yes we did get even more rain on Friday but not much. I emptied 0.2" from the rain gage when I got home from work.

I picked about half a dozen radishes. None of the rest are forming radishes yet (and I was concerned about them splitting). I also picked tomatoes over the weekend (both cherry tomatoes and regular). Usually after a heavy summer rain, the cherry tomatoes split but in the last two times I picked cherry tomatoes, a bunch have been splitting after I pick them.

Saturday I used the leaf blower and cleared the leaves from my driveway and then mulched and bagged them with the lawn mower. I then dumped the clippings in my compost pile to use for mulch next year. I will keep doing this until both of my compost piles are full.

I also picked up 9 buckets (five gallon size) of composted horse manure from a local horse farm (been going there for about 10 years). I will use the manure to prepare my new flower beds and to add to my onion patch after the carrots are done. I use buckets since I don't own or have easy access to a pick up truck. I get used five gallon buckets from construction site dumpsters when they are doing drywall. It takes just a little to clean them out.

AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN!

Yesterday after I got home from work I emptied 1.0" from the rain gage and was awakened at 4AM this morning to more rain. Not a heavy rain but a nice light rain. GREAT!

However, my radishes are probably splitting. I plan on picking some tomorrow.

IT RAINED!

Yes it rained last night (along with some rumbles of thunder) and this morning I emptied about 0.4" from the rain gage (of course it was right before I went to work and so it had to be by the light of the flashlight, I just had to know how much we got). I'll take it. I heard on the radio this morning that the areas to the west and south of us got at least an inch and some areas more. So it looks like we got shorted again (it happens when you live in the coastal plain, I am about 45 minutes from the ocean and it has an effect on us. Many local weather forecasters who have been doing it for years notice that we don't get any measurable snow in the winter time that lasts for more than a few hours unless the ocean water temperature near us is in the 30's. Any warmer and we get rain or its gone by noon.).

Any way, I'll take any rain at this point. The carrots should enjoy it and I probably should pick some radishes in the next few days. They are calling for more showers Thursday and Friday and it would be nice as well as high temp in the 60's this weekend with lows near 40. At the very least it should be much better sleeping weather.

Notes for October 9, 2007

Today is forecasted to be the last day in the 80's and rain is forecasted for this afternoon and this evening (we'll believe it when we see it), and even more rain Friday/Saturday. By the weekend, the forecasted highs are supposed to be in the 60's. I heard on the news last night that yesterday was the warmest holiday of this year. The high temperature of 89 was warmer than Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day. But I still don't believe that global warming is caused by increased Carbon Dioxide. I believe its from earth wobble from the last ice age.

I took a look at my perennials I planted (that I started from seed this year) and they seem to be fairing well. The Rupestins have a nice pretty flower but I am sorry to say that the plant looks too weed like. I will try to get a picture soon.

October? Turn on the AC!

Today it is forecasted to be in the mid 80's THROUGH MONDAY! Turn the AC back on. On Tuesday it's supposed to be more seasonal and today is only Thursday.

My grass is brown but it doesn't bother me. I am on well water and I know my well is shallow and almost all my neighbors water their grass and I wonder when my well will be affected by their water usage.

Notes for October 3, 2007

No we still haven't had any rain in a while. In the past week there was two chances and in each case it disappeared from the forecast the day before. Now its October and we're back in the 80's again. I don't think the next chance for rain is until next week.

I was thinking this morning that in the fall I dislike the lack of daylight in the evening. It forces me to become a weekend warrior in the garden. I don't get a chance to take care of the little things during the week and I have to do everything on the weekend.

In the town that I live in, we don't have leaf pick up. I've been mulching up my leaves and leaving them in place for the past several years. This year I am going to bag as much as I can to put in my compost piles that I use for mulch every Spring and Summer. Now that I have additional flower beds, I need more mulch. If I don't get as much as I want from my own yard. I may put an ad out that I want bags of leaves. My newest neighbor put out bags of leaves in the trash last year before he realized that they don't get picked up to go to the landfill. So I took them off his hands and mulched them up. This was especially helpful to me because the gypsy moths hit my yard hard last year and I had very little leaves. This year they sprayed for the moths and my yard was spared. However, I have lost several small to medium sized oaks to the carpenter ant (the trees were weakened by the moths last years, or so I suppose).