Catching Up
The last two and one-half weeks since my last post have been controlled by the weather.
While Julie was in Texas I thought I would finish the continuing education hours needed for the year to maintain Master Gardener certification. On the weekend after she left I worked in the garden and enjoyed temperatures in the low eighties. On the following Tuesday at 5:30 PM I scheduled a composting workshop conducted by the city of Flagstaff and a presentation at 7:30 entitled High Elevation Organic Gardening by a long time master gardener. The composting workshop was outside. It was cold, windy, gray skies threatened rain and a wind chill exceeded my light fleece jacket's ability to retain body heat.
Next day, Wednesday, I planned to attend another presentation at a local nursery. The one hour lecture would bring my continuing education hours to the point that I would need only one and one-half hours. During the day it rained, snowed and hailed. No problem. I was confident the presentation would be inside. At 5 PM when I got off work everything was white including the roads and the wind was driving the snow almost horizontal. I decided to skip the presentation and go home to cover my garden bed before dark.
That night the temperature dropped to 19 degrees. The water mass that I have in the garden bed didn't freeze but everything was stressed, particularly brussels sprouts and red cabbage.
Over the last two weeks we have been getting a mixture of sun, some warm days, too many cold nights and several strong winds. Last week about one hundred miles of I-40 was closed due to blowing dust. The forecast had been for 70 MPH gusts at home and the forecast was correct. The batteries had been charging near full and the house had maintained a comfortable temperature until yesterday. We got up to rain and snow, enough snow to turn the ground white. For the first time in a month or more I built a small fire and ran the backup generator.
Hopefully, the weather is about to change. This week should be sunny with high temperatures in the seventies. Next weekend I'm going to plant portions of two more garden beds. Also, I'll finish the continuing education hours on Saturday. Julie and I have registered for a Landscape Design Workshop at The Arboretum at Flagstaff.
While Julie was in Texas I thought I would finish the continuing education hours needed for the year to maintain Master Gardener certification. On the weekend after she left I worked in the garden and enjoyed temperatures in the low eighties. On the following Tuesday at 5:30 PM I scheduled a composting workshop conducted by the city of Flagstaff and a presentation at 7:30 entitled High Elevation Organic Gardening by a long time master gardener. The composting workshop was outside. It was cold, windy, gray skies threatened rain and a wind chill exceeded my light fleece jacket's ability to retain body heat.
Next day, Wednesday, I planned to attend another presentation at a local nursery. The one hour lecture would bring my continuing education hours to the point that I would need only one and one-half hours. During the day it rained, snowed and hailed. No problem. I was confident the presentation would be inside. At 5 PM when I got off work everything was white including the roads and the wind was driving the snow almost horizontal. I decided to skip the presentation and go home to cover my garden bed before dark.
That night the temperature dropped to 19 degrees. The water mass that I have in the garden bed didn't freeze but everything was stressed, particularly brussels sprouts and red cabbage.
Over the last two weeks we have been getting a mixture of sun, some warm days, too many cold nights and several strong winds. Last week about one hundred miles of I-40 was closed due to blowing dust. The forecast had been for 70 MPH gusts at home and the forecast was correct. The batteries had been charging near full and the house had maintained a comfortable temperature until yesterday. We got up to rain and snow, enough snow to turn the ground white. For the first time in a month or more I built a small fire and ran the backup generator.
Hopefully, the weather is about to change. This week should be sunny with high temperatures in the seventies. Next weekend I'm going to plant portions of two more garden beds. Also, I'll finish the continuing education hours on Saturday. Julie and I have registered for a Landscape Design Workshop at The Arboretum at Flagstaff.
posted by Paul at 8:22 AM
2 Comments:
I so enjoy reading your posts, especially ones like this. Your ability to evoke strong images with so few words delights. It is easy to imagine a good deal of frustration at having plans foiled repeatedly. Then I wonder whether there might have been moments of awe or of quiet repose brought on by the weather-forced changes.
I honestly think you would be a prime candidate for the first crew to travel to Mars. NOTHING seems to dampen your sense of attainment. If ANYBODY could grow a tomato on Mars, I'm sure it would be you, my friend.
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