9:48 AM [30 Oct 2008 | Thursday] |
Still Snowy |
I don't know if this snow is going to melt. Woke up at 6:00 AM and it was 22 F. I see online people are snowboarding up at Belleayre Mountain. All last winter there were maybe two days you could have had a decent snowshoe experience in my neck of the woods and for three days straight we have snow. About an inch fell this morning. I didn't shovel because I assumed it would be gone by now. My cheap ice packed gutters are threatening to break under the strain and my Halloween demon's teeth are chattering.
The big fear is we get a warm day combined with a heavy rain, then we have a real Catskill flood and those can be devastating. That can play hell with Rt. 49 A leading up to Belleayre. But, I'll think positive thoughts, positive thoughts, positive thoughts . . .
|
Mood: hopeful
- 0 Comments |
|
|
12:35 PM [29 Oct 2008 | Wednesday] |
15 Inches of Snow! |
I was down in NYC this week but was summoned yesterday by my wife because we were hit with a major snowstorm. It's hard to believe when you're all warm and cozy in the apartment but the proof was in the email photo she sent. So I packed up car and headed north. There were 30 - 50 mph winds and rain predicted for my drive so it was gonna be a tough one. It was in the mid 30's F and raining for the whole ride but when I rounded the corner 10 miles from home I was suddenly in a blizzard. Deep slushy wet slippery snow on the road, people driving slow, freaking out. When I tried to climb the hill up to Belleayre, the old car, she just wouldn't do it. I stopped halfway up the hill, tires spinning, mouth cursing. I had to turn around and attempt another ascent. Just six lousy miles from home. I got out of the car, checked the tires and my left front tire was low, 25 psi. I thought, I bet that's what's messing me up. Fortunately the closed gas station I was parked in had one of those pay air machines and I pumped that tire up and decided to give it another shot. Gunning the accelerator and praying I made my approach. It was touch and go but I kept climbing, sliding, climbing, passing another poor hapless bastard on my right who wasn't going to make it. I got to the top and presto a plow truck pulled out from Belleayre and I followed it down the mountain and made it home safe and sound.
Thank Nietzsche we already tilled and put out the rye grass in the garden cause it is buried in snow now.
Here's the before:
 
La, la, la spreading the winter rye, not a care in the world.
Here's the after.
Somewhere under there are the parsnips and scorzenera.
It's only October, it'll melt and I'll finish tilling, maybe. |
Mood: cold
- 0 Comments |
|
|
12:35 PM [26 Oct 2008 | Sunday] |
|
Let The Tilling Begin
Well, the carrots came out of the ground late Friday afternoon. The sun was setting and the weather was getting brisk as I pulled out the final purple hazes. I got them in the bucket and put them in the basement. I like to hose them off beforehand but I didn't have time. The next day's weather forecast predicted a terrible rain and they were correct so Saturday was spent cleaning the house and watching the tube.
Sunday however was beautiful and sunny but brisk, an average of 52 F all day. I had stuff I had to do but at 4:30 realizing I would lose sun soon I knew I had to go out to the upper garden and roto till. First I had to clean the dirt off the carrots, I connected the hose and got to spraying. Four kinds to clean, Red Dragon, Flyaway, Bolero and Healthmaster. It wasn't a huge crop but still very beautiful.
Carrots cleaned I attempted to awaken the tiller from it's fall slumber. This is always a tense moment as I never trust things to cooperate, especially mechanical things over which I have minimal supremacy. I pulled and pulled the starter cord to no avail and I thought, damn, it's dead, I'm screwed. What am I going to do?
I checked the gas and there was some but what the hell, I gave it some more, several more tugs and yes, it purred to life. Oh my tiller, giver of pleasure and pain. So I navigated it up the hill and tilled the upper garden as the sun set and the air got even more brisk causing my breath to be visible. So I just have two more gardens to go.
Winter in on the way, this week's weather is predicted to be blustery rainy and slushy. Time to check out Spring in the southern hemisphere. They're just starting up. We'll see if last winter's garden's are now being tilled.
All that remains in the ground are the parsnips and the scorzenara. They'll be the last to go. |
Mood: content
- 0 Comments |
|
|
8:13 AM [22 Oct 2008 | Wednesday] |
Flurries |
|
It's 30 F outside right now and we're having mild flurries. I was up at 6:00 AM and the flurries were more intense. Yesterday we had pellet sized hail in the afternoon. I shudder when I think of places that have baseball sized hail. Winter while not technically here is starting. They say it will be a cold one, they being the farmer's almanac but what is their track record? They say the more black hairs a wooly worm has the colder the winter will be. They also say if the wooly worm is wearing a wool cap in October, look out. Later I will search for wooly worms and give a report. Right now it's probably too cold for them.
It's supposed to rain this weekend, when will I get that garden tilled? I also have to plant garlic. I have shallots out there already I'll cover with mulch and harvest next summer. I hope the tiller starts.
By the way, I am fond of winter weather, not a big fan of shoveling.
Here's a link to an exweatherman's take on predicting the coming winter ala wooly worm.
http://www.semissourian.com/article/20081014/BLOGS0149/810149997/-1/opinion
More wooly worm info at this site from "OutdoorWoman ".
http://www.ehow.com/how_2143194_predict-winter-wooly-worms.html |
Mood:
- 0 Comments |
|
|
8:22 AM [20 Oct 2008 | Monday] |
Brrrr! |
|
17 F this morning at 8:00 AM. Snow is predicted for Wednesday. Did I till the garden this weekend? No. I did manage to chainsaw wood. |
Mood: recumbent
- 0 Comments |
|
|
9:07 AM [19 Oct 2008 | Sunday] |
Fat Frost Lady Sings |
|
This morning at 8:00 AM it was 20 F. That is what we call the really killer killing frost. That's it, shows over, get everything out of the ground because it's going to snow any minute. We've had some very cold mornings already. On October 7th it was 26 F, yesterday morning it was 26 F at 6:00 AM. Last weekend the leaves were in full color in our valley and this weekend they have fallen, for the most part. I went out and mulched the leaves with the lawn mower. That will probably be the last mow of the season.
Last weekend my wife and I harvested all the potatoes and there are tons of them. This is the biggest harvest we've ever had. The most successful kind were the German Butterballs, which yielded about three buckets worth. There was such an abundance I overlooked a bucket that stayed out in the garden all week and was out for Friday night's frost. Yikes. I've kept them separate and we'll see if they were hurt, so far several of the small ones are ruined, but so what we have tons more. The All Blue's planted from the previous year's leftovers yielded almost 2 buckets. The Burbank Russets did okay but they seem to attract some kind of borer that climbs right in and destroys them, not all of them, but more than any of the others. The worst performer was (were?) the Red Golds. About a bucket. Some of the plants were very scrawny all year. In their defense whoever we bought them from did not send very many. 2 rows maybe, 3 rows of Russets, 5 rows German Butterballs, 3 rows All Blues. Some of the rows were longer than others.
I harvested the dried pole and bush beans yesterday and took down all the structures to prep for roto-tilling. The carrots are still in the ground. All the beets are out except for some strays. Purchased a 54 pound bag of winter rye as a cover crop, we're not convinced that will do it. They only sell it in 54 pound bags at Brookside Hardware this time of year so I don't know if I can commit to another.
The lowest garden still has scorzenera, parsnips and carrots on one side and a mish mash of bolted lettuces and an aggresively invasive weed we think is coltsfoot that is threatening to take over the entire plot. It's a weed that grows on the side of the road and is one of the first flowers you see in the spring, the flower resembling a small dandelion. There are still some cabbages and kale out there as well. We'll see what happens today. |
Mood: awake
- 0 Comments |
|
|
12:34 PM [04 Oct 2008 | Saturday] |
Pretty Bad Frost |
|
This morning at 7:45 AM it was 28 F and the lawn was covered with frost. 28 F is not what you'd call a devastating frost but the garden is definitely on the ropes. The only thing surviving now are the nasturtiums. Friday we picked the rest of the onions and a lot of beets. There is a critter that's been nibbling the tops of our beets all year and it's a pity to see the way some of them look but many are intact and edible. Our cat had an encounter with the beast about a week ago. We heard intense shrieking in the bush and when we came running the cat scampered away. After inspecting her and seeing no injuries we came to the conclusion she was going after a rabbit. I've never heard them shriek before, it reminded me of raccoons battling.
I've also started harvesting the potatoes, just the Russet Burbanks so far and they look good although some of the huge ones have these carbuncle looking potatoes growing off them. As if they were clay potatoes and someone was sticking little potatoes on them. Still have to get the carrots and the rest of the potatoes. We went a little overboard with potatoes this year but those we don't eat we'll just plant again next year. |
Mood:
- 0 Comments |
|
|
|
 |
