Weather and Gardening

We have had extreme and violent weather this year! We had an unusually cold, long, and snowy winter, the wettest spring on record, and I believe one of the hottest, most humid summers in a long time. Last week we had not one but 2 major thunderstorms two nights in a row. The storms were so loud, that several of us were woken during the night (unusual for us) and a weak spot on our roof leaked for the first time this year (it doesn’t leak unless there is a REALLY strong rain). Our area received 7 inches of rain in 48 hours. That can cause problems!

On Tuesday this creek was bone dry. On Friday, this is what it looked like. I wish I had a “before” picture but I don’t. In this photo, the creek is approximately 6 feet wide, and anywhere for 3 ½ to 4 feet deep. At this time of year it is normally a trickle if not dry.

And this is on the other side of the road. I’m guessing that it’s 15-20 feet across at the widest part. That is about ¾ up the bank.

This is what it looked like yesterday. This is much more normal. It’s probably 6 inches deep or less now and only 2-3 feet across.

There were many roads closed due to flash flooding. Mom and I took a different route to Driver’s Ed because there is a portion of road on our normal route that dips under a bridge, and we nearly got stuck there a few summers ago after a flood. Sure enough, a semi truck (18 wheeler) had gotten stuck in the 3 foot deep puddle. It took crews 2 hours to get him unstuck and turned around in the right direction!

But all of this rain has been helpful for my garden. Here is a view from the garden gate. For some reason all of the rain has unearthed a lot of sand. I didn’t realize there was so much sand in my garden!

The other side of the garden.

My tomatoes are finally ripe!!! I can’t wait to taste that first, amazingly delicious bite!

I have several zinnias adorning the edge of my garden. They really cheer it up!

We have also been enjoying nasturtium blooms in our salad. I have red and orange blooms right now.

Unfortunately, I don’t have many cucumbers this year. I have no blooms on my plants anymore. I have behemoth cukes, but not very many of them.

*Please ignore the weeds in this picture. They’re not really there, it’s just my imagination right? Oh, go on and burst my bubble! L* My summer squash is slowly but surely growing. It seems like it’s been the same size forever.

Same story with the zucchini. Growing. . . . . . .very. . . . . . .s. . .l. . .o. . .w. . .l. . .y.

You can’t see it very well on this picture, but there are dozens of squash bug eggs in a clump on the stalk in the center of the picture. I have been battling them for quite some time now, but I think I finally won. *Muahahahaha!* J

I think my cantaloupe will be ready to harvest soon. It’s only about the size of a softball, but I planted a small variety.

I ended up with three different gourds from the same seed packet. It will be nice to have a variety to decorate with. These look like green pumpkins with legs on them to me.

And these look like long summer squash.

You can’t tell very well in this picture, but the bottom half of this gourd is green. Very unique!

I gave my herbs a major haircut recently as they were getting out of control. I’m currently drying mint, rosemary, catnip, lavender, oregano, and parsley.

I’ve also been freezing my chives with water in ice cube trays. I look forward to using all of my herbs during cold weather and having a reminder of summer time!