Knock on Wood

I'll be spending the day doing exactly that.

"Frankenstorm" aka Sandy is still causing problems.  The winds haven't been that bad, but all that rain.  Maryland seems to have gotten more than it's share of rain from Sandy.

The entire state was constantly under yellow bands of heavy rain that kept sweeping through yesterday and last night.

We were very lucky.  We have not lost power and the lower level has not flooded.  The non flooding is very surprising as we have has over 6" of rain.  This passed spring we had flooding from a thunderstorm, so we had a very nerve wracking day and night expecting the worst.  We are not out of the woods yet as we are supposed to have moderate to heave rains all day today and high winds.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all who were affected by Sandy, especially those on the coast.

Storm Prep

The outdoor prep for the coming storm was minimal. 

Most of the garden clean up has been completed.  Leaf drop has been minimal, the gutters did not need cleaning. The pool has already been closed and outdoor furniture and ornaments put away.

I did pick as many 'Trail of Tears' beans as I could.  About half the pods had started to shrink and turn leathery.  I'll let these dry indoors.  I'm hoping that the temps stay warm enough to ripen the rest.  I picked a few dry marigold flower heads for seed and brought in the last green tomato.

Now all I have to do is wait.



#@?%/*$ Mother Nature

I have no idea what I did to piss her off.

Mother Nature has been especially cruel this year, and is ending the season in a blaze of fury.

Last year it was 10 inches of snow on Halloween weekend.

This year she's throwing a hurricane at us that is predicted to be worse than the "Snowtober" nor' easter last year.  

NOAA's forecasting model has hurricane Sandy making landfall as category one hurricane and down grading to a tropical storm when it reaches this far inland.

I can deal with that.  Evil Mother Nature has a cold front to the west and there are predictions of two to three feet of snow in the higher elevations. 

The line could wobble this far east.  We are looking at 6-10 inches of rain or 2-3 feet of snow.  Neither prospect appeals to me.

Last year 10 inches of snow played havoc with trees and shrubs that are still leafed out.  All of that rain is a guarantee of a flooded lower level of the house.

This time next week my blog could be renamed "Tales From the Mountainslide".

I can hardly wait to see what next year brings! 

Harvest Monday- October 15, 2012

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions. It's a great way to see what other bloggers are harvesting from their gardens.

I was surprised to find a few things while cleaning up the garden.  A large 'Quadrato D'Asti Giallo' pepper and several small 'Red Marconi' peppers.  There was also a nice sized 'Pritchard' tomato and two 'New Big Dwarf' tomatoes.

This week I have some great looking Swiss chard that needs harvesting.  Fall seems to be the time to grow chard here.  The cool nights
 produce incredible stem color and the lack of bugs is giving huge, perfect leaves.  Next year I may try summer planting for fall harvest.



Dodging the Bullet

Dodging the bullet... from frost. 

The prediction was for a record low, down to 27 df.  It did get down to 30 df, but there was no actual frost and when the sun came out only the basil and the zinnia flowers had suffered.  I was thrilled that my pole beans were spared as they need at least two more weeks to finish drying.  Luckily the forecast for the next week is temps in the 20's and 60's with night temps in the 40's.

The marigolds and cosmos are putting on quite a show., as is the self-seeded celosia.

The second photo is the best photo of 'Bolero' marigold that I've taken this year, showing it's most frequent pattern and coloring.

Harvest Monday- October 8, 2012

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions. It's a great way to see what other bloggers are harvesting from their gardens.

The last of the sweet peppers and a few more hot peppers.  The next two nights are supposed to be in the upper 30's.  The only thing left are the pole beans for their seed and loads of 'Tennessee Spice' pepper.

I've started going through my seed stash and making a list for next years growing.  When I'm through I'm hoping to purge most of the stash.  I have reduced it by 27% so far, but my goal is to reduce it by 75%.  I wonder if I have that much will power.