Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Some seasonal notes

The angle of the sun is shifting just enough that the grapes at the left side of the fence are just starting to get the rays directly on them.  Its part of my learning curve that the grapes don't get full sun all winter because the shade of the neighbor's house and partly because of the fence itself. When i planted them, the area got most of the sun all day long.  About half of the grapes and two of the blueberries are in the light shortly before noon.  The rest are in shade- though not too deep and so is the Ben Alder.  I'm charging the camera battery so i'll try to get a reference picture as close to noon as i can get.

About 11:50




Right now we have about 37 degrees, so its not warm by a long shot.  I guess we should be in the 40's & 50's for normal years.  Maybe we'll make it today. Its not windy today like it has been for the last 3, so it feels a bit warmer.  According to forecasts this past weekend, we were hopefully going to have 40 degree temps with maybe a rain shower - but they are now saying the rain may end up being snow though they haven't changed the likely temperatures much.

I'm arguing with myself about starting tomatoes this early. I want to do it, but every time i start tomatoes indoors i end up with leggy creatures that gain little time on the season because i have to lay them down and bury them to the top 5 inches. The strength of the seedling light seems to make little difference. I think its the house temperature that is the main factor. The lights give off heat too.
If i do start tomatoes indoors, i'll have to put away the tank and drag out the white plastic shelves.  The tank does not have enough room for 2 plastic trays and with the white shelves the lights can be raised and lowered.  I'll need help with moving the tanks and it will have to be done during a nap time- but those haven't been happening much lately.

I have houseplants that need tending too. I killed my Meyer Lemon. Its really too bad cause it was doing so well.  It was getting big so i repotted it. I had to put it in another room to keep it safe from my toddler who likes to pluck leaves ( you should see my poor grapefruit tree). Well i forgot to water it too long and it is very definitely dead.  I might try one again sometime.
Now or soon, i need to pot up my little fig. Its going to need more than a 5 inch pot soon.  Even my sweet bay could use an upgrade. One of my clove seedlings has been repotted, the other from Horizon Herbs could use it too- though it came in a much larger pot than the eBay one. Its doing fantastic, the eBay one is much smaller.
I'm still waiting on the Hoya flowers to open, the buds are getting noticeably larger each day.

I might go out and try removing some of the snow on the grapes, like i said before- if a nap happens. Once i get the chance to do that, it should warm up quickly since there is a black weed block surrounding them.


After taking a closer look i realized there is too much snow for me to move easily. So that's out.

There is a nap happening now so i'm going to see if i can move those tanks. I move things by sliding them or "walking" them corner pivot to corner- so if i'm lucky i may get it done without too much trouble.

2 comments:

Mal's Allotment said...

PB, I'm struggling: Snow then grapes - lemons - grapefruit - figs. Either you get a continental climate (cold winters and hot summers) or you are a glutton for punishment.

After the children stopped pulling over our weeping fig (ficus benjaminicus) the cat started tearing strips (or leaves anyway) off it. You can't win!

icebear said...

Glutton for punishment mostly i think. The citrus and fig are house plants in the winter and they vacation outside in the summer. They do quite well as long as i can keep the nasty spider mites at bay.
The grapes i have should be suited to my climate, i researched for hours to find types that can handle our severe winters and relatively short summers. I planted them a bit late and have never grown grapes before so i am wondering how well it will work out.
My youngest daughter mercilessly plucks leaves from the 3 foot tall grapefruit tree despite being scolded, but the cat leaves it alone luckily. I can't wait until its warm enough outside for the plant to recuperate in the sun! :o)