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Curtains
Today it is supposed to get to 104. Give or take. The walks in the morning are dreadful. Stifling. It never gets below 75, so there’s a wall of heat to greet us every morning. It slaps us in the face. The air is like walking in a vacuum. You breathe in, but feel like you missed the important, oxygen component.
The lawn looks like it was blasted by a furnace. The garden…as of this morning has a curtain or three hanging strategically in front of the tomato plants. These will “block” just a tiny bit of the afternoon sun. The melon types seem to handle the heat. The tomatoes, not so much. Junior thought my curtain idea was great. He spent the time yanking on them and getting yelled at. He likes to play “curtain.” He does it inside once in a while. He grabs the curtain, I yell “Junior!” and he ducks behind the curtain to “hide.” Then pretty soon, he peers out from underneath and makes a run for it.
He knows he is not supposed to play “curtain.” That did not stop him this morning. As I pinned the “drapes” on one side of the tomatoes, he lunged for them, grabbed and tried to wrestle them away. Then, quick as a cat, he dodged round the other side and sprinted for safety. But he came back and tried again a few times. Luckily (or unluckily as the case may be) it’s too hot for him to be out there destroying my curtains during the day.
Some years I can save the plants. I suspect I will be pulling up a couple of them. The good old Wisconsin–that one I knew didn’t handle the heat–and the Opener. I think the opening is over. We’ll see if the Celebrities make it. They have tomatoes, but they aren’t looking their best.
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My tomato plant isn’t doing much. One lousy green tomato that doesn’t seem to have grown a whit in the last two weeks. No other flower buds, either.
My corn, on the other hand, is thriving. I have about two ears growing on each stalk. It’s funny, though. They’re all planted on the back side of the garage–half on one side of the pool pump, half on the other side. But the corn on one side is about a foot taller than the corn on the other side. The pump isn’t big enough to shadow either side, it’s a southern exposure…kind of weird.
My apple trees: UGH! I think the Granny Smith is a goner. The ends of all the branches have turn brown and are dead. The trunk has some split in it that’s black. The Red Delicious just looks puny. It drops its little apples and my niece’s dog (that we’re babysitting this summer) thinks they’re cute little play toys.
Oh well, at least I have my corn. And the daylilies are thriving.
Comment by Trina — June 26, 2009 @ 7:22 am
HaHa. Junior is *such* a cat!
Comment by Max Power — June 26, 2009 @ 8:39 am
The tomatoes have been *sparse* this year. Worst year I’ve ever had. Thank God for the Juliet. It’s still producing just enough to get us by. There will probably be an empty week or so because I doubt any blossoms are setting in this heat, but it’s got lots on there and I pick 4 or 5 a day.
As for your trees, I’d say they might not be getting enough water, but that’s a reflection of here, not there. Do you water them deep? (with the hose, not a sprinkler?)
Corn! That’s great. And there is no understanding plants. Mine do that sort of thing all the time. One side of the garden is a weed, the other side paltry. The cucumbers on the one side were like that. Same temperature outside, and those on one side kept freezing/dying. The one plant on the other side has been feeding me cucumbers for a few weeks now. Those on the side that Finally made it–I’ll pick the first ones…in another three or 4 days probably.
@Max — yeah, he’s a cat all right. Got that little devil in him and everything!
Comment by Maria — June 26, 2009 @ 8:44 am
Well, the Granny Smith only gets watered when it rains as it is tucked in a bed away from the sprinklers. We haven’t had rain…in a week? week and half? We were getting deluged with rain, then nothing.
The Red Delicious is in the yard, so it gets water from the sprinklers, too, but we only run them a couple of times a week (and only if we don’t get rain.)
I’m thinking of getting a crape myrtle. They do really well in the summer heat around here.
Comment by Trina — June 26, 2009 @ 9:00 am
They can make it a week without water (sprinkler water is not enough for trees, especially newly planted. You gotta put the hose running on them and let them get 5 gallons or more per week).
If you plant a crepe myrtle make sure you want it. They are almost impossible to dig up (at least here.) They do grow well and do well. I don’t like them very much because I am the one that gets to trim them every year, but they are easy care other than that.
Let us know how that corn tastes!!!
Comment by Maria — June 26, 2009 @ 9:44 am