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Post by prairiegardens on Nov 20, 2017 22:33:56 GMT -5
I've occasionally thought of using my '62 Valiant as a green-house. Farm stats the past week: 56F-34F; 0.75" rain; well below normal-to-date, but a start to wetting the parched soil. Saw a very nice adaptation of a school bus to a green house some years ago, the owner was very very happy with it. I was thinking when this vehicle dies it might be a good dehydrator, gets warm, but out of the sun and reach of insects or rain.... already have the seats out of the back... saw the the sun today for most of the day but even though it's +9 Celsius or so it feels chilly. It seems amazing to see people happily trotting about in shorts and plunging necklines, it's winter coat weather for me. Still, happy to be here and not on the prairies, they're predicting a tough winter for the prairies and I'm glad to be here, rain and all. I think we must have got your share of the rain this last week, Steev.
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Post by richardw on Nov 20, 2017 23:45:36 GMT -5
The latest research has shown like many other places around the world, NZ winters are now a month shorter than a 100 years ago, a while back i was ready a article about a nasty cold spell back in 1888, in it it described of level of cold that would be totally unimaginable today, those Antarctic extreme cold air masses were common in the 1800's, those same air masses still reach here but are warmed by a increasingly warming ocean. www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/10/new-zealands-winter-shorter-by-a-month-over-100-years
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Post by steev on Nov 21, 2017 2:33:47 GMT -5
Yeah, well; it appears things change: who'da thought.
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Post by steev on Nov 27, 2017 6:36:13 GMT -5
Continues very light rain on the farm; better than none, but not so good as plenty; didn't drop below 34F last week; no snow on the Coast Range; this begins to concern me.
Raining well in the Bay Area right now, but that's of little interest to the farm.
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Post by reed on Nov 27, 2017 6:57:02 GMT -5
Very spring like here for last several days birds are singing. Some daffodils reaching stage where I expect bloom stalks soon. It's amazing how resilient they are growing this big, getting burned down by freezing and still growing back again. I do notice some long established clumps have declined some over the years.
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Post by mskrieger on Nov 29, 2017 16:12:55 GMT -5
ouch, reed, it sounds like your climate might be growing marginal for daffodils. What a shame. What's your current climate zone? Here, autumn is acting autumnal, but about a month too late. The weeping beech still has plenty of green leaves on it when it used to be bare by Thanksgiving.
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Post by reed on Nov 30, 2017 6:31:52 GMT -5
Yea, it's too bad. I think it will take a while but they are definitely declining, some varieties more than others. Also those in protected areas like near the south wall of the house suffer the worst. I guess I should move them to the north side. It's also effecting peonies and bleeding hearts, they often get 6 - 8 inches tall or more and then get frozen down. A couple years ago the bleeding hearts were 2 - 3 feet tall and blooming and got frozen to the ground. Crab apple trees in town are blooming right now.
A search of USDA says we are on the edge between 6a (-10 to -5) and 6b: (-5 to 0) (F). It actually averages a lot warmer than that so the brief intermittent cold spells put a hurt on a lot of stuff.
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Post by richardw on Nov 30, 2017 12:25:25 GMT -5
New November record temperatures will have been set in and around large parts of NZ, and with seawater temps way above normal between Aust&NZ this allowed summer to come early, the Tasman sea can a breeding ground for rain making depressions though, with seas temps so high when a depression does develop it could have the potential to be a nasty bugger. Only had 4mm of rain in Nov, so its bloody dry.
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Post by jocelyn on Nov 30, 2017 19:24:11 GMT -5
The weather here has trended to milder winters....so much so, that I direct seeded chestnuts today, experimentally. I'll let you know in the spring if any came up, grin. WE have had temps as low as minus 7 overnight, then a string of warmer weather, typical maritime climate. Snow the other day, then plus 9 today and it has mostly melted. No frost in the ground yet, so I got the butternuts planted too. Had great fun in the woods today. The butternuts come from an area where some of the trees are resistant to the canker, so hopefully some of the progeny will be too. The little pond in the woods has filled again. It was down to about 2 cm of water in the centre, and dry elsewhere, so it was nice to see it fill again. The red efts are back and the water lily I planted has another chance at life. It is supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so it will be jam and dishes day, inside where it is dry. We had a nice jar of bottled pears for lunch, off our own trees.
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Post by steev on Nov 30, 2017 19:49:04 GMT -5
"Efts": there's a word we don't see often enough; on a par with "gibbous", when referring to the moon.
Weather's been lovely, 60F's; unseasonable, though; "normally" colder; I've not yet put a thermal under my T-shirt; Fall leaves are excellent, uncommon warmth having put more sugar in them before the cold, so their color is exceptional. Had a woman from Connecticut asking me "What are all those colorful trees?"; Japanese maples, I responded; "They look so different!", she said; yes; might be a thousand named varieties; the Japanese love their maples. I've a couple dozen various to put on the farm around the house, when things are critter-fenced for their protection.
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Post by richardw on Dec 1, 2017 3:37:29 GMT -5
Your trees sound lovely.
In for a warm weekend with temps up to mid 30C's, i'll be gardening early and later in the day, do my hoeing in the morning and the weeds will be all dried up and dead by dinnertime.
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Post by jocelyn on Dec 1, 2017 18:22:30 GMT -5
Yah, it's funny, a few each year...then 35 or 40 years later you come up for air and there do seem to be a lot of them. Mid 30's, wow, that's one day in August for us, low 30's more likely...can't really imagine that heat. Efts, well, that's easier than red little baby salamanders, grin. Got my jam made. Reed, watch your mail box for rose seeds. Made a hat for our granddaughter too, I'm going slightly nuts waiting for her to be born. Due date Thursday, so I'm keeping busy so as not to drive myself nuts. Got to gather some Christmas walnuts before it snows again...J. regia. I love walnut butter on toast. If the Kids make it home, we can all sit around and crack walnuts too.......Kid alergic to peanuts, but not walnuts, so we can feast. They might not be fit to travel, depending on how later past due the baby comes. We might have to go there this year, grin.
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Post by RpR on Dec 2, 2017 18:50:42 GMT -5
First three weeks of Nov. were ten to twenty degrees below normal, while the last ten days have been just the opposite; pretty much like the whole year has been. Either ten to twenty degrees above or below normal. Record highs are mostly twenty to thirty years old while record lows are either a century old or approx. 30 years old with exceptions. We have had sub-zero already this year and real winter is supposed to start later next week. The A--hole weather dweebs act as if that is not normal. I remember well in the early nineties it was sub-zero with feet of snow by Dec. 10. Good thing if it is a drier winter the ground is WET so frost will not go as deep.
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Post by steev on Dec 3, 2017 20:44:37 GMT -5
Yesterday was overcast and cold wind; today clear sky and lovely; I'd have preferred rain.
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Post by reed on Dec 4, 2017 4:44:12 GMT -5
We have been in mid 60s with bright sunshine for last several days. My houseplant sweet potatoes have been enjoying afternoons out on the picnic table. Quite dry, I even watered my new Asian pear trees. Suppose to maybe get a little snow later this week, or so I heard.
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