A little of this and that...

The weather was beautiful on Sunday so I was able to open the windows and turn on the stove.  The first round of beans have been canned a dilly beans.  I have added the recipe from the Ball Canning and Freezing book which has been by my side for over 25 years.  It came with my pressure cooker and I use it all the time.

I ran across something somewhat alarming while out in the garden picking beans so I picked around the affected plants and did them last.  After some research, I decided I damage them while using the Weed Dragon to kill some weeds along the fence somewhat near the beans.  If anyone thinks otherwise, chime in and let me know.

The heat has been a killer and I dread what the water and electric bill will be from this heat wave.  I have been looking around at how other municipalities are dealing with tree watering, as Milwaukee has been trying to keep the new stuff going with water trucks.  I saw some water bags along the boulevards in West Allis on their new trees.  Alverno College had these water bins around their trees to do the slow soak.

The onions started bending over before vacation so I pushed them all down.  (See Onions post from 8/16/11) After a week or so of dying back, I pulled the plants, trimmed the roots and cut the tops to about 2-3" over the onion bulb.  I cured them in the trays in the garage for most of the period (it was just too darn hot for man and onion in that sun).  I pulled them out in the sun on the milder temperature days to dry them and now they are ready for storage.  Store onions in a cool, dry, dark location.  It is a beautiful crop that I am happy to have.  Now I have to get some lettuce in the ground for fall harvest.

The "D" Word

It is hot, not a little warm, HOT!  We are on day 10 of days over 90 for this summer.  The last two have been over 100. This is Wisconsin, not Oklahoma or Texas.  We also have not had a measurable rain in recent memory, either.  We are talking drought conditions.  There are some dos and don'ts when it comes to prolonged periods of dry weather.
First don't, don't panic, yet.

If your lawn is looking more like this than golf course green it is not dead, it is dormant.  If you have reached this stage already, don't start watering now.  Your grass will stay in a dormant stage for quite awhile with amazing ability to rebound.  If you are going to start watering, you need to know the rule of long, slow watering.  Sprinkling it with a little water every day is not good.  It encourages shallow rooting and regrowth.  It may start turning green again, but if you go on vacation and stop watering, you could have put your turf grass into more stress than if you had let it stay dormant.  Turf needs at least one inch of rain a week to maintain a green appearance.  Deeper roots mean a stronger turf.  This is true for all plants.  If you are going to water your gardens a long, slow sprinkle or soak every other day or so is better than a quick hit every day.

If your plants look like this they may be dry or they may just be shutting down during the high temperatures of the day.  Plants in hot, dry sun can get all wilted.  Take a walk through the garden at night and those same plants may perk up without the stress of excessive heat and light.  If you can, water in the morning.  This allows the plant foliage to dry off to reduce disease infection.  It also keeps the area around the plants dry during the night hours which may reduce damage by slugs and earwigs.  If you are not a morning person and work full-time, this may not be an option for you.

Do use soaker hoses.  I reduce the amount of common foliage diseases on my tomato plants by watering at the roots only.  I mulch around plants as much as possible which will help hold moisture in around the roots rather than evaporating into the dry air.

Some things don't like heat.  The garden peas are on their last hurrah before dying off.  You can see the yellowing of the plants and slow death of the vines.  They don't come back from this, but they do make good compost.  After the peas are finished, add them to the compost bin for more nitrogen in the mix.  I also am adding moisture to the compost bin.  If it gets too dry, my worms will go deep into the cool, moist soil and stop working on the stuff I have added to the bin.  Don't make your pile too wet.  Worms don't like that either.  You may also start anaerobic decomposition which makes the pile smell bad. If this happens, turn it over occasionally to help dry it out.
I'm feeling a little dry myself, so it is time to see what cold drink awaits for me this evening.  Cheers!