Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Ugh....HEAT

This heat is ridiculous. Hottest July on record. I can't remember the last day that the high was below 112, with most days being 115+. It's going to be 120+ for the next few days. The weather report always seems to be 5 degrees cooler than it is at my house, I put a second thermometer up because I thought maybe the first one was wrong. I went out and did a little tree pruning the other day because it was "only" 110, a beautiful day for yardwork.
It wouldn't be that big of a deal if I could just stay inside in my nearly pleasant 85 degree home, but if the chickens and quail are going to survive (the muscovies have a much higher tolerance for heat) I have to bring them ice for their water baths every few hours. I know those of you in the NW are dealing with 105 temps that must seem out of this world to you with little or no air conditioning, me and my birds sympathize.

Sorry for all the complaining. On a brighter note, the baby quail are doing well and I'm looking forward to replacing some of my crazy/aggressive birds with them in about a month.

3 comments:

Justin said...

I concur. The heat has been utterly demotivating to me as well.

Unknown said...

Question: I live in the Mohave Desert in AZ. This year I tried tomatoes for the first time, several varieties.
Not one fruit set!
Out of 7 different varieties not one tomato. I am very discouraged about trying again.
Since we start so early here I thought for sure that I would have harvested before the very hot days of summer, but no tomatoes before the heat came and they all burned up in the 126 degree sun. Lots of blossoms but no fruit.

From your experience, which varieties would be best for my hot and dry climate?
I tried Brandywine, Big Rainbow, San Marzano, Italian Ice, Early Girl, Sweet Seedless, Jelly Bean and Beefsteak.

rachelbess said...

Horus: You have a lot of long season varieties. It's really difficult for me to grow anything that's longer than about 80 days. The shorter the better. My cherry tomatoes always perform best, though this year, my ivory egg tomatoes did very well. The early girls should have done okay, but they all need shade. Even a burlap tent protecting them from afternoon sun helps a lot.