Greetings from New England where the flies as big as your hands, the humidity is at about 85% and the temps for the foreseeable future average in the mid 80’s.
There’s really no point in going outside to garden at this point so HEY, now’s the perfect time to work on all those projects I was stashing away for this winter because NO AMOUNT of ice cream will keep me cool at this point.
And for all of you who have air conditioning…. are you on AirBNB? If so, what are your current rates? Do you have any openings because I want to come and stay at your place until this heat wave passes. I used to balk at the handful of 80 degree days during the summer in the PNW…. who would have thought the summers here would be this warm? I mean, it’s like winter here 6 months out of the year?
In other news… Splash, our Blue Black Splash Ameraucana has gone broody.
Egg collecting has gotten a little tricky lately, but we’re still averaging 5 – 6 eggs a day which is nice.
No news on the turtle babies yet, but I hope they’re staying cool in their underground incubator.
And the squirrels. Just when we think we’ve out smarted them, they find the bird feeder again. I think this new spot though, in front of the garage might be safe.
The little herb garden I planted outside the kitchen window is doing well, even if it did take 3 plantings to get the basil seeds to come up. This is only the second time I’ve grown dill, but so far so good. Hopefully this time next year the perennial herbs like rosemary, lavender, sage and chives will be nicely established and I’ll only have to worry about spreading a few packets of seeds in the area.
A flower bed free of weeds…. is a beautiful thing. Thanks to Casoron, I haven’t had to pull a single weed this year. 🙂
Well, I haven’t had to pull a single weed in the flower beds that is. The vegetable garden is totally another story. 🙂 If only there was some wind I could get out there and take care of those rotten weeds! But with temps in the mid 80’s, and skeeters everywhere waiting to take chunks out of my skin, the weeding will just have to wait until we get a nice breezy day so I can tidy up in peace.
The squash plants though, they LOVE this hot and sticky weather.
Before you know it, I’l have an entire fence full of spinner gourds and mini pumpkins.
The humidity has done wonders for the coleus black-eyed Susan vines as well.
And the dogwoods, they’re finally in bloom!
Summer. It’s here, and in full swing. I wonder if I’m too old for a slip and slide?
Keep Cool and Garden On,
Have a wonderful weekend everyone,
~Mavis
Trava says
Similar weather in SW Minnesota at this time. Weeds thriving more than the vegetables in my garden which was put in late due to winter lasting forever and extremely wet spring. Hoping this change in weather pattern will bring on vegetable growth! Glad my house has central A/C so after melting I can come in and cool down! Stay cool and drink fluids. Love reading your blog.
Robin in WI says
Hi, Mavis. Wisconsin has hot and humid summers too, despite the cold winters. Thank goodness for central air. Have you looked at portable air conditioners? They stand on the floor and can be moved from room to room. Start at about $250.
Kerri Adams says
This is New England summer … Love it or hate it. We don’t have central ac but do have a window unit in onebedroom to get a break.
Julie says
I have been raising chickens for 32 years now and currently have 52 heritage breed laying hens.
If you want to break Splash’s broodiness, put her in a rabbit cage with food and water and shade and then elevate one side the cage. It’s important there’s air flow beneath the hen and the tilt of the cage should make it a little difficult to set. This method works within a week.
Kristen says
Mavis,
My husband is the gardener, I am the sous gardener. He mulches ALL of our garden beds with a deep layer of grass clippings. We sweep up our mowings and spread them generously over the beds as early as we can after planting–even over the beans. Everything pops through the mulch and I cannot express enough the decrease in weeding. 80%+ or even less! Do it, girl. The HH will be on board to buy more stuff for his tractor, amiright?
Mavis Butterfield says
I keep asking him to bag the clippings…. Time to put a sticky note on the fridge.
Julie says
Hi Mavis, how long do you have to deal with the black flies? Is it all summer or just a few weeks? I’m imagine the mosquitoes are all summer. Stay cool!!
Mavis Butterfield says
We had them in the spring for about 6 weeks and then a nice break. I think there hanging around now because there is no wind. 🙁
Mel says
We have moderate amounts of mosquitoes and ticks, but our real issue this time of year is fruit flies. It’s extremely frustrating because they come in DROVES from outside, so it’s not even an issue of leaving fruit out or something. Last year, I thought it must have been something we did until we went to a restaurant and sat outside–fruit flies were all over the outside there as well. All our friends had them too. I’m now convinced our area just becomes infested with them in summer. No amount of traps or cleaning reduced their numbers and they only disappeared once we got a hard freeze in the fall. So, I can basically kill all the ones that make it inside, but more keep coming in from outside until frost. Ugh.
Susan says
Could you do an experiment for me?
I’ve heard that if you wrap fly ribbon/(yellow sticky tape)
around your hat (where the hat band goes)
it works fantastically at keeping flys/mosquitos out of your face.
What I’m wondering is,
how do your remove and replace the used / (full of fly/mosquito corpses) ribbon?
Cut it and peel it off? (Wouldn’t a person be gagging?)
Do you throw away the hat? Seems to me that could get expensive.
I suppose a person could buy their hats from Dollar Tree, but even so, it would still add up after awhile.
Teri says
You’ll never be too old for a slip & slide Mavis! Stay cool.
Angela D. says
Mavis, it’s been so interesting to hear about your gardening challenges now that you’ve moved cross country. For years, reading your blog, I’d have to make allowances in using your advice in that so much was not pertinent to my neck of the woods (central WI.)
We are now in agreement: going out to garden in the heat and fighting the bugs is really tough! For the most part, I have decided that it’s just not worth it and in recent years I have begun to spend the extra money at Farm Stands.
Maybe it’s time to revisit some of your older blog posts when you had your large greenhouse– I haven’t read those in some time, but that would take care of the bug problem, right? Wait– what about pollination? Could this be a future post for you?
Evelyn Pace says
HA Try 96 degrees and humidity of 76 %
Louise says
Have you considered a box fan and long extension cord(s) for weeding on hot still days? Portable on-demand breeze to keep flies at bay. For mosquitoes tuck an unused dryer sheet in each pocket.
Carrie says
Your forecast looks like a dream! It’s been in the 90s all week in NC. I stepped outside at 10 this morning to make a call and came back in soaking with sweat. The humidity on the east coast is unreal. We are headed to the mountains this weekend to get a break.
Susan H. says
In 2012 we had a power outage for a wk with temps in the 90s. I snitched ice from my cooler, put it in a bowl and placed it in front of a battery powered fan and put the bowl beside my chair. It cooled the air a few degrees. I have found wetting a cloth and draping it around my neck helps me keep me cool when I have to go out. On the subject of herbs, do you have success in transplanting cilantro?
Marti says
We are suppose to be mid 90’s this week with 85% humidity–thankful for central air. I have a huge garden and mulch heavily with cardboard first and then grass clippings on top of that. Weeds stay away and moisture stays in the ground during those dry spells. Garden is too far away from a water source. In the fall of the year, cardboard and grass clippings are completely gone and I have nice fat worms. Also we are plagued with gnats–Buggins works great on those. They have a product for black flies also.
Lana says
The hottest place I think I have ever been in the summer was when our son was stationed at Hanscom AFB outside of Boston. It is ht here in SC but in a different way. Next week it will be upper 90’s here. My late MIL used to go out and lay in a kiddie pool after the kids were all grown. She loved it!
Diane says
I think you should invest in a portable AC unit for those few months of summer when the heat is miserable. We got one at Home Depot last year when our central air was on the fritz. It did a good job of cooling off the bedroom. I would get two… One for the bedroom so you can get a good night’s sleep, and one for a living area which can be closed off with a door. They weren’t all that expensive and well worth it!
Jenny says
Mosquitoes….the worst! There are some helpful hints in an article “7 reasons mosquitoes bite some people more than others” on the Treehugger website. I always wondered why I got bit more than my husband and there’s some research that indicates mosquitoes prefer O blood type! I’m type O and my husband is type A – explains so much…..
Stacey says
If you can slip, then slide. Go for it!
Pat says
Hi! When I was a kid we didn’t have AC. At night my mom would put a large box fan in a window on the other side of the house blowing OUT. She would turn it on high and open our bedroom windows. The air would blow out of the fan and circulate around the house and come in our windows. It sounds strange and not possible, but it worked.
Kirsten says
Your first paragraph reads like a
Garrison Keller/ Lake Wobegone (sp?) story! Ha! Love it!
Robin says
A portable AC is a great recommendation. They also seem less expensive to use too, perhaps because you aren’t trying to cool a whole house. One of mine is almost 10 years old and the other, about 7 years old. Both still work fine. They are made by Haier.
Tracy says
Mavis, you have another two and a half months of high temps, and likely high humidity. So, buckle up! I do all my gardening between 6 and 8 a.m., daily, and I can keep up. One of the best days of my life was installing an rigatoni’s system that waters every single thing with a root on my entire property. It’s like NASA control and I love it. On another note, for many years I had a much beloved German Shorthaired Pointer. She loved water and swimming. One summer, when she was quite ancient, I bought a kiddie pool for a few dollars and would fill it up fresh every morning. My sweet girl would walk over, carefully climb in and settle down on an old cushion I had submerged for her. She would doze in the sun, with only her head out of the water, chin resting on the edge of the pool. She LOVED it. One scorching day, I just climbed in next to her. We would spend a good half hour like this, just cooling off in the sun… so stupid, but good times!
Tracy says
Sorry! Siri changed “irrigation system” to gibberish.
Gigi says
Is that creeping charlie next to your fence of gourds and pumpkins? I’m sorry if it is. I’ve got a terrible area I’m trying to keep in check.