The heat wave continues

MONDAY 07/31/2006 AS OF 14:39 PM MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL,MN
CURRENTLY: 101°F FEELS LIKE: 118°F
WIND: S AT 4.8MPH - HUMIDITY: 44% - DEW POINT: 77°F
BAROMETER: 29.48

Zuchinni

I had to replant the zuchinni 3 times (I only planted one plant at a time - I do not want too much zuchinni), but at last I have a healthy producing plant.

Cucumbers

The cucumbers are thriving in spite of the heat and drought. This is only two plants!

The garden is tamed

I cut down all of the purple coneflowers that were laying on the ground and done flowering. The area looks bare now, but you can at least see the black eyed susans now that were being hidden by the coneflowers. You can see how brown the grass is. Have I mentioned we need rain?

Rogue Tomato Plant

Rogue Tomato Plant. It is amazing to me that in this heat and drought that a tomato plant that seeded itself can grow big enough to be flowering.

Another heat wave!

Heat Advisory Statement as of 2:51 am CDT on July 28, 2006
... Heat advisory in effect from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 am CDTSunday... ... Excessive heat watch now in effect from Sunday morning throughlate Monday night... The National Weather Service in Twin Cities/Chanhassen has issueda heat advisory... which is in effect from 1 PM this afternoon to7 am CDT Sunday. The excessive heat watch is now in effect fromSunday morning through late Monday night. Hot temperatures and increased humidity are still expectedacross the Twin Cities Metro area... lasting from Friday afternoonthrough the upcoming weekend... and into Monday night. Hightemperatures will be in the 95 to near 100 range... and dew pointswill range from the middle 60s to perhaps the lower 70s. Thiscombination will produce heat indices exceeding 100 degrees duringat least the afternoons.The area of intense heat and humidity may expand to cover more ofcentral and south central Minnesota... and perhaps west centralWisconsin... in the Sunday through Monday time period.A heat advisory means that a period of hot temperatures isexpected. The combination of hot temperatures and high humiditywill combine to create a situation in which heat illnesses arepossible. Drink plenty of fluids... stay in an air conditionedroom... stay out of the sun... and check up on relatives andneighbors.

Disappointed with Wax Beans

I always plant pole beans - I have a small garden and I find I get much better production out of a small area with pole beans. But the beans can be so hard to find - they blend in so well - and no matter how well I pick them, I always find some that are getting too big and tough that I must have missed the day before. A few years ago I saw some new hybrid purple beans and while they turn green when cooked, I thought what a neat idea - maybe they will be easier to pick so I planted them instead and was very diappointed in them - they really did not climb very high and did not produce anywhere near what I was used to with Blue Lake. So I went back to my Blue Lake and was happy to have lots of beans to eat and a few to freeze off of my bean towers. This year I decided to try yellow wax beans for the same reason - just to see if they might be easier to see. On planting day, I remembered what had happened with the purple beans and decided to plant one tower with my old reliable Blue Lake and only one with the new wax beans. I am so glad I did. The yellow beans started producing first (the green beans are just now starting) and it was so good to get that first taste of fresh beans - but just when they seemed to be hitting their peak and I was getting enough to eat, production suddenly stopped and the plants appear to be dying back. Over so quick. The Blue Lake, while they are later than bush beans seem to produce into September - while I won't get as many off of one tower as I would have off of two - I am so glad that I will have this one tower and not have my bean season over with already. The wax beans were definitely not as much of a flop as the purple beans were and if I had a larger garden, it might be nice to plant them for contrast and to have an earlier variety, but I think I will go back next year to just my beloved Blue Lake - it hasn't let me down yet (other than hiding those green beans!).