Come on, Irene!

[greatbear]

In our continuing quest to exist among Mother Nature's temper tantrums, Jeff and I left Hillside around 3pm or so Saturday before the weather got nasty. We kept our eyes on various weather reports, keeping a minimal setup so we could hightail it out of there at a moment's notice. Instead, we had a leisurely drive back to Jeff's 'rents place to drop off the trailer and await Irene's soaking. We spent our last night camping in the driveway as the rain and wind pelted the trailer. We spent the morning hanging out there, having an early dinner the drove back home to MD. The weather kept clearing up as we drove south, once we hit the Maryland line we were greeted with beautiful weather, as I had hoped. Once we got near home it became apparent there was no power (traffic lights and stores dark, etc) despite no damage to speak of. I fired up the generator to halt the thawing happening in three freezers. Once we settled in, we surveyed practically no damage here aside from a pretty much shredded vegetable garden. We picked about a bushel of tomatoes which will become sauce, chili sauce and other goodies this week.

We are currently watching the news detailing how widespread the damage and power outages are, though here at Casa Mayhem life is normal. The monster generator chugging away out at the garage providing all the power we need, even enough to make a nice pizza for dinner in the electric oven. We are lucky damage wise, and our preparations have come in handy. Internet here thanks to my 3G hotspot, since the cable is out for the duration.

We have one more camping trip scheduled for next month. I wonder what kind of natural disaster awaits us till then.

Comments

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

It's good to hear that your home was virtually untouched by the storm. It actually sounds romantic ... camping in a trailer with the rain hitting the roof.

HUGS!

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I like it when we are all ensconced cozily in the trailer while the weather is unsuccessfully trying to dampen our good times. And, yeah, we made good on the "romantic" part as well. ;)

[notdefined.livejournal.com]

Do you have a 50KW generator? :) Your talk of your vegetable garden makes me think of the one we had in Virginia. I miss picking a nice, ripe and warm tomato off of the vine and munching away right there in the garden. ::sigh::

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's only 15kw. ;)

Mom used to have the awesomest gardens. It's taken a lot for me to tough up and basically invade what was her territory. Though I was always alongside of her helping, once I lost her, I swear I lost most of the knowledge she imparted to me. Actually, that is not so true, what I lost was her advice and breadth of knowledge, and the ability to ask her if I am doing things properly. That huge missing piece brings a lot of raw-edged hurt to this day. But I am managing, and improving.

[notdefined.livejournal.com]

Gardening is always soothing to the soul, even when it is a pain in the arse. The idea of seeds, water and earth producing life giving vegetables just makes it all the more satisfying. It is also a way to connect with the past in a healthy and meaningful way.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

It is also frustrating, as the groundhog and stink bugs wrecked a lot of produce. Still, we managed to get a coupla good cantaloupes out, and we are in the midst of Tomatogeddon as our phenomenally productive tomatoes (Mom would be so proud, these ended up being the biggest producers ever grown here, at least 50 Romas per plant!) begin ripening in earnest. The heirloom varieties seem to be beset with splitting and rotting issues, unfortunately, but the good ones as well as the salvageable fruit taste incredible.

[notdefined.livejournal.com]

The splitting is due to inconsistent moisture probably because of the way the rain has come. Mulching will help. Yes, stink bugs as a major pain. Bacillus thuringiensis (bt) spread all around your garden (not in it, even though it is not toxic to mammals) should help with ground emerging insects (beetles). Get yourself some half gallon jars and can the tomatoes whole but skinned. They will be great for sauce. Also halving them, sprinkling with olive oil and salt and then roasting until caramelized make a killer sauce. I'm not sure what to do about the ground hogs other than plant castor beans along the perimeter of your garden. They are toxic to humans (if you eat the beans) so be careful. Getting rid of the grubs (what the bt does) will cause the gophers, etc. to go elsewhere to look for food.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I knew what the splitting was from, and since we've had pretty serious drought conditions in the early summer and I had set up automated sprinkling/watering, part of it is my fault. What surprised me was the absolute vigor with which the plants started out with and continued with. The cages were completely overwhelmed (literally crushed from the weight) and even propping them up was chancy,. I will make some "serious" cages out of concrete reinforcement mesh next year, and use rebar to stake them in place. I will augment the electric fence (which dealt nicely with the deer) with a varmint fence around the perimeter, that will keep the groundhogs and wabbits out. I had good luck with a motion sensing sprinkler (a "Scarecrow") keeping the place free of some critters are well. What we did not expect was the swarms of stink bugs. These are devastating crops in a lot of places, not just here. They cause spots on produce as well as stunting the corn development. A shame, really, because the corn was doing so well otherwise. Next year I will plant two or three different varieties of corn, a different mix of tomatoes (though still heavy on Romas), and get an earlier start on other stuff than we did this time. I am also building lots of raised beds next year, and one corner of the garden that is not productive due to a nearby maple's roots will get not only the majority of raised bed boxes, but maybe a little greenhouse for starting plants as well as extending the growing season.

[notdefined.livejournal.com]

I love Romas for cooking and beefsteak for fresh eating. (I'll eat them like an apple) There are some new varietals of Roma that are more disease and pest resistant. Some folks swear by tying up the tomatoes like beans. My uncle used to grow them up the side of his garage and over the roof. :) I've never tried that method. If you do put up a greenhouse, try growing Black Seeded Simpson leaf lettuce. It is some of the tastiest lettuce I've ever eaten. It grew well in my greenhouse in the winter (I started the seeds in December) although I did have to supplement the heat a couple of times. My aunt used to put a radio in her garden and blast it to chase off the critters. Other than serenading the veggies, I don't know if it worked.

Here is an article that may help: http://www.ehow.com/how_5126114_rid-stink-bugs-home-garden.html

[bearquest.livejournal.com]

Glad you had a safe journey home and your possessions, except for the garden, were not damaged by this monster storm. Take good care.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

As I was writing the entry, I got to see lots of serious devastation around the state. It was very bad, and by the (still) lost power for over 24 hours, it will take a while to get back to "normal."

[nebris.livejournal.com]

You two are a credit to America. =)

xoxox
~M~

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

We are two independent sorts that do things right IMO. I can't count on help to get things done, and I had to grow up at a very early age and be the man of the house. It has taught me well, and has been a huge blessing over the decades. I'm lucky in that respect, and my mom taught me to be very independent even as a preschooler. People could not let their kids do what we used to do back in our youth. All the constant supervision kids are required to have these days make them ill equipped for the nasty realities of today.

[erstexman.livejournal.com]

If you can come through a hurricane with only a power outage and a destroyed vegetable garden you are doing pretty good. Those people up in New England with the flooding have it pretty bad, but hurricanes and mountains are never a good combination. We have had too many do major damage in western NC over the years.