Red Russian kale in bloom (buzz buzz)So the weather has flipped. By this I mean that big lake a mile west of us is doing its thing: it's insulating us. It has flipped in that now it is just plain cool. The two NPR stations I listen to are in towns about an hour south and east of us and now they announce things like highs in the 80s "but cooler by the lake," meaning we'll maybe see 70. (Winter's converse is it is inevitably 10-20 degrees warmer here.)
What does this mean, besides a drawn-out tulip season? My garden is POKY. I still haven't harvested a salad of means out of it yet. Sniff. But it is coming!
7 comments:
We're just the opposite here.
When I listen to the community radio station which is on the coast, I routinely have to add 10 degrees to the forecasted temps.
It *does* help in the summer for growing good peppers. But I still don't have salad. (also? I had a frost last night. brr!)
We had a frost threat last night also. I bet it wouldn't happen (because I just didn't feel like covering all the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants I just planted) and it only got down around 40. The lake effect sounds good all except for that snow factor.
Just stopping in to say congrats on the Wall Street Journal piece.
I'm about a mile from the Lake Michigan in Lake Forest, IL. and the lake has been having a huge effect on keeping things way too cool all spring...until today...finally an 80.
In my little yard I have some microclimates too. Cool and windy on the covered patio, and hot and humid "way out there" on the grass. I just discovered it today, having lived here less than two weeks.
I am such a neophyte. And more than a little nervous about turning that yard into a suburban farmlet.
I'll be dropping by here a lot for tips.
I JUST FOUND YOU IN THE WSJ - I LIVE IN KALAMAZOO - AM LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR POSTS
Liz, I can't wait for those Jimmy Nardello's, can you? And are you considered the Highlands or something up there in Maine?
Meredith, but I *love* snow. If there's a threat of frost, go get yourself some straw. You can leave it on as mulch.
Thanks, and congrats to you too, Phelan!
Thanks for stopping by, GG. I've got lots of family in Wilmette. You're a little north of me, but you're directly across that lake of ours.
One step at a time, CC: if not a farmlet, then at least your secret tomato stash. It really does help to pay attention to microclimates. That's what most of gardening is anyway, just paying attention.
And Anon, thanks for stopping by! Kzoo is the "big city" to us. And it's the only place we can find a decent bookstore.
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