Derald wrote:
"Farm1" wrote:

Well, if you are asking if we have them and name them as such to
coincide with the rising of the Dog Star as did the ancient Romans
and Greeks, then no, we don't have them because the Dog Star can be
seen for much of the year here (or so I've been told).
Yes, that was the question. Although, I "thought" that it must be,
I was unsure whether Sirius is even visible at Australia's latitudes.

Where Fran lives I would say not at all. Up north maybe. Oz is a big
place.

I'm in the SE USA, where Canis Major, Orion, etc. are pretty high in
the sky. Of course, a fire would be required in order to get me up
early enough to see it this time of year. "Dog days" are when Sirius
and Sol are in conjunction and rise at (about) the same time of day.
Glad to read that you're seeing a few optimistic harbingers of
Spring; reassuring, isn't it? Is winter over or do you still have more
cold weather coming on? I'm far enough south in US that, for practical
purposes, "spring" arrives in mid-late February and outdoor gardening
can begin, although, a slight possibility of a nasty "March Surprise"
still exists.

We are concerned with that too especially with stone fruits. If they flower
early and you get a late frost the flowers or fruit will fall and your
harvest can be almost nothing.

This time of year, here, all but the most heat tolerant plants are
gone from the garden and it's still a bit early for a "late" planting
of beans, curcurbits and tomatoes; far too early to put in cool
weather crops. Just as well, for the time may be used for chainsaw
tuneup/repair (firewood on hand but not yet bucked to length or
split), manure-hauling, etc.
Making plans and putting together a final seed order for the
fall-winter garden, though. At your suggestion, "Fordhook" Swiss chard
will be included in this year's mix, with a series of succession
plantings starting once the weather cools a bit. Never had any "luck"
with chard and don't recall having tried any other kind of beet. Of
course, it's all on you, if my dismal record continues: It's the new
"American Way", LOL!

The five-colour sort looks nice but fordhook is reliable. You don't need to
succession plant it, if you keep pulling the outside leaves it will keep
growing new ones from the centre. I have some here that has been going for
8 months. It will probably bolt to seed in the spring. You can save the
seeds.



...over the old ton....
Of course, I have no idea what that means unless it's a sailing
reference and is hot, indeed. Rarely gets out of high 20's, maybe very
low 30's, here.

A ton is a hundred, a car going over a ton is over 100mph, temperature is
over 100F. This is all in antiquated pre-metric measure, the septics ought
to feel right at home.

David