Good Evening, garden friends across the pond. Madgardener or "Maddie"
here. I had a question after hearing something out of the corner of my
ear this morning during the starting madness of my day. Is anyone
seeing some disturbing trends in the warmer than usual weather over your
way? I see Sacha has Japanese anemone opening up earlier than usual. I,
myself have noticed that blooming seasons are melting together, so to
speak. My "fall" Japanese anemone's ever since I finally got them to
take for me have consistently started budding just in time for the
arrival for the voracious munching habits of the "beneficial" insect,
the Blister beetle. This "beneficial" insect, touted by Rodale's
Organic Gardening book is listed as a "good" bug because it's larvae
love to munch upon the larvae of grasshoppers. Thus their consideration
for "beneficial" interactions. Now don't get me wrong here. I am as
organic and beneficial as I possibly can be. But let a gardener who has
tried and miserably failed to get Japanese anemone to take root and
flourish for me YEARS to do this get undone by one hatching of black and
charcoal black striped eating machines that I can't pinch with my
fingers because this is why they buggers are called BLISTER
BEETLES............(apparently they are the main ingredient in the old
sexual powders, "Spanish Fly" that they used to tout as such wonderous
medicinals. Dried up and ground blister beetles taken internally caused
the penis to get irritated and engorge..ouch!

Ok, so back to what I was spouting about......MY Japanese anemone are
budding wonderfully and soon, the hateful blister beetles will hatch
from their slumbers in the raised soils of my beds and with that waking
they will have a case of munchies that will rival any stoned gathering
of pot smokers without cookies and drinks to satiate them with. They
literally munch the leaves to the bones, or veins. That weakens the
beautiful, fat buds enough that there are NO flowering afterwards. And
the full beetles then copulate and die after they lay eggs. Like most
beetles do.....well, organic and beneficial or not, I nuke the *******s
with Pyrethrum sprays. I don't think that my little corner of earth's
balance has been horribly altered so much that the untimely death of a
few HUNDRED blister beetles will matter.

I also disturbingly noticed the absolute lack of a beautiful spider that
I would be seeing right now. She is black and yellow and quite large,
making a rather impressive web with a distinctive "zipper" in the middle
of her nets. I haven't seen her in nine years here on the ridge. I see
the red ones that everyone walks into the webs that she slings across
great expanses and blows your mind at the sheer size of, and once you've
walked into her web, you do the "there's a spider in my hair" dance
because she WILL be on your head or somewhere close when you walk thru
her ministrations. At least, I HOPE I see her. But it bothers me that
the black and yellow one (I don't know her Latin name or identity) is
literally GONE from this area. I've even looked down in my woods. I do
NOT spray my gardens unless I am forced to. And even then I am careful
to what I spray. And I don't madly spray. Only the blister beetles.
The Japanese beetles I pluck. And this year, I noticed less than normal
"June beetles" which oddly have always as long as I've played with them
as a child or noticed them as an adult arrived in July.......So that
tells me the larger than normal populations of skunks have sufficiently
done their grub loving jobs. Hardly any June bugs, and less Japanese
beetles, at least where I am at. I can attest to the high population of
skunks because I kept hitting them with the van and was tempted to
rename it "Pepe La Phew".....LOL

And we also seem to have quite a high population of raccoons around here
too....hmmmmmmmmmm, that could only mean their love of people's trash
has hit payload payoff because more people are moving in here and
building subdivisions where there once used to be pastures and hillsides
and woods.

But what I was worried about was hearing today that London had
temperatures around 101o F ???!??? Asphalt was melting and there is
also a drought going on? Now, having grown up in Nashville, Tennessee
and experiencing summers that I remember sometimes got so hot that tar
bubbled up on the roads and we kids played with it.....well, I have to
wonder if this is a foreboding sign of other things that might be out of
our control. Yes, yes, global warming and all that. I'm not here to
talk politics. And I will not carry the total blame of gas guzzling
consumers. Apparently the Chinese are now eager to embrace Western ways
and there be far more of them to consume and pillage. So here's the
extended tangent... I keep a ten year journal. I've kept records of
blooming perennials for quite a few years now. It's not a bad habit to
have, actually. What I'm seeing lately is that some perennials are
arriving earlier and finishing quicker. That varies of course because
each year is different. But I have noticed changes.

What I noticed more than anything is that since the early 70's, instead
of decent winters in Tennessee, no matter if it was Middle Tennessee
(where I grew up which is where Nashville is at) or Eastern Tennessee
(where I am now, and I can't count West Tennessee as they have always
had milder winters)what I have seen, with exception to a few abnormal
cold snaps that plummeted temperatures back to colder, I now remember
rainy winters. Instead of snowy winters. Less snows in early to mid
Spring. I remember as a child, snow sometimes on the dogwood blossoms.
And now as a gardener in her early 50's, I now know that is around the
mid to latter part of April.

I also remember my mama grew me up to wear that damned undershirt until
Memorial Day which was in May. No matter how freaking hot it got. If it
did. But most times, shorts weather came after Memorial day. The same
rule of thumb applied to planting tomato plants. No one used to plant
them until Memorial Day. Now I see people setting out their tomato's by
Mid March!! And working at the Lowes store in the garden center, I
began to notice that the cole crops that came in as seedlings for
gardens that used to arrive in February, are now coming after New Year's
Day. The same thing with onion sets, bare root berry canes and the like.

So since this must be confusing. yes, I still would like to hear what's
going on with you gardening friends in your neck of the woods. I,
myself am having a parched summer. Hot temperatures that have stayed in
the 90's now for days on end. Any storms pass me or poop out quickly,
leaving the soils barely touched. It's so bad right now, that the
Yellow finches are stripping the Kugglesonne Rudbeckia blossoms of their
petals, not waiting for the pollinators to get the pollens and make
viable seeds, and ripping into the raw, green seed heads. For moisture?
Or food. I am going to purchase thistle seed and hang socks out for
them to nourish themselves with. And to purchase a birdbath for them to
get water. That will answer that question then.

I can't tell how badly it is with the summer's weather on the birds
because my hateful neighbor's inbred and over productive cats are at a
level of population that I fear the birds have been snatched up by
starving felines. My own four, fixed cats are fed well enough to make
them a bit lax on their natural inclinations. Maggie still hunts, but
captures more voles and the stupid Mourning dove of which we are
abundant in. Last count, his son told me asshole has over 25 cats
inside his stinking house. And yes, I can smell it from the middle of
the driveway which is about 30 feet or less from the house he lives
in......so it's pretty bad.

back to what I was concerned about. I'd just like to know how things
are over there with you all and your gardening efforts and how Mom's
Nature is treating you. Believe it or not, I care and despite that I
can't change the weather, I'd like to keep track of things with you. I
hope everyone is well, and that the heat wave has only caused
discomfort. I fear we're all in for some adjusting. My love and
concerns. I, myself have shut off the central air many times recently
and turned just the fan on to circulate the airs around. But by mid
morning with temperatures barely hitting 80 this last week, if I had
ventured to open a window, I'd have let in hot evening air. Yep, things
are certainly not what I'd consider normal. I do remember hot summers,
but usually at the end of July and August. When my youngest son was
born, I took him home on the 5th of August and the temperatures were
104o F. So hot summers are normal. But not like this I don't think.
I'll have to research this more. Thanks for putting up with me.

madgardener (maddie) up on the hazy ridge, in desperate need of rains,
back in a crispy Fairy Holler, overlooking a barely visible English
Mountain in Eastern Tennessee

On 20/7/06 04:10, in article ,
"madgardener" wrote:

Good Evening, garden friends across the pond. Madgardener or "Maddie"
here. I had a question after hearing something out of the corner of my
ear this morning during the starting madness of my day. Is anyone
seeing some disturbing trends in the warmer than usual weather over your
way? I see Sacha has Japanese anemone opening up earlier than usual. I,
myself have noticed that blooming seasons are melting together, so to
speak. My "fall" Japanese anemone's ever since I finally got them to
take for me have consistently started budding just in time for the
arrival for the voracious munching habits of the "beneficial" insect,
the Blister beetle. This "beneficial" insect, touted by Rodale's
Organic Gardening book is listed as a "good" bug because it's larvae
love to munch upon the larvae of grasshoppers. Thus their consideration
for "beneficial" interactions. Now don't get me wrong here. I am as
organic and beneficial as I possibly can be. But let a gardener who has
tried and miserably failed to get Japanese anemone to take root and
flourish for me YEARS to do this get undone by one hatching of black and
charcoal black striped eating machines that I can't pinch with my
fingers because this is why they buggers are called BLISTER
BEETLES............(apparently they are the main ingredient in the old
sexual powders, "Spanish Fly" that they used to tout as such wonderous
medicinals. Dried up and ground blister beetles taken internally caused
the penis to get irritated and engorge..ouch!

I don't know if we have those in UK but they do live in Southern Europe.
Their real name is Lytta vesicatoria. I was curious, so I looked it up! I
will now approach our Japanese anemones with more respect but I must admit I
haven't seen these things on them! They seem to be trouble free and in the
gravelled area where we park our cars, they spread very well in beds facing
north and south, as well.
snip

I also disturbingly noticed the absolute lack of a beautiful spider that
I would be seeing right now. She is black and yellow and quite large,
making a rather impressive web with a distinctive "zipper" in the middle
of her nets. I haven't seen her in nine years here on the ridge. I see
the red ones that everyone walks into the webs that she slings across
great expanses and blows your mind at the sheer size of, and once you've
walked into her web, you do the "there's a spider in my hair" dance
because she WILL be on your head or somewhere close when you walk thru
her ministrations. At least, I HOPE I see her.

I'm sorry but the LACK of a spider is not going to give me any sleepless
nights. Quite the reverse! We don't get poisonous spiders here - or not
seriously so - but I just detest spiders, fullstop. In this house we do get
some of the large so-called house spiders but we seem to be especially
favoured by those little pin bodied long legged, thready ones. It's my
personal conviction that spiders know I don't like them, so they make a
beeline for me!



But it bothers me that
the black and yellow one (I don't know her Latin name or identity) is
literally GONE from this area. I've even looked down in my woods. I do
NOT spray my gardens unless I am forced to. And even then I am careful
to what I spray. And I don't madly spray. Only the blister beetles.
The Japanese beetles I pluck. And this year, I noticed less than normal
"June beetles" which oddly have always as long as I've played with them
as a child or noticed them as an adult arrived in July.......So that
tells me the larger than normal populations of skunks have sufficiently
done their grub loving jobs. Hardly any June bugs, and less Japanese
beetles, at least where I am at. I can attest to the high population of
skunks because I kept hitting them with the van and was tempted to
rename it "Pepe La Phew".....LOL

And we also seem to have quite a high population of raccoons around here
too....hmmmmmmmmmm, that could only mean their love of people's trash
has hit payload payoff because more people are moving in here and
building subdivisions where there once used to be pastures and hillsides
and woods.

Reading all this about raccoons and skunks, I must admit I'm quite relieved
we live in boring old England! I can do without those in my life!

But what I was worried about was hearing today that London had
temperatures around 101o F ???!??? Asphalt was melting and there is
also a drought going on?

Yes, it hit an all time record high near Gatwick yesterday and the tar was
melting in Plymouth, too, about 30 mins from us. One of the more bizarre
sights was of gritting lorries going around, adding grit to the tarmac to
make it more durable. Normally, they come out when snow is forecast! The
temperatures are truly exceptional. But as to drought, that's not all over
UK. The South East has a drought problem and a hosepipe ban but not our
area, the South West or AFAIK, the north of England. I don't think
Scotland and Wales are experiencing any problems either. But even then, the
reservoirs aren't as low as they were in 1976 when it didn't rain in Jersey
(where I then lived and that year had my first child!) from May until
October. It was immensely hot but living near the sea certainly had its
compensations in terms of lots of swimming and some cooling sea breezes.
Yesterday and today have been very weird here in Devon. Rain was promised
and we got about a couple of dozen drops but nothing to do any good. It was
hot and humid because of the cloud cover. This morning it's still overcast
but cooler and it's a bit windier which, for once, is welcome because it's
cooling things down a bit.
I think there's a lot of publicity about drought because winters have been
very dry in the SE for a few years so stocks haven't been replenished but
also because that area includes London and most newspapers are
London-centric!
On the nursery and in the garden, we're still watering like mad and just
doing the nursery takes 3 people about 2 hours each per morning. The garden
has had spray lines on it most evenings.

Now, having grown up in Nashville, Tennessee
and experiencing summers that I remember sometimes got so hot that tar
bubbled up on the roads and we kids played with it.....well, I have to
wonder if this is a foreboding sign of other things that might be out of
our control. Yes, yes, global warming and all that. I'm not here to
talk politics. And I will not carry the total blame of gas guzzling
consumers. Apparently the Chinese are now eager to embrace Western ways
and there be far more of them to consume and pillage.

Things are getting out of control and we all have to do something to try to
redress the balance. There is talk here of tax on lightbulbs that aren't the
long life energy efficient ones. I don't know if that's a political gimmick
but it's certainly true that the atmosphere is filled with the pollution of
hundreds, if not thousands of aeroplanes, chugging back and forth laden with
un-seasonal goodies such as roses and asparagus from Peru. Now, honestly,
who NEEDS asparagus so badly that it has to be flown to England from Peru?
I'm making it a policy now not to buy veggies that have come from further
afield than e.g. France, Italy or Holland and of course, wherever possible I
buy stuff that's grown locally in Devon. We have a very large, very good
organic farm near us which sells its produce in its own shop and distributes
it round England and we have a pretty good local greengrocer, too. And our
butcher has his own abbatoir and knows personally all the farmers who supply
him with meat.


So here's the
extended tangent... I keep a ten year journal. I've kept records of
blooming perennials for quite a few years now. It's not a bad habit to
have, actually. What I'm seeing lately is that some perennials are
arriving earlier and finishing quicker. That varies of course because
each year is different. But I have noticed changes.

Well, I've made a note of the Japanese anemones and also noted that on 17th
January it was warm enough for two of the nursery staff to eat their lunch
in the garden. This is NOT a usual occurrence here, by any means. We've
also noticed that this year the Rosa bracteata is flowering wonderfully for
the second year running, that the Rosa banksia alba is doing the same and
that the Fremontodendron could well have fallen over with the weight of
gorgeous yellow flowers it was carrying.
snip

back to what I was concerned about. I'd just like to know how things
are over there with you all and your gardening efforts and how Mom's
Nature is treating you. Believe it or not, I care and despite that I
can't change the weather, I'd like to keep track of things with you. I
hope everyone is well, and that the heat wave has only caused
discomfort. I fear we're all in for some adjusting. My love and
concerns. I, myself have shut off the central air many times recently
and turned just the fan on to circulate the airs around. But by mid
morning with temperatures barely hitting 80 this last week, if I had
ventured to open a window, I'd have let in hot evening air. Yep, things
are certainly not what I'd consider normal. I do remember hot summers,
but usually at the end of July and August. When my youngest son was
born, I took him home on the 5th of August and the temperatures were
104o F. So hot summers are normal. But not like this I don't think.
I'll have to research this more. Thanks for putting up with me.

Very few English houses have air conditioning so our method in this house is
to open windows but close curtains or shutters, keeping the rooms aired but
cooler.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(email address on website)

"madgardener" wrote in message
...


I also disturbingly noticed the absolute lack of a beautiful spider that I
would be seeing right now. She is black and yellow and quite large,
making a rather impressive web with a distinctive "zipper" in the middle
of her nets.

That certainly does sound impressive. It's sad when we notice living things
which are missing but often it's only temporary - or they've moved to more
hospitable areas. Human do it ... Spiders are fascinating creatures, I
wish I knew more about them. We have a large black one which moves around
our bedroom ceiling, we can't work out what it lives on. Or even, of course,
if it's the same one we see every night :-)

And we also seem to have quite a high population of raccoons around here
too....hmmmmmmmmmm, that could only mean their love of people's trash has
hit payload payoff because more people are moving in here and building
subdivisions where there once used to be pastures and hillsides and woods.

Yes. When I visited friends in Puget Sound they kept a sack of dog food to
feed the nightly visitors to their deck. I was charmed - but later realised
that they are the same kind of beautiful but destructive pests as our fox
:-(

Over population by people is not good. I don't know the answer to that.

But what I was worried about was hearing today that London had
temperatures around 101o F ???!??? Asphalt was melting and there is also
a drought going on? Now, having grown up in Nashville, Tennessee and
experiencing summers that I remember sometimes got so hot that tar bubbled
up on the roads and we kids played with it.....

Yes, I did as a child. We called it 'gas tar' and it was so beautiful and
our mothers weren't pleased when it got on our shirts and shorts and dresses
.... But we never learned to leave it alone. The shine, the black, the
mouldability - the mucky fingerprints we left in it ...

well, I have to wonder if this is a foreboding sign of other things that
might be out of our control. Yes, yes, global warming and all that. I'm
not here to talk politics. And I will not carry the total blame of gas
guzzling consumers. Apparently the Chinese are now eager to embrace
Western ways and there be far more of them to consume and pillage.

As we do and have done for centuries. and we've gone exponential in the last
few years :-(

So here's the extended tangent... I keep a ten year journal. I've kept
records of blooming perennials for quite a few years now. It's not a bad
habit to have, actually. What I'm seeing lately is that some perennials
are arriving earlier and finishing quicker. That varies of course because
each year is different. But I have noticed changes.

It's too late for me to do that in detail but I haven't noticed many
changes, there are slight differences year to year but on balance I reckon
things are much the same as they've always been. I grow the same things as
my parents did, with the same results at more or less the same time - except
that I have a small greenhouse so have some advantages.

What I noticed more than anything is that since the early 70's, instead of
decent winters in Tennessee, no matter if it was Middle Tennessee (where I
grew up which is where Nashville is at) or Eastern Tennessee (where I am
now, and I can't count West Tennessee as they have always had milder
winters)what I have seen, with exception to a few abnormal cold snaps that
plummeted temperatures back to colder, I now remember rainy winters.
Instead of snowy winters. Less snows in early to mid Spring. I remember
as a child, snow sometimes on the dogwood blossoms. And now as a gardener
in her early 50's, I now know that is around the mid to latter part of
April.

Yes, we have wetter (therefore warmer) winters but apart from muddy gardens
the overall effect is the same as if it were snow. Some say that pests
overwinter better, I hadn't noticed that. There have always been (what we
call) pests. Some years they're worse than others.

I also remember my mama grew me up to wear that damned undershirt until
Memorial Day which was in May. No matter how freaking hot it got. If it
did. But most times, shorts weather came after Memorial day. The same
rule of thumb applied to planting tomato plants. No one used to plant them
until Memorial Day. Now I see people setting out their tomato's by Mid
March!! And working at the Lowes store in the garden center, I began to
notice that the cole crops that came in as seedlings for gardens that used
to arrive in February, are now coming after New Year's Day. The same
thing with onion sets, bare root berry canes and the like.

I suspect that's more to do with economy and marketing than natural causes.

So since this must be confusing. yes, I still would like to hear what's
going on with you gardening friends in your neck of the woods. I, myself
am having a parched summer.

We, in Yorkshire, England, have had about three weeks of very hot and dry
weather. I might be wrong, it might only be two weeks but it seems like more
:-) There's been no shortage of water because our supply company is
excellent, it's invested huge amounts into the previously failing
infrastructure and encourages consumers to have meters, be careful with
consumption, use grey water and store rainwater in butts. The Fishers do all
those things as a matter of course and as a result my vegetables are
thriving.

Hot temperatures that have stayed in the 90's now for days on end.

Yes. And nights. Lying on the bed, windows open, with no nighties or even
sheets.

Any storms pass me or poop out quickly, leaving the soils barely touched.

We've had no storms since the beginning of the month but during last night
it rained a bit. not enough to fill the butts, the roofs are so hot that
water evaporated! But the ground is a bit damp. It's cooler too, the
greenhouse vents haven't opened.

It's so bad right now, that the Yellow finches are stripping the
Kugglesonne Rudbeckia blossoms of their petals, not waiting for the
pollinators to get the pollens and make viable seeds, and ripping into the
raw, green seed heads. For moisture? Or food. I am going to purchase
thistle seed and hang socks out for them to nourish themselves with. And
to purchase a birdbath for them to get water. That will answer that
question then.

It will be interesting.

I can't tell how badly it is with the summer's weather on the birds
because my hateful neighbor's inbred and over productive cats are at a
level of population that I fear the birds have been snatched up by
starving felines.

Our garden is full of birds - nothing exotic, just local town birds, large
and small. Our garden isn't representative of others though because we have
hens and there's always food available for winged things - who take
advantage of it :-)


back to what I was concerned about. I'd just like to know how things are
over there with you all and your gardening efforts and how Mom's Nature is
treating you. Believe it or not, I care and despite that I can't change
the weather, I'd like to keep track of things with you. I hope everyone
is well, and that the heat wave has only caused discomfort. I fear we're
all in for some adjusting. My love and concerns. I, myself have shut off
the central air many times recently and turned just the fan on to
circulate the airs around.

We don't have such a thing in our house but more and more Brits are
installing air conditioning, even in the north of England and Scotland. It
seems to be the latest thing to have. I can't understand their wanting to
increase their electricity bills which they complain about anyway but that's
their problem. I've mentioned to a couple that they're adding to global
warming. They shrug and say that it doesn't affect them :-(

But by mid morning with temperatures barely hitting 80 this last week, if
I had ventured to open a window, I'd have let in hot evening air.

I open windows on the first floor (that's the next one above ground level!)
and doors and windows on the ground floor. Yes, hot air is drawn in but it
moves because of convection currents, that's Nature's fan. South facing
windows are covered by thick curtains so those rooms keep cool.

What irks me more than anything is that we're getting huge amounts of very
hot water thanks to our solar water heating system - and we can't use it :-
Well, not all of it. We don't want hot baths so even daily ones don't drain
the cylinder. We're not wearing many clothes so not much needs washing.
We're not cooking (eating mostly raw food) so not as much dishwashing needs
to be done. Hrumph.

Yep, things are certainly not what I'd consider normal. I do remember hot
summers, but usually at the end of July and August. When my youngest son
was born, I took him home on the 5th of August and the temperatures were
104o F. So hot summers are normal. But not like this I don't think. I'll
have to research this more.

I really do think that we're contributing more to global warming - in very
many ways - than we have done in previous centuries. We're paying the price
for our modern 'conveniences'.

Thanks for putting up with me.

It's been a delight :-)

Mary

"Sacha" wrote in message
...



I think there's a lot of publicity about drought because winters have been
very dry in the SE for a few years so stocks haven't been replenished but
also because that area includes London and most newspapers are
London-centric!

Not just newspapers. BBC radio (don't know about tv) has hardly ever
mentioned the north in the weather forecast in the last few weeks. the south
west has been mentioned, Wales, the north west, Scotland and Northern
Ireland have been but we might as well not exists. Mind you, I'm happy about
that. I reckon I can forecast the local weather as well as they can. It does
give a strange impression to people outside the country though :-)


Things are getting out of control and we all have to do something to try
to
redress the balance. There is talk here of tax on lightbulbs that aren't
the
long life energy efficient ones.

I haven't heard of that but it sounds like a good idea.

I don't know if that's a political gimmick
but it's certainly true that the atmosphere is filled with the pollution
of
hundreds, if not thousands of aeroplanes, chugging back and forth laden
with
un-seasonal goodies such as roses and asparagus from Peru.

YES! And people ...

Now, honestly,
who NEEDS asparagus so badly that it has to be flown to England from Peru?

Not me. Nor onions from Tasmania or potatoes from Egypt. But I don't even
want frozen peas out of season. Or at all, come to that. We have enough of
our own in-season fruit and vegetables to feed us well - and have varied,
tasty and nourishing meals.

I'm making it a policy now not to buy veggies that have come from further
afield than e.g. France, Italy or Holland and of course, wherever possible
I
buy stuff that's grown locally in Devon. We have a very large, very good
organic farm near us which sells its produce in its own shop and
distributes
it round England

Round England from Devon? Food miles! We have our own local organic growers
....

And our
butcher has his own abbatoir and knows personally all the farmers who
supply
him with meat.

I know the names of the farmed animals I eat :-) But the beef and sheep come
from our daughter's rare breed organic farm (she has them killed at a local
abattoir and we butcher our own), pig meat comes from a small local organic
farm. We only eat culled cockerels, drakes or stag turkeys from the
daughter's farm. We know that all our meat is well cared for, most of it we
know personally and have confidence that it is the best possible. We don't
eat eggs often but have out own bantams, they see us through the year. I
can't make good cheese or wine though so have to buy it - British cheeses
only, English wine often. It doesn't take much effort to consider food miles
when shopping and soon becomes routine.

The lack of tax on aircraft fuel is a disgrace, people should be prepared to
pay for their travel if they must do it - I doubt that it will ever be
properly taxed because it would lose too many votes. Not mine ... taxing
tungsten light bulbs is an ineffectual token. Bah.


Well, I've made a note of the Japanese anemones and also noted that on
17th
January it was warm enough for two of the nursery staff to eat their lunch
in the garden. This is NOT a usual occurrence here, by any means.

It occasionally happens here too. We often have lunch outside in March, not
in sleeveless shirts but not in overcoats either. After that, unless it's
raining, we have most meals outdoors.

It's blessedly cool today but not raining any more. I've been taking
pictures of plants in our garden for three years, the dates aren't changing,
interestingly.

Mary

Mary it is all down to a couple of things.

1) Money

and

2) Choice

If I choose to chug across the world in a plane and I have the money, I
will. As it happens I cruise. How you equate that to your little rant I
don't know, but I can assure you I am not the only one who chooses to
cruise. The Aurora World Cruise for 2007 was almost full whilst I was on her
for the World Cruise this year AND, 2008 is booking fast :-))

For as long as people have 1) & 2), your little dream world won't happen
:-))

Live with it :-))

Mike

--
------------------------------------------------
Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rnshipmates.co.uk


"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...

"Sacha" wrote in message
...



I think there's a lot of publicity about drought because winters have
been
very dry in the SE for a few years so stocks haven't been replenished
but
also because that area includes London and most newspapers are
London-centric!

Not just newspapers. BBC radio (don't know about tv) has hardly ever
mentioned the north in the weather forecast in the last few weeks. the
south
west has been mentioned, Wales, the north west, Scotland and Northern
Ireland have been but we might as well not exists. Mind you, I'm happy
about
that. I reckon I can forecast the local weather as well as they can. It
does
give a strange impression to people outside the country though :-)


Things are getting out of control and we all have to do something to try
to
redress the balance. There is talk here of tax on lightbulbs that aren't
the
long life energy efficient ones.

I haven't heard of that but it sounds like a good idea.

I don't know if that's a political gimmick
but it's certainly true that the atmosphere is filled with the pollution
of
hundreds, if not thousands of aeroplanes, chugging back and forth laden
with
un-seasonal goodies such as roses and asparagus from Peru.

YES! And people ...

Now, honestly,
who NEEDS asparagus so badly that it has to be flown to England from
Peru?

Not me. Nor onions from Tasmania or potatoes from Egypt. But I don't even
want frozen peas out of season. Or at all, come to that. We have enough of
our own in-season fruit and vegetables to feed us well - and have varied,
tasty and nourishing meals.

I'm making it a policy now not to buy veggies that have come from
further
afield than e.g. France, Italy or Holland and of course, wherever
possible
I
buy stuff that's grown locally in Devon. We have a very large, very
good
organic farm near us which sells its produce in its own shop and
distributes
it round England

Round England from Devon? Food miles! We have our own local organic
growers
...

And our
butcher has his own abbatoir and knows personally all the farmers who
supply
him with meat.

I know the names of the farmed animals I eat :-) But the beef and sheep
come
from our daughter's rare breed organic farm (she has them killed at a
local
abattoir and we butcher our own), pig meat comes from a small local
organic
farm. We only eat culled cockerels, drakes or stag turkeys from the
daughter's farm. We know that all our meat is well cared for, most of it
we
know personally and have confidence that it is the best possible. We don't
eat eggs often but have out own bantams, they see us through the year. I
can't make good cheese or wine though so have to buy it - British cheeses
only, English wine often. It doesn't take much effort to consider food
miles
when shopping and soon becomes routine.

The lack of tax on aircraft fuel is a disgrace, people should be prepared
to
pay for their travel if they must do it - I doubt that it will ever be
properly taxed because it would lose too many votes. Not mine ... taxing
tungsten light bulbs is an ineffectual token. Bah.


Well, I've made a note of the Japanese anemones and also noted that on
17th
January it was warm enough for two of the nursery staff to eat their
lunch
in the garden. This is NOT a usual occurrence here, by any means.

It occasionally happens here too. We often have lunch outside in March,
not
in sleeveless shirts but not in overcoats either. After that, unless it's
raining, we have most meals outdoors.

It's blessedly cool today but not raining any more. I've been taking
pictures of plants in our garden for three years, the dates aren't
changing,
interestingly.

Mary

Sacha wrote:
On 20/7/06 04:10, in article ,
"madgardener" wrote:

I don't know if we have those in UK but they do live in Southern Europe.
Their real name is Lytta vesicatoria. I was curious, so I looked it up! I
will now approach our Japanese anemones with more respect but I must admit I
haven't seen these things on them! They seem to be trouble free and in the
gravelled area where we park our cars, they spread very well in beds facing
north and south, as well.

I didn't mean to say that you had blister beetles, I tend to ramble
on.....sorry honey. didn't mean to mislead you.......(I am sometimes way
too much tangents)
snip


I'm sorry but the LACK of a spider is not going to give me any sleepless
nights. Quite the reverse! We don't get poisonous spiders here - or not
seriously so - but I just detest spiders, fullstop. In this house we do get
some of the large so-called house spiders but we seem to be especially
favoured by those little pin bodied long legged, thready ones. It's my
personal conviction that spiders know I don't like them, so they make a
beeline for me!

ahhh, I understand. But she's a harmless one here. Not a threat to
anything but other insects. and ALL spiders are important in insect
controls. If not for them (and even the hateful wasps and hornets that
hunt for caterpillars and eat half and take the other half back as food
for their larvae). Despite that we have brown recluse spiders whose
bites are flesh dissolving, and black widows, and now apparently there
is another spider introduced called a "Hobo spider" which we don't have
but give them time..........(they are aggressive or so I've heard) they
still don't want to mess with us as much as their biting us is
defensiveness. My cupboards in the kitchen have what I despise as
having "wasted space". It has deep cavities where bowls, etc are shoved
into the darker recessed area that's not easily gotten to. These are
PERFECT for Brown Recluse spiders. Luckily I have a good exterminator.
But I'm not going to reach into there before I shine a strong flash
light into the area before pulling out something because their bite rots
the flesh and doesn't hurt right away. I've seen what their bite will do
up close and personal. No thank you. (the lady behind me who was
elderly had always left her gardening gloves in her old fashioned
greenhouse and slipped them on in the early springtime to work with her
rose canes. This time she got what she thought was a "nick from a stray
thorn" in the middle finger of her left glove, and when she pulled her
hand out of the glove, she saw a small, red place like a little nick
from a thorn. Later, it did the "bullseye" like those bites always do,
which is, red center, white around that and red around THAT. And then
the deterioration set in. Her finger was skeletal, a skin graft was
needed and her middle finger on her left hand was bizarre looking. She
was lucky as these bites at that time were kind of rare, I think. so I
know what they'll do (I was sent a link to a man who had gotten a bite
on his heel of his thumb and it was downright gruesome......)

But saying that, I still think spiders do their jobs and would prefer
being left alone.......g
Reading all this about raccoons and skunks, I must admit I'm quite relieved
we live in boring old England! I can do without those in my life!

well, the skunks are grub eaters. (and worms) and occasionally a little
bit of cat kibbles if you feed puss outside on the porch. Possums and
raccoons love cat food too.....among other things. Possums don't pose
much threat, but raccoons can catch and carry rabies and distemper.
That's my major worry. If I see a raccoon out in the day time (most of
these critters are nocturnal, but lately with the lack of predators,
we've been seeing too many deer, skunks, raccoons, possums and other
nocturnal critters out in the late afternoons and earlier mornings after
sunrise, so that means there's too many of them and nothing to hunt and
eat them) I know it's sick with distemper or rabies. I have a Havahart
live trap that I am about to set with a sweet roll (they ADORE sweets)
not quite unwrapped to capture them, and then I can call animal control
or I can take Rocky over across the lake and into the woods and turn him
loose. One down and about 50 or more to go.

Skunks won't trap. I don't wander down my driveway anymore at night
strictly because the Spinster, Mary Wine is now in the nursing home and
they've shut off the street light she'd had installed at the back of her
house which turned out to be the front of my house at the gate. I
didn't like it, prefer the darkness and ability to see the stars
actually, but since they shut it off, I make sure I make a LOT of noise
if I go down the driveway to scare the skunks away. Sugar my Border
collie/Black Lab has gotten skunked three times this year. I think she
finally learned her lesson about them...I hope. At least I did find out
the recipe for instant skunk odor removal. damn simple and fool proof
and cheap too! (and no, not tomato juice. that's a wives tale)

The possums aren't a threat. Only a nuisance. Rather thick, actually,
just look evil like overgrown rats with a cynical sneer.....


Yes, it hit an all time record high near Gatwick yesterday and the tar was
melting in Plymouth, too, about 30 mins from us. One of the more bizarre
sights was of gritting lorries going around, adding grit to the tarmac to
make it more durable. Normally, they come out when snow is forecast! The
temperatures are truly exceptional. But as to drought, that's not all over
UK. The South East has a drought problem and a hosepipe ban but not our
area, the South West or AFAIK, the north of England.
Oh my gawd! I've called my watering hoses hose pipes for decades!!!!!
is this where I got that???? LOL I mean it.....ALL my life, I've
called them hose pipes! roflmao......(well, probably learned it from
mama and grandmammy.... that's neat!

I don't think
Scotland and Wales are experiencing any problems either. But even then, the
reservoirs aren't as low as they were in 1976 when it didn't rain in Jersey
(where I then lived and that year had my first child!) from May until
October. It was immensely hot but living near the sea certainly had its
compensations in terms of lots of swimming and some cooling sea breezes.
Yesterday and today have been very weird here in Devon. Rain was promised
and we got about a couple of dozen drops but nothing to do any good. It was
hot and humid because of the cloud cover. This morning it's still overcast
but cooler and it's a bit windier which, for once, is welcome because it's
cooling things down a bit.
I think there's a lot of publicity about drought because winters have been
very dry in the SE for a few years so stocks haven't been replenished but
also because that area includes London and most newspapers are
London-centric!
I have a friend who recently returned with his son to Somerset, I think
Cheddar......I wish he'd write to me and let me know he's gotten set up.
He sent me a brief message when he got back home. Said it was wonderful
being close to the sea after six years away...but that Internet cafe's
were a bit expensive and until he got his pc set back up I'd not hear
back for a bit. Quite the music person. Was a disc jockey here in the
states for quite awhile doing jazz and eclectic. Still waiting to hear
from him. Good friends are rare and a treasure.

On the nursery and in the garden, we're still watering like mad and just
doing the nursery takes 3 people about 2 hours each per morning. The garden
has had spray lines on it most evenings.
I go out in the evening lately and just water with the watering wand. I
only have nine raised beds. Lord help me if I'd planted the rest of the
holler and woods......more likely if I ever got a chance I'd do
Xeriscape type plants that could take dry spells. My woods below are
dry, and there are lots and lots of shrubs and perennials and bulbs that
love that kind of environment. I have five story Jack pines below that
tower up past the roof of the house that sits above on the ridge and
other than massive clean out of debris, removal of the hideous poison
ivy and other snarly things, I have quite an opportunity if I can get
some outside help. One woman alone is daunting. Just trying to keep up
with the PATHS around the nine raised beds has proved almost too much
for me. I have so much wild raspberry, wild roses, honeysuckle, P.I.,
pin oak saplings, cedar saplings, holly saplings, hackberry and black
walnut trees to remove. And privet in such an abundance I loathe and
despise it because it's useless and invasive. sigh.....sorry
snip

Things are getting out of control and we all have to do something to try to
redress the balance. There is talk here of tax on lightbulbs that aren't the
long life energy efficient ones. I don't know if that's a political gimmick
but it's certainly true that the atmosphere is filled with the pollution of
hundreds, if not thousands of aeroplanes, chugging back and forth laden with
un-seasonal goodies such as roses and asparagus from Peru.I agree with you there. ALL my light bulbs are the twisted efficient
ones that last a loooong time. I want to replace my windows for energy
efficiency. We already have a heat pump for heat and cooling, but I need
to insulate more and replace the heat pump with a newer model, I'm even
looking into solar capabilities in the roof with those newer flexible
tiles that are awesome and capable of making more electricity than I'd
use (so I could SELL excess electricity!) a solar capability for the
water heater would be awesome, and we already have a well.........(not
near city water, or sewer, we have a septic tank somewhere around here a
ways from the house)


Now, honestly,
who NEEDS asparagus so badly that it has to be flown to England from Peru?
I'm with you. Asparagus deserves to be savored and enjoyed when it's in
season! And a good patch planted in sandy soil in a small spot (square
foot gardening) would last 50 years or so........I remember certain
veggies were only in season a certain time. Strawberries, spring.
Watermelon, summer. Asparagus I never knew until I was a young woman,
but I learned it came around end of March. Yellow squash, beans, etc,
those were spring and summer things like fresh tomato's at every meal.
I think we need to simplify things like it used to be like. My mom grew
up eating really good, basic foods and she's got all her teeth still and
is 86. Now granted, she has Alzheimer's, but this is what I fear is a
newer disease. I don't remember talk with my grandmammy about family
having a senility problem. Occasionally someone's uncle or grandmother
would be a bit daft, but nothing on the scale of Alzheimer's......

I'm making it a policy now not to buy veggies that have come from further
afield than e.g. France, Italy or Holland and of course, wherever possible I
buy stuff that's grown locally in Devon. We have a very large, very good
organic farm near us which sells its produce in its own shop and distributes
it round England and we have a pretty good local greengrocer, too. And our
butcher has his own abbatoir and knows personally all the farmers who supply
him with meat.
I've been doing the same! There's a wonderful fresh market in the local
town 14 miles from me that has all locally grown fresh veggies and
fruits. I adore it. Right now the cantaloupes and watermelon's are
starting to come in. and all sorts of heirloom beans. I bought some
"Turkey neck" green beans that were wonderful. Thick walled, with large
white, tender beans inside. Pop them and throw a little salt pork in and
cook them until just tender.......ahhhhhh, awesome! I found Cranberry
beans, black-eyed, crowder, field peas, asparagus bean which I was
really surprised to find. With the invasion of the Mexican's that are
coming like some infestation, I find there is now a bit more south of
the border flavors available, and I have to admit, I like Mexican foods.
Some of the regular foods are tasty and inexpensive. I've learned to
like Jimica root, and want to ask someone sometime how I can eat it
other than raw in a salad or dipped in Ranch dressing (it is crunchy and
tastes like a sweet water chestnut and has NO calories!) Same with my
appreciation for tomatillo's and milder chili's or peppers.

I cook "Southern" but I'm also quite good at cooking Mexican, some basic
stir fry and Chinese and even some semi-authentic Italian....that's not
too bad. I'd like to do more basic cooking of those same varieties.
I've decided that our ancestors didn't make it this far without knowing
what was better to eat for us! LOL oooops, tangients again. sorry
honey......

Well, I've made a note of the Japanese anemones and also noted that on 17th
January it was warm enough for two of the nursery staff to eat their lunch
in the garden. This is NOT a usual occurrence here, by any means. We've
also noticed that this year the Rosa bracteata is flowering wonderfully for
the second year running, that the Rosa banksia alba is doing the same and
that the Fremontodendron could well have fallen over with the weight of
gorgeous yellow flowers it was carrying.

wow, I had to look that one up. Beautiful!
snip

Very few English houses have air conditioning so our method in this house is
to open windows but close curtains or shutters, keeping the rooms aired but
cooler.

I'm even thinking of getting back to enduring the heat a bit better like
I used to before we became so dependent on air conditioning. Just a fan
placed out on the porch and blowing where the BBQ pit fountain and fish
pond is has shown me the temperatures were almost 30o degrees cooler!
(it's been up in the UPPER 90's for DAYS now........)

again thanks for answering me.
maddie

"madgardener" wrote in message
...


Very few English houses have air conditioning so our method in this house
is
to open windows but close curtains or shutters, keeping the rooms aired
but
cooler.

I'm even thinking of getting back to enduring the heat a bit better like I
used to before we became so dependent on air conditioning.

There are places n the world where temperatures are higher than our and your
extreme ones for longer periods. They don't have fans or ac.

Just a fan placed out on the porch and blowing where the BBQ pit fountain
and fish pond is has shown me the temperatures were almost 30o degrees
cooler! (it's been up in the UPPER 90's for DAYS now........)

Fans and ac use fossil fuels to power them (unless you have pv) so are
ADDING to global warming ...

Mary

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from madgardener contains these words:

Good Evening, garden friends across the pond. Madgardener or "Maddie"
here. I had a question after hearing something out of the corner of my
ear this morning during the starting madness of my day. Is anyone
seeing some disturbing trends in the warmer than usual weather over your
way?

Yes. We had a late cold spring, and are now having a late hot dry
summer. But a very weird one; we had a winter-style gale a few weeks ago
which stopped the feries running (unheard of in midsummer) and the
mainland had night frosts forecast in July! Scotland is not (quite) as
hot as S England atm, and although we're having a (rare) dry spell there
is no shortage of water.
It has been a particularly good year for birds nesting in the garden; at
the moment we have four teenage blackbirds, three teenage thrushes and
three teenage pied wagtails and a crazed teenage crow, all running about
shrieking to be fed by their overworked parents. They are all as big as
their parents and can fly perfectly well. Because I put a lot of mulches
on the soil, it's a good hunting ground for them.

Plantwise it has been an odd year. my runner beans have flatly
refused to go up their poles and are now stunted things flowering in a
heap at the bottom. They are Painted Lady, which has a distinctive red
and white flower; otherwise I'd think I got the wrong seeds! I have
never had runner beans behave like that before. All the other beans and
peas have also been poor and the courgettes and squash are also just
sitting their with no flowers. OTOH it's been a great year for potatoes.
On the plant front my Japanese ensata irises have flowered wonderfully
and so have the hemerocallis. I only have one japanese anemone and it's
showing no signs of flowering yet.


My green beans/french beans/haricots verts did the same as your runner beans
for a while but I put it down to the grim cold in May when I planted them
(too early I know; next year I will be more patient; we get impatient in
Ireland as frosts often stop by early may near coasts which they did but it
still had not warmed up much). I spent ages trying to twist them up the
poles. Then it warmed up and off they went.
My courgettes did the same as yours also; we are only getting them now and
one plant (from 2) is still sulking and both look very spindly.
Des in Dublin