Yeah, we got about 4in of rain about 10 days ago, so that helped them out, I’m sure. It even looks like some of the more ‘healthy’ ones are putting on some little sprigs. My Golden Russet and Winecrisp whips are leafless, tho, and I doubt they’ll sprout any new growth anytime soon. The GR is the tree on G222, btw.
I don’t know the long term outlooks are for this winter. Some folks around here, who are from here, seem to think it’ll be a colder than normal winter. But, I don’t know what they’re basing that on.
I’ve lived here for three full winters, and the 14-15 one was bad, we had lows below zero a few nights, and had two separate one foot snowfalls. The last two years, tho, it rarely got into the single digits, and the most snow we had was maybe about 6-7". My wife, who grew up on this farm, says that’s prob normal for here.
I hate cold weather, as we never turn the thermostat above 65, so I never seem to be able to get warm. But, I’d rather be chilly than pay a $300/mo electric bill. At least in the winter, I don’t have to do lawn work, or work on the garden or fruit plants!
I have a relative in Phoenix who pays $450/mo. air conditioning bills, Spring through Fall.
For my home here in Vista CA I’ve installed a thermostat that automatically switches between heating and cooling, keeping the household temperature between 68°F and 74°F. Although electricity can be a premium here, gas (for heating) is relatively inexpensive. At peak I might see summer air conditioning bills hit $250, but now with solar they’ve been reduced to $50.
We’ve had very little frost so far this season. It hasn’t got below 30 at night and stuff is still growing. Ash trees have lost their leaves, maples are turning but other vegetation is still bright green. 10 day forecast shows near 70 this weekend and cool down by Tuesday. I’ve never seen anything like this warm & dry stretch of weather that we’ve had.
Got to 37 this morn, a little bit cooler than yesterday morn. Since I’ve turned the thermostat off, it got down to 61 here in the house. No wonder I was cold in bed! Time to whip out the pajama bottoms…
This time of the year (and late spring), we just turn off the air/heat, even tho we do get some cold/hot spells in the house. But, our electric bill is really low those times, maybe $75/mo.
We have a good electric cooperative, the normal flat rate runs about 8¢ per kWh. You can also change the type of rates. We do the flat rate in this house, but in the old house, where we don’t live but have power for it, we do a block rate. That means if you can keep your usage below 700kWh/mo, the rate is about 6¢/kWh. Above that, it goes to 11¢, I think. There is also a peak/off peak hour rate, which means higher costs during 10am-3pm, and then 5pm-10pm.
@Richard, did you get a tax credit or anything similar for solar panels?
Ash trees? All the ones around here are dead. I saw tree removal guys out all over all summer cutting them down. I know the city here had to cut down 1000’s of them. The ones still standing look horrible. Green ash wood is going to become rare. The good thing is the city looks to be planting a wide variety of species to replace them all.
My Gardenia continues to open new blooms. Probably next week will be the first time i’ll have to move some stuff in.
Very windy here today as a cold front moves through. Another run at 80F on Friday. Almost an inch of rain on the gfs for Sat…cool and maybe some snow flakes Tues nite and then the whole extended looks very mild. Averages now are around 60F… its 76F right now!
Down here, people sometimes plant White Ash for a fast growing landscape tree. Disease is not a problem here. In 20 years they’re typically 80 feet high with a 5 foot diameter base. They eat sidewalks, patios, and foundations for lunch.
Disease isn’t the major problem here with our white and green ash. They are being killed by Emerald Ash Borer, a non-native introduction from Asia. In my area the insects are just getting established, and I have seen only a few trees showing signs of infestation this year (crown die-back and the production of epicormic shoots). I suspect there will be quite a bit more damage that shows up next year.
At first, the arborist said it’d just be a few years before the infestation died out, but instead it seems that the prevalence of treated trees is prolonging it, giving the beetles a constant source of victims as they keep moving into the area
It is horrible here. I was at a park over the summer just outside town and every ash tree in that park had no leaves and just green shoots coming up from the base of the tree. Probably well over a 100 of them throughout the park. My neighbor just had a guy over a week or so ago dropping a big one in his front yard. Very good lumber (think it was/is used for baseball bats). I think some type of Chinese ash or hybrid can handle the borer?
What is interesting is back when we moved here…late 2005 ish i had about a 15 to 20 foot green ash in the back yard. I cut it down ('07?) because i didn’t like where it was planted…the wood had tunnels under the bark which i found odd at the time, but just used it as firewood. I just looked up and EAB was first found in WI in 2008…got to wonder if it wasn’t here years earlier.
even up here we’ve had 3 hard frosts but the temps bounce right back to the upper 60’s my evie strawberries are still ripening and bugs are still hitting the windshield! some plants have started to bud again!