Starting a week-long heat wave
This can mean good news and bad news
Good news: Those Alvaro melons that have been hanging on the vine might finally ripen before frost
Bad news: the fall broccoli and cauliflower were just starting to head
I also don’t trust the spinach in this weather and did a large picking, despite the last one not being all eaten up
Supposed to be 89 on Sunday. I think this will wipe out my spinach seedlings. I have the hardest time getting spinach to germinate and grow in the fall. Every year there seems to be one day near 90 that just bakes them despite being well watered and covered with row cover.
I’ll try and plant them again, for the third time, and hope I can get enough growth to pick some, then overwinter it.
I have a hard time with spinach spring and fall, it’s almost always something. But this fall the spinach has been great - much better than the lettuce, which I pulled over a week ago
I had high hopes for those brassicas, too, hope the heat doesn’t cook them
I have fantastic lettuce but no spinach. I made a bed of broccoli, kohlrabi, cauliflower, and cabbage, all of which are growing well, but are getting less light everyday due to neighboring trees. I knew better than to plant them there but I had nowhere else. It’s like I figure maybe this year the sun will change its path and I will be bathed in sunlight all fall. I have failed in growing broccoli in every way possible throughout the years.
Like you said it’s always something.
You can double and triple the row cover to provide more shade, capture ground moisture and temp until the heat wave passes. since your plants are probably small.
Yeah, they just started to come up yesterday. I will throw an extra layer of cover over them tonight as you recommend and keep my fingers crossed.
A couple pictures of apples from my last year grafts.
First one is Pixie. I ate a couple of them already. Small apples with very firm unusually yellow flesh, very sweet, almost too much for me.
The second one is Severniy Sinap, a Russian winter apple. It is surprisingly good looking apple, the picture do not do a justice. It is supposed to be very winter hardy and to store for a long time.
Love the Severney Sinap. I am so glad whenever I hear or see people growing and appreciating old favorites. As modern apples become more and more inbred, I think there will come a time when we will need and appreciate these older and genetically different apples.
Just got done dragging 30 large garbage bags of rabbit manure home. Found two local sources that should be regular supplies. You know you are getting old when you get excited over free rabbit poop. 
Now off to clean out the car and take a shower!!
Yup!
Under siege by stinkbugs - the BMSBs that spent the spring trying to get out are now trying to get back in
Just picked 2 tomatoes off of a volunteer tomato plant. It’s growing in the shade of big pine trees. No care from me other than the cage for support. I’m surprised it grew to give me couple of tomatoes.
Also picked another butternut squash.
I got a truckload of compost as a birthday present once. I was thrilled!
Harvested the last of my peanuts today. Typically plant Spanish peanuts but this year I planted Georgia Jumbo - Got about 20-25 pounds which is 5-10 lbs more that I get with the Spanish. I plant 4 rows approx. 75 feet long.
Just bought a Gold Rush on M7 and A Toka plum from Cummins Nursery. Had already purchased William’s Pride and a Ubileen Pear.
Hope I have room to fit all these in.
Yeah I’m out of room, I do have room, maybe for one more tree. I plan to graft varieties unto existing trees.
Drew, how close are your plantings? There seems to be quite the variance of spacing on this forum.
With blackberries about 4 feet, some are at 3 feet. More would make it easier to manage but I can manage them fine as is.
Stone fruit 8 feet.
