CANADIAN REGION: What are you doing in July 2018

Hi Bluelace. I'm AtlantaMarie. Welcome home! It's nice to meet you!

Hi Marie, Pleased to meet you.

It is going to be a hard week with the temps in the middle 30Cs at least.  Only early morning and late evening work possible for me in the Southern Interior of British Columbia.

Tuesday we had a lovely downpour and it cooled things down so that on Wednesday I was able to spend time in my garden, Mowing the lawns and picking cherries, and later on going out to water my friend's potted plants.

Today it is back to the old hot days with never a cloud in the sky and the next six days will be very much the same.  I still have cherries to pick so I will wait until it cools down and take my bear whistle with me and pick more cherries.  Now I realize why cherries cost quite a bit more than apples, one needs to pick so many more small fruits to equal one apple.

I had to add more water to my tumbler composter as I do not have enough wet fruits to add since my Women's Center are now making their own compost with the stuff I was able to take home with me each time I visited.  At least I have got them to put their bananas and other stuff in to the container I provided instead of into the garbage can. I took six pounds of cherries to them today, and they were appreciated. 

I do know that on the 16th I am going to a seniors' lunch and I have been promised all the water melon rinds and un-eaten wedges.  I must remember to take leak-proof containers.

I hope everyone is keeping cool and drinking their "water". 

Another session of cherry picking this morning before the heat got unbearable.

This time I got out my 12=step ladder so that I could read more cherries. I totaled 10 pounds today.  My arms and legs are trembling a little bit as I had to do so much reaching.  At least it is a good workout for me.

Later today I will start processing them, after I have had a rest.  The cherries are at their peek so I will pit and then freeze in block after eating as many as I want now

There are still cherries out of my reach and I want to ask my friend Bruce if he will caut those branches so that I do not have to worry about them next year.

I hope I have done enough to discourage the bears.

My next job is to see to the apple tree; loads of apples there but not ready yet.

Kelejan wrote:. . . There are still cherries out of my reach and I want to ask my friend Bruce if he will caut those branches so that I do not have to worry about them next year. . . .

Really good idea.

I've probably said this before but I can't say it enough ... Kelejan, you are such an inspiration to all of us. If only I had your energy.

TD, I think I have said it before, your garden is so much better than mine and I really am a little envious of what you produce but I think the way I write, I do tell honestly what I have done but it seems to come over that I work so much harder than what I really have done.

I only wish that our weather was a bit more moderate like England so that I can spend time in the garden whenever I want instead of waiting out the heat and the cold we get here in the southern Region of B.C.  No, I cannot afford to move to Victoria.

The time to be in the garden is around 6:00am.  I walked round to my friend's garden to water her plants so while this hot weather is around I will try and get up and out at that time.  By nine am it was already heating up.

I was disappointed this morning when I went round to out Woman's Centre and found that the person who was supposed to water the three raised beds had not done so.  They had not been watered since last Thursday.   I had intended to pick some fresh Thyme as what I had planted was so lush.  That and the tomatoes, rhubarb, and other plants looked so sick and dry.  I spent some time watering with the hose but the soil was so dry the water was just running through and leaking out the bottom.  I will call in early tomorrow and give the beds another watering and hope that some of the plants will recover. The person responsible did say she was sorry, that she had forgotten.

In addition, the six pounds of cherries I had taken in last Thursday were still in the fridge and looking the worse for wear.  I had told the staff that they were there and would someone see that they were shared and taken home as they were at their peak of freshness. Once again someone said they were sorry.

KJ, I'm so sorry what has happened at the Women's Centre. Here you risked your neck to pick those cherries, literally, and they were ignored. I'm cautious who I share with. Some people just don't understand how precious home grown produce is. My daughter and DIL both appreciate what ever I take them when I visit. Especially if I do the cooking!

A moose got onto the highway about two miles from my house. It caused major traffic delays during the morning commute. Sadly, the moose had suffered an injury to its leg and had to be put down.

https://www.facebook.com/CTVOttawaMorningLive/videos/2247812741925798/UzpfSTEwMDAwMjU2MzM5MjA5NzoxNzUxNjM1NDcxNTk4NTQ5/

Sanderson, we have mitigated the damage to both the garden and the cherries.  We esorted the cherries, got rid of the baddies then shared them with some of the members who all appreciated them.

After the watering that I did when I discovered how dry things were on Tuesday, I was surprised how well some of the stuff recovered, including the tomatoes and the Thyme.  Later on when things cool down, we will plants  some lettuce and radish etc and hopefully be able to put them under cover to extend the season.

Naturally some plants have died and the remainder will not produce so much but we will be able to salvage something.  A lesson has been learned and someone who lives nearby has been watering faithfully so now it looks OK.

The next fruit to pick are the golden plums, so I will treat them the same as the cherries, followed by red plums.  Then of course, the apples that need to be picked before the gears get them. The plums, will come from my friends tree. The apples and cherries from my own trees.

It's kind of wonderful that Mother Nature lets them ripe in order so that we have some time off before getting into harvesting again.

The Blueberries in the supermarket are priced at $10 Can for five pounds. Double the price of three years ago.I am wondering how much the peaches will be this year as they are my favourite fruit to can. 

Today and for the nextree days, the temperature will be under 30C.  Almost cool.

Love fruit!  I wonder why the blueberry price hike?

Drought, and the bears should have first dibs on them to survive.

Trolleydriver, that would have been quite the spectacle and scary for drivers. Too bad they euthanized it, but the damage to it's leg is visible and trying to rehabilitate the moose might not have been realistic.

Kelejan, I hadn't noticed any price hike here yet, but I'm sure it won't take long to affect fresh blueberry prices and ultimately, the prices of frozen berries this year.  I eat the frozen ones at least twice a week.

Like everywhere else in Canada and the US the heat seems unremitting.

Early this evening I was feeling kind of tired, looked out the window and saw that the road looked wet.  I think we had about a mm of rain.  As I watched a car passed by, it left DRY tracks. 

Watering potted plants every day is getting monotonous. Next year everything is going to be planted IN the ground except for maybe a couple of plant in big pots.

The apples on the tree will soon be ready for picking then it will be a contest between me and the bears.  I am hoping that my new neighbours will pick up the apples that fall on their driveway, seeing as they have no intention of putting up a small fence.  I expect I will have a go  at putting up some plastic stuff on posts just to stop the apples splitting on their concrete. When I first moved here in 1996 there was a grassy bank between us and the apples just rolled back and it was easy to pick up the apples.  Then they flattened it and built a deck so now every year I have quite a lot of work to do.

My family in England are also complaining of the heat which is very much like the heatwave we had in 1975. the hottest in living memory at that time, and I became a postie on a bike during that period.  The villagers were very helpful and made sure that I always had plenty of water. It was a temporary job as my husband who had been working for a consultancy firm that went bankrupt was owed thousands of pounds, and as a self-employed person, we could not pay our electricity bill so had the summer without.  To heat water we would lay a hosepipe on the ground in the sun and get hot water that way.  An oil lamp for light, a parafin heater to cook on and early to bed.  The  neighbours never knew. A good job it was not winter time.

Another great write up with a note of history.

Kelejan, 

Interesting story about your time without. May I commend you for you adaptability under stress. 

I noticed a Facebook post from an English cousin on Friday saying how terribly hot it was. Hope we all find relief soon.
 
Relief has arrived here in Southern Ontario. Yesterday the temperature was 23C with drizzle off and on throughout the day. We had a major rainstorm Wednesday night and some Thursday if I remember correctly. The garden was thrilled but it's too little too late for most of my plants. Potato harvest was one basket compared to one bushel in 2017. 

This morning it's almost chilly outside!

This could be part of the price hike(?):
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/picker-shortage-slows-vancouver-island-blueberry-harvest-1.4761771

Wow, Kelejan, what an interesting story of your life!

I spent a month and a half without electricity in rural Tennessee, winter.  Used a kerosene heater for warmth.  Sort of!  Had a slate-bottom creek across the road, which we used to flush the toilet.  I showered at work, i worked at a hospital.  Night shift.  Had gas stove, so we could cook.  It was a spirit building thing...or 

Scorpio Rising wrote:Wow, Kelejan, what an interesting story of your life!

I spent a month and a half without electricity in rural Tennessee, winter.  Used a kerosene heater for warmth.  Sort of!  Had a slate-bottom creek across the road, which we used to flush the toilet.  I showered at work, i worked at a hospital.  Night shift.  Had gas stove, so we could cook.  It was a spirit building thing...or 

That must have been harder for you than me, Scorpio.  At least we had plenty of water for drinking and cold showers That reminds me never to water plants from a hosepipe that has been left in the sun filled with water otherwise your plants will be cooked.
You are right about it being a bonding thing that you go through together and come out the other side. Or not.  We were lucky as my DH got another job and we did not lose out house and the heatwave finally ended. I take it you came through OK as well?

Beetles, of course it is obvious about the increases in the price of blueberries when one thinks of the weather, and the pickers.  Another problem with  blueberries are that they are small fruits so they are much more labour intensive.

I at least had a good crop of cherries and there are good crops of golden and red plums and apples on the way, and picking my own stuff I can always take shelter in my cool home and also pick early in the morning.

I will be complete with my bear whistle which is supposed give out a piecing sound and scare the bear away. I only hope I do not fall off the ladder if I have to use it.

My favourite fruit to can are peaches so I hope I do not miss them when they go on sale.  I missed them last year and I have only just finished eating the 20 16 crop which still tasted delicious  I have lots of canning jars ready this year. When I first learned to can in 2016 I was always running out of jars as I canned everything in sight.  I am more selective now.

Kelejan wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Wow, Kelejan, what an interesting story of your life!

I spent a month and a half without electricity in rural Tennessee, winter.  Used a kerosene heater for warmth.  Sort of!  Had a slate-bottom creek across the road, which we used to flush the toilet.  I showered at work, i worked at a hospital.  Night shift.  Had gas stove, so we could cook.  It was a spirit building thing...or 

That must have been harder for you than me, Scorpio.  At least we had plenty of water for drinking and cold showers That reminds me never to water plants from a hosepipe that has been left in the sun filled with water otherwise your plants will be cooked.
You are right about it being a bonding thing that you go through together and come out the other side. Or not.  We were lucky as my DH got another job and we did not lose out house and the heatwave finally ended. I take it you came through OK as well?

We did!  We went on to get married, had 3 kids and lots of other things!  Story ends but I love our kids!!!

Kelejan wrote:Beetles, of course it is obvious about the increases in the price of blueberries when one thinks of the weather, and the pickers.  Another problem with  blueberries are that they are small fruits so they are much more labour intensive.

I at least had a good crop of cherries and there are good crops of golden and red plums and apples on the way, and picking my own stuff I can always take shelter in my cool home and also pick early in the morning.

I will be complete with my bear whistle which is supposed give out a piecing sound and scare the bear away. I only hope I do not fall off the ladder if I have to use it.

My favourite fruit to can are peaches so I hope I do not miss them when they go on sale.  I missed them last year and I have only just finished eating the 1916 crop which still tasted delicious  I have lots of canning jars ready this year. When I first learned to can in 1916 I was always running out of jars as I canned everything in sight.  I am more selective now.

You are eating stuff canned in 1916?  No
I am learning to can this year. By myself!

My friend is back so now from today I can go out and so a little gardening for myself before the 38C/100F heat kicks in for the next three days.

It generally took me half an hour to 3/4 hour to do my watering chore so now I will try and do some work for myself instead.  After finishing my coffee I will go out to water my own plants and then perhaps do a little weeding or pruning where ever I can find shade.

Temp at this time is about 22C.