What’s not to love about this weather. First we had a cold snap, then it warmed up. We got cedar pollen (as far as my eyes can tell you), and now we’ve had rain, about 1-3/4 inches just the past few days, now its back to cold. And who knew, we might just get back down to freezing. After I uncovered all the citrus, it looks like I will be covering them back up.
Who knows what Texas weather wants to do this winter? Not me!
You have got to love Texas weather. We had a bout of killing freeze weather, but now we are up to 70 degrees. So the poor plants that didn’t survive the frost, like my squash, green bean, and tomato plants, may be dead or dying, but now we have great weather. How long will this weather last? Well, that’s a good question. The 10 day forecast shows our day time highs everywhere from the low 70’s to the mid-50’s. And it looks like the coldest night is still in the 40’s. Not even close to a killing freeze night. But of course, by then we’ll be going into December and in December we can definitely expect cold weather.
So I have uncovered what I could, kept some plants covered and just hope for the best. My citrus, meyer lemon trees, are uncovered. I’m hoping we have enough good weather for them to continue ripening. They look good, but we’ll see what happens.
Last night we hit a low of 27 degrees here. No matter how you slice it, here in Austin that qualifies as cold. Especially considering that by the end of the week/beginning of the weekend we’ll be up to 70 degrees during the day, and the low will be in the 50’s. But at least there is not rain with this cold.
Yesterday morning it was cloudy and cold. By 11AM it was clearing skies. By noonish it was brilliant blue skies, no clouds and slightly warming. Yesterday we had a low of 31ish, with a high of 43ish. The ish part means it was actually 30.8 and 42.7, more precise info but the 31 and 43 are pretty accurate. As for how it felt, that’s a different story.
Today they are saying we should hit a high of 53. We’ll see if that happens. But they are also saying tonight will not get down to freezing. We’ll stay just above it. Then we should warm up for the next few days. But we are definitely out of Texas summer.
Welcome to autumn/winter in Central Texas.
We got up to a balmy 48 degrees this morning. It might be better described as we’ve been on a low downward temperature fall since yesterday. Its now down to 39, and its still dropping. We should hit a low of 29 degrees to night. Tomorrow night should be down to 26, and Wednesday low should be 28. The day time temperatures for the next couple of day will be cool too. Tomorrow, Tuesday high temperature should only be 44, and Wednesday high should be all of 51. By Thursday the day will be back up to 63, with a low of 38. By Friday will be back to 67 and 41.
At least the good news is no rain. It will be cold, but no rain, If we get cold but no rain, we don’t have to worry about ice forming on the roads.
But we do have to worry about losing plants with this cold. I’ve covered the peppers, squash, citrus trees, and a few other plants. Since I had promised a few plants to a friend, and I had them outside, I’ve had to move them into the garage. The plants are covered, so hopefully they’ll survive.
I’ve even covered some succulents I had on the front porch. I actually covered them with insulated grocery bags. Hopefully that will be enough for them to survive.
This is the first real cold we’ve had so far this season. We’ll see how it goes. Let’s just hope for the best.
Yes, you have to love central Texas weather. We’ve had lovely weather, and now we are getting our first cold snap. Earlier this week we had a high of 83 degrees. Today we had a high of 50, and we’re shooting for a low of 42. But by Monday we will have a high of 51 and a low of 29. Tuesday will be slightly cooler. Tuesday we will have a high of 48 and a low of 27. Wednesday night will warm up to all of 30.
So what does that mean? Well it means we’ve gotten all the way into autumn and will be approaching what counts for winter in central Texas. Will this be a colder winter, a warmer winter, or even a wetter winter. Who knows. But one thing is for certain, we are well on our way to winter in Texas.
We got to a high of about 43 during the day, and a low of 41. That gave us a cold rain and wind. And yet, we are warming up slowly. Today should be in the low 50’s at least. That will be better than the 40’s we had for yesterday. By the weekend we may be back into the 60’s. We’ll see.
We have an honest to goodness cold front. Yesterday was a high of 87. This morning at 10AM we are all of 42 degrees. That is a cold front. We also managed to get some light rain with this cold front, so its now cold, wet, and windy outside. But it means we have our first real cold out there. Yes, this is how Austin weather rolls. You do learn to watch and listen for the weather projections. You never know when they will actually be right.
We had done some weeding the other day. I’m glad we go it done. We’ll see how many plants survive the weather today. I didn’t cover anything. We should actually stay cool all week. We won’t reach the low 60’s until Friday. And we may have rain, thunderstorms, or drizzle from today (Monday) thru Thursday. So we shall see how the weather goes. and how the garden handles it.
Yes weather is achangin’ here in Texas. We’re getting our first cold front this week. We got down to 58 one night already and today should only get to 77. How’s that for a change! The rest of the week will be similar temps, with highs of maybe 80. But next week we should get more of a cool down. Next Monday they are predicting 51 for a high, and 44 for a low. And of course more rain. We’ll see how that happens.
But it does mean that the leaves are starting to change a bit, they are starting to fall. I’ve begun noticing the changes in the garden. My asparagus is starting to get some yellow in it. That’s a good indication of the changes.
But I’m also noticing that some plants are starting to come up. Carrots I planted are coming up. The arugula has come up, but where we have had some, its also getting eaten. But overall we are seeing a change in the weather. That’s a welcome break from the baking heat we had.
It may not seem like much someplace else, but last week we had about 1-3/4 inches of rain. We have also now begun getting cooler weather. We’ve still been in the 80’s, but not as high into the 80’s. And tomorrow night, Wednesday we should get down to the low 60’s. The day after we’ll be lower temperatures – like Thursday might get to 76 as a high. Then for the rest of the week the evenings will be in the 60’s. And our daytime temperatures will be high 70’s with low 80’s as a possibility.
But right now we’ve had so much rain and great weather most of my seed has been coming up. My squash is beautiful and bountiful. I’ve even given some of my squash away. My bean plants are coming up and looking great. Some old lettuce seed is coming up gangbusters. The tomatoes are not looking so good, but I can live with that.
I did some weeding today. The wet and damp weather left it easier to pull out the weeds. The only down side is that I’m losing a bit of dirt from the beds. I really need to try and start a compost pile. That would do me well, but I’ve never set up a compost pile.
As is I’m thinking it might be time to pick up some soil for the beds. It may be time for a Home Depot run.
For over the past week we have been in rain, even if not every single day, we’ve had rain. Last week we had over 2-1/2 inches of rain. This week we’ve had almost 5 inches. Even though we’ve had just below 5 inches, I expect we may pass the 5 inch mark as its only 5pm as I write this, and we still expect more rain today.
I had put some seed in the grown, and we’ve had so much rain most of it is coming up already. I say most since I think some of the seed may have been old, and it doesn’t seem to be sprouting.
But we’ve also had warm weather. The coolest we’ve hit was 69 one night. Most of the days have made it in the 80’s. Last week we actually made it to 92, but this week its made a high of 86. Next week we might hit 90 one day, but most days it will be mid to high 80’s. But the nights will be in the low 70’s. That’s still good planting weather.
Actually its such nice weather we can be planting:
under cover or indoors – lettuce, and spinach
plant outside – beans (bush snap), beets, broccoli, brussell sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, garlic, kale, leek, parsnip, and swiss chard.
I’ve already put some of these in. I’ve put in spinach, broccoli, carrots, cucumber, swiss chard, and beans. I think some of the lettuce that’s coming up is seed that didn’t sprout earlier. But the beans are coming up, they’re a few inches tall. Some of the spinach and possibly broccoli look like they may be sprouting. But I’ve bought some new seed to see if my problem is I’m trying to plant old seed.
Since I usually use seed and not purchased plants, and I just put it in the ground, I don’t put it in bedding trays, some of my little seedlings may not get off to the best start. I don’t sow using the best of methods. I tend to broadcast sow small seed. Things like beans and peas are such large seeds I tend to put a few together in the same hill or hole. This way if one doesn’t sprout, its likely some of the others will.
But the nice thing is the weather is great for fall planting. So if you are wondering if you should plant now, the answer is yup!