Uncategorized

More cold

admincatsg Uncategorized , , ,

Yesterday we had warm 70+ degree weather. Tonight we have a cold front. Its now 11pm and 32 degrees already. We are forecast for a low of 26, and we might just make that. And yet, tomorrow we should be a high of 52 and low is in the 40’s. And possibly Saturday we may actually get rain. Which mean any plants that are covered need to be uncovered and be allowed to get some rain. Next week we should be back into the 60’s during the day. With any luck we might even get rain a few days next week.

Let’s hope for good weather, even if somewhat warmish weather for January. December was warm, about 11 degrees above normal warm. We’ll see how warm January ends up being.

Its COLD!

admincatsg Uncategorized

Its 9am and it is 26 degrees outside. How’s that for cold in Central Texas. My weather station is bouncing between 26 and 27 degrees outside. Its with a light breeze, which makes it feel dang cold. My dog didn’t really want to run out for his morning potty break. He did go out, but it is cold out there.

UPDATE: Its now 11pm, 14 hours after the previous post. We had an earlier high of mid 40’s, I think it was like 44-45 today. But now at this time we are back down to 27 degrees outside. Last night I lost some plants, not sure how many yet. It was late when I went out and covered some additional plants. Today I left everything covered, but I noticed that a few plants let uncovered look pretty bad. Mainly its the geraniums that look bad. A couple of small basil plants, I had quite a few volunteers this year, also look pretty dead. Tomorrow, Monday should be warmer, in the mid 50’s, but the night should still get down to freezing.

Welcome to a cold front in Central Texas.

Welcome 2022

admincatsg Uncategorized

They warned us a cold front is coming. Well, I would have to say it is here. I’ve spent the day watching the Rose Parade, then football.

But the day’s weather is a whole other story. Earlier today it was in the mid 70’s. It was so warm I had to change to a lighter top in order to comfortably walk my dog. It must have been about 77.

Now it is about 11:30 PM and it is cold outside. My outside thermometer registers a cool 36 degrees. They are saying we should hit a low of 26 tonight, 25 tomorrow, and Monday night will be a balmy 34. Its short lived, just these few day, but a cold few days. Let’s hope we did a good job covering all the plants.

Oh, and the wind is less than 1 mph. Its seems to be cold but still. At least at the moment. That’s subject to change I’m sure.

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year’s Eve

admincatsg Uncategorized , , , , , ,

2022, here we come. Today is the last day of 2021. The weather here has been warm days, and humid nights. Its been so humid the dew is condensing and dripping off my roof. The deck covering drips each night. It leaves a good inch of water in the bottom of a barrel. And it is from nothing but the humidity. For reference its been evenings of low 70-high 60’s, with humidity of 99%. Its not cold enough to rain, so all that moisture just sits in the air. Even now, its Friday evening, New Year’s Eve, and its 71 degrees and 93% humidity outside. That’s humid and warm, but not cool enough to actually rain.

And so have been our evenings.

But tomorrow, Saturday January 1 2022 we are due for a cool down. Tomorrow during the day we should hit a balmy 79, almost 80 degrees. Yet our low for tomorrow is forecast to be 28 degrees. Sunday our high is forecast for 48, with a low of 26. Monday is 52 and 35. By Tuesday we should be back to 60-70 daytime highs and lows in the 40’s.

In preparation for this cold the raised beds have been covered with Plankets, those green plant cover thin blankets. The citrus tree in the ground is small enough to be covered with an upside down pot. We’ve put a large rock on the pot to keep it in place just in case wind kicks up. I expect some plants will die in the cold, and I’m okay with that. I’ve still been harvesting jalapeno peppers, even today. Also, my bell pepper plants will probably die, that I’m really okay with that. Even the tomato will probably die, but again, its not a bad thing. These plants dying will allow me to pull them with a clean conscious.

So we shall see what the weather brings for 2022.

Happy New Year.

Warm with cold on its way

admincatsg Uncategorized , , , ,

It’s just a couple of days after Christmas, and we still have warm weather. Today is going to be 75 degrees. Austin itself is forecast for 79, matching its record. By Wednesday we (Driftwood/Dripping Springs area) should be almost 80. To help put it in perspective, we may hit 75 degrees, but we will also be 75% humidity. No rain, just humid. And our normal temperature should be a high of 62 degrees (that’s what the weather forecaster just said).

But just wait, by this weekend, New Year, we are due for a high of 79, but with a low of 33. That is the forecast for Saturday. And on Sunday, we will drop down to a high of 50 with a low of 27. But yet no rain in the forecast.

I’ll do my best to make sure my plants get covered in time for the cold. I don’t want to lose my seedlings in this new cold front.

Happy day after Christmas

admincatsg Uncategorized , , , ,

True to Texas weather, it was in the mid 70’s yesterday, and its been warm today. But also in Texas weather fashion its humid. Its now 7pm, 60 degrees and 98% humidity. We’re expecting the same mid to high 70’s for the next week. Even our nights are only in the mid 50-mid 60’s. Maybe we’ll get some cooler weather next weekend, but I think that is a wait and see.

The weather has been so nice, my helper and I fixed the drip water system and put in new seeds. We also put in about 5 bags of soil into the raised beds. Over time as you pull plants up out of the raised beds you lose soil. So over time you may find you need to add soil to the beds. That is what I ran into. But it didn’t take as many bags o soil as I thought it might. But once we got the bags of soil in, it made sense to fix the drip water system. We had a leak at the connection where the hose meets the main piping. It was a pretty big leak. So we cut the leaking part off, took it to Home Depot, and found the necessary replacement. We also picked up some spare parts, and a separate hose, and watering/timer unit. The decision is to add a second line, with hose, watering/timer system, tubing, etc. for the pots. This way the beds have their own watering system/timer and can be watered fewer days, but longer time. I figured that made more sense in the long run.

And that’s also why new seed went in. We added a bit more tubing and sprayers so that the beds have better coverage. With the warm weather I figured putting in seed wasn’t a bad idea. So I put in carrots, lettuce, bak choi, beets, and arugula. More peas were also put into the pea pot. I call it the pea pot since that’s what I actually grow there. It actually seems to be a good spot for peas – that spots produces well when it comes to peas.

Now we just need to see what the weather will bring. Because this is Texas and we never know what we’ll get.

Still cold

admincatsg Uncategorized ,

Its been a cool day. We hit a high of about 52, at least that was the highest I saw. I took that time to get my dog out for a walk. I saw three other people out walking their dogs too. Its now about 8:30pm and its down to 45 with a light cold rain falling outside. They are saying a low of 36 tonight, with a low of 37 tomorrow night. Looking at the radar, the rain won’t last for long. But it will be a cold night. And there is no rain in the forecast for tomorrow.

The next chance of rain won’t be until about New Year. Of course, that is always subject to change. Especially since it is a week away.

Another cool down

admincatsg Uncategorized , , , , , ,

The weather forecasts have been warning of another cool down. Yesterday, Friday, we had some lovely warm weather. And that is warm weather we’ve had for a few days. But today, its cool and wet. It now just after 2pm, and its 49 degrees outside. Early this morning, I don’t know what time but it was dark, a storm rolled in. We actually had thunder, I’m not sure about lightning, and only a small amount of rain. As of now, 2pm, we’ve only had 0.38 inches of rain. That’s really not much. And the rain came in a slow drizzle type of rain.

But it will be cool to cold the next few days. The low for tonight is forecast to be 36. Tomorrow, Sunday our high is forecast for 49, with a low of 35. None of that should affect many plants. I say many as basil is notorious for dying in cool to cold weather. I don’t trust basil in anything below 40 personally.

But by Monday our high will be back up to 60, with a low of 37. Then we stay in the 60-70’s for highs, with lows mainly in the 50’s. Next Saturday is Christmas and we’re forecast for 76, with a low of 56. Even New Year’s day (the start of 2022) it looks like a high of 66, with a low of 49.

Welcome to this year’s winter in central Texas. At least the start of winter. The rest of the season remains to be seen what transpires.

Cold

admincatsg Uncategorized

Okay, we got cold last night. They didn’t lie about that. I didn’t cover any plants, just because I wouldn’t mind if a few of them finally die. As it stands, the tomato plants, the pepper plants, and the basil out in the garden have all taken hits. Now the pepper plant and the basil that have been on the deck fared well. They are all looking very good. Even the tomato plants, in pots, sitting kind of below the the deck but not underneath it, but under the eaves, survived. Not only did they survive but the tomatoes on them look okay.

Some areas, according to the Central Texas Facebook page, got well below freezing. We probably got to freezing, but I’m guessing we didn’t get much below it and didn’t stay there long. But some of the plants look like they took the cold well. The seedlings that were coming up look good. Even the lettuce that was growing is still doing well. And of course the basil and peppers on the covered deck are doing great.

Oh and my lemon tree, still in the pot it was in at the nursery has flowers on it. Go figure.

First freeze

admincatsg Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

Today we hit a lovely 77 degrees. Though it was a bit humid, it was overall not a bad day outside. I even took my dog out for a nice walk outside.

Tomorrow should be another similar day, warm with a high of possibly 80 degrees. And the evening will be a cool low 50’s.

But typical Texas Saturday we expect a cold front to come in. The daytime temperature will drop to just below 60, with a low expected to be 32. It will be our first freeze of the season here in this area.

Now part of what makes this one of the joys and challenges of gardening here, is it was just the other week I turned the raised beds outside. Why turn them, because the weather had been warm. After turning the beds I sowed seeds. The bak choi and lettuce are already coming up. The bell peppers I transplanted (moved) and the bean plants I moved have taken well to their new homes and have been flourishing. Since I still have pepper plants, and tomato plants in pots and in the ground outside, I will need to see about covering them somehow. I will also plan to move those potted plants on my deck to a more covered area.

But don’t worry. In typical Central Texas style even though Saturday will be cool, by the following Tuesday we will be back into the high 70, then 80’s on Wednesday.

I expect the quick cool down then lovely warm up will lead to some lovely cedar pollen counts. Gotta love Texas.