I’ve been complaining about the heat. A lot. It’s been very hot here, and the only air conditioning I have access to at home is the creaky window unit in our bedroom, which we only run at night. That makes the difference between sleeping and not sleeping, but it’s certainly not keeping me from sweating through shirt after shirt and taking two showers a day.
The heat started to break last night. Wednesday is Trash Day in our neighborhood, and I took one last load of recycling and a final bag of trash out to the curb around 9 p.m. The heat emergency had expired at 7 p.m., and the air felt lighter and much cooler than it had for days. Thin clouds striped the sky and there was no question change was coming.
In theory, I would welcome the rain that cold fronts bring. It saves me from my daily rush to water the garden before leaving for the gym or work in the morning, and I know we need it. But I looked at that baby eggplant last night and thought, Buddy, hang tough, ‘cause we’re in for a day of juglone dripping off the tree above you. Are you up for it?
And that’s not even mentioning the youthful and additional blossoms on that plant and the one next to it. If the plants can fend off the poison, there’s potential for several eggplants before the season’s over. But as I’ve learned, until the vegetable is picked, it’s not mine.
The weather forecast calls for the storms on the leading edge of the cold front to start today during the evening rush hour, and for rain and storms to continue through Thursday. I hope I have an eggplant on the other side.
on Aug 2nd, 2006 at 3:30 pm
Hope your eggplant makes it, maybe you should hold an umbrella over it through the storm?
on Aug 2nd, 2006 at 6:11 pm
There is hope. I didn’t think my eggplants were going to blossom at all, and this morning, TA DA! a blossom.
Steven says umbrella for yours for the storm. There’s something to that… I’ve temporarily put a five-gallon bucket over plants to protect them.
on Aug 2nd, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Steven, ha…umbrella. Overnight. Right.
But Judith, you may have something there. I ought to look around and see if I have something that would work. Maybe even a big trash can or something.
Hey, I am going to wash the eggplant before we eat it, after all…
on Aug 2nd, 2006 at 8:37 pm
I like what you wrote about until a vegetable is picked, it isn’t yours. How true! I have little bitty eggplants forming, and can’t wait. Eggplant is my favorite vegetable. Fried! Yum!
on Aug 3rd, 2006 at 5:34 pm
One of the big water jugs with the bottom cut off would do the trick, maybe? If they’re not that tall (as mine aren’t) then the same trick can act as a greenhouse for them, and with the top open they have a bit of an escape from too much heat.