Weird Weather

Our weather here can be so strange. In the last two weeks, temperatures have been wild. It's been weird in general for about a month.

In summary, we've had a range from the mid-40F's to over 100F and back down to low 50F's in just under a month. We've had winds high enough to carry away small pets and flatten garden plants. Those winds don't even count the tornado nearby. [Details at the bottom of the post.]

Desperate Gardner is in Seattle, and worries about 58 sunlit days per year. I think we still win the pity party. We have a cruel sun.

The extremes have been freaking me out, but the plants have come through pretty well.  The high winds broken some stems. Cold has warped some leaves. Heat killed one brussel sprout plant and did some major damage to my Greek oregano, but everything seems to be recovering alright.

I've been exhausted. I've tried to figure out why 95F for 2 weeks in Thailand (my January vaca) was easier to deal with than this. I posted the question online. My favorite answer is that the Pad Thai made me happy. I've decided I must be wiped out by the barometric pressure changes. I've been sleeping excessively during the day; I've almost completely moved to vampire hours. I've got fibromyalgia, several -itis diseases, and a couple other ailments. I think my body is trying to spare me by making me sleep during the day. If the weather evens out, hopefully my body will too.

Yesterday, I decided to go back to the Farmer's Market to check out Julie Pflaum's stuff. I wanted a tomato to replace the two that broke. I bought one Brandywine tomato, a brussel sprout, climbing yellow squash and some spinach. It felt cold yesterday so I was in and out quick; just enough time to plant and tie up some of the fast growing stuff.

I thought it was going to rain, but no dice. It's 7p, so I need to get out and water. It's sun-shiny so the plants must be thirsty. I'm gonna take lots of pics. I'll try to post them tonight.

============================================

Windy and small pet advisory. Seriously.

May 14: Morning temp in the mid-40's
May 22: Tornadoes 15 miles north. Warm then sudden temperature drop.
May 27 it got to 49F degrees.

May 31 High wind and small pet advisory = tie it down, bring it in, or it might blow away. Mid-80Fs.
June 1: Low 53F and high of 75F
June 7: High temp around 100F at sunset. Low  75F.
June 8: High 75F, low 57F.

What Character: Anatoli

Anatoli is my garden neighbor to the north. He is from Ukraine, like many of my neighbors.  

I had to get a picture of him watering his plants. Notice his watering can has a vodka bottle attached to the nozzle. We joke he will have fat, red, drunk tomatoes.

Garrison Keillor used to hint about secrets for gigantic, envious tomatoes in his summer stories. Vodka isn't Anatoli's secret for fantastic plants - I checked.

Just before garden season, Anatoli had a complete knee replacement. Ever since, he's been walking with a cane or a walker. Gardening has been a real challenge for him, especially setting up is plot and getting the seeds and plants in the ground. He wants to have as much in his garden this year that he had last year. Some days are pretty bad. Since he's not as mobile, he wanted to make his watering can longer instead of reaching for the plants and possibly loosing balance.
Ta Da! The vodka bottle is attached to the watering can with plumbers tape to keep it from leaking and holes in the bottom.

Watering systems vary in our community. We all share one 50 foot long hose. The hose isn't long enough to get to all of the garden plots, so watering needs to be creative. There are hose people, watering can people, and hybrid folk. 

Anatoli is a watering can person. He has a large covered garbage can at the west side of his garden that he fills when the hose is free. Since it sits in the sun all day, the water gets warm. Plants like warm water.

Katya is a hose person. Her plot is closest to the spigot, so she can use the hose for the full length of her plot on its own. Most hose people use some kind of sprayer on the hose to get the coverage and distance for their plots.

I am a hybrid user. I have a water container buried in my garden. It holds about 20 gallons. When I can use the hose, I use a sprayer to water my plot, but when I don't want to wait, I use my storage water and refill when no one else needs the hose.

You've got to think "community" when you have a community garden plot.

Catching up

I've been writing the latest 3 blog posts in my head, but I haven't gotten them to page.

I'm at the garden every evening. Things are growing and need the water every day or the plants are done for. The high winds and radical change in temperatures seems to have passed. The white covers are off the plants.  Hiding under some of those covers were flowers!

The tomatoes I bought from Julie Pflaum are the tallest and healthiest in the garden. That gal and her family are wonders. My only concern is the yellow cherry tomatoes. That plant  is growing into a round ball-shaped bush instead of growing up. I might trim off the sideways stalks to encourage the up, but the sideways stalks are full of flowers. Allow to blossom where they are, or grow force them where I want them? A rabbi I know compared life to growing tomatoes. I see his point. When we see each other, we ask "how are your tomatoes?"

I'm off to teach English this morning. Topic of the day: Sentence structure! Nouns versus proper nouns, reasons and uses of punctuation. Progress!

Katie and Ayden's Garden [Updated]

I haven't taken pictures of the garden lately. Most of the plants are still very small or are covered with plastic containers to keep them safe from the wind. The covers also keep the plants warm.

Today, I removed the covers so the plants will show. My hand was shaky when I took the picture so it looks blurry. All of the plants are very healthy and they are growing well.  There are sunflowers, peppers, cat mint, basil, and mint.

This part of my garden is for Katie and Ayden, so they can watch the plants grow and change.

Enjoy!
[Other pictures of the garden]

My plot facing west.

My plot facing east.

What Character: Hu and Li

Hu and Li - husband and wife

Hu nd Li have a garden plot a few spots to the south of me. I really got to know them when I was teaching English at the community center. I'm tutoring instead of teaching at the center, but Li still calls me "teacher" when she sees me - "hello, teacher, hello". Li is quiet. She comes and goes from the garden silently, so she appears and disappears if I'm not paying attention. Hu is pretty friendly and has a loud speaking voice. He's the fella who was criticizing my arbor that pushed me over the edge. Because he speaks so loudly, when he gets in a debate with anyone (as he did that day) it gets really loud. Out of the moment of my frustrating day, we've been able to chat and all is well.

No still. No quiet.

The wind that started yesterday and turned into tornadoes last night raged on all day today. Everything that could bend, including people, were being whipped around by a heavy wind from the south and the sound was constant.

I had to do some gardening today. I didn't get to plant anything yesterday, it had to go in today to take advantage of the warmer weather and the lack of rain today.

When I got there, no one was in the garden. Apparently 2pm is the time to go to be alone.
The trellis/arbor thing I put up yesterday was still standing. I added a few zip ties here and there to tighten things that I couldn't get to last night.
I hoed up weeds from between plants and loosened the hard packed soil.
I planted soybeans, sweet peas, carrots, and muscaline salad mix.
I moved around some of the seedlings to better spots.
I planted climbing flower seeds next to the arbor uprights.
I had to cover plants that I had uncovered a few days ago, the wind had them laying almost flat. Only one small tomato plant was broken on the main stem, but I'm still hopeful it may still grow. Some of the very small plants were covered with upside down 20oz soda bottles with the tops cut off.  I can't leave those on if the weather gets too warm, so I've got to check them in the morning.
I was able to water everything really well before the rest of the gang turned up to use the hose.

As soon as I came inside, I fell asleep.  I'd been fighting the wind for 4 hours and I guess it just wore me out.

The temperature has dropped pretty fast and the wind is calm. It's in the 50F's tonight, but it's supposed to be warm and humid tomorrow. I'm really glad I was able to garden today. Grow, baby, grow.

I'm thinking of tornadoes tonight. I'm watching a documentary on the tornado clusters that have happened so far in 2011. I was just in the middle of a tornado-struck neighborhood last week, but the idea of it didn't reach me until tonight. Last year, some tornadoes went through the rural area where I grew up. Farms were flattened, and rescue teams had to go from farm to farm to check on people's welfare because telephone lines were down. Livestock were pulled up into the tornado and then were dropped in fields and on roads. I guess the idea of a tornado in the countryside scares me more than a tornado in the city.

P.S. I tutor Zhenfang in English on Mondays and Tuesdays. We're working on verbs, but took a little break to learn some more idioms today. Two idioms were covered today - "Shut up!" and "You're pissing me off." She's not a shy gal, but I was surprised at how quickly she picked up "Shut up!" and "You are making me very angry!" She really liked it. I guess learning how to tell people off would be more fun than conjugating regular and irregular verbs.

What a day

I went shopping this morning as planned. I picked up some peas and soybeans at the garden store. I went to the hardware store. The temp raised 10 degrees in an hour and humidity was ridiculous. I took a nap.

When I made it to the garden, there was no one there. I measured and built the top portion of the arbor-thing I've been working on for the big climbing veg. I thought I was being clever, but I had some problems. It sounds easy. In my head it sounded easy, but the uprights kept twisting out of true. A neighbor saw me struggling and came to help. Then another. Both speak English well, but they kept talking to each other in Chinese and I was kind of left out. She spoke the best English, but even standing next to her, she couldn't always hear me speak - double hearing aids.  It got a little ridiculous.  By this time, I'd been in the direct sun for a few hours in 85F+ temps. I was getting a little heat-stroke-y: shaky, nauseous, headache.

We were going three different directions for a while. More neighbors came out, so a peanut gallery ensued.  There was a constant chatter in Chinese about the next step in building, but it did not include me. The wind came up, I felt sick, and no one was listening to me. Eventually everything that was to be upright, resembled vertical. Stakes were planted and tied to the verticals. I just wanted to get on with my life,
BUT
first one, then another neighbor and another came by pointing and made comments in Chinese and English mixed together. Collectively, the nay-sayerss were that the arbor is to tall, "unequal" (crooked), leaning, and that I was a fool for trying to build it on a windy day (it wasn't windy when I started).

As I tried to explain, getting more and more pissed off, Mr Hu came into my garden plot, grabbed an upright and started to rock it to show me how the wind would blow it over (loosening the dirt and rocking the stakes.) He started arguing with another neighbor (in Chinese) about how bad or good the structure was. Occasionally, someone would shoot me a quick translation, then jump into the argument in Chinese. Eight people arguing in Chinese getting louder and louder, trying to talk over each other, not a soul paying any attention to me. Yelling, arguing, and gesturing. I don't speak Chinese in the slightest, but I know the words for yes, no, good, bad, tie, cut, measure, and of course, I recognized my own name.

I lost it.

Speaking basic English "You must stop pulling on that Hu. I know it is not straight. It is OK" turned  into  "You are making me angry! Listen to me! You are really pissing me off! Everyone! Stop talking! No more 'bad Jennifer, no Jennifer, bad Jennifer.' STOP. HU! Stop pulling on that! It's not finished! Stop pulling on it! Leave it!" Zhenfang was laughing at me. I don't think she got it. I pantomimed covering my mouth and pointed at Hu and then at anyone I could make eye contact with.

I was completely soaked in sweat. My head was throbbing. I was pissed. I'd added crossbars to keep the whole thing from torquing. Everything was good enough for me to leave it. I packed up, came inside, rehydrated, and fell asleep in the air conditioning.

Two hours later, I went outside. Hu was there. He told me he thought the arbor was OK. (I think they started to understand how frustrated I was after I left.) Everyone else from the afternoon building saga were gone. I intended to get the planting in, but I spent my time truing up the arbor. Then it was too dark to plant.

Zhenfang came out to water her garden then went home. She came outside again, told me to stop because the sky was black (night). I finished what I was doing (she helped) and put away my tools. She handed me a bottle of water and threw an arm over my shoulder.
"You're a good friend," I said. We came in together.

I peeled off the gross clothes to get in the shower, but there was a knock at the door. It had to be Zhenfang. She brought me food - sweet potato mash and rice steamed in banana leaves. I love her!

The shower commenced and I hung all the wet, gross stuff to dry out. Oversized t-shirt, comfy shorts. Cat asleep on my lap.

I booted my computer so I could share these deep, deep thoughts, but Norton Security didn't work. A very nice man online fixed it remotely (LOVE)

Now, here I am.

The wind picked up. Thunder. Little flashes. I might have sunburn on my face. Rain - it would have been perfect if I'd planted today. The TV is beeping and flashing tornado warnings. Well shit.

I'm going to bed with my dinner, my cat and a puzzle book.

so there

Ooo... it's 1:01a, so it's a new day.

so there

Holy gaint sunflower

Tedious as my scrutiny of my garden has been, I've been trying to figure out what is going on with two beds in the garden.  They are supposed to be soybeans, but they don't look right. I've been online for an hour trying to find a bean seedling picture that looks like what is in the garden, but I've had no luck. Nothing. They aren't beans, they are sunflowers.  When the first sunflowers I put in the ground sprouted so fast, I got excited and put them in a few other places. I didn't realize I'd planted so many.

I read up more on beans to try to figure out what happened. Since I put soybean seeds directly in the ground instead of starting them first and hardening them off, it seems as though the cool weather stunted them and may have killed them off all together. 

I'm going to get more seeds tomorrow. I'm torn between putting them right in the ground and babying them with a clear plastic cover for tenting and humidity, starting them indoors and moving them out, or just putting them in the ground.  It's supposed to be in the 86F tomorrow (after 42F a few nights ago) and if the ground warms up, it should be pretty good to get the seeds going. The temps are supposed to be over 55 at night and over 75 during the day all week.

The other bit of trauma is the reality that I'm going to have to pull up the sunflower seedlings. I didn't do a good job of researching the sunflowers I planted before I put them in the ground. I just picked a package and planted the seeds. Giant Russian sunflowers get ten feet tall (as pictured in an earlier post.) Neat, but the bulk of leaves the plant will need to get that tall are going to be too much for my little garden - too much shade for anything else to grow.

I have to be careful of the neighbor's garden too. Alexi put pepper plants right next to my sunflowers (mine were there first and he knew they were sunflowers) just over his side of the line. More excitement for later I guess.

Rainy storms tonight and maybe more in  the morning.  It's supposed to turn temps so fast tomorrow, severe weather (aka tornadoes) may hit Minnesota again. Last year, tornado-ish winds spun my green bean plants and pulled them out of the ground when they were over a foot tall.   Keep your toes crossed. I'd like things to stay where I put them.

Happy Memorial Day, all!

Love grows. Tell someone.

Sweet And Kind Of has really cute and fun stuff. This is my favorite card so far.

I like. I want. Gardenwatch Cam.

I know I can usually find something to love at ThinkGeek.com, but I wasn't sure about garden stuff. How dare I question it? My favorite, yet unrealistic, purchase would be the Gardenwatch Cam . It is programmed to take pictures and specified intervals and is nifty for making time lapse videos of the garden.

Our friends at ThinkGeek made their own time lapse video for demonstration purposes - snow where snow isn't really supposed to be.  See it here.

Perfect Timing [updated]

There isn't much to do in the garden until the volunteer plants are big enough to identify. I got squirrly and went to the Mpls. Farmer's Market and stopped by Pflam's booth. They had pickling cucumbers I was looking for. I also picked up two more pepper plants - these are early bearing. Pflaum's only had yellow beans so I searched elsewhere. I bought an "asparagus bean" seedling (aka Asian longbean).

When I got home, I planted the stuff just as it was beginning to rain. The thunder rolled in and I finished just in time. Now we've had a nice downfall. Rain for another day or two so I don't have to water anything.

I'm on the couch with my favorite blanket. Chilly but not cold - just right. Cozy.

[Update:]
The storm passed quickly and blue sky followed. I took a sun nap. The sun is setting with wispy high clouds showing gaudy orange, pink, purple and blue. I could go outside to work on my latest construction project, but I'm not gonna. xoxo

Katya Update - Three out of five.

Katya hasn't backed off. She's more pushy and nosy than ever.
It's as though our heartfelt conversation about her repeatedly insulting me has opened a door to intimacy that translates into her getting into my personal business even more.
Today I put a final stop to it. She didn't take it well.
She made it through denial, anger and bargaining. I don't think 'depression' is really going to happen because I think she's some shade of sociopath. Acceptance comes after that. Maybe not if she's a sociopath.
Until next time, America.

Un-cloched

The covers are off the plants from last night. I've brought in the containers that still have bottoms so I can cut them off (sunlight and ventilation). They'll go back to the garden to protect the little plants. They make a nice windbreak, keep the soil damp, and keep the plants warm. I've seen nearly everyone else use them, but I wasn't really clear about the purpose.

I found an article. Thank goodness Google can turn "plastic plant cover" into "cloche". Google "cloche" and french bells, hats, and plant covers turn up. I just happen to be watching a very old movie and I've just about decided I need to make a cloche hat for myself made from knitting I've fulled.

I've also started a mental plan to make the climbing frame sturdy. It's OK for peas and cucumbers, but the squash will tear it apart and pull it down from the weight.

It's supposed to rain most of the weekend so my chores are few as long as it stays warm enough.

It's 49 degrees

I covered/protected almost every plant before it got dark. I picked up some free plastic containers last week that work just right. maybe

Tornado Cleanup Day 3 [updated]

[UPDATE] Here's the 360 video:

I wasn't able to go help today. The plan for this morning was to tear up the deck in the backyard. At 5p, I went to check out the progress. It didn't look like M&M were home.I took another 360 video in the back yard to record the progress. The deck and mud room/porch is completely gone. All of the tree debris was gone.

I never saw this house before 2 days ago. In that time, the change has been stunning. I can't imagine what it's like for M&M seeing their house/yard/etc. wrecked less than 3 months after moving in. They were both handling it like champs when I saw them. We talked about all the great changes that would come because of the storm - new fence, yard, deck. New roof, windows, kitchen floor. The insurance appraiser came by today and though the adjuster agreed that some things were total write-offs, they were under-insured according to her blog, so I'm not sure where the balance sheet settles.

FEMA was in the area today evaluating the amount of damage to determine if there is enough damage to be considered a Federal disaster. So there may be some hope for money there. Also, a utility pole with a transformer fell on the garage and put a big hole on the roof ridge, so I hope for them the City or the utility company will cover that damage.

The blur of trying to make everything safe is over and I think the Big Wait is coming. I know we'll have a great time later this summer replanting the yard.

bed...must go to bed...

Torndao cleanup Day 2

I just got home from yard clean up followed by grocery shopping. I'm tired, hungry, and still chilled from the breeziness.

I have video and photos of it all, but I'm pretty tired right now. Everything has to be edited, tweeked, and resized and I'm not up for it right now. Until then...video from about 3pm 5/25/11

Front yard pile for pick up end of day 05/25/11

Tornado Teamwork!

M&M - Tornado squashed 'em [updated]

[ Update: M&M are looking for people with chainsaws, wood chipper, and/or willing bodies to help clean up. Also looking for someone who can do body work and replace door on the squashed car. Please let me know if you can lend a had or know someone who can do auto work.  Thanks]

My friends M&M decided to buy their first house earlier this year. They found a fantastic foreclosed property, got the loan to buy it and some extras to fix-er-up. Walls and ceilings were re-rocked. New appliances for the kitchen. They moved in the first week of March.

I haven't been to the new house so I don't know exactly where it is; M and I only talked about the location once before they moved in. I didn't realize they were in the danger zone.

The tornado got their house yesterday. One giant tree on the house. One giant tree on a car. The roof was cracked open a branch blew into the house through a wall. M runs her business out of the house. M couldn't get to work today - they stayed at his dad's house last night. M&M+cats are looking for a hotel or something. They are under-insured as I understand.

M took all of the pictures. He's a freelance photographer.

The walnut tree in the backyard.

Walnut tree - deck - house connection.

Roof on the back of the house after some rearranging and a tarp.

This is not the walnut tree. This is a loose branch that came in horizontally through the wall on the second floor.

M's car on the street in front of the house.

Please keep them kindly in your thoughts and 

in your prayers if you're into that kind of thing. 

Hug your people and your pets all the time.

I missed the tornado. It missed me.

The constant rumbling that I thought I heard when I was napping today wasn't my imagination. About 13 miles away, in North Minneapolis, 100+ homes are damaged, 30+ people are injured and one is dead from tornado winds.

"North Minneapolis", also known as "Near North" is not to be confused with "Northeast" Minneapolis, or "Camden," the furthest north. North Minneapolis has a prostitution, poverty, drugs and violent crimes in greater quantities than almost anywhere in the city.

More than 100 years ago, Washington Avenue was one of the only places Jews were "allowed" to live in anti-semetic Minneapolis. Folks moved to the western suburbs when they could, or to St. Paul, where Judaism was better tolerated. In the 1950's as transportation changed and interstates were built, more and more people moved to the suburbs for big houses and green lawns. White flight and aging homes brought real estate prices down. In the last 20 years, 'slum lords' bought apartment buildings and the big, turn-of-the-century homes, renting places on the cheap, but failing to keep the properties livable. People who had to, stayed. Businesses closed. The main shopping corridor dissolved. Dropping property tax values and the increase of absent landlords just continued to make things worse and crime has gone out of control.

The City has installed "ShotSpotter" to help the police determine where gunshots have been fired and get there before a 911 call. In the really bad areas, they've installed cameras. In 2009, an article was written that pointed out that the foreclosure crisis was actually helping North Minneapolis. As homes were foreclosed, the City and other organizations flattened and removed problem houses. Some buildings were rehabilitated, but not many could be saved due to their poor condition.  Driving through this part of town you can see big stretches of grass on city blocks with few houses. The worst areas have become quiet and green.

What remains, are homes people have been working hard to keep. Families that have lived North are trying to keep the infrastructure local. There has been a big effort to keep North High School open even though attendance and graduation rates are low and crime is still a daily problem.

[see also: Pastor suspected in shooting death of Minneapolis' North High staffer]

The tornado completely destroyed some people's homes. It struck late afternoon, but had been sunny and unexpected. Thankfully, the warning sirens saved a lot of people and they rode out the storm in their basements. The mayor ushered people from a rally to shelter when the sirens started. Some homes have roof damage and the floors below lost their ceilings or have other serious water damage - standing, but unlivable.  But not everyone was home and they had a terrible time getting back to see about their homes and their families.

Streets in the whole area are blocked by trees and fall out. According to the news, getting around this area is very dangerous even by foot. There is no electricity in the homes or for streetlights at night. There is debris scattered everywhere. There are also downed power lines and potential gas leaks.

The police department decided to impose a curfew for the neighborhood. Barriers prevent road traffic. Police have saturated the area. No one is allowed in from 9pm to 6am, and then they will only be allowed in if they can prove they live in the area.

It's not just the debris that make the streets dangerous. People's belongings are scattered everywhere and houses that may still be intact have broken windows letting the outside in. Looting and other violence are a major concern.

Renter of a single room. She was in the shower when the
tornado hit and had to borrow the clothes she's wearing.

 I don't condone looting, but I do understand it. Poverty is a big problem in this area. Desperate just got worse. It's near the end of the month, so cash can be low until the first and food stamp funds don't come in until the 7th. Many poor folk don't use banks, so the cash is kept at home. With no renter/car/health insurance, anything that's damaged is going to cost money to fix. If you rent a room or an apartment the landlord hasn't declared to the tax people as an apartment, their insurance (if they have any) will not help you. Bus routes will change, but how do you know where they are now? What about work clothes or school clothes? Will the place you live need to be closed for repair and you've got to live somewhere else? How far away are you willing to relocate? How many friends and family can sleep in your place while they wait things out? Fear? Anger? What do you do with those? You'd be surprised at how much living poor in the city is like living in the jungle. If you've done it for any amount of time, you know that once you lose your resources, things get bad fast. Add others trying to get the same resources and you might have war.

Ambulances made their way in and centralized emergency care. The Red Cross brought in emergency response trucks. Police directed traffic, closed the dangerous roads and brought their ATVs and automatic weapons.

The people are generally safe from each other. The "stuff" is kind of safe. (Pray for no more rain). But the people may not be safe to survive. 

The community is going to have to pitch with clean up, food, housing and funds. I hope they will, but I'm worried they will be afraid to go into that neighborhood and be afraid of the people who live there. We don't love our poor the way we could.

Be brave together. Nurture hope.
Love each other. Help children feel safe. 
amen

Photos are from Startribune.com and MPR.org

Photo Credits: David Brewster, Kyndell Harkness, Jerry Holt, Marlin Levison, Tony Webster

What Character: Katya

Katya (aka Katie) has a garden plot at the far south end. She's very chatty, and spends a good amount of time in the garden. Since she's on the end, she's got to fence three sides of her plot. Her husband doesn't want a garden this year, but she went ahead anyway and he's not helping her.

Some of us have stepped in to help her out as much as we can, but her ambitions are high. Today is the first day she's accepted that she's going to have to stop planting and only keep what she can manage on her own. Her personality has drifted from humble, to needy, to emotional blackmail. She's been caught stealing things from other neighbors, claiming forgetfulness, then confiding to me she knew what she was doing all along. It turns out, she's the 'mean girl' of the garden.

Today I pointed out that she was insulting me (again). She responded with a spectrum of reasons why she was insulting, but eventually, she said she knew it bothered me. She promised she'd never do it again.

She's made me dread going to the garden. I think it will ease up now. We'll see.