Thinking of Winter in Midsummer
July 21, 2011 – afternoon showers.
Black and white make this photo from yesterday a little more dramatic, but not much. It poured, drizzled and poured and drizzled some more.
Trace guarding Ty.
We went and picked up our meat from the butcher yesterday and squirreled it away. Surely that brings on winter thoughts. Enough for me to be roasting some beast today. It’s still a coolish 58°F at lunchtime! We are pretty much skipping summer, the days are already feeling shorter, and we have yet to cut our first hay. It worries me a little, while the quality is still good, shorter days mean less drying time, and you start getting into August and everything slows down, meat chickens grow slower, hay dries slower, and vegetables grow at a leisurely pace too.
Winter gardening here means many crops I plan to harvest in winter are planted at the same time I plant their summer equivalents. Others need to be planted by late July or I have missed my window of solar opportunity. I have learned not to languish at the height of summer if I want to be harvesting certain vegetables come the winter solstice. A lot of that has to do with elevation and cloud cover. We get a lot of cloudy days, and things just don’t ripen or mature in low light, lack of heat is not the culprit, it’s lack of sunlight. Those of you in Portland can get away with a little later planting date, out here I have to hurry things up a bit.
Second round of kale is transplanted in the greenhouse. These will be our mainstay of greens in the winter. Hardy and easy to grow kale remains a winner for year round harvesting.
Daughter’s winter plants for sale. All of these are going to Portlandia so they have some time to mature.
Maxibel.
Green beans only possible this year this early in the greenhouse.
EEK! As rare occurrence as the sun, a ripening tomato in July! Thanks Bellstar, you never let me down 
What a symphylan stunted tomato looks like.
The plant next in row looks no worse for wear, and entirely covers the straw flakes.
Greens, tomatoes and pepper. That crooked row of peppers doesn’t even show now!
Flavorburst F1
Peppers setting, tomatoes showing color remind me of fall. It’s not too late for you to begin your fall and winter garden, the dark days will be here before you know it, and even though it seems too hot to be planting, you’ll be glad you did!
Food Renegade
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
You are so right. Even though our temperatures are in the high 90s right now, August is only a week away and then the summer goes fast! I’m planning on putting my kale in early August, depending on our wildly fluctuating weather. Your greenhouse looks so lush! And a ripe tomato! Does anything look as lovely?
Thanks. I was considering Bellstars for next year. My Maxibels are totally dead and gone in the heat! But I have started thinking for fall. I have several more weeks before my deadline.
100 here with heat index of 110F I need to move to Seattle. I like cloudy, cool weather and in my old age I think snow and below 0 winters are not so much fun anymore.
I think it was a heat index of 120 today!!! Yes, I’ve been wishing for a snow storm! Never thought I’d say something like that! Just the other day I realized it was time for fall planting. I put in my Fall green beans just this morning. Without any rain, I’m having to water, so I pray they come up and get some help from above very soon!
I live up here in Gig Harbor Washington….can anything be planted now from seeds to harvest this fall or winter besides beets? I do not have a greenhouse so in the ground it must go!
Great summer produce and pup photos!
Chris, maybe short maturity carrots like Nelson, Napoli, or Mokum, kohlrabi, collards, Hakurei turnips, radishes including Daikon, cilantro, haricot verts, and peas come to mind.
We are having a crazy summer, too. No rain plus 100+ (topped out at 106′, I think) temps makes even the weeds not grow. And you (and other places) with cold summer, much of the northern hemisphere in crazy, odd-ball summers.
I’m all about eating locally, but I’m so thankful for transported veggies and such when the tomatoes won’t ripen, and the corn crop is pitifully small.
As we pray for rain for us, I will pray for sun for you!
Looks good Nita! We would gladly send a touch of our heat your way. Fortunately we had an inch of rain yesterday. Unfortunately it fell in twenty minutes.
Your greenhouse looks amazing!
It is hard to believe it is already time to start thinking about fall planting. I can barely stand this heat but it will be worth the hard work to have fall/winter crops.
Here is my one and only clever organizing tip for the freezer. I started using a dry erase pen to write down what meals I had in the freezer complete with hash marks. Then, as I take out the food, I cross off the hash marks.