All ***ed up

[Higgs Boson]

Yesterday, today, tomorrow, over 85F. Does take a swift dive at night, tha nk goodness; you sleep with a blanket all year here.*

About to sow SEEDS of "winter" crops - radish, lettuce, beet, green onion. Will they get confused if this madness continues? Hope by the time they s prout, things will have reverted to "normal", whatever the hell THAT is in this globally warmed world...

• Unlike Hong Kong, where I came out of the airport at 10:30 pm few years a go and got slapped in the face by a hot, wet blanket. Up to then, I had ne ver been in a place where it didn't cool off at night. Well, I lie -- Indi a, Vietnam, but you have to stay in airconditioned accommodations.

Back to Alaska and another 10-day camping/mushing trip. THE greatest!

But I ramble...

HB

[David E. Ross]

At noon yesterday, it was 88F with 7% relative humidity.

Near the ocean where you live, the heat will speed sprouting and help to get the plants established before what we call "winter" arrives. Where I live, this is very important because we often get night frosts in the winter (only occasional and very light); so winter flowers need to be established before the frosts. Otherwise, while the plants will be okay, they won't bloom until spring.

[Higgs Boson]

How about your veggies? Can you protect them from Valley frost by spreading black plastic over them at night?

HB

[David E. Ross]

The only vegetables that I grow are artichokes and asparagus, both of which are sufficiently hardy. I also grow perennial herbs: thyme, peppermint, sage, tarragon, oregano, and bay. In April, after all threat of frost is gone, I also plant dill and basil; the dill is history by September before any frost. The basil might linger until the first frost, but I already harvested and dried more than enough to last through the winter.

Other edibles in my garden are fruits. I have dwarf citrus: Eureka lemon, Robertson navel orange, Mineola tangelo, and kumquat. I have a pineapple guava, a MacBeth loquat, and a Santa Barbara peach. So far, these have been sufficiently hardy to survive the frosts, although my orange did have some damage in January 2007. I would not try limes; they are the least hardy of the citrus. I sometimes worry about the winter not being cold enough for the peach. The loquat blooms in December and January; it seems to ignore the frost.