During a respite in the week-long storm that’s projected to drop 8-20 inches throughout San Diego County, I wandered our near-fifth acre, harvesting a few things for a dinner salad and surveying the damage. The winds have been gusting hard and regular, battering our fruit trees and tilting the giant Silk Oak that tends to shed thick branches in such weather. The new chicken coop looks a bit fragile, and precarious, beneath it.
Most of the garden has held up well, but the dozen or so pea vines I have growing in our front yard have been torn and tangled, the trellises in some cases snapped, pulled out, tossed. The wet weight of knotted peas is testing the resilience of our young English Oak, bending branches they hung delicately from just a few days ago.
Many of the vines will probably have to go, which isn’t a total loss since we’ve been able to harvest so many peas and pods from them for soups and salads. And there’s still time to plant another round.
We’ll see what else goes down. The brunt of the storm hits Thursday. The rain has again left me wishing we had a catchment system in place.
At least you don’t have any eucalyptus trees in your yard. Those things are dropping huge branches all over the park behind our house. I didn’t realize they were so fragile.
Hey, Jason! That’s a great idea. The only thing I’ve been able to muster so far in the last few months, is to plant some young fruit trees. I have high hopes for these little babies, but the summer heat took its toll on ‘em. I figure if I’m going to water anything at all in my yard, I should be able to eat it. So far, the dog has left the trees alone, but the cats removed my tomato and pepper plants from their wire cages to use as a nice, cushioned bed. If you go to my FB photos, you’ll see two of them at work guarding the Nectarine tree.
Love your show,
csc
I totally agree — if we’re going to use water in our yards in drought-prone San Diego, it should definitely be going to something we can eat.
Your fruit trees will do better this summer, and better the summer after that. They just need to get established. Using a drip-irrigation method (either setting up a drip irrigation system, or just setting the hose on a trickle a leaving it on each tree for 30 minutes or so once a week) will help them sink deep roots and weather warmer weather better. Also, planting them in the winter, rather than the summer, helps, too.
Cats, well, they have their own agenda.
Jason,
Glad the damage wasn’t too huge…and those peas sound lovely for soups and veggie dishes during winter storms.
Also wanted to see if you’ve checked out the following:
healthylife.net. John Jeavons will be talking this coming Monday on how we can rebuild healthy top-soil quickly. 9 a.m. pst or available from Ode Magazine’s archives if you can’t make the live broadcast.
hugs to you three…
–aunt laura
There’s nothing fragile about that coop. I don’t care what is looming above it.