It's been one hell of a week around here, quite literally, with two wildfires burning just a few miles away and numerous others burning not too much further away. The smoke has been so thick that it's been hazardous to my health to go outside so I've only taken brief forays out to the garden to harvest or do a few quick tasks. And that's on top of the heat wave that didn't abate until mid-week. We don't rely on air-conditioning to cool our house, we can usually just open up windows at night to let in cool fresh air and that usually does a great job of cooling the house enough to get through the next hot day. But the smoke actually gets worse at night so our "natural" air-conditioning didn't work because we had to keep the windows sealed tight 24/7 which made for some very uncomfortable days and nights. And then to top it all off the possibility of more dry lightening and high winds is probably what prompted the county to declare an evacuation warning for my neighborhood last Friday and then an order to get out on Saturday. Fortunately we were given plenty of time to gather up valuables and get them out of harms way. We are also very fortunate to have a good friend who took us in, including our 3 cats. So here I sit on Monday morning, still feeling a bit dazed by the events but also feeling incredibly grateful for the kindness of friends and relieved that the severe weather was basically a no-show and very sad for those in my community who have lost homes and gratitude for the multitude of firefighters and law enforcement who are working so hard to battle the fires and protect our homes. I've got so many emotions swirling around inside of me, I just can't sort through it all yet. We can't go home yet but rumor has it that maybe the evacuation order will be lifted by Wednesday. Strike that! As I'm finishing this post I just got notification that we can go home this morning!
Anyway, this is a harvest post so I will touch on that if only briefly. My harvests weren't much different last week than the few weeks before with more zucchini and squash and beans filling the harvest basket. Jamaican burr gherkins and cherry tomatoes continued to trickle in. I also got the first ripe Odessa Market sweet pepper but that did not get photographed. And I harvested some huge leaves of Yellow Cabbage collards. It's hard to get a perspective on the size of those leaves in a photograph so there's my two feet to give you an idea. Those big leaves were not at all tough.
 |
| Yellow Cabbage Collard |
Bye for now, I'm packing up and heading home!
Harvest Monday is hosted by Dave on his blog Our Happy Acres, head on over there to see what other garden bloggers have been harvesting lately.
Oh my! I’m so glad you’re safe and I hope conditions improve once you’re home. But that collard leaf is impressive. I had a Swiss chard leaf near that size a few years ago and the photo still makes me smile.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you and your loved ones are safe. I can't imagine being ordered to get out of Dodge quickly, no matter how prepared you are. That certainly is a big collard leaf, and the picture is hilarious too.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that the possibe lightning storms have eased off. My daughter-in-law in Healdsburg (Walbridge LNU complex) writes," We feel a little more at ease today and I might actually sleep in pajamas, not clothes, tonight!"
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you are safe and headed home! I'm with Will, it is hard to imagine having to evacuate like that.
ReplyDeleteOh Michelle, I can't imagine the uncertainty and threat to all that is familiar. So glad you are safe and can return home. The situation here in our state is dire. We are seeing how climate change plays out.
ReplyDeleteThe lightning strikes are insane, it must be surreal with the burning haze. Thank goodness the other round of storms didn't happen and you're ok.
ReplyDeleteHow awful for you but so glad that you are safe. I hope everything was OK for you at home. As if this dreaded virus isn't enough to contend with. That leaf really is impressive.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear you are safe!
ReplyDeleteOn this side of the Grade we're just getting back to normal. We're unpacking - we only got a warning not an order - and unwrapping paintings. My wife does watercolors. It's amazing how a crisis can focus the mind.
ReplyDeleteThe heat was oppressive. Some of the tomatoes got hit with sunscald. Imagine that, sunscald in Carmel Valley. I thought I'd never live to see the day that happened. The tomatoes ripened quickly in the heat so now it's time for tomato salad and making sauce. Stay safe.
I'm SO glad that you and your home escaped the fires unscathed - but how worried you must have been! I can't even imagine - if that happened to us, I probably would have been a write off for days, even after returning to the house. I have my fingers crossed that the worst of it is passed.
ReplyDelete