Carol,

It is simply awful, isn't it?

It is weather like this that makes me wonder why I bother trying to have a garden in Oklahoma in the summertime.

Luckily, after I sit inside in the AC and drink a tall glass of iced tea, I then come to my senses and say something like "It's all right. It will be cooling down any day now." LOL Of course, usually that moment occurs in late August when I simply cannot stand the heat another minute and the weather really IS about to start cooling down.

So, here we sit in mid-July with true cooler weather at least 6 or 7 weeks away at the earliest, and I am wondering who/what will give up first....me or the garden itself?

One day last week, it was 84 degrees here when I stepped out the door very early in the morning so I could "beat the heat" and work in the garden before sunrise. It was probably around 6 a.m. Later in the day, when Tim was awake and getting ready for work, I told him "it was 84 when I went outside at 6 a.m." and he replied "it was 84 when I got home from work around 1 a.m." He and I decided there is something wrong with weather like that which doesn't ever really cool down.

I have been asking myself which summer this most reminds me of, and I think it is probably the summer of 2006, in terms of heat. Most of Oklahoma, too, is about as dry as it was in 2006 except for us.....and our statistics make us look wetter than it really is because we had that big rainfall of 12" that April day.

When Alva hit 117 degrees the other day, I was wondering if all the people who live in Alva were packing their bags and leaving to visit somewhere with a cooler summer. Then I decided that at 117, it was too hot to leave the house. To tell you the truth though, once the temperature hits about 107 or 108, I can't tell the difference between that and, say, 111.....all of them are miserably hot.

The only thing I can say about the garden is that it is hanging in there better than I am so far. The okra and black-eyed peas are perhaps the happiest I've ever seen them, the tomatoes are loaded and pumping out big tomatoes for this time of year, and the peppers are doing quite well, especially the hot peppers.

The fall tomato seedlings, though, have retreated to the semi-shaded screened-in back porch and are begging me daily...."please, please let us stay here in our little paper cups.....don't make us go out there....". I can't say that I blame them for feeling that way. I don't want to go "out there" either.

Dawn

Soonergrandmom,
Yes I agree. You have it worse than we do. It is 67 here this morning and 67% humidity and I'm complaining. By early afternoon the humidity will be low teens. Which helps over your high humidity. Just saw where they are now saying 90 for Wed. here. May have to pull out a light jacket if it is. Ha. Yes the heat stress has took a toll on my plants. In my experience the first week of the real hot weather usually weeds the weaker ones out and then I see less dropouts. Some of those that are struggling will continue to do so till more favorable weather returns. I think the higher humidities of a morning is why I'm seeing some disease problems I usually don't see very often. We have had more light to heavy dews this year which is very unusual for us. And even more so being as dry as we are. Another this morning. Waiting for it too dry off before heading out to the garden. Don't like messing with the plants while damp. And then when they dry off the heat is close behind. On the positive side the dews are good for the pines and spruces I've put out this year. Allows the needles to take in moisture. Even my older pines are looking a lot better that they did in the drought last year.
After spending my weekdays at work some of the time spent in a metal engine room with up to 3 1600 hp engines running when I get home it feels cooler. We have put thermometers on the cat walks where we stand to work and have seen temps in the summer 120-140 on a regular basis. That is why I appreciate so much our men who are in Kuwait and other countries. I know I only have a hint of what is like but at that I know it is brutal.
Stay cool and don't over stress in this heat. Jay

Dawn,
This is normal for this time of year. Every year I hope for a mild summer and a mild winter. Ha. But after the summer I broke my hand and it was in a cast to my elbow and we set a record of around 30 days in a row over a 100 and I was working in a compressor building changing valve almost everyday I can remember now isn't near that bad. Like the other night while at my sisters we were talking about the how dry it was and when we would return to normal. And then the El Nina (sp) that they say is forming was mentioned. My sister said that usually brings more snow. And my brother in law said that was also what we had several years ago when we had 35 inches of rain in one year. And most of that fell in 4 months. Wheat sprouted in the heads and weeds were taller than tractor cabs as the farmers couldn't get in the fields. When they could many ran 24-7. So in this country the weather will change sometimes the other extreme has as many draw backs. Like last week a coworker was giving his prediction of the weather for the next few weeks. I reminded him only newcomers, weathermen and fools even try to predict the weather here. One because they don't know any better, another because they get paid two and I will let you decide why the last one does. He just laughed. Jay

Jay, speaking of wheat...Does anyone in your area grow white wheat? My daughter buys it in Utah, but the only place I have seen it in Oklahoma is in small quantities in the health food stores. I just wonder if there is anywhere to buy it in 40-50 pound bags.

Jay,

I am hoping, hoping, hoping that El Nino returns this winter. I have been watching the "El Nino news" for months now and I hope that the warming ocean temperature means El Nino is on his way. We had a really, really strong El Nino in the mid to late 1990s when we still lived in Fort Worth....maybe it was 1997 or 1998. We had oodles and oodles of rain in winter and spring and maybe into early summer. We had flooding. We had a wonderful, wonderful garden with very little disease considering the amount of rain. It was a great year except for the flooding roadways and golf courses.

I don't like El Nina as much since she brings southern OK drought and we've had much of that in the last few years.

I know El Nino systems can vary in their intensity and so far they are predicting that the 2009-2010 El Nino will be only a moderate one, but it still should bring most of us here in this region more rain this winter/spring. If only we could catch and store all that rainfall for summer! I also think that El Nino brings the NE USA drought conditions because it seems like whenever we have a lot of spring/summer rain here with El Nino, that Tim's family in Pennsylvania always has tremendous drought at exactly the same time.

I'm going to watch the El Nino news closely over the upcoming months and I know we should know by Dec./Jan. if El Nino really is back, and if it will be strong or mild.

Knowing El Nino may be coming in Winter/Spring means that doing garden prep in fall and not leaving it for late winter or early spring will be extra, extra important this year!

If we have a strong El Nino (they're currently saying it will be only a mild one), I'll likely plant my tomatoes only on my highest ground.

As far as forecasting the weather, Randy often refers to weather forecasters here as "professional guessers" and I think that's about as good of a term for them as any. With all the climate variations that combine to give us weather, I should wouldn't want their job though. And, I know we blame the weather forecasters when all they're trying to do is "predict" the weather--they certainly aren't responsible for what it does or doesn't do. LOL

Dawn

Was 101 here today and still 96 at almost 8 and I need to get outside and water some but hate too that warm. After Tuesday they are saying maybe five days of cooler weather. Hopefully it will and give the plants a reprieve and also a chance for some more fruit set.
El Nino usually means more winter moisture and spring rain for us. That one summer I mentioned we got rain till early August and then it slowed down. Most of the rain came from April till early July. I think we had around 28 inches and my sister and her husband had 35. We were talking about building an Ark that year and the last two we haven't been able to even keep a mud puddle. At least no skeeters around. Jay