Lets all email mother nature! She has to be online by now! I know what you mean. I usually have so much of my garden planted by now. Nothing we can do, but complain!

Jay

I am furious as I can be. Unfortunately, I don't know who I can be mad at.

I did get some garden in, peas, lettuce, spinach, onion sets radishes and turnips. NOTHING, except the spinach has sprouted. Luckily these things are cold-weather plants. BUT GET REAL, this is not just cold weather, it's FEBRUARY in April.

I try not to upset Mother Nature, but she must be in memopause or something. Get over it, please.

I'm sorry but it's totally my fault. Ever since I put up my first hoophouse greenhouse the wind has been 45+ mph at least once a week. That was in 2004. So I have a lot of apologizing to do!
Seriously, I really don't remember the wind blowing like that before..ever...and I've lived here 18 years in the same place. It was the very worst this year.

York, you're suffering from a severe case of "Tomatoius Anticipationious" with premature tendencies. There is no cure. Most of the folks posting here also have terminal cases of the same thing.

Ted

I'm not sure angry is the word, but I'm sure sick and tired of this weather. Even tho' I've been spared a lot of deep snow this winter, it's been the longest, nastiest winter I can remember....wind, ice, cold --- blah!!!! To top it off, the next two days are predicted to be below freezing at night, with winds in excess of 40MPH! On second thought, maybe I should be mad at the creators of all these damn windmill farms around here. I'll bet they're in cahoots with Mother Nature!!

Hal in PA too

Well it's April 6th and here in central Missouri it's snowing with a temp of 38 and winds out of the NW at 15 gusting to 30mph. Tonight there is a hard freeze warning with temps in the mid to low 20's. This is "NUTS"

28 tomatoes, 20 peppers, 26 squash, and 16 cucumbers are in the ground. I read the trees..when the mature Pecan trees here start to sprout leaves the freezes are over...hmmmm.
Got down to 33 last weekend, plants survived..suppose to get into the lower 30's tonight..crossing fingers.

Happy Gardening

I just covered 37 out of 41 tomatoes, one out of three squash and one out of I don't know how many basil plants.

I almost want it to freeze to justify my efforts, but really don't want to start over with the plants that are not covered.

I was even getting friggin blooms too! Before, I didn't know if they'd set. Now I'm sure they won't.

I live in Minnesota, granted, but this is ridiculous. I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore! GaryStPaul

Err, umm, 87 degrees in Southern California today. Spring came really early this year, 'maters are approaching 2ft tall and getting bushy....

Yes I am upset, so I went out and kicked mother natures butt. Today she throws me a freeze. Can't get tomatoes out of the greenhouse, for the wind and frost.

Thats just plain cruel buzz.

Damon

buzzsaw's got first maters'..............tomato beach party!!!!

Careful hercules, much as I dislike them also,
creates a lot of jobs for us union millwrights that work for GE and Siemens. (grin)
If I could only come up with a way to use them to process tomatoes.

I saw this in a movie once, so I know it'll work. Here's what you do:

Go to an upstairs window, open it up all the way and stand there in a wife-beater shirt and yell, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this any more!"

I'm sure Mother Nature will be all ears; she'll fix things; really!

I'm not angry because I haven't planted anything but onions and lettuce outside in containers, and I can cover those for the drop into the 20s tonight and tomorrow night.

It wasn't wisdom that urged me to wait but rather my lag in getting things started this year. Only four of my tomato seedlings are large enough (maybe 8 inches tall) to even think about setting out, and they are going to wait for the others! My peppers have only two dinky little leaves above the cotyledons, so they aren't ready either. Everything else will be either direct-sown or started later for Fall.

Let's face it. The weather is the pits this year, and cold spells late in the season are hardly what we'd expect with global warming. (Well, they are, but it seems counter-intuitive.) When I lived in New Jersey 30 years ago, every year I set out my tomatoes on March 15 and remember covering them a couple of times, but just against weather in the 30s, not a freeze.

Maybe we should all do some thinking and planning for unexpected bad weather for the next few years, cold snaps, storms, maybe unusual heat that is destructive to production of some plants. I've thought of fewer "solutions" for heat than for cold. But let's face it -- if our plants are outside in severe cold and the ground itself freezes, we may not be able to save much.

I certainly hope this arctic blast doesn't do too much damage to people's spring gardens, particularly for those who have done all they can to protect the young plants. Our blueberry bushes have just begun blooming and they will probably freeze tonight and tomorrow night. They're at least 15 feet tall so covering them just isn't on the list. I don't know if that means no harvest in July and August or just a reduced harvest.

Fingers crossed!

I stopped the car the other day and scolded a groundhog, didn't work..had snow this morning

In past years I've had tomatoes in the ground by now that made it through very well with only a couple of nights requiring cover. The next week's forecast looks more like mid March here. Certainly no good time for tender crops to be outside in the chill.

The ice caps are melting and their cold is starting to shift towards the equator. In a few years we may need to learn how to make igloos.

Sandy (with tongue firmly planted in cheek)

It's snowing here too. Had to put on the winter coat to pick all the daffodil before they froze. It was hard not to plant tomato seeds too early. I have a few plants that are just now getting true leaves and have more sprouting. The first or second week of June is probably the earliest I can plant them. Years ago it was mid to late May. I'm growing early varities for the first time this year because the past few springs have been so cold.

Grrrrr....28 degrees here in the TX hill country this morning. Our last freeze is supposed to be around Feb 28th. What a pain.

I'm picturing something like the scene in Tropic Thunder where they blow up the jungle..."Take that Mother Nature!".

Haha! I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one! I say we rebel against mother nature, and leave our cars idling overnight! That'll show her! In reality, I have school right now, and wouldn't have time to plant anything anyhow. I should probably be not-so-angry.

Cold & Grumpy!!!!!!! We had snow too. I understand that these things happen but the next week or so doesn't look greatly better. High temps mainly in the low 40's with night temps dipping to upper 20's. I'm ready for some more spring like weather.

I think upstate NY is the new polar ice cap!

This has been the coldest winter in 15 years all across the midwest and east..... Im a meteorologist and this is the worst I have ever seen it in the midwest... never seen so many back to back to back snowstorms and cold.




I feel bad for those west of the Mississippi. I live in Maryland and its been no pick nick here either. Good news is that Ice in the arctic is getting thicker...Go polar bears...lol.... its gardening time people...Summer will come fast and quick..... HANG IN THERE PEOPLE!!!

Righto ric,

'cording to the Almanac, coincidence or not, here in our part of zone 5, we will be dodging showers, with some hot temps and sunshine over the next 3-4 weeks. (not sure how a meteorologist looks at it) :)

Soon as the soil warms consistently. Out those little gems go!!!

Time for a long cool glass of iced tea, at the nearest tea party!!!!!!!!!

After all the hype and lies about the Arctic,
The ice is back to early 1970's levels.
1970's when it was so cold they were predicting the
coming of the next ice age.

I hate this winter, we were cold all the way down here
the first of Oct, and have stayed cold all winter.
Too long, too cold, too miserable.

Corrie

I was angry but now I'm kind of depressed. I got laid off March 13th (Friday) so I've been working a bunch on my garden and landscaping since I had lots of time. It went down to 28 last night and was below freezing for several hours. This was the latest freeze in my 15 years of gardening. My tomato plants came through about 98% fine- I had them covered with large plastic pots & trash cans. I didn't have pots for 15 pepper plants so I used thick plastic trash bags over cages- should have used cloth sheets. I lost 4 plants. Funny thing is, I had one Ca Wonder transplant that was really 2 plants side-by-side, but only one died and the other one looks fine! Does anyone know if pepper plants come back like tomato plants after leaves freeze?

I live in Minnesota and I never plant my garden till the day after mothers day. I know its safe from freezing I guess I'll see this year. Mothers day is nearly here.

But I may have some information about why our planet is struggling and we may be doomed soon. Did any of you here about the large matter headed strait in to our galaxy. Nasa believes its effecting our planet earth already. on December 22, 2012 a large mass will pass the earth and the sun so basically right between us and the sun I wonder if that is really what's effecting our planet besides the stuff we did to our planet.

Sorry to hear about your job loss, timbhart.

Corrie

Antarctica isn't doing so great though.

anney, that's just more bull hockey, lying and hype.

According to the latest NASA, NOAA, and IPCC reports,
while Arctic sea ice was only down less than 7%,
Antarctic sea ice is up 43%.

The latest IPCC report:
"Current global studies project the Antarctic ice sheet will remain too cold for widespread surface melting and is expected to gain in mass."
"Sea ice at Antarctica is up over 43% since 1980, Arctic ice is down less than 7%."

All this hype and fear mongering by the media and agenda driven scientists is reprehensible.

Corrie

Corrie

We'll see. The Antarctic ice shelves are melting and breaking off from the continent under them at alarming rates.

Yours is just an opinion drawn from what has been studied as is mine. We just value different information. Let's leave it at that. Time will tell.

Here I stand, staring at my freshly planted strawberry jar, wondering if the drooping plants spell doom for the plants. Also, I have so-called everblooming hydrangeas that don't look like they will ever sprout (just got them last fall). So, I join with my fellow gardeners in insisting that this winter weather BE GONE!

Anybody have Al Gore's email addy?

This is just another example of global warming!!
I figure if I'm zone 6 in 2009, by 2019 I should be zone 7.
So just wait about 200 years and you should be fine.

anney,

I'm not giving you opinion,
I'm giving you facts.

Ice is not stable or static, it breaks off.
That's what it has to do or the entire world would
be covered in ice.
Ice has been doing that since the beginning of time.

I value facts, not emotional, fear and agenda driven opinions.

This is a fact:
The latest IPCC report:
"Current global studies project the Antarctic ice sheet will remain too cold for widespread surface melting and is expected to gain in mass."
"Sea ice at Antarctica is up over 43% since 1980, Arctic ice is down less than 7%."

Corrie

Okay, Corrie, I don't agree with your "facts" since there are others, but as I said before, let's drop it. Nobody wants to read a climate change argument on the Tomato Forum.

I don't agree with your "facts" because you don't have any "facts".

Try keeping up with the real science and the real "facts",
and not the hyped up, agenda driven, fear mongering.

The UN's IPCC scientists also admitted that there has been
no global warming, no increase in temperatures,
in the past 12 years.
If anything, temperatures have gone down,
but the decrease in temperatures is within the margin of error.

That is also a "fact".

Corrie

I'm with the others -- tired of cold, snow (snow showers yesterday), and wind. This DOES seem like an extremely long winter, and I have the heating bills to prove it. :-)

Last spring was cold, too, and we had to delay our plantings. Enough, already!

Does anyone have Mother Nature's email address?

It really stinks, got 8" snow monday. I just might plant some pepper seeds this week-end. Tomatos are a couple weeks away yet.

(((Oh ya- Corrie>>>>>>>>>>>>put a sock in it!)))

Yea...finally we're back up to the 60's today in middle TN after two frosts in a row (and almost a third last night!). I actually had to move my garlic chives indoors Monday night cuz I was afraid they would get hurt by the 2nd frost. They can usually take cold temperatures very well.

Anyways, Corrie: How the heck can you be worried about cold weather living in the Florida Keys? lol...sorry, I just have to ask. I graduated HS in Clearwater, FL. and winters were never very long with very few frosts and quite often, no cold temperatures....and you are a few hundred miles south of that.....

The plants that I attempted to save received more damage than the ones I left uncovered. Still, I guess it's better safe than sorry. I am a little upset that I went out and purchased Burpee's version of the WOW's called Aqua Shield. The two that were NOT wrapped around tomato cages collapsed onto the plants. The plants snapped back up, but I'm still a bit peeved that the WOW's collapsed in the first place. What can I do beyond putting them around cages to stabilize the them so that they don't crush my plants?

archerb

Could you cut the top and bottom off a gallon plastic bleach container and set it around the plant with the WOW just outside it? If it's too large, you could always slit it the long way and tape it so the diameter is smaller.

archerb

Sorry, I should have looked up the AquaSheilds first. A plastic bleach bottle certainly won't be too large if the WOWs have an 18" diameter! But maybe something like this would at least keep the WOWs from collapsing onto your plants.

Corrie,
You can also add the fact that many "Arctic" glaciers are advancing. Temps in Alaska have been declining for years.
I've lived there until about 5 years ago and still go back every summer for visits. The local data does not jive with the Gov't data. In one small town I lived in, the local data has temps 3.5 deg lower over 35 years. Washington's data shows an increase in that town. When asked for the source of their info, they ignored the request. Just where did they get that info? They made it up, plain and simple.

I could go on about many things the cooling has affected there, but as expected, people would ignore it.
Give it up Corrie, the only response you'll get is just like this intelligent one from above......

(((Oh ya- Corrie>>>>>>>>>>>>put a sock in it!)))

Your time can be better spent talking to your plants.

Thanx for the attempt Anney.

It is really frustrating.

The first that bugs me is they work! I put one around a BC (Black Cherry) plant and NOT one around the BC right next to it. Right now, the one that had the WOW around it literally twice the size of the one without it. It was kind of funny because the one with the WOW did not have to put up with the wind and as soon as I pulled the WOW off, it fell over. It's staked and doing well now, but it was amazing how much better it is doing than the rest of them (thin stem and all).

Next, it's not like I did anything wrong. I followed the instructions. I placed a 5-gallon bucket over the plant, filled the WOW's 2/3 the way up and pulled the bucket out. They stood fine, telling me that it is not a problem with uneven ground or anything. I go out there the next day and there they are, laying in a puddle of their own water with a now very unhappy plant underneath them. I have bought two boxes of three and out of each box, one has worked as advertised.

I think I'll just use them around the cages from now on or find some other way of "staking" them.

Finally, forgive my venture off topic here, but since we are talking about Global Warming on a tomato thread, let me throw my nickel in:

Corrie, the reason for Global Warming is to control you. First, GW (Global Warming, not Garden Web) allows the Gov't to control your energy, which is everything you own. They can regulate your car, your home, your computer... everything. For example, they can tell you that your AC is on too much. Then they tell you that your house is too energy efficient and regulate the efficiency of new homes (make them smaller). Finally, you will find yourself in an apartment. They will not only tell you what kind of car to drive, but they will start to tell you WHERE you can drive it. Eventually, you will be allowed trips to the grocery store and work only without special permission (papers please?). Or you can take public transportation (read: Government controlled transportation).

Also, if you are wondering about the warming and temperature data, look at whose paying for it. If the research is payed for by government grants, it is suspect. Whoever pays the bills is in control! Never trust research that is payed for by politicians, especially when the data gives them more power (I'm looking at you, IPCC).

The next step is to put government in control of health care. That means that the government will control everything you ARE, meaning your body. Whoever pays is in charge. When the government is pays, they will be in charge of not only which doctor you see, but what that doctor tells you. They will be able to tell you what to do, what to eat (home grown vs store bought tomatoes?), how many kids you can have and so on.

Once those two things are in place, you are under complete government control. That's what it is all about, control.

OK, my tin-foil hat is off now. Back to talking about tomatoes! I'm getting blooms on my Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Eva Purple Ball, Black Cherries and Texas Star. What are the odds of these actually setting fruit on foot tall plants?

(again, please forgive the off-topic-ness)

I have no idea how this turned into a global warming thread. Knock it off, y'all!

York is right. However, the thread is "Anybody Else Angry?". Well, that's the stuff that makes me angry. So, now that my piece has been stated, we should all knock it off. :-)

However, Now for some stuff that makes me happy.

Saw my first tomato of the year! It's a Black Cherry and it's about the size of pencil eraser. How long until I can expect to eat that bad boy?

Well, I was going to post about my garden, but since this is a political thread, I guess I'll go find a thread about GARDENING.

Glad to hear that, herb! You might try fooling people into thinking that you've developed a red blueberry!

I realize this is not a global warming thread, and that's why I am posting this link. For some perspective. The town of Aksha in Siberia (yes, Siberia!) recorded 80 F today.

I am posting this because ultimately, it's the global temperature anomaly that counts, not what happens in a small part of North America.

As for where I live (in western Canada), we've had some record lows in March to balance out the record highs last fall.

Here is a link that might be useful: Heat Wave