A number of wells have run dry in our area north of Gainesville, and ours is a meager producer so we've stopped watering almost altogether. I'd taken the risk of planting some more shrubs in early spring, hoping rainfall would cooperate, and have apparently lost, so the little water used will mostly go to keep older, more valuable plants alive. I hate this.

Ed, we have hit 97 a couple of times. We have a remote set up on the front porch out of the sun. During the day my corn is stressed big time, but opens up at night. I know it's in trouble when it is still curled in the morning. Have been watering what I can hoping for some relief in the form of rain.
Hope you get some too and the others that need it.

Shot

shot, after I posted that message I thought to myself - "I'll bet shot has seen 90 degrees already". But 97, wow!

Best of luck to you in getting some rain. How much corn did you plant this year and how long until harvest time?

I am sooo sick and tired of this drought, as I'm sure all of you are. I never thought it would get this hot and dry this early. Now I'm wishing I hadn't planted anything at all this spring. I planted a few annuals, a brugmansia, and a couple of other things. I have 3 rain barrels and I just emptied out one the other day...

I feel like the official spring is over...along with any garden work I wanted to do. Until cool weather sets in, fall, no more planting or new beds. I still need to trim some plants back but it's so hot that by the time I finish watering, it's time to quit for the day.

and i just planted 20 new plants 10 days ago :D

oi vey!

Don't forget that we can water now, Sattilite. We are now on Georgia State restrictions, you can find them at the Atlanta water website. You can also file for a permit to water new plantings.
I used all my rain barrel water but one the other day. Tonight I watered some using a bucket drench method which works great on newly worked or really nice loose soil. Sinks right in there and fast.
Toting water is rough, but if you can fit a bucket in the shower with you, you can save a lot of water. Also from the washer, dishwater etc. We just use all natural soap products. And since the air conditioners are running, keep your condensate.
I can't wait until I get my ginormously huge rain tank and I think I want one of those rain pillows under the front crawl space too. Throw a pump on them and away we go....
Some people have been worried about stagnating grey water. You can get chlorine tabs or you can use a UV light sterilizer to help get rid of the yuck.

GGG

I was hoping for a couple of more weeks before we hit the 90s too. I have some annuals that I bought a couple of weeks ago (bright red stuff to attract hummingbirds) that hasn't gotten planted yet. :-(

98 here! Today, tomorrow and (I think) Saturday. I had grabbed some last-minute Kaleidoscope Abelia shrubs last weekend and rushed to get them put out yesterday morning. I am watering them twice a day with buckets and they still look puny during the hottest part of the day.

Eek.

I got a box of goodies on Monday that I ordered in the Bluestone sale (ahem, and a second box due to arrive tomorrow). Both shrubs and perennials. I've been planting them in the evenings. At least they are all so tiny that I'm hoping they hold up a little better.

After that, I've told myself no planting till fall. Well, unless I find the "Don's Dwarf" wax myrtle or the Sambucus "Black Lace" I'm looking for anywhere...!

First off, let me say that is good to see familiar sigs here... GGG, mk87, jmz, bumble, vicki... did I miss anyone??? One that is absent is Herboil.

GGG, if the whole world was as conservative as you then we wouldn't be in the mess that we are in now. I salute you, ma'am.

Ed, thanks for asking about my corn. I am always happy to talk about it... lol. Just wish I knew more about shrubs and such as you guys. I wonder if you have any degrees or special training? Surely, you couldn't pick up that much knowledge without it.

On the 27 March I planted about an acre of Peaches & Cream corn and it is silking nicely and should be ready for harvest in 1 - 2 weeks (I hope). Also, planted about an acre of Silver Queen corn on 11 April and it is just about ready to tassle. In a field away from the house I planted about half an acre of Hickory King field corn for the deer and turkey during the winter months. In that field I also planted 3 types of butter beans and maybe an acre or so of sunflowers (for the wildlife). In the field where the sweet corn is planted I also planted 4 different types of cowpeas and noticed awhile ago that the pinkeye purple hulls are blooming nicely and should be able to pick a mess in another week. Planted those for my sister and any others that want to pick. I hate to ask people if they would like a mess of peas and they ask "are they picked?".

Didn't mean to write a novel... here are some photos I took a few days ago for Pnbrown in Vegetable Garden forum.
First one is the P&C corn.
Second is Silver Queen and last is just a general shot of the peas. Eight rows next to corn is the pinkeyes.

Daughter called last night from Atlanta and complained of the heat....... sheesh... she is an accountant... a lot she knows about heat... guess her car is hot when she starts home. lol

Ed, thanks for starting this thread as it is good to hear from my friends.

Shot

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Good grief, those rows are purdy! Shot, you are a real "artiste" when it comes to vegetables.

I tell you, if I lived down that way, I'd pick my own peas - you are so kind to share them with others. I hope you will share a picture of the sunflowers when they bloom. Someone near me does that also and it is a sight to see.

No degrees in anything to do with plants. A degree in Economics that I'm not using - working for IBM in software design these days. I got interested in gardening after joining the native plant society in early 2000 and have been learning ever since. With the state the world in these days, gardening has become a way to get back in tune with nature and the simple life.

Awww shucks Ed, you embarrass me... thanks kind sir. Like you, it is something that I enjoy doing.

Sounds like a good, secure job! My oldest step-son lives in Atlanta also and works in software design. He has a degree in computer science from Univ of N. Florida. Me... just from the school of hard knocks as I was a policeman/deputy sheriff for 25 years in Jax, Fl.

Shot

"With the state the world in these days, gardening has become a way to get back in tune with nature and the simple life."

Hear, hear.

I have been working for a large conditional access software/hardware provider specializing in embedded systems (broadcasting related), and sounds like it may not be too far removed from that job @ IBM.

I'm on my first home, and the more and more I get into it both growing food and plants, the more I daydream about making a business out of it so I can do something else that I really enjoy.

shot, a degree from the school of hard knocks is admirable indeed. I have high admiration for you and what you've done with yourself!

satellitehead, I guess that explains your screen name ... ;)

oh boy, does it ever...going on 10 years with the same company in May '09, i've been at this far too long for my own good.

shot's photos above actually remind me a lot of my Grandfather's farm in West Monroe, LA. i kinda miss it - he grew everything from blackeyed peas to white corn on his 40 acres. we went to visit at harvest time and he'd make us pick every last bit of it. i remember sitting around as a family stringing beans and shooting the breeze every year when i was in the single digits of age, then having beans and other stuff in the freezer for the year to come.

i often ask myself how i went from life in the backwoods of LA and TX - living simple - to being in metro Atlanta, 3 miles from the capitol building, living on 1/6th of of an acre and working as a hired keyboard massager. :)

Shoot (I mean Shot...or really what I meant was "shoot" as in "dang" or "heck")...I grew up in Mississippi and several of my relatives were farmers. When somebody says, "Do you want a mess of (fill in the blank), I ASSUME it's my responsibility to bring the bucket and elbow grease! I hate to sound like an old lady, but let me tell you I was SOME shocked when I found out how much pecans are here in GA. We always used to pick up at my aunt and uncle's place where I grew up, so we always got them for free. Didn't even know what a sheller was 'til I got here either. $7.99 a pound sometimes here! I couldn't believe it. My husband, from LA, is the same way about shrimp. Blows his mind. I have not started my veggie gardening yet (one thing at a time), but I have found the site and I'm going to turn it all under and compost it this fall in preparation.

Oh Shot, what I wouldn't give for all that land to grow things on. DH thinks I'm crazy, but I would L-O-V-E to just have a big ol farm with a great ol farmhouse and horses and chickens and cows. Surely, I must've been a farmgirl in a previous life. :-)

How's your potato bin experiment coming along? I couldn't get my act together in time to build a bin, so I'm trying (almost embarassed to say) a trash bag. Yep. Poked some holes in the bottom, put some dirt in and planted. As the taters come up, I add more dirt. Won't be as easy to harvest from the bottom, but we'll see how it goes for production.

Hi all!!! Hope everyone staying cool as cucumbers. Just think... we got 3 more months of this to look forward to... think I shoulda been born a yankee as I can take the cold weather better than this heat. Course, I never really seen any snow to amount to anything. Saw in the weather forcast that it will be hotter in D.C. than Atlanta over the weekend.

Ed, for those kind words, sir, if any of our kids in Atlanta come down during harvest then I will make sure they bring some back up there for you. They live in the Buckhead area, if you know where that is located. Will advise more when time draws nearer.

Satellitehead, I can relate to what you are saying. My story is the typical country boy that couldn't wait to get grown to move to the big city... then spent most of my adult life trying to make enough money to move back to the country... does make sense???
The days of the small farms are gone. You have to own or rent enough land so that you will have a large volume as you only make a little on each acre. I have been to several equipment auctions and the biggest selling items were things for 2 row tractors that people would use for their gardens, like me. Four row stuff you couldn't give away as the large farmers have went to 6 - 8 row equipment or larger and the home gardener only needs 2 row equipment.
You mentioned sitting around doing the veggies... some of my fondest memories involves pulling up peanuts and sitting around picking them off to boil. Us teens would have a party and boil peanuts in a large wash pot (if any of you know what that is). The cast iron would turn the hulls almost black, but boy were they good... especially if there was a cute little girl sitting next to you... (blush)

Mk87, wish everyone thought like you. Same with fish... "are the cleaned?". We have two large pecan trees in the back yard and one fairly young in the front. This past season was a record breaker I think for pecans. My trees were so heavy with nuts that it was dangerous to be underneath them as limbs (huge ones) kept breaking off. I took one of my chain saws and cut up and saved the bigger pieces for fireward or bbqing. (love to bbq) Several hundred pounds of Stewarts (only kind you can sell here) from one tree. They brought .60 a pound. Quite a diffence from $7.99 huh? The other tree is paper shells and we shelled them and put most in the freezer. Course, me and the dogs eat quite a few right out of the shell. Both my dogs loves pecans, but one will only eat them if you shell them for him. The other will crack his own. Think the one has me pretty well trained... lol
One of my wife's brothers still lives in the Jacksonville area and when he comes up for a visit, he goes by Mayport (fishing village at the entrance to the St. Johns River) and brings us a mess of shrimp. My wife can fry them just the way I like... correction... love'em.

JMZ, think it is great that you are a country girl at heart. Wish you were my neighbor. My wife was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida and she is also a country girl at heart. When we moved up here she bought a bunch of chickens from one of my cousins. We also got two dogs and some cows. Things she had always wanted. Told her when I'm dead and gone she could sell the farm and move back to the city... you would have thought I spit in her face... lol.
About the potatoes... you would have to bring them up... we broke down and opened up one of the two bins... lots of ants and few potatoes. My brother-in-law on the other hand had almost 2 - 5 gal. buckets full out of his bins and he planted a week after me... I gave him the left over potatoes from my planting. We discussed this in another message or forum and think my problem was too much dirt and not enough mulch or straw. The plants grew well, but it appears that the dirt packed down and there was really no place for the potatoes. Think about it... when you plant them in a row and throw dirt to them as they grow, the potatoes expand and push the dirt up and away. Hard to do that with 2 - 3 feet of dirt on top of you and boards on the side.

My wife has gone to Jacksonville for the weekend for one of the grandkids birthday. So, I'm baching it.

Got to end this novel and go gather some cucumbers.

Hope all have a great weekend and lets keep watching the tropics for a tropical storm to move up the gulf and dump some rain on us. (Not a hurricane please, Lord)

Shot

shot, would you send me an email via GW? I'd send you one, but you don't have yours set up. Just click on "my page" next to my name in this post and then "send an email".

Done Ed. I also updated my page to show same.

Shot

Wow, Shot, what a nice, huge looking garden.

DH planted 6 tomato plants, and they look 'spindly'...
Suppose to be in the mid 90's today...if we get rain at this temperature, a tornado would probably follow it.
Can anyone remember...when we only had to worry about tornadoes, in early Spring...and they rarely touched-down (?) Now, it seems that it's almost any season.
Mother Nature can be cruel.

Why thank you, Ms. Ashli for the flowers.
If we don't get some rain soon, the garden will be in vain. Well, not really as I have enjoyed it so far. Suppose to be about 99 here today.
Tomatoes are wife's concern. She has 3 raised veggie beds and all I do is water them.
Tornadoes are really scary things and the area where I live is fairly flat and few people have basements. In Florida we had to worry about hurricanes.
On Mother's Day, I think, of this year we had a tornado kill two people in the county where I live (Laurens).
Gonna tell you my age now... I remember Porter Wagoner having a song called "Big Wind a comin'".

Shot

shot, I sent you an email. Let me know if you didn't get it.

Ed, it didn't show up in my email yet. Sometimes it puts them into a hold folder that I can't remember how to access as my wife does that. She won't be back until Monday and will have her move it into mine as I'm sure that's where it is.

Shot