Accumulating snow on April 20. Note the redbuds and dogwood in bloom.
Last week Mike and I experienced accumulating snow. It's certainly not the first time it has snowed in April in St. Louis. In fact it's not that uncommon to receive snow in early April. However, in the 36 Aprils I have lived in St. Louis, none has included an accumulating snow after the middle of the month, until this one.
It was bad enough to receive snow, but worse that it was accompanied by two freezes, on the mornings of April 21 (30F) and April 22 (32F). All of the fruit trees except for the persimmons had flowered and leafed out. Only the pawpaw trees show damage to the leaves and flowers, so it could have been worse. I won't know how significantly this year's pawpaw crop has been affected for some time.
This isn't the post I promised you on what I'm asking the garden this year. After I complete another writing commitment I will write that post. But I do want to draw your attention to Lisa Brunette and her blog Cat In The Flock. Lisa and I met through a mutual interest in John Michael Greer's work and found out we share gardening and blogging interests and write about our gardens, among other topics, on our blogs. Lisa and her husband Anthony Valterra live in another of St. Louis' many suburbs. In the last year or so we've become friends, and I've become a fan of Lisa's blog (you'll see it over on the blogroll). If you enjoy my blog, you'll enjoy Lisa's as well. I really like her and Anthony's sense of style as well as the practical work that they do. They make living with LESS beautiful!
Recently, as Lisa explains on her blog, she interviewed me and will feature that interview on three posts. You'll find the first post here. The next two go live on May 2 and May 5. I encourage you to read them and to enjoy the other posts on Lisa's blog as well. And thanks to Lisa for the interviews and for her work!
Claire, it was such a privilege and pleasure to talk with you and learn about your lifestyle and garden. Thanks for sharing with our readers at Cat in the Flock!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the interview! It was great fun to talk gardening with you!
DeleteDear Claire,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your detailed observations. I only recently started to read your blog and I am very happy to have learned a lot.
I have been gardening vegetables for seven years in an allotment on a sandy hill, most years getting better results, mainly thanks to improving observation skills and adding of .5 m3 "compost" every year. (very variable contents...)
However, not yet done any soil tests. I got very inspired to look into soil testing alternatives and to get more data on this.
The only consistent givers have been the berries, potatoes and the leaf-trees (linden, toona). Everything else has been all over the place, but overall better each year.
Thanks again,
Goran
I too find that the berries are consistent givers, until the weeds overtake them. Among fruit trees, the American persimmon is the most consistent. Among crops, tomatoes are the most consistent for me. Weather is one potential source of inconsistent yields, a large contribution for me.
DeleteGlad to hear that your crops are doing well on compost! That suggests your soils are in good mineral balance. If you get a soil test, you can check for that.