More - not great weather

It is starting to look like springs of 2009, 2010 and 2011 where
it was wet until late into the spring.

The rain is building the reservoirs back to the needed
level.  Go to Lane County Reservoirs, and look at how
full all of the local reservoirs are to date, good information. 

Snow on Willamette Pass, 27 inches and Santiam Pas 37
inches so the snow level is still way down.

When sunny, the Willamette valley is perfect for
planting cole crops. 

Blossoms - having a hard time getting pollinated so far.
but the blooms seems to do good each year.  Time will tell.

Blooms must be tough

The tree frutis blooming now are going
to have to be tough.
The next week.....rain, rain and hopefully
not more rain, but.....
Temps ranging between 36 to 60 degrees. 

With the type of weather we are having,
 any time it gets above
50 degrees, and there is green leaf tissue, the
chance for apple-pear scab is very high. 
Scab likes warm and wet.

Great weekend

Another great weekend.
Looks like wetter weather for the nest 10 days,
with various levels of wetness - rain.

This past weekend - great for soil tilling.  My soil
was perfect to prepping.  Since I have a larger
area, roto-tilling went extremely well. 

Raised beds are easy to prepare by taking a garden
fork or short spade and turn the soil.  Time to add
organic matter to all gardens and raised beds.  Add
at least 3-5 inches per bed and till in lightly.

Most tree fruits are blooming and so far.....have
avoided much frost and blossom damage.

Plant away

The next few days are great for planting cole or cool
season crops.  Looks like rain later on in the week. 
Also be aware that with the last three chilly AM's may/will
be affecting the the early crop of fruit.  In most places
 the temps have be right around the 29-31 degrees so
many blooms can survive SOME brief low temps.  Just
wait a few days.  As long as the blooms DON'T turn
brown, we are OK.  Issue 2 - the mason and bumble
bees are coming out but slowly.  If we get 60 degrees
 plus temps during the day, the bees/insects can
pollinate.

Sunny and cloudy

Looks like the next 4-5 days are both sunny
and partially cloudy. The BE AWARE, is that the
next two mornings are going to be between 28-32
degrees.  Way too cold for all the blooming plants. 
If possible set up overhead irrigation and turn the
water on, usually around 6 am and leave on until
all of the ice has fallen off of the plants.

Days 6-10 look like more......rain.  So plant as
 much as possible for the cole crops - broccoli, kale,
mustard, peas, cabbage, radishes, etc..

Was good weather

Well, the last few days were REALLY nice and
sunny.  Oh so nice.  The wet soils had almost
dried out and ready for tilling and/or planting.

The next few days, rain off and on for
four days, then part cloudy and sunny.

Have to do some more waiting.

Peach trees are in full bloom.  Hope the orchard bees
and bumbles are ready to pollinate.

Great week

Great days of sunshine.
Finish pruning.
Get the lanw mowed.
Finish picking up the broken branches, prune
 the broken limbs.
Check the soil  by grabbing the soil to see how
wet it is.  If you can squeeze water out of the soil,
 it is tooooo wet.  If the soil doesn't not hold together,
toooo dry.  If it is mold-able, just right for planting.

Planting time will soon be upon us. So be prepared.

Time for asparagus.

Rhubarb is out of the ground 1 foot. 

March 13

Apricots blooming.

Pears, cherries, peaches - showing pink.  With 60
degree days, the blooms will soon be open.
We still have 45 days of potential frosty weather.

Lawns are growing so will need mowing soon.

Finish pruning soon for tree fruits and berries.

Apple and pear trees need a good copper or lime
sulfur - to control anthracnose and clean the tree
of apple scab. Use copper for blackberry anthracnose
 and Septoria;  blueberry Pseudomonas.

Rufus weather

Monday March 3

Seasonal March weather ahead, with a few dry days scattered
among the wet. Mild temperatures will dominate the next couple
of weeks, although periods of snow in the mountains will continue
to benefit the snowpack.

 WIND ALERT: Within that wet package, a strong surface system
 will slam onshore Wednesday evening,  which would really kick-up
 a wind event, esp along the coast. Keep a flashlight handy.

By Thur night, things calm down, dry out, and lead into a fine day
on Saturday. Your Sunday morning  will be enjoyed with rain falling
outside. Nice weather will be paired Friday & Saturday. The
 consistency of the weather pattern will firm up heading into the
week of March 10, so expect a couple wet days, with a few dry
days to be had mid-week. Mild.

 Yep, our fellow citizens to the east will be tormented with continued
slaps of cold temps & snow. The Great Lakes Ice Extent is
nearing 90%, which has only happened twice in the last 40
years: 94.7% & 90.7% in 1979 & 1994, respectively.
The images are impressive, so web-search for some.

-Rufus

http://www.ovs.com/weather_cafe.htm

Sunny weather coming

Sunny weather is coming.......in a while.
Rainy weather is predicted from Saturday
 through Thursday.   Friday is to be cloud
and Saturday, the sun is to shine upon us.

So 6 more days to  look through all of the
seed catalogs and dream about big, red tomatoes; 
chard and lettuce;  nice, ripe strawberries.

We will need to wait a few days as the soil is
VERY wet again.  But since many people were
claiming drought, we now getting more rain.

Willamette Pass - lodge 24 inches and the peak 69
 inches;  Hoodoo - lodge has 48 and the peak 60
so we are doing really well for having nothing
on the passes less than a month ago.

Kosovo's water reservoir is less than half of normal
 and has had NO rain all winter.  Fortunately is is to
start raining Sunday for them. Yeah.

So far away but yet so similar in fruit production
and weather cycles!!