Weather and hints this week

The weather is typical for November.  For the Willamette
Valley, mild and wet.  Highs - 62 to 42 degrees.  Lows - 53
to just below freezing.  Plotted plants need to be protected. 
Place the trees leaves into the flower beds;  place the leaves
on the garden IF you have the weeds under control.  Then cover
 with a big tarp to smother winter annual weds and this lets the
worms get to the leaves.


The weather has been good for the lawn to continue to grow
so look for a dry day to keep the lawn under control....for the
 next four months.


Fruit trees leaves still hanging on but the wind is removing
some of the leaves.  No biggy, unless you have 100 acres that
needs to be pruned.


Plants still are moving into dormancy, we usually call plants
dormant when the leaves are finally off the plant.


For Thanksgiving look to see if there is anything still in the
garden - like chard, kale, broccoli, cabbage, beets, carrots that
 can be used as part of the bounteous gathering.  Most of the
apples and pears got to warm this summer and had center rot from
the hot weather and not enough irrigation.  Mine barely made it
off the trees before rotting.

November

November is here and so has the cold weather.  The next
while will be cool to cold in the AMs and during the day
temps between 42-51 degrees.  Also we will see nice sunny
days and the typical November rainy days.


Lots of leaves are being used and should be used for
insulating the flower and shrub beds, blueberries, berries,
 roses and garden areas.


If you have a compost pile, be sure to cover the pile to
 keep it from getting too wet.


Tree fruits STILL holding onto their leaves.  Maple, ash
and walnut trees almost bare.


Potted plants were hit hard;  so move them into protected
areas or compost.

Be prepared

The media is predicting cold and some storms in places.  Get
on the internet and check our local weather forecast  .Looks like
Tuesday before the cold so you have at least one more day.


10 day forecast - Western Oregon - highs of 51-54 and lows
 of 32-42.  Eastern Oregon highs - 40 and low 29-32.  Eastern - US -
Michigan - 25-36 with maybe some snow, then temps 19-21 later
 next week. 


Time to:  unhook hoses from the house and drain them.  Place
in a protected area. 
Drain any irrigation systems or sprinklers that may have water in them.
Cover faucets.


Warm season veggies - probably toast in the next few days. 
Cole crops - time will tell.
Apples - leave on the tree and then cider them.
Anti freeze any equipment that has a radiator or water.
Ponds - fill to the top.
Pump house - protect with plastic or warming light.

More sunshine

More sunshine this weekend.

Noticed - a lot green tomatoes, the yellow plum
tomatoes are still ripening and many are yellow.

Weeds - going crazy.

Maple leaves - falling pretty heavily.

Apple and fruit leaves - very green.  We need the
 trees to start  dormancy or the cold weather will
 damage the buds, leaf buds and branches.  Nothing
we can do at this point.  Don't prune as pruning will
cause the trees to send out new buds, which will freeze
 in the next while.

Still have green tomatoes ripening

What a great year.  Many other people and I have green tomatoes
still ripening on the vines.  They just continue to keep growing
and producing.  The colder weather is slowing them down but
they continue to ripen and grow.  Yeah.

For green tomatoes, as long as there is "jelly" in the center of the
 tomato, they can be picked and placed in newspaper and brought
into the house and they will slowly ripen.  Be aware that they may
start to rot pretty quickly, so green tomato "products" may need to be
made.  Check the tomatoes at least once a week for those that start to
 go bad.

Filbert harvest - mostly over.  Walnut harvest - mostly over. 

Cole crops - still doing well.

Warm season plants - most of the cucumber, zucc, pumpkins  -
powdery mildew has taken over on them. 

Great acorn squash year.

Control the weeds in the garden.  Mow the grass as needed.

Start emptying the water and irrigation lines, especially with
 the rain, but just be aware that the rain in NOT going very far
into the ground yet!!!!

Weather, Rain and temperature and drought conditions

This is a very good web site on:  weather, rain, temperature
and drought conditions in Oregon and across the United States.

The site has a lot of very good information.

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/support/drought/dmrpt-20141030.pdf

11-02-2014

I got to mow the grass this weekend - it had grown
almost three inches in the last month.

Usually, we start to prune berries and tree fruits
starting in late October or early November.  MOST
of  he leaves are still trees and bushes so pruning
will have to wait for while longer.

Still time to replant lawn seed.

Cold crops - still doing well.

Some fall raspberries and Asian pears.