Dry Hurricane

The rain from Hurricane Irene may have drenched the coast, but it left Charlotte high and dry. The garden had to be watered on Sunday. Watching people fighting high water on the coast, while the soaker hoses are running seems so unfair. The dry weather seems to have slowed the tomatoes and ended the squash, but it does not seem to bother the okra.

Sunday was a good time to start the fall garden. The soil is still too warm for cabbage and things like that, but the turnips, mustard and kale do not seem to be as sensitive to soil temperature for germination. Carrots, beets, spinach, cabbage, onion sets, broccoli and Brussels sprouts will have to wait.

Several beds that were occupied by squash and squash family plants need to be renewed for fall or spring planting. The ones for fall planting can just be reworked and not mulched. The ones for spring will get a heavy layer of mulch to stimulate decomposition of compost and generation of earthworms.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com