Plant it and Pullet: Hurricane

I started this post the day before Irene, but in our hurry to make sure that tomatoes were supported, I never published! So now, here is the original before post, with updates about where we are now.

August 27: We're concerned about the tomatoes, I just need to put that out there. My tomato plants have trouble standing upright in normal weather. I think tropical storm winds and heavy rain are going to be a serious problem for my poor plants. Mike tried to reinforce their (already reinforced) cages and stakes today. I also went through the garden and tried to pick all of the ripe tomatoes and eggplants, and sent them home with my parents. I'm also worried about my cucumber plant, just given how much trouble I've had getting the vines to stay on their trellis. I told them to hang on. Hopefully that should do it.

The garden 8-27-2011

Peppers and tomatoes 8-27-2011

We aren't supposed to get hit with the storm until late tomorrow night, so tomorrow during the day we'll probably do one last check to see if there is anything else that we can shore up.

Eggplants and tomatoes 8-27-2011

I've been lax about blogging lately, and sadly, that is reflective of the amount of time that I've been able to spend out in the garden. Most recently, we had Lily spayed on Thursday, and I'm now spending an inordinant amount of time trying to keep her and Bullet from playing too roughly. She seems to feel perfectly fine, and does not understand why I keep sucking the fun out of puppy playtime.

Despite the recent neglect, the giant pumpkin plant is doing very well. The plant is enormous, and we have several fruits, one of which I think is going to be the pumpkin, because it's the biggest so far (and I still haven't read my giant pumpkin book which outlines to more scientific way to pick and develop your chosen pumpkin).

Me with the giant pumpkin plant 8-27-2011

Our biggest giant pumpkin as of 8-27-2011

We were pretty lucky with the hurricane. We got about 2.5 inches of rain, and lots of wind - but nearly everything in the garden stayed relatively upright, and the only trees that we lost were at the back of our property, far away from the house, barn and chicken coop. I was nervous beforehand, because we have three very dead, very large pine trees directly behind the barn and chicken coop, but we (and the girls) dodged a bullet there this time.

Brussels sprouts after the storm 8-30-2011

Mike taking care of a downed tree 8-30-2011

Tilted cosmos 8-30-2011

The chickens did not seem to be terribly bothered by the weather. We went outside several times during the storm, and at least some of the girls were always out in their yard. I don't think I have very smart chickens. After the hurricane, they enjoyed some quality dirt bathing. We have very, very happy chickens.

The giant pumpkin plant's leaves were thrown around quite a bit in the wind, but the plant itself doesn't appear to be irreparably damaged. The squash plants in the squash field fared the best. They are on a slope, and I think they were protected from the wind. After all of the bugs and farmer neglect they've endured, I think they deserved a free pass during the storm.