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By Judith, 05/26/2011 4:48 pm

Found this pic on-line...We had hail this large in 2006

Hail Storms in the West….

In the spring of 2006, just before relocating to Idaho, a super cell ripped through our town breaking windows and damaging cars…. We suffered both. Hand sized chunks of jagged ice dropped like bombs from the sky. It was a bad storm.

We will never forget that freaky, weird, green color in the sky which was the tell tale sign of the danger that moved us quickly inside to safety. I knew more than one person that was badly bruised from getting caught outside without cover. Several friends had windows broken. The car dealers took a real bad hit… Our new Nissan was badly dimpled as were most of the cars in the area.  Fortunately because of our impending move we didn’t plant a garden that year. If we had, it would have been utterly destroyed.

Keeping the Garden…

That was by far the most severe storm I’d ever encountered in Oregon in my 41 years of living there. Every year, though, we would experience hail storms that would threaten to pulverize new seed beds. Little starts would be pummeled to destruction by marble sized hail. Larger plants would have their leaves ripped and battered; stunting growth and inviting disease after the storm had passed.

So now, I try to make every effort to protect tender plants from the devastation of pelting ice rocks.

I cover the potatoes with a covering of straw. Use grass reed fencing to protect young peas and lettuce plants. Tender herbs are protected using whatever is available inverted buckets or baskets work well . Strong winds usually accompany hail so precautions need to be taken to ensure the “cover” won’t end up at the neighbors or into another one of  YOUR planted areas..causing more damage. Well placed rocks, bricks , stepping stones, etc make good weights for holding down cover. I have them staged around my yard for just such occasions.

 

Food in the garden=Money in the bank

A  healthy garden is like money in the bank…

Food prices are going up.. who knows where they will top out…
I need to protect my investment of money and time with a little preparation. Hopefully this season won’t see any super cell storms,  but if it does I’ll be ready.  Knowing what you will do when severe or unseasonal weather threatens your kitchen garden is an important consideration.. My advice to new gardeners is this… have your protection supplies ready. It only takes 5 minutes of pelting hail to ruin your plants.

Have a plan and be ready to go.

Stage your materials around the ares of the garden that you feel are at the most risk. Tender herbs and small seedlings are the most vulnerable. Don’t wait until the hail is already coming down. Be alert to changes in the weather . Feel the air is it icy ? has the wind picked up? are the clouds dark and threatening? With all the crazy weather going on, fine tune  YOUR radar to what is going on around you.

If you can’t be home make plans to have non-damaging cover over your plants if you feel the threat of bad weather is high. But don’t leave things like dark colored buckets over the top of plants all day if you expect it to be sunny. You’ll come home to cooked plants.

If you have a stay at home neighbor that you can trust with your yard, make arrangements with them in advance to protect your garden in your absence. If they ever have to help you, don’t forget to share the bounty with them

New to Gardening?

Don’t be a worry wart but do be proactive.. And even if it does ‘hail on your parade’, it’s not the end of the world. If you sustain damage just get busy and replant as soon as the weather permits. Your garden is extension of your kitchen and with practice you’ll learn to  keep up with it as easily as you do your inside pantry.

My grandson Ashton, enjoying the idea of eating Savta's watermelon.

Thanks to DutchSinse YouTuber for his valuable weather monitoring…  http://www.youtube.com/user/dutchsinse

Here’s a little video to encourage you to be ready to protect your veggies and herbs…

Blessings….and as always!   Keep Food REAL!

Judith

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By Judith, 05/11/2011 10:04 am

It’s not too early to get ready  for the bounty of the season..

A quality dehydrator is essential equipment during the growing season to ensure you get the most from your gardening efforts.

Please, seriously consider purchasing the Excalibur Dehydrator. With use, it pays for itself the first year!

Example…..Make your own Energy bars, store price $2.49  home made $ .75 ….

I’ve owned, and borrowed, various dehydrators over the years and by far the Excalibur IS the BEST!

So don’t wait…. get yours before you have a counter over flowing with    produce

Keep Food REAL

Blessings, Judith

I appreciate your making your order through my site…

Kitchen Counter Culture donates 10% of profits to help farmers and vineyard owners in the Shomron region of Israel

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