Nor'easter

We have been having a nor'easter sitting off our coastline and it will continue through Wednesday. A nor'easter is a classic New England storm pattern. A cold core low pressure system sits right off our coast in the Atlantic. The storm lives on the clash of the warm weather being brought up from the south and the cold air coming down from the north. The rotation of the storm brings heavy rains and strong winds. The winds come from the north east, hence the name of the storm. We have had nor'easters worse than some of our hurricanes, but the systems aren't as well organized as a hurricane and thrive where cold air is predominant. We usually see nor'easters from late autumn to early spring since they are associated with cold air, not warm air. Our nastiest blizzards are all from nor'easters. It is a very sad summer when you get a nor'easter. Very sad indeed.

And since it is supposedly summer the storm wasn't too bad. On the Cape the winds were over 50 mph but here probably only around 25mph. That was bad enough to cause some issues in the garden. My peas were blown all to one side. I tried as best I could to put them back, but I think the snow peas and snap peas are permanently grown together. I hope I don't let the snow peas get too big. You can tell the pods apart, but it is easier to pick all the flat pods if they are in one section.

Though it doesn't look bad here. The tomatoes had quite a few branches break off. Emma was more than a foot over her cage. Her stem was a half inch thick where the cage ended, but it wasn't strong enough and broke off. There were numerous branches here and there that broke off. One of the cayenne peppers lodged. I staked it back up.

The three sisters garden held its own or at least the three sisters did. The cilantro and marigolds that inhabit this section all blew over. I cut off numerous branches of marigolds. They will grow back. This marigold seems to like to creep around the garden and I want it to stay put. Its branches fall over and they root where they hit then keep going. I'm starting to cut them off. I don't want a marigold garden. I tied up some of the cilantro to the bean poles. The rest will have to flower running along the ground. I hope it doesn't die.

I have numerous flowers that have fallen over. My feverfew always does. I have it staked up, but this year it is taller than last year so the stakes are too short and it fell over anyway. Luckily I used one of those bamboo poles that I bought the other day for my solitary Lemon Queen sunflower. It is still alive and thriving. I really want to count those bees and it is my only one left. I have to take care of it.

The other issue with all our wet weather has been the invasion of the slugs. They are starting to take over the garden. I have to go out and handpick early tomorrow morning. If I get a few dry days in a row I'm going to put out some diamotacious earth. I don't use it often, but when my other nemesis, the earwigs, start getting bad I need to get them under control. They hide in little places that I can't get to - like the middle of my lettuce heads. They destroy them when they get bad. I found a few in one lettuce head that I harvested today which means control is necessary. Sigh. If it would stop raining I could do something about them.