07 June 2017

Heat-seeking organisms

Yesterday's weather was downright chilly, especially in the morning. It was gusty all day, and the wind felt cold. We had some rain showers.


Last week when it was hot, I spotted this lizard on the south-facing wall of the house. He was up pretty high, seeking the heat of the sun, so this is a long-zoom image. On those rare days when it does get good and hot here, we see a lot of lizards, and Callie loves chasing them.


We can't grow good crops of sweet basil every year because the weather is just not hot enough in this northerly region. Walt has this planter full of basil seedlings started in the greenhouse, and a friend gave us a pot of Thai basil seedlings that she started. We will probably plant most or all of the basil in pots so that we can keep it in the greenhouse if the weather turns chilly or damp. Maybe that will work.

18 comments:

  1. Pauline plants it in with the cherry tomatoes in the polytunnel.... we have tried outdoors, but like you, with very mixed results.
    Thai basil is lovely...both to look at and eat....we grew a curly leaved variety once.... in a mixed pot of basils.... it looked lovely!

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    1. Yes, the basil needs protection from the weather in this climate. I once took a pot of it to friends in Normandy. They didn't know what it was at first, since they had never before seen it growing. That was in the summer of 2003, so I hope it grew for them that year at least.

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  2. I usually buy a pot of basil at Trader Joe's and then propagate it. Hope you have good luck, but if not check out Chris' tutorial.

    https://thecafesucrefarine.com/how-to-propagate-basil-from-cuttings/

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    1. I have propagated basil in the past by taking cuttings and rooting them (works well with coleus plants too). The problem here is that it's not usually warm enough for basil to flourish unprotected outdoors. I think it will be warm enough in the greenhouse and it may do well. One year we grew basil under a coldframe and that was successful.

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  3. Talking about heat-seeking organisms, I have a close and intimate relationship with one ... myself! :-)

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    1. LOL. Il ne fait pas chaud ces jours-ci. Il faut attendre demain, comme d'hab.

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  4. surprised Mr B isn't the one chasing the lizzards

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    1. B-Bert seems to have a predilection for green lizards. He's never brought in a brown one. Callie has never caught a lizard, to my knowledge.

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  5. Here in Maine, which is definitely less warm than where you are, basil can do pretty well if it can make it through the beginning of the growing season. I always buy seedlings from farmers, and some years I have to start over after a couple of weeks because the first batch doesn't make it. I've often been warned by some of the farmers not to plant the seedlings out too early, and instead let them grow in the farmer's greenhouse for a little longer. But sometimes a warm stretch fools me, so I plant and then a cold stretch hits. I just planted a few last weekend, then we had a couple of cold, rainy days. Now that it's sunny and warm again, I'll see how they do.

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  6. Ahhh, I am now living in the land of geckos and they drive my cats crazy. I also have little bitty holes in the screens from a certain overweight cat hanging on to the screen door, gotta get that lizzard !!! I am thankful no lizards have been caught .. it would be sad .. and then they would really be annoying. (the cats)

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  7. I saw on the weather report for Saint-Aignan a day or two ago, that it was in the 50s, but "feels like 48°". I was shocked!

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    1. It was 4:00 a.m. there, and that temp was F, of course.

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    2. When I went out to walk with Callie at 7 this morning, it felt really cold. I had on a corduroy shirt and a denim jacket.

      When Walt took Callie out between 5 and 6 this afternoon, I sat out in the back yard with Tasha. In the sun, it was very pleasant.

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    3. The high temp. today was about 70°F.

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    4. Geographically, Saint-Aignan is farther north than, for example, Fargo ND, Duluth MN, or Quebec City.

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    5. Wow ... that is pretty far North ! You named cities that all get buried in snow each winter ... brrrrr .

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    6. Yes, and add my city -- Portland, Maine -- to the list. Several years ago we were staying at a house in the northern Rhone, and we commented to the owner about certain trees there that can't be grown where we lived. She said that we must be further north, and we said, no, you're further north. So she then said that we must be at a high elevation, but we told her that we were at sea level. She was quite confused.

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    7. It all has to do with whether the prevailing winds are continental or maritime. We have a mostly maritime climate here, with rare periods when winds blow in from the northeast (Russia) or north (Scandinavia). The Gulf Stream keeps us warmer than we would be without it, too. Your winds blow in from Canada, I guess, and they are therefore continental (cold).

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