08 August 2014

Rainy days (won't) get me down

Two inches of rain are expected to fall in Brittany and Normandy — north of us, that is — today. And then a mass of warm wet air will move in from the southwest over the Centre — that's our region — this afternoon, with thunder, lightning, and, yes, rain, and maybe hail. Another rainy day, autrement dit...

Optimism reigns — you have to be an optimist to plant all these tender new grape plants.

I really feel for the grapegrowers. The blight (a fungus or mildew) that affects tomatoes and potatoes also damages grapes. Warm humid weather is the worst kind of weather for all these crops. The difference between us and the grapegrowers is that we're talking about a threat to their livelihood.

The rainy weather might be good for these young grape plants, but it's not good for the older ones and the grapes.

If we lose all our tomatoes, tant pis. Walt planted them from seed, so they don't represent a big investment of money. And we won't starve. The last time we were in this situation was in the summer of 2007, which was, I believe, even wetter than the summer of 2014. Not only was there a blight on our tomato plants, but weeds took over the whole garden and there was nothing we could do about it.

14 comments:

  1. I think the rain is the tail end of Hurricane Bertha. Fingers crossed for the wine growers and your tomatoes!

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  2. Hi Gaynor, yes, I saw that about Hurricane Bertha. It missed North Carolina and the rest of the East Coast, but it hit us instead! Bad luck.

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  3. oh no about your bad weather - drat. and yes, any kind of agriculture is very stressful. we are half way between you and the grapegrowers.... if we lost everything we could scamper about and make it work... but it would be a long haul to the next harvest. as it is we are scraping the bottom of the freezer for meat - so we are going to have a butcher day soon.

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  4. We have friends on a boat trip down the Seine. I think they are in Normandy today- yikes! I'm hoping your tomatoes and the vines will survive their drowning.

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  5. The rain seems to be staying northwest and southeast of Saint-Aignan. We were in Tours this a.m. and it was raining. Toward noon, we drove back thru Amboise, where it was still raining. As we approached Montrichard, the sun poked thru the clouds. Now, nearly 4 hours later, it's dry and breezy. Perfect conditions. We'll see.

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  6. Very heavy rain started falling about 4:30 p.m. and continues. I thought we had dodged the bullet, but no. We'll see how long it lasts. It'll be time for me to take the dog out in a little while -- weather permitting.

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  7. Heavy rain keeps coming down. It look like November outside. I don't know what I'm going to do about the walk with Callie. Get wet, I guess.

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  8. Unfortunately this type of weather is at my place too, and my farmers have lost their tomatoes.

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  9. Went out for the walk a few minutes ago, as the rain had let up. Not 50 yards down the path from our back gate, the heavy rain started falling again. At least Callie got to do her business before we had to retreat to the house.

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  10. Walt just checked the rain gauge. 25 mm since 4:30 p.m. And now it's pouring down again. 25 mm = one inch. Normally, we get about two inches a month. On radar, we have another band of strong storms headed directly for us.

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  11. Just cuddle up in the living room, do some cooking and enjoy a spicey ... Elexir d'Anvers ... If there is any left ? It'll give you a boost! Raining here too ...

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  12. We got 25mm too. Sad about the tomatoes after all the work Walt put into growing them. Our tomatoes are going down... At least we don't have a dog to walk, but a frustrated cat that wants to do what's necessary outside and wants us to stop the rain is nearly as bad.

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