Heat wave

The past week in Norris has been sizzling hot, along with many areas of the country that have been experiencing excessive heat and drought-like conditions. We’ve had heat advisories almost every day for the past four days; temperatures have been in the low 100s, and humidity has hovered around 30% during the hottest time of the day. According to Norris Dam TVA rain gauge data, June has received only 1.9” of rain; typical rainfall is around 4” to 5” in June. (Click here for UT’s Climate Data resource page where you can explore links to weather information.)

hot temperatures and hot peppers from the garden

The heat and lack of rain have had an impact on some of the trees and shrubs that were planted last fall. The dogwood and witch hazel trees, along with the hydrangeas, are exhibiting signs of distress—signs that I didn’t pick up on, but can now see (thank you to Valerie for pointing them out). They’re getting extra water until temperatures reach normal levels again.  

witch hazel and hydrangeas

The meadow that was planted in May is holding up well. Some areas (like the sloped sections in the backyard) were a bit drier before the heat wave started, so I was already watering them. The rest of the meadow plants will be watered every few days for the next couple weeks. 

meadow in backyard (with Emmet chairs courtesy of Room & Board, and fire pit)

The garden soil is dry, but that hasn’t slowed the garden plants down at all. The tomatoes, peppers, and chard are healthy and producing quite a bit. Carrots are big enough to be pulled, there are several eggplants that will be ready soon, and zucchini plants are blossoming. Unfortunately, the cauliflower was overtaken by bugs that ate through all the leaves, so I had to pull those out. I’m guessing that the organically rich soil has made a difference in the garden; without such good soil, perhaps the garden wouldn’t be faring so well during the heat. 

eggplant

zucchini plant in bloom

abundance of tomatoes

The good news is there’s a 30% chance of thunderstorms on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Even if it only rains for a short time, it will bring relief to the dry earth and help replenish the cistern as well.

Meadow Planting Day and landscape photos

This weekend we planted the first half of our native grass meadow. The plan goes like this: 1) to suppress weeds, spread cardboard and staple to the ground with landscape staples 2) mark the plant locations on 2' centers 3) dig, dig, dig 4) plant, water and wait.

This is a slightly experimental meadow project. We are in a residential area, so the typical preparation of burning the plot of land to be planted with meadow grass seeds was out of the question. We will keep you posted on the (hopeful) success of this project!

Digging through the cardboard. It rained that morning which helped make the cardboard easier to cut through.

We are planting the meadow on the steeper parts of the site to help control erosion.

The volunteers are making great progress installing River Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) in the shadier parts of the site. Isn't the cabbage getting big?

River Oats planted along the shady plinth edge.

Before leaving for the day we made sure to water everything, including the vegetable garden we planted a few weeks ago. Phil is using harvested rainwater to fill up the watering can.

The tomatoes in the raised vegetable beds are doing great.

The plants in the greywater bed are HUGE and it is only May. I think they must be happy.

Thank you so much to all the volunteers that came out to help this weekend! We planted over 400 plants and couldn't have done it with out you!