Weather Conditions

With 10 days into January and not a speak of snow there are problems brewing. We had a few cold days but my Swiss chard is still edible and the fish ponds are only partly frozen and the fruit trees are about to bud. We have had years like this before and the confusion caused the weather to ruin the cycle of the fruit trees.  Close examination of the garden soil shows frost only inches down and earthworms and other life is still flourishing in the compost boxes.

I plan to spray the oil and sulfur on my fruit trees this week if we have a warm day. I usually do this much later but it seems like a good plan to get an early start before the trees actually bud. On one of the colder days we experienced a infusion of robins which I guess were heading south. It seemed a little late as most of their food source is gone. Flocks of other birds were also seen mainly slate juncos but they did not stay.

My small fish ponds have had a cover of ice several times and the fish went to the bottom but this week they are free of ice again and the fish are lively. confused and thinking it is spring. With such a late onset of winter we are probably seeing a new pattern of climate change. The ski hill operators as experiencing horrid conditions and their main income time is over as the Xmas break used to be the chief financial start of the season.

We can observe, talk about and predict the weather but in the final analysis we are helpless as mother nature has a mind of her own.