Summer Storm Clouds Moving In

We seem to be having lots of storms this last part of of July.

You can see the clouds from the latest storm moving in here.

Clouds Moving Fast...and Downward

 A whopper of a wind and hard, fast rain took out the hops vine trellis and more.

Hops Trellis and Pots After Storm

Tonya’s trampoline took off and ended up in ON a pine tree.

Tonya's Trampoline On a Tree

And then almost as fast as it blew in, it was over. The sun came out and we were gifted with:

Rainbow After Summer Storm

Pretty isn’t it?

These photos of a funnel cloud were taken a few minutes ago from my front porch. I thought I’d post them real quick… just in case we blew away and landed in Indiana.

Storm Clouds Swirling

Clouds with downward Fingers Forming

Clouds Beginning to Circle

Bigger Funnel Cloud

UPDATE: It moved off to the East over the fields and we’re still in Illinois!

There is going to be weather.

All around the world there are climate changes occurring.

Various groups have been screaming about climate changes for years. Unfortunately, not all weather changes are in line with the cries of the Go Green, Ecological, Scientific, Impending Doom of 2010,2011,2012, and possibly the Don’t Wear Deodorant Groups.

Before you start emailing me about my lack of political correctness be aware that I myself may fall into several of those categories…

Here in the Midwest the weather has been weird this year…really, the last few years. Just plain weird.

I am sure it has been the same for many of you, so I won’t whine or complain about it and the destruction of my little ol’ herb garden.

I really just wanted to share my new ”Cover it all” gardener’s weather greeting. When I meet you on the street uttering this greeting,  please know this is my attempt to cover all of the ‘weathers’ and give a shout out to our climate change organizations. So here goes:

“My Goodness, we’ve had such hot-cold-wet-dry-solar-flare-el-nino-blizzard-green-house-gas-tornadic-mini-ice-age-la-nina-pole-shifting-weather-lately, haven’t we?”

Yes, it’s a mouthful.

Please tell me, is there ‘anyweather’ (my new word) I have forgotten? Let me know.  I think there’s room for another in the same breath.

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It LIVES! Sage in the Snow

A few weeks ago I posted a bit about leaving some pots of Sage out all winter in the snow.

 Several kind and well meaning emails suggested that by leaving my sage outside in pots IN THE SNOW I was  murdering poor innocent plants. I can only surmise they live in warmer climates.

For all the Nay-sayers…See? It did come back!

 I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.  I’ve never even been on a turnip truck.

 At any rate, you can see that the Sage is back and although it needs a good trim, it’s doing quite well.

The key to overwintering herbs is to know the hardiness zones of both your herbs and your  location before you neglectfully leave your herbs naked in several feet of snow. Admittedly not all herbs can tolerate the kind of abuse I occasionally dish out- but I know which of my herbs will hang tough around here.

So don’t worry.

For those that worry anyway… in all honestly just the herbs that can take the weather and prairie conditions are the only ones I abuse in this way. The rest are coddled and kept tucked in the greenhouse, potting shed, kitchen window, or strewn around the house.

Although freezing fresh sage is possible, it’s not the usual was to preserve it.

I have been known to grab some frosted or frozen sage from the garden in a pinch and I am happy to report that the flavor was still fine for cooking.

I dry my herbs, then pop them in the freezer to kill off any lingering insect eggs that may have hitched a ride on the undersides of leaves. Sage is not much bothered by pests, but by habit, the dried herb still goes into the freezer for a few weeks.

This photo shows some potted sage in the snow.

Potted Sage in the Snow

No, it’s not dead, although I admit it doesn’t look terribly healthy at this point.

The good news?

As a perennial herb it will come back in the spring, or when I bring it inside…whichever comes first.

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