We haven't needed air conditioning for a few days now... thank heavens, no heater, either! Although I did put a blanket on the bed tonight. I love this weather, and not just because it's frugal, although that's a great part of it. We'll probably have more hot days, but the nights are getting cool enough that the house can cool down at night, and the days are short enough that it doesn't heat up again much.
Besides that, we don't need much if any, extra watering, with a few rain showers and cooler temperatures. Even the garden seems at peace for the first time this summer. The tomatoes are ripening slowly, but there won't be much of a crop since they've all but quit blooming. Things are slowly coming to an end as autumn slowly creeps in.
I know it's not that way for all of you. Some of you have longer growing seasons and some of you have had a hot and dry summer. There are advantages to everything, though, even if we have to think hard to find them.
Hail tore little green cherry tomatoes from the vine and as I was picking them up, I remembered what Laura's mother said in Little House on the Prairie when the crows got all their corn. "No great loss without some small gain." So, in the spirit of eating the crows that ate their corn, I gathered the green tomatoes and made green tomato salsa. It was pretty good!
Be aware of your options at all times. That should be our frugal motto... or something like, "Do the best you can with what you have."
It works.
So true Pat. We haven't needed our AC for the past couple of weeks, and are waiting for our friend to come home and help us take it out of the Kitchen window. Then it goes into storage till next May. our Tomatoes here were really slow comming this year and also so slow ripening. But the Chard has been outstanding, and we have been eating lots of it. I also have 1 zuchini plant that is outdoing it'self too. Potatoes here seem better than normal also. But heavy rains have really hurt the orchards near us and the fruit crop although there looks like lots is not in anywhere near the good condition it usually is. So prices are up conciderably at the farms.
ReplyDeleteSo you'll eat more potatoes and chard and less tree fruit, right? That's the common sense thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI still have my A/C running but temps are going down at night here in Phoenix too! I am hoping that by the end of September I can start to work in my garden again. Ttemps have been hovering at between 108-110 here in Phoenix and alas my yard is burned to a crisp even though my water bill was high last month! I am trying to get out early (6:00 AM)to rake up dead leaves that have fallen off my tree and to get rid of some of my dead bushes and plants that just didn't survive the high heat!
ReplyDeleteI am going to rake up the front and back yard real good when it does cool down and I want to rock both my front and back yard! I can't think of anything more frugal than rocks! I will plant a small area near my house with veggies and then do container gardening. This way I wont have a high water bill. We'll see!
Wow... 110 degrees. Too hot for me! :) Have you thought about ways to reuse water for your garden? I save water from the tap when I'm waiting for it to warm up or cool down and I save leftover ice cubes, small amounts from glasses, etc. I also put a bucket under the shower to catch water while waiting for it to get to the right temperature. Even a few seconds will give you some water.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your small garden and containers!
Pat,
ReplyDeleteIn response:
Yes I definitely have reused water including mop water. Unfortunately we haven't got our rainfall totals for the summer monsoon yet it's more like a non-soon! I also use my washing machine water to water a small garden out in back but at 110 nothing is growing back there I start planting again in Oct. Till then I suffer with the heat and by Sept-Oct I'll get out and get my yard fixed again! But the flip side when everyone else in the country is under a foot of snow we are in 70 degree weather and growing our gardens! AAH! I just got to hold out a little longer!
At those temps, I'd be hiding out in an air conditioned house all summer. But at 70 degrees in the wintter, I'd probably be hiding out in the house, too. What's Christmas without snow? ;)
ReplyDeletePat,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I am from back East and thought there's no way I'd make it through the winter without snow but the great part is I don't have to heat my house in the winter here so that's when I get to save money! I BBQ in the back yard so I don't have to use my gas stove much. It does get to 32-25 at nighttime ( I still don't put on the heat-I don't want to even think about heat in Dec) in Dec-Feb we just cover our plants and they do fine in the winter. I do grow all kinds of veggies in the winter. But we do suffer from about July-September.
I do miss the snow but then I can always go up to the mountains and see it if I want.
There's good and bad about every place, isn't there? Sounds like you've found some good ways to save.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pat,
ReplyDeleteBut I do have to say I miss the fall very much! I miss acorns! I did buy a bag of colored glass ones at the $ store and I bought a bunch of fall leaves to decorate my house. Somehow cactus just doesn't do fall justice!
No, I can't imagine decorating for fall with cactus! :) Buying glass acorns is better than none at all.
ReplyDeleteFinally a day without A/C in Phoenix! I can FINALLY be officially added to the list of NO A/C at least for today! I woke up this morning to threatening clouds in the sky! It has for the past two months been VERY hot with little to no rain! FINALLY the water clouds BURST this morning! I was at Wal-Mart when the down pour ensued! BUT I was HAPPY! The rain, the thunder and the lightning were exciting indeed for I haven't seen rain like this in months! Today I got to open my windows and doors and air out my house! When we get rain like this in Phoenix the temps start to drop as well! The Farmers Almanac is predicting a very,very frigid winter for the central US and a mild winter for the Southwest! I sure hope for me that means a great garden coming up! I am planning it already! In the next couple of weeks I will be taking the compost I have been so patiently working on in the past 7 months and will be putting it into my garden bed! Next month I will start to plant my veggies and flowers, I can't wait!
ReplyDeleteSounds weird for someone to be just starting a garden here in the US. :) I'm glad you got the rain; I know how exciting it can be after a dry spell, but I don't think I've ever been through one that long. Best of luck to your garden!
ReplyDeleteLOL Pat,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean! It's weird living opposite everyone else in the country! But this is the start of one of two growing seasons here in Phoenix. Nov-Feb and then Feb-May. So it will be time for me to get into the garden bed and start fixing anything that needs fixing. Getting the compost ready, getting seeds ready and so forth. Then it will be planting time! Hopefully it will go all well.
I hope it goes well for you, too! :)
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't currently live there, I have always been a very big fan of San Diego. The temp is almost perfect(my opinion) year round. Don't need the heat or A/C.
ReplyDeleteThat might be great for some people, Lawrence, but "year round" sounds boring to me! I LIKE snow and rain and cool days and... I have to admit I even like a hot day now and then. :)
ReplyDeleteThat might be great for some people, Lawrence, but "year round" sounds boring to me! I LIKE snow and rain and cool days and... I have to admit I even like a hot day now and then. :)
ReplyDelete