August Temperatures

01: 84/67
02: 90/66
03: 94/66 0.25"
04: 97/66
05: 97/64 0.02"
06: 95/66 .10"
07: 88/66 .22"
08: 87/64 .27"
09: 91/63
10: 94/65
11: 97/65
12: 99/70 .01"
13: 97/70
14: 100/70
15: 96/66 .37"
16: 90/69 .17"
17: 94/69
18: 97/68
19: 96/64
20: 98/69
21: 93/71 .02"
22: 95/67
23: 97/66
24: 94/66 .20"
25: 86/65
26: 89/72
27: 90/66 .01"
28: 87/63
29: 89/62 1.24"
30: 86/62.01"

Rain Month-to-Date 2.89"
(Average 3.85")

Highest: 100F
Lowest: 62F

31: 89/63

July temperatures

01: 95/73 .29"
02: 99/75 .18"
03: 98/69
04: 94/67
05: 95/63
06: 98/62
07: 98/64
08: 96/75
09: 97/77
10: 96/70
11: 88/70 .06"
12: 96/68 .07"
13: 99/69 .27"
14: 98/69
15: 102/72 .09"
16: 97/71
17: 97/72 .01"
18: 99/68 windy
19: 101/64
20: 96/66 .38"
21: 93/69 .04"
22:86/66
23: 91/67
24: 91/67
25: 90/68 .05"
26: 87/71 .13"
27: 80/68 1.06"
28: 86/68
29: 91/69 .47"
30: 88/66 .35"
31: 80/67

Highest temp so far: 102F (Record high 108F)
Average high: 93F
Lowest temp so far: 62
Average low: 66F

Rain this month: 3.45"
Average 3.01"

Blueberries and strawberries dead

The remaining three blueberry bushes that earlier this year still provided me with some fruit have died. Only one strawberry plant remains alive. What went wrong? The bushes were only three years old.

I know that blueberries require acidic soil. That kind of soil is hard to find here in the desert. I added pine needles and coffee grinds to the soil, but that wasn't enough. Will I replace the bushes with new ones? I don't know. Losing plants is almost as hard as losing a pet.

I have been neglectful of the garden this year. The only thing I want to plant now are spinach and lettuce plants in September. It's the only thing I eat now that Kevin refrains from tomatoes, beets and turnips.

The good thing is that with less plants we have less bugs. Despite the hevy rains recently we aren't inundated with June beetles, Spinx moths and toads as in years past. I don't even see a grasshopper infestation. Perhaps Pache is to thank for that.

Gone for a month, now come back to a green front

I spent a month in California hiking the High Sierras. I came back Saturday to fields of green, so green I can't remember it being this green in years. But the green beans I planted before leaving in early July didn't pop open as expected, and many weeds are inhabiting the backyard.

I transplanted my Iraqi acacia into a larger pot yesterday. My Chinese date tree is regrowing new shoots (which I will leave as be) and new perennials have grown. I pulled a bunch of dead Heliopsis, though, as after three years they have done their time. Whatever new will grow, will grow. In a few years the front yard will be a shaded oasis for the desert birds. I see a few new saplings coming up. Any new trees, however, may have to be sacrificed.