nw baltimore wx

Good god. The long range temps on the 12z gfs look like the desert southwest.

Long story, and not very interesting, but it does illustrate that I would not be a very good farmer. I've mentioned that I have a mystery squash plant, and actually, I think there may be two. It came up between my cucumber and crook neck squash so I figured I'd just let it grow and hope that it was pumpkins that I need for brewing (I think one of them is a pumpkin judging by the fruit, but the other one is the same size and shape of the pie pumpkin, but it's warted pretty good, and I think yellower, but that's not the point). Not surprisingly, all the squash is doing really well, and when any of the vines went into the other areas of the garden or tried to escape into the lawn, I just cut them back. They're so prolific that it really doesn't matter. Anyway, I've been wondering why my cucumber plant hasn't been producing. It's marked well with a cage, and though it's jungle mix of vines and leave, i knew where I planted it. Each day I'd brave the prickly squash vines and dig through trying to find some fruit for pickling ending up with nothing but a rash up and down my forearms. We've had a couple, but there should be more. Well, this morning I went out and the cucumber plant looks spent. The leaves are wilting and there's stunted fruit on the longer vines, and then near the ground, I saw a bunch giant orange fruit that didn't look right. They were six or seven giant cucumbers that I never saw and they must have been robbing the plant. So, we'll still be buying pickles but hopefully there will be six or seven pumpkins for brewing.

Melnor ftw.

@WxWatcher007 Too bad that it will last less than 24 hours.

I am at Lowe’s in Owings Mills getting a couple things and walked through the flowers to see if they have anything that attracts butterflies. I think I can safely say Lantana does. @MN Transplant That sucks.

I just read that they only take 9 - 14 days to become butterflies. Will he cocoon in your yard this summer? It would be pretty cool if you could document it. Now I want a butterfly garden. Just what I need. Another hobby!

I hope not. Looking at the nws map of the east coast, we look tough for a change.

I’ve reported .98” in July, and .43” of that was reported on the 1st, so I’m really at about a half an inch for the month. Need some rain.

The comet will look awesome through that!

I haven’t seen any hookworms, and the green tomatoes look great. The one with a bite out of it was a ripened red and on the ground so I think it’s a groundhog. Also, I talked to another neighbor while getting a haircut in the front yard and she said she’s seen two “very cute” groundhogs. I guess one man’s pest is another man’s pet, but I’ll soak a couple rags with ammonia In a few frisbees and see if that keeps them away. They haven’t done any real damage yet, but I don’t want them getting comfortable.

I’m getting a Covid haircut under the shade of our big swamp maple and it’s not bad at all outside in the shade. Nice breeze and low’ish dews are making for a nice summer day. Tomorrow and Monday, probably not so much.

Good to hear! I haven’t seen that many here but hopefully they are on the rebound. While out watering this morning, the most prominent pollinator that I saw was a big bumble bee. Overall, our garden is doing really well this year. We’ve had a few of the Mr. Stripey’s (I like to pick them a little early so they don’t crack), and the crook neck squash, beans, and various peppers are supplying us with a veggie medley whenever we want, but the most encouraging thing is the number of large green tomatoes on the plants. It should be a really good harvest. Hopefully the pumpkins are also ready for an early September brew day. There are a couple of concerns (always the case) including a night time varmint visiting. I’ve seen some scat (I’ll spare you the pictures) and one of the early tomatoes that was perfectly ripe had a singular bite out of it. I can’t imagine it being a groundhog in this hood, but my neighbor across the street says one is living under his garage. The distance between my garden and his garage is indirectly about 200 yards. Does anyone know if they roam that far? And if so, any good deterrents? The other concern is pictured. I haven’t had a lot of insect damage but there are a lot of pumpkin and squash vines, so I’ve got to stay on top of the eggs. But, so far, very pleased with how things are unfolding this year.

I think there will be more.

This is awful, and I’ll be surprised if there isn’t more.

What a turd.

What could they have done now? I hope it’s enough for Snyder to have sell the team and then a new stadium at the old RFK site.

There are a few posts in the obs thread.

The impending conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter is very cool. This is what it looked like last night through the eyes of my SkyView Light app. We had a wide open view over a corn field and it was below the Big Dipper, and slightly left, about a fist or two above the horizon at arm’s length at about 9:45. Depending on the skies, we might try to find a better location this evening. Maybe Falling Branch Brewery. I think they are open until 9 and maybe they’ll let us stay on the farm until 10.

Took a 20 minute drive to Mappy land to see the comet and the ISS pass over. ISS seemed so close! Crappy picture of course, but here’s the comet through my iPhone.

Lol. I have a pool and a pond. And Mrs. Crane wore green...

We are the same age. I was working on a golf course that summer doing a lot of weed whacking. Fortunately, by mid-summer, I got trusted to be the sprinkler guy. The automated system didn’t work so I drove around a golf cart with a hex drive turning on and off fairway sprinklers while my buddies cursed me doing the grunt work. They’d find golf balls in the tall weeds and then I’d sell them at the tees so we could out to Chesapeake Bay Seafood House for ayce crab legs and crappy Stroh’s beer. Good times.

If it doesn’t happen, it’s only because you all aren’t trying hard enough. eta: should have had this

Same with me. Beer messes with me way worse than a whiskey or two. Tequila is the absolute worst, but I’m not a fan anyway.

I'm sure that you're right. You've got me googling and reading. Thanks.

I got under the better parts of that isolated shower last hour and picked up a welcomed .09” of rain. Absolutely. It’s pretty amazing how much the catalytic converter changed auto emissions.