We're experiencing a heat wave! If you are one of my readers from northern states, you may look at this weather graphic and think,"yeah, but you live in the south!"
Here's the problem: our average high this time of year is the mid-80's. And our heat indices have been pushing the 105 danger zone the last few days.
The friendly television weather guy has decreed that if you don't need to be outside, stay in the air conditioning and look out the window.
Which happens to be the first item on my list of ways to enjoy the garden in the scorching heat:
1. Stay inside and look out the window.
OK, that's pretty boring.
A covered porch (with ceiling fan) can be a nice, shady, outdoor alternative. Watch the hummingbirds, listen to the bees, commune with nature.
2. Catch up on your reading.
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| Christmas present from a co-worker, maybe now I'll get to reading it cover-to-cover. |
This can be done in conjunction with item 1(b). Planning your fall garden planting also falls under this heading.
3. Save the watering for early morning or early evening.
This
is especially true if you use a sprinkler for irrigation. Even though
the humidity is high you will still lose some of that airborne moisture
to evaporation. To maximize water uptake by your plants so they can
handle the heat, focus on watering the soil not the plant. Soaker hoses
are great for this. If you use a watering can or hose aim low on the
plant.
4. Save the heavy work for early morning or early evening.
I need to start clearing out the zucchini and yellow squash. 7 p.m. is a good time to do that. I'd do it in the morning but that's when the bees are usually doing their job and I'd rather not disturb them.
But if you have to do some work during the day, keep these next two in mind:
5. Cover up.
Light colored clothing, loose clothing, long sleeves, sun block, broad brimmed hat. I don't want my ears and arms to resemble a tomato.
By the way, I discovered this last week on one of my favorite horse blogs. It's a
hat that's impregnated with bug repellent! I haven't tried this yet but it's gotten great reviews
here.
6. Stay hydrated.
We've all heard the warnings to avoid alcohol and caffeine in hot weather. I don't care for straight sports drinks either because they are too sugary. And I learned that straight water when I'm super hot is a good way to make me puke (sorry about that mental image). Weird science fact of the day - water absorption in your intestines is driven by uptake of simple sugars and/or electrolytes, so it's actually a good thing to have (some of) that when you are trying to stay hydrated.
My preferred concoction when things get hot like this is Lemon-Lime Gatorade with lots of ice in my drink bottle. Depending on where I'm working I may have a separate bottle of plain water and alternate drinking from each, or I may start out with diluted Gatorade and refill as needed.
7. Grill, don't bake!
I'm talking about the veggies here, but yes this applies to meat too. As much as I love pan-roasted vegetables fresh from the garden the last thing I want to do on a hot day is fire up the stove or oven. My air conditioning works hard enough during the day, I don't want to make things worse. Anything you pan roast can probably be thrown on the grill. Two years ago I asked for a grill basket and grill pan for Christmas and they get quite the work out this time of year.
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| Potatoes in the grill basket, steaming broccoli in the aluminum foil pouch |
8. And speaking of that air conditioning
Remember that you don't need to set it freezing cold during the day. Even if you are home and working outside, don't keep that thermostat too low. First, it wastes energy. Second, if you are constantly going in and out of the house you are letting hot air in each time you open the door, making your unit work even harder. Third, extreme hot to extreme cool is often harder on your body than extreme hot to moderate cool. Not to mention if your clothes are soaked in sweat you can chill pretty quickly.
