By JoAnne Skelly — My friend Julie asked me if the fall colors were starting sooner this year. Probably not because color change is primarily regulated by shorter day length, which happens at the same time each year.
Perhaps what made it feel as if the color change was earlier was the warm weather we have had well into September. Years back I covered my tomatoes at night from late August on, but here it is the end of September and there hasn’t been a frost.
JoAnne Skelly
Speaking of tomatoes, only the cherry tomatoes have ripened. The large tomatoes are just starting to show color. I will end up picking greenish tomatoes and ripening them indoors. I won’t be growing tomatoes next year. It’s not worth the effort to change out the soil in the trough in which I grow them, to put up the five-foot mesh cages, covered with heavy plastic netting, and, finally, watering all summer. My battles with the critters aren’t worth it.
Concerning critters, this year has been filled with one type of critter after another. The scrub jays were first, pecking at the one green tomato I had early on. There were thrips on the cucumber and lantana.
The yellowjackets were horrendous this year keeping me indoors most of the summer. The ants weren’t too bad. The ground squirrels got active about a month ago and have been a great help picking apples. The rabbits have decided to over-eat parts of the lawn.
There have been rats and mice driving my husband crazy by getting into the engines of our vehicles and eating wires and insulation. They were a months-long problem, so now he is quite familiar with various methods of deterrence and control. Some critters don’t bother me, such as the buck and doe that wandered through, or the frogs in the well box. I love birds, especially the owls, hawks, and the geese flying over every day. Quail populations are higher than I have seen in years. I haven’t seen any bears since spring.
Did everyone else have a banner fruit year? We have so many apples that I have been donating them to The Greenhouse Project. Our friends had an abundance of peaches and shared the bounty with us. I have never had my fill of peaches before! The lack of lemon cucumbers I complained about in early summer, finally changed to getting a couple of cucs every day. The grape vines were covered in fruit, which the birds ate.
Fall is the time to catch up on yard work and plant new trees, shrubs and perennials.
— JoAnne Skelly is Associate Professor & Extension Educator, Emerita at University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. Email her at skellyj@unr.edu.
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