04 November 2012

Gone With The Wind

I ventured out in middle of hurricane Sandy to pick fresh herbs for minestrone soup. I must have been nuts, but the oregano, cutting celery, and basil did the soup well. The gardens did not do as well though.

The 8-foot tall (2.5 m) castor bean plants were flattened. These annuals were going to go when we get our first frost, so it's no loss. They were staked up a bit after a thunderstorm in August bent them over.

The Tuscany basil was blown to one side, like someone combs their hair to one side. Zinnias, another annual, were smacked down. The lonely second season sunflower was flattened. The sunflowers were picked and brought indoors for late flowers in the house - along with a few tomatoes still going.

But Sandy left a little new autumn gift in the deck. Some type of fungal growth appeared along the seams in the wood platform steps, probably where dirt and gunk accumulated. In two days (after the rain stopped) it all vanished.

Fortunately, there were no power outages beyond a few minutes. No one in my neighborhood was flooded, although the low lying areas were evacuated because of flooding in the past five years. We await more surprises climate change may bring in the future.





4 comments:

  1. It must be a relief to not have any flooding, or trees down. It's too bad the plants were flattened, but you lucked out in that they were mostly annuals, and not perennials. Still, it's always disappointing to see the taller plants knocked over, because they give such nice height to the garden.

    You must have appreciatted the free power washing of the deck.

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  2. If it's any consulation, there are uglier fungi to have.

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  3. Northern,
    I am grateful the damage was not like experienced up north.

    Les,
    They provide such seasonal color, too.

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  4. I think the fungus is kind of pretty, in a fungal kind of way.
    Glad you fared well for Sandy. Hope the coming Nor'easter is kind to you.
    I keep my herbs on the deck, outside, all the time. Of course the basil will be toast when we get our first freeze.

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