Day three of our heatwave here in South Eastern Australia and it is still hot as Hades. Temperatures have been in excess of 40°C (104°F) since Monday, which is why I have not been as active on the blog as I should have been. Last night the minimum temp was 30°C, so it was a very ordinary nights sleep. With Kim’s MS fatigue flaring up, I am taking the next two days off as carers leave to look after her.
The Met Bureau has forecast that this weather will remain until Friday evening. I have never in my time experienced five days over 40°C this far south. I know that no single weather even is an indication of climate change, but heck, this takes the cake.
In fact, on tomorrow’s podcast episode, which is scheduled for 7 am EADST, I talk to Ted McIntyre about climate denial in the US media, who are rambling on about the Polar Vortex being an indicator that climate change is not real. Send them over here for a few days Ted, I will show them what the future has in store for them!
Anyway, the veggie patch has been getting a regular water each morning from the rainwater tanks, which are now just under half full. As I don’t know how long the rain is going to avoid us, I have been using mains water to water all of the fruit trees.
It takes me about one and a half hours before work to get through it all, however because Monday morning was cooler, Kim volunteered for watering duty.
I haven’t lost any plants or trees yet. The only damage so far have been the Scarlet Runner beans, which got totally burnt on Tuesday. No great loss, because I think they will recover in time to give me a crop of beans.
The chooks are surviving under their nice mulberry tree, and the little ones have been roaming free around the clay oven garden. I have been making puddles under the mulberry tree so they can scratch around in the moist soil. They seem to really enjoy the water. I have also been spraying a mist over them to keep them cool which seems to be working.
So, how are you coping with the extreme conditions you are experiencing where you live? Keeping cool or warm I guess.
Lets hope that our collective governments see the writing on the wall and start to take big leaps forward soon. I don’t want to cook to death.