Nothing like the farm forecast to start one's day. "Above-average temperature with limited precipitation expected during the first ten days of September in the corn belt. The overall effect will be continued degeneration of crop conditions and some crop withering." Some hope withering, too. At this rate, I won't be able to transplant the broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce seedlings until it's almost mid-September, so they won't have a chance of coming to maturity until November, even with the polyester row covers in place. I also noticed this morning that the spinach seedlings I was bragging about several days ago were actually weed spouts. In fact, only one seedling is up in the entire fifteen-foot row. Spinach, after all, is a cool-weather crop from start to finish, preferring to germinate at temperature between forty and fifty degrees. So, if I hope to get it going this fall, I'll have to pregerminate the seeds in wet paper towels in the icebox, or seed up some flats in the house and try to transplant them later on. I'll also have to reseed the beets, because most of the sprouts burned our the last few days of the heat wave, despite my daily waterings. But there's no point in trying to redo the beets or start the radishes until the upcoming heat wave is past.
Carl H. Klause, My Vegetable Love: A Journal of a Growing Season
