hurricane irene

Liz at bisforbread.wordpress.com asked

Hi Kathy!

I wonder if you've come across any helpful advice for how to prepare a garden for Hurricane Irene this weekend. We're in western Massachusetts and are of course harvesting all that we can, but I'm finding few other tips online. Do you have any suggestions for how to save our squash, brussels sprouts, etc. from the deluge ahead?

Good luck with the hurricane - I hope you'll enjoy a martini when it arrives!

Liz

Great idea about that martini!!! A super idea for a storm.

About the garden - I just made sure there was nothing that could blow around. I took down my umbrella and stashed it under the squashes. I brought my drinking cup home from my community garden and took down my bird feeders and a wobbly old bird house. I picked the apples from my tiny tree since they seemed like they were nearly ready, the squirrel was eating one, and I was afraid they would blow off. (I left my pears on my tree.) Another gardener at the community garden took down her pole beans - mostly because they were pretty much done already anyway. (I left my pole bean teepee up.) And I harvested what was ready.

Here in Belmont we are to the east of the storm. I'm not expecting much wind or rain tomorrow. I think flooding may be our biggest problem. Our community gardens and my basement sometimes flood in storms. We'll see. I hope all the gardens to the west of me fare well.

I'm looking forward to a day inside tomorrow while the wounds blow and the rain falls. I'm thinking I'll make eggplant parmesan and maybe stuffed zucchini. Also a batch of cucumber pickles and maybe some red sauce. That will keep me busy.

Let me know what garden preparations you have made. Or what you plan to do during the storm.