So, what's the weather like where you are today?

[lorax]

At 119, I grow 'Strawberry' (a fantastic ID heirloom grape-type), 'Pomodori' (a D Roma type), and I'm currently testing 'Golden Queen' , 'Pineapple' and 'Cherokee Purple'. I also grow Tree Tomato (Solanum betaceum), which is a native plant.

I'd love to trade if you've got sweet corn.

[tedln]

Sounds good Lorax, I am surprised you are trying Cherokee Purple. I planned on growing it next year but decided to plant Spudakee Purple instead. I didn't realize CP would do well in the high heat.

Would trade some sweet corn, but since I don't grow it; about all I can do is send you some canned corn. Do you prefer creamed corn or whole kernel?

Ted

[lorax]

I don't know if Cherokee Purple will do well in the heat or not, but it's trial by fire in my gardens. Especially for this round of tomatoes, which are for the summer season (which is consistently hotter than the wet season.) They're the weakest of the seedlings at the moment.

[applestar]

Be sure to plant Cherokee Purples in the front. The plant didn't grow very tall/long compared to the others -- only about half the vine length, and not very vigorous. Fruits were prone to cat facing and cracking, but perfect fruits were lovely and flavor superb. I'm also hoping to try Spudakee next year for better performance while keeping the flavor.

[tedln]

Let me know when you are ready applestar, I will send you a few spudakee purple seed.

Ted

[tedln]

Here is a list of some of the varieties which set blossoms and fruit well during the high heat. This is not my list, but I am growing the varieties in bold lettering and have seed for them if you want to try a few in Ecuador.

I don"t have the Gregori's Altai Tomato seed yet, but I plan on finding it and growing it as well.

Some tomatoes that set well in the heat this past summer were Big Beef, Gary O' Sena, Indian Stripe, Black Krim, Berkley Tie Dye Pink, Mule Team, Kosovo, Linnies Oxheart, Old Virginia, JD's Special C Tex, Stump of the World and Gregori's Altai Tomato.

Ted

[applestar]

Let me know when you are ready applestar, I will send you a few spudakee purple seed.

Ooh! Thanks, Ted!

[lorax]

I've been wanting to try Black Krim for some time, but nobody I've talked to has had seed for it. I'd definitely trade Strawberry for it, if you like - they're the very best salad tomatoes I've ever eaten, and since they clone really well, I will never be without plants of them again.

The only thing I'll say is that fruit size was very variable on the Strawberry - everything from small roma-sized fruit, which wanted slicing for salads, to these lovely tiny sweet ones the size of my thumbnail. For me, this isn't an issue since I'm after the flavour and since the skins remained so thin.

[tedln]

Send me a pm with addresses and I will mail some seed to applestar and Lorax. I don't need anything in return. How much postage does it take to send a regular sized envelope to Ecuador?

Ted

[lorax]

Between $1.75 and $2.00 depending on weight.

[tedln]

Between $1.75 and $2.00 depending on weight.

Lorax,

You don't have to send me anything, but I would like to have the U.S. equivalent of $1.00 in Ecuadoran paper money and tell me some common items's that can be purchased in Ecuador for the dollar equivalent. The seed will be mailed Monday. I will enclose a $1.00 bill for exchange with the seed.

In the U.S. in Texas, a loaf of French Bread costs $1.89 at Walmart. Asparagus is $2.89 per lb. Avocados and Mango's can be bought on sale for two for one dollar. Not on sale, they are about $0.89 each. A gallon of milk is $3.49. Limes can be purchased on sale at twenty for $1.00. Not on sale, they can be as high as $0.25 each. Yellow crook neck squash is $2.69 per lb. Bananas are $0.39 per lb. at Walmart and $0.49 per lb. at smaller stores. How far can you stretch a dollar in Ecuador.

Ted

[Kisal]

It's already after 3 P.M., and it hasn't even gotten up to 60º yet. My feet are cold!

[lorax]

Ted, Ecuador uses the US dollar, and has since 1996. I can send you some of our local coin, though - it's got the same value as US but has our own historic presidents on it. I might also be able to dig up some old Sucre bills for you, though.

For $1 here, I could buy any of the following:

Two large loaves of artisanal Whole Wheat bread or about a dozen French-style buns;
About 2 lbs of asparagus (depending on the season and vendor; this is only ever in the farmers' markets.)
Between 7 and 12 avocadoes depending on size and cultivar;
Between 4 and 18 mangoes depending on cultivar (4 Julies, Keitts, Tommies, or Reinas, or up to 18 Ambajadores)
Milk is sold in 1 litre increments, which cost 60-75 cents each;
Between 30 and 80 limes, depending on the season and size.
Squashes range between 50 cents and 3 dollars, by some obscure weight and cultivar combination that I can't decipher. A squash for roasting is typically 50 cents to 1.00, while a "pumpkin" for use in baking or making soup (normally weighing about 50-60 lbs) is about $3;
Bananas are between 25 and 60 cents a hand (12-15 fingers), $1 for the entire raceme of most sweet cultivars, and up to $3 for an entire raceme of cooking plantains (depending on cultivar and ripeness).
I can also buy a generous, freshly prepared 3-course lunch (soup, main, dessert, fresh juice) for $1.50

Transport wise, I can get to almost any point within Ambato from my house for $1 in a taxi (or 20 cents on the bus). For $1 on an interprovincial bus, I can also get from my house to the hot springs at Banos, 45 minutes away, or north to the town of Salcedo, which is famed for its ice cream.

I shop for three people to eat really well, and I am hard pressed to spend $25 a week on my fruits and veggies, and maybe another $15 on protein (chicken, turkey, beef, and fish).

[tedln]

Lorax,

Thanks, but I was interested in the paper money. I didn't know they used the U.S. Dollar. Is that because so much of the exports are to the U.S. and paid for in Dollars? That could be very bad for Ecuador. With the existing inflation rate in Ecuador coupled with the future inflation rate of the Dollar, it could be devastating. The U.S. government announced a couple of weeks ago that high rates of inflation are the intended way to help pay down the national debt when the U.S. economy begins to recover and interest rates increase. While it will be difficult for U.S. citizens, it will be even worse for any country holding dollars in their treasury. I'm expecting inflation rates in the U.S. of 20% or more per year. The dollars held by Ecuador will be worthless in five years.

Ted

[lorax]

It's been horrid and devastating for Ecuador since it was implemented, at the force/blackmail position of the IMF/World Bank. If we had kept with the Sucre (the original currency of Ecuador), they wouldn't have granted the country the loans it needed to stay afloat. As it was, the president responsible for the dollarization was forcibly deposed by the citizens, but it was something that couldn't be reversed easily, and we're still dealing with the economic devastation it brought about.

The exchange rate for dollarization was 36,000 sucres to $1.00 US. I'm sure you can appreciate what that did, when things like bread used to be a 10 sucre item.

We're currently fighting the IMF and World Bank for the right to reinstitute the Sucre at 1996 levels. Inflation here is in the order of 30% or more per year.

[lorax]

Aaaaand... We've gone way OT. Sorry to have derailed the thread, folks!

To bring it back around, it's a cloudy 85 today in the Highlands, and likely that will be our high if the sun doesn't burn through. After the past couple of sunny days, I'm actually feeling a bit chilly (even though I know that's completely absurd, because "chilly" should start around 50....)

[The Helpful Gardener]

It's sixty two F in and out and I just closed windows and kicked on the pellet stove...

"Chilly" starts at sixty two degrees in Colchester. Today, anyway; this spring, sixty two will signal "warm".

It's all relative...

HG

[DoubleDogFarm]

It's all relative

Only close Relatives should keep you warm.


Eric

[Kisal]

Foggy and 38º. Had to turn the heat on. Glad I got all the storm windows up!

[tomf]

Hopping for a winter with lots of snow in the hills. Got a pair of reverse camber tip and tail fat boys last year, go fast skis for deep snow.

It was a good day for cutting fire wood today, nice and cool.

[rainbowgardener]

Still warmish (mid 70's), sunny, and DRY... we have had two short, light rains since the end of June, maybe half an inch total. That puts us about a foot of rain short for the season!

Yesterday, I ran the hose for 5 straight hours, just moving it from one place to another. This was mostly watering the trees and shrubs I have planted on the hillside. I have not watered them all summer, but they are getting ready to go dormant, so this is an important time to give them some water, help them make it through winter.

It was amazing. I could run the hose in one spot for 20 minutes. Come back and dig down three inches and it was still dry!! The bone dry earth just soaks up immense amounts of water.

All of you folks with extra rain, please send some my way!

[tedln]

83 degrees, it's hot enough that the grasshoppers have returned in droves. Very dry! We have a 40% chance of rain this evening, but no clouds on the radar yet. Another 40% chance later in the week. It a shame plants can't grow on predicted rain instead of real rain.

Ted

[Kisal]

Hopping for a winter with lots of snow in the hills.

You may just get your wish! I've read that we're moving into a La Niña year, as opposed to the El Niño that began last fall. According to [url=https://www.wrcc.dri.edu/enso/ensofaq.html#22]this site[/url], that means more precipitation.

[tomf]

Yup, I am stoked. I will be buying g our season passes this week. We ski at Mt Hood Meadows. Your from Oregon kisal so I know you know the place.
We live between Portland and Mt. Hood a bit SE of Sandy, so it is not that far for us to go to Mt Hood. I hope to get up 2 or more times a week. Can't be in the garden so I may as well be in mother nature some place.

[Kisal]

I do indeed know Mt. Hood, having done some hiking there. Sadly, a good friend of mine had a fatal fall there a couple of years ago, while descending from a climbing expedition.

I'm sure Mt. Hood Meadows is much safer than climbing to the peak, though, and I'm sure you know all the mountain safety rules.

[tedln]

and watch out for those mean mountain goats Tom.

Ted

[BewilderedGreenyO.o]

Yay! THUNDER!! RAIN!! DARK CLOUDS!! I always welcome some good stormy weather. Its about time.

Dear Stormy Weather,

Please stay for a while.. It would be awesome to have a winter this year that isn't so much like summer k? thanks!

Love: Kellyn

[rainbowgardener]

It's a shame plants can't grow on predicted rain instead of real rain. Ted

Oh yeah! My garden would be a lot better off right now if it could have used all the rain that was predicted and never showed up!

[gumbo2176]

No rain for a while in southeast La. either. It's been weeks since anything other than my hose has watered the garden. Matter of fact, I did something I hardly ever do yesterday afternoon after watering the garden. I watered my lawn a bit just to put a little moisture to the St. Augustine grass. It has been browning a bit lately and that is not a good sign. I generally have a pretty lush lawn year round, even though I only have to cut it a couple times a month in the fall.

The morning temps. are nice----mid to high 50's with relatively low humidity for our area with highs in the low to mid 80's for the past couple weeks. They are predicting a cool front to move through later this week and hopefully milder temps. will follow keeping it in the 70's for a high for a while.

[tomf]

In 2009 we had a woman get hit by a chunk of ice, Kisal was this your friend? I read that there have been over 130 people killed on Mt Hood. I think because it is an easy climb people climb when they should not have. Remember the 7 kids that died in a snow cave? The weekend that Timberline reopened I went up to the Palmer skiing and went out of bounds to the area where they died as I liked to get away from every one else and the snow is better where others have not skied. To get to the area I had to jump over 2 crevasses so deep it was dark at the bottom of them; not a good place to fall. I then saw some flags and skied toward them. There was a big bump in the side wall of the hill so I got some air off of it. After I landed and looked back I saw I had got air off of the snow cave they died in. To this day thinking about that gives me the creeps. I am not so crazy now that I am a bit older so do not worry I will probably not get killed.

We are in our rain season so it will rain plenty untill next spring, then next summer it will just stop rainning.

[tedln]

Many years ago, we lived in a city with few snowfalls. One night the weatherman on television announced it would only be partly cloudy overnight with no chance of moisture. Early the next morning he got a phone call at his home informing him he should look outside because he has six inches of partly cloudy in his driveway.

Ted

[tomf]

Why is it the weatherman says today it will be partly sunnybut tonight it will be partly cloudy?

[DoubleDogFarm]

I suppose they could say 0% chance of sun tonight.


Eric

[lorax]

I've pretty much given up on the weatherman here (particularly since he seems to base his predictions for Ambato on the town of Latacunga, some 30 km distant and 500m lower in wet paramo), but I've found that I can predict my weather with reasonable accuaracy about 2 hours in advance by looking towards the Llanganates cordillera.....

Today is sunny and we're headed for at least 110, and gauging by the Llanganates it's going to stay that way with only cirrus clouds.

[applestar]

Does any weathersite give you a reasonably accurate prediction for frost?
Does it have to do with the dewpoints that always accompany weather reports but which I have NO idea what they mean? My remote thermometer on the front porch is more apt to show the dewpoint temperature in the early morning than the reported current temperature.

FORGET the FORECASTED temperature. I have 4 different weather apps on my iPad and none of them are particularly accurate when it comes to temperature predictions WeatherBug and Wunderground are pretty good for CURRENT temperature and weather since there are stations within reasonable distance, but they seem to rely on some official forecast or other that are ridiculously inaccurate.

Lorax, is that the volcano -- sorry I'm not remembering all your Ecuadorian geography lessons. Maybe if I had a volcano nearby, it would tell me the accurate weather forecast....

[lorax]

Nope, the Llanganates is the cordillera that runs along to the east of me (if I look towards Quito, it's on my right); the volcano (Tungurahua) is located just to the west of it (ie inside the cordillera) at the head of the Rio Pastaza, and is actually the demarcation point between the Cordillera de los Llanganates and the Cordillera del Condor.

Of the two, I think I'd prefer to be stranded on the volcano; the Llanganates is famous for being full of quaking sand bogs, and for not seeing the sun more than maybe 10 days out of any given year, and for not having more than 2 species of edible plants native to it. At least Tungurahua would give me a quick death.

The only forecast you'll get from an active volcano is "cloudy with a 100% chance of some amount of ash falling on you".

[tedln]

I live in a true "micro climate". We have a large lake on three sides of us. We live on a finger of land about 1/4 mile wide protruding into the lake. A breeze blowing across the lake from any of three directions lowers our temps. This morning was sunny and bright until the morning fog on the lake moved across us. As usual, the fog burned off in a couple of hours and it has been sunny and warm since.

Because we live near Dallas, Directv delivers the Dallas news channels as our "local" channels. Because we are at least sixty miles North of Dallas, the Dallas news channels don't consider us local enough to even report on our weather. Weather Underground on the internet is our only option to see any kind of a forecast. It is pretty accurate and timely.

Ted

[Charlie MV]

I am afloat as we speak. We put up Christmas decorations today. I have a little Griswold in me.

You can never have too much Ho Ho Ho!

[img][img]https://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd5/charliemv/chrismas%20Boat/ChristmasBoat005-2.jpg[/img]
[/img]

We're going to get a few more lights and re-work the whole thing but it does make me feel good. Cousin Ted, you description of home opened the door to my changing the subject.

Lorax, check out the Parrot hanging at the back of the fly bridge. I bet your parrots of Ecuador don't come with lights.

[lorax]

No, they don't come with lights. They do come in big flocks, though, and eat all the fruit off my Arazaa tree, the little potlickers...

People here are starting to put out their giant glowing Santas and big nativity scenes on their lawns. Which is kind of weird, considering it's not even Day of the Dead yet.

Oh, and to keep us OT, it's a balmy 95 right now, and we're headed upwards of 110 again. My goodness, I love summer!

[tedln]

Its raining heavy!

Ted