Welcome to the AppalachianTrailCafe.net!
Take a moment and register and then join the conversation

whats the weather where you are?

    This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to our Cookie Policy.

    • IMScotty wrote:

      Roadrunner, that is so great. I did not know people grew bananas in Florida. What cultivar is that?

      I know that the Cavendish banana are now threatened by the Panama disease that wiped out the Gros Michel cultivar. I have long wanted to try a Gros Michel because they were suppose to be the best tasting banana, but I have never seen one for sale up here in New England. Maybe someday?
      I'm not sure of the cultivar, because I got it from a neighbor that was moving; she kept in in a pot and it was so bad looking I didn't believe it would survive, but it did and now I have at least ten banana plants from that one --- which I believe is probably an Orinoco cultivar, if I had to guess.

      You can still get Gros Michel bananas, but it's true they were virtually wiped out back in the 1950's and now the Cavendish is threatened. The problem (among other things) is that banana plants are genetic copies of one another, i.e. clones. There is absolutely no sexual reproduction involved in domesticated bananas, so any disease will effect the entire population in the same way.
    • The idea that the lack of regional biodiversity in food crops creates the potential for devastation by plant pathogens was established by the collapse of the coffee industry in Sri Lanka. At the beginning of the 1800s the British established coffee plantations in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). By mid century, the island was one of the top 3 coffee producing countries and the British were big coffee drinkers. But in the 1860s a rust fungus wiped out all the coffee trees on the island. They were all highly suceptible to this particular rust as the were mostly genetic clones. The hills were replanted with tea and to this day, the British are known as tea drinkers. Plant breeders know that genetic diversity is always the greatest in the region a plant originated. For coffee, this is east Africa. Not sure where bananas come from. But for this reason, plant pathology seminars often sound like vacation blogs. "And in the next slide you see me digging up a previously uncharacterized wild soybean cultivar with my 9 iron next to the 18th green of the golf course in Tahiti."

      Read about it here
    • odd man out wrote:

      The idea that the lack of regional biodiversity in food crops creates the potential for devastation by plant pathogens was established by the collapse of the coffee industry in Sri Lanka. At the beginning of the 1800s the British established coffee plantations in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). By mid century, the island was one of the top 3 coffee producing countries and the British were big coffee drinkers. But in the 1860s a rust fungus wiped out all the coffee trees on the island. They were all highly suceptible to this particular rust as the were mostly genetic clones. The hills were replanted with tea and to this day, the British are known as tea drinkers. Plant breeders know that genetic diversity is always the greatest in the region a plant originated. For coffee, this is east Africa. Not sure where bananas come from. But for this reason, plant pathology seminars often sound like vacation blogs. "And in the next slide you see me digging up a previously uncharacterized wild soybean cultivar with my 9 iron next to the 18th green of the golf course in Tahiti."

      Read about it here
      You should listen to Gabe Brown, a farmer from Bismark, SD. He farms on thousands of acres by no tilling and using cover crops, but not just a single cover crop, rather many, many species to increase the biodiversity of his soil life. This allows him to farm without use of fertilizers and other pest controls. There's a lot of videos of him speaking, but here's just one quick video.

      youtube.com/watch?v=vjrrTOnH3I8
    • roadrunner wrote:

      You should listen to Gabe Brown, a farmer from Bismark, SD. He farms on thousands of acres by no tilling and using cover crops, but not just a single cover crop, rather many, many species to increase the biodiversity of his soil life. This allows him to farm without use of fertilizers and other pest controls. There's a lot of videos of him speaking, but here's just one quick video.
      youtube.com/watch?v=vjrrTOnH3I8
      I will look him up. Many years ago I went to a conference on sustainable agriculture. What is interesting is that on the surface it reminiscent of old fashioned farming, but it is really a reimagination of modern agriculture. I've seen other clever tricks such as growing corn one season, leaving the stalks standing and then using them as pole for pole beams the next season. It turns out to be very productive. Most people are unaware that almost half of the food grown worldwide is produced using fertilizer produced using natural gas. So a few billion people rely on an unrenewable resource to eat. That's not sustainable, but with current technology there are no other options.
    • Most days I sort of regret moving north of South FL and Houston, especially when it is cold and all the trees are leafless and brown. But times like this week when a hurricane hits, I guess I am glad to be further inland and just get a lot of rain. And for another positive I can turn the sprinkler system off for a few days and save some $. :thumbup:
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      I guess my Mom and Grandmother's garden's were "sustainable" when they utilized the fertilizer from my egg business as a teenager (120 hens). :)
      I lived in the Harrisonburg area of VA for 5 years... the chicken and turkey capital of the world, chicken houses everywhere....nothing like the smell of chicken "fertilizer" being spread on the fields to awaken the nose and eyes.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.
    • Drybones wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      I guess my Mom and Grandmother's garden's were "sustainable" when they utilized the fertilizer from my egg business as a teenager (120 hens). :)
      I lived in the Harrisonburg area of VA for 5 years... the chicken and turkey capital of the world, chicken houses everywhere....nothing like the smell of chicken "fertilizer" being spread on the fields to awaken the nose and eyes.
      I fell in love with Harrisonburg when my daughter attended JMU. Great town and lots of hiking and outdoor stuff to do all around.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • Texas. We set an all time high for August 29 here in DFW yesterday of 106. THI was over 110. Brutal to be out in the afternoon. We had a storm outflow boundary over us early this morning so it dropped to 75 with half inch of rain! Dog and I did a 3 mile hike but my noon the humidity was going full blast. Most of the state is under heat advisory right now.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • Astro wrote:

      IMScotty wrote:

      Finally pleasantly cool here in the Northeast
      I wonder if what you consider "pleasantly cool" would be beyond pleasant for me. :) On the othe hand some of us Southerners probably enjoy some temps that you might consider too warm.
      On my Vermont hike I'd say the temps were getting down in the low 40's at night, good sleeping weather on the trail.

      Right now at my house it is 65 degrees on a sunny day. To me that is about as perfect as it gets.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Astro wrote:

      IMScotty wrote:

      Finally pleasantly cool here in the Northeast
      I wonder if what you consider "pleasantly cool" would be beyond pleasant for me. :) On the othe hand some of us Southerners probably enjoy some temps that you might consider too warm.
      LOL. YEP! Late September 1987, I take my Texas Born & Bred new (married in '86) wife up to visit my grandparents in their small Central Pennsylvania mountain town. By 7 PM when we finish diner, the outside temp is down to 45. Grandmother WAS the dishwasher so they are at the kitchen sink running hot water and doing dishes. Grandmother is wearing a light summer cotton dress, no sleeves. She then declares it TOO HOT (it might have been 65 in the kitchen) and opens the window all the way. Dropping the temp there at the sink to probably 50 within minutes. Wife about turns blue and goes and puts on a sweater. She tells me about it later that night and I just laugh. Anything over 65 was WARM and over 70 was HOT to my grandmother.
      And no, No AC in the place. Granddad built it in 1946 (the other two houses he owned were late 1800's and early 1900's). The original furnace was coal fired. There was a hole in the single car garage floor, coal truck backed up and put a shoot down and filled the coal bunker up. Granddad was shoveling coal into the late 1960's. Maybe that contributed to him dying just short of turning 100 and living in the 1800's (Born in 1899), the 1900's and the 2000's (He died something like 48 days before Y2K).
      Then he got a gas fired furnace but STILL had the coal one sitting there so he could switch back since, well gas fired was new-fangled.....can't trust that!
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork

      The post was edited 1 time, last by rhjanes ().

    • IMScotty wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      IMScotty wrote:

      Finally pleasantly cool here in the Northeast
      I wonder if what you consider "pleasantly cool" would be beyond pleasant for me. :) On the othe hand some of us Southerners probably enjoy some temps that you might consider too warm.
      On my Vermont hike I'd say the temps were getting down in the low 40's at night, good sleeping weather on the trail.
      Right now at my house it is 65 degrees on a sunny day. To me that is about as perfect as it gets.
      Confirmed. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • It's been a fairly hot summer on the cloudless days, thankfully we had a fair amount of rain. Lately, I've been noticing that sunrise has been later and later, but the sun still felt hot, until just last week when we had another round of rains, followed by just cloudy days -- the cloudy days probably a result of Hurricanes Marco & Laura.

      Now the sun is starting to pop out to reheat the earth, but I've noticed that its power is somewhat subdued, thanks to its less direct rays. Fall is coming 8o

      I guess I better get on the ball and start my fall/winter garden. gif.013.gif gif.014.gif

      The post was edited 2 times, last by roadrunner ().

    • Just finished up our traditional Labor Day Weekend trip to the White Mountains with my wife. This is a roadside cabin/ driving tour sort of trip, so sorry no real hike reports to share.

      But what a gorgeous weekend it was in the mountains. Perhaps 70 in the valleys in the day, somewhere in the 40's at night. The peaks were about as clear as I've ever seen them for three days in a row. The Milky Way lit up the night sky above our cabin. Any hiker that was above timberline this Labor Day weekend was treated to near perfect conditions.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Sandy appears to be going from the Gulf of Mexico toward AL and GA, so more rain and winds for DryBones and MaxPatch. We might get some rain, but not the flash floods like we had with the last one (Laura?). I guess it is a good thing when a hurricane goes by and a few weeks later you are not sure about the name. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • The nicest day today in a long time -- it was 69 when I finished up my walk at noon -- although I'd rather have the heat and no hurricane on the horizon for the people on the coast.

      Coincidentally, today was also the 69th consecutive day I've walked. That streak may be in jepardy in the coming days.
      2,000 miler
    • Heavy rain yesterday, I had settled into my hammock, lit up a good cigar and sipping on a glass of cognac, when the rain started the dogs joined me under the tarp, the dogo pup started playing with a 3 ft stick which I took and threw away to keep her from knocking my drink over as she did the day before, she went out into the rain, brought the stick back (good dog!) and stuck it into my hammock which ripped and sent me to the ground quick...had to finish my cigar sitting on the ground with the other two dogs.
      Images
      • IMG_0332.jpg

        42.58 kB, 640×480, viewed 243 times
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.
    • Drybones, I had a hammock go once on me like that too. Started with just a little tear due to my carelessness with a knife, next thing I knew it ripped clean across and my ass was on the ground. I thought they made these things out of ripstop nylon?
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Drybones wrote:

      Heavy rain yesterday, I had settled into my hammock, lit up a good cigar and sipping on a glass of cognac, when the rain started the dogs joined me under the tarp, the dogo pup started playing with a 3 ft stick which I took and threw away to keep her from knocking my drink over as she did the day before, she went out into the rain, brought the stick back (good dog!) and stuck it into my hammock which ripped and sent me to the ground quick...had to finish my cigar sitting on the ground with the other two dogs.
      I love the look of the dog on the right. Looking up to say "what just happened ".
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General