January 8th, 2009
This is my weekly up date from the land of cold. It has been in the -50s to -40s all week. Good news is it may break this week- end and get above zero, with possibility of snow. My wife went out about a week and a half ago in the ice fog and she said it was really bad on the roads and in Fairbanks. Me, I don’t go out, so when we ran out of food this week she forced me to drive her shopping into town.
I now know what she is talking about. On the main roads to town and in town, you were lucky if you could see 100 feet in front of you. But when we got home you could see for at least a quarter of a mile or more. People may already know this, but me, being slow, couldn’t figure it out till the news came on that night.
The broadcaster said there are three main ingredients for ice fog.
1. Low temperature – we definitely got that
2. No wind – hardly get more than a breeze here
3. Car exhaust – now it makes sense!!!! When the cars exhaust hits the cold air the water vapors in the exhaust freeze. Which is why it is more prevalent on the main roads and in town. Duh!! Stupid me.
I also have a better video of shooting water in the cold air and the effects it has on it. Lot better than throwing water in the air. Got this from a friend who got it off U-Tube. View here.
Last week I left you with a picture of my wife holding a little cabbage. The one she is holding is about 30 to 35 pounds. When the fair comes to town in early august, they usually top out at 70 plus.
I grew this one by starting indoors in mid march, moved it to the green house around mid April and planted it in the ground First week of June. I fertilized it several times and used lots of water. Water is what I found to be the trick to large cabbages. Those that get really big > 60 pounds are usually grown in hydroponics situations.
This year the largest cabbage I saw at the fair was about 29 pounds. We had a really cool summer last summer. Most of the time the temperatures were in the 60s. I think it got above
80 once. Plus we had lots of rain. So much, my garden down by the river was flooded and my crop was essentially ruined. We sent this picture into the News Miner, which they published, with the caption, I should have planted rice.
Next week I'll talk about my garden down by the river, how I developed it, the challenges, and the results.
This is my weekly up date from the land of cold. It has been in the -50s to -40s all week. Good news is it may break this week- end and get above zero, with possibility of snow. My wife went out about a week and a half ago in the ice fog and she said it was really bad on the roads and in Fairbanks. Me, I don’t go out, so when we ran out of food this week she forced me to drive her shopping into town.
I now know what she is talking about. On the main roads to town and in town, you were lucky if you could see 100 feet in front of you. But when we got home you could see for at least a quarter of a mile or more. People may already know this, but me, being slow, couldn’t figure it out till the news came on that night.
The broadcaster said there are three main ingredients for ice fog.
1. Low temperature – we definitely got that
2. No wind – hardly get more than a breeze here
3. Car exhaust – now it makes sense!!!! When the cars exhaust hits the cold air the water vapors in the exhaust freeze. Which is why it is more prevalent on the main roads and in town. Duh!! Stupid me.
I also have a better video of shooting water in the cold air and the effects it has on it. Lot better than throwing water in the air. Got this from a friend who got it off U-Tube. View here.
Last week I left you with a picture of my wife holding a little cabbage. The one she is holding is about 30 to 35 pounds. When the fair comes to town in early august, they usually top out at 70 plus.
I grew this one by starting indoors in mid march, moved it to the green house around mid April and planted it in the ground First week of June. I fertilized it several times and used lots of water. Water is what I found to be the trick to large cabbages. Those that get really big > 60 pounds are usually grown in hydroponics situations.
This year the largest cabbage I saw at the fair was about 29 pounds. We had a really cool summer last summer. Most of the time the temperatures were in the 60s. I think it got above
80 once. Plus we had lots of rain. So much, my garden down by the river was flooded and my crop was essentially ruined. We sent this picture into the News Miner, which they published, with the caption, I should have planted rice.
Next week I'll talk about my garden down by the river, how I developed it, the challenges, and the results.
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