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["Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>]

Well, it looks like the garden isn't going to do much this year.  Well, the 
zucs always do well, so they don't count.

We have literally had NO sun for a month and all the plants are acting like 
winter is here.  The strawberries quit, the peas quit, the beans aren't even 
knee high, the spinach bolted before it even got big enough to pick, the 
radishes simply went to seed and never made any bulb, and so forth and so 
on.

The thing is, on the coast, we could have fog every single day but the sun 
or ultra-violets or whatever the heck the plants need still came through. 
With smoke, well, suffice it to say, I now know what would happen if the 
mega volcano goes off and we end up with a cloud cover.

The madrones are all dying and some are dead.  They are shedding leaves, 
slipping bark and now look like pistachio trees!  Young trees never peel 
bark but all the young trees are just green sticks (they should be red or 
brown, not bright green) now. Our oaks are still somewhat o.k. but over in 
the valley they are all dropping leaves.  The dogwoods have dropped their 
leaves, the alder are dropping, and some of the Ponderosa pine are turning 
brown.  Even the mazanitas are dropping leaves and shedding bark.  The 
manzanitas *rarely* peel bark!

The hills are literally covered with shedded leaves!  The deer are turning 
darker brown already.  Skunks and raccoons can be seen out wandering during 
the day.

Between the cost of gas and the loose of the garden, this winter we will be 
eating lots of pasta and beans without any lovely canned goodies to go with 
them.

Lightning sucks!

Lynda