A beautiful piece of sculpture nestled in the hosta, just lovely. :photo credit: Jane Rickard

If you would like to see a gallery of some of the gardens please follow the link to our FaceBook page;

https://www.facebook.com/The.Chicago.Bulldog

Enjoy Indian Summer. That’s the period we’re in now.

The winter will be warmer and wetter. Credit: National Weather Service

Our resident weatherman Tom Vollman said we are officially in a true Indian Summer. Indian Summer is a period of moderate weather that happens after the first freeze.

Ravenswood enjoyed its first freeze this weekend with extended temperatures below 32° F “I don’t think it happens every year,” Vollman said. “But there’s still time for the weather to warm up before the winter,” Vollman warned.

Winter is set by the solar equinox, which happens December 22.

Vollman believes the Indian Summer was named early in the settlement of North America. Native Americans, he said, waited to harvest squash and corn after the first freeze. The period was often a period of conflict with European colonialists.

The Indian Summer we are enjoying could last till the end of the week, Vollman said. However November is month that sees average temperatures dip into the 40′s, so there will be bad days ahead too.

Vollman said we’ll be experiencing a La Niña winter. So depending on the jet stream position, Chicago will experience some warm warm periods, but also more precipitation and storms.

When will we experience our first snow-fall? Vollman says there’s a chance it could happen sometime in the future. (And that statement proves Tom is a professional weatherman!)

“That’s the way the weather is,” Vollman said quoting Mark Twain, “everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it.

We suffered a frost. (Vollman said if there was any doubt about the Friday event, there wouldn’t be about the Saturday frost. So I guess he has us there.)

According to the Weather Underground station located in Irving Park, about two miles west of most of the neighborhood, the temperature dipped below the freezing point for pure water, 32° F, at 2:08A this morning. Temperatures are rising back to 32° F this hour, 8:42A. Also, the wind was calm, with gusts below 10 miles per hour and the wind holding at no more than 6 mph, with many readings of 0 mph. That leaves us with 6:34 hours of below freezing temperatures.

The term freeze and frost, while similar, describe different weather conditions. With sustained low temperatures and light winds, this is most likely a frost. A freeze happens when the temperatures dip lower and the winds generally increase. A frost does not occur every year because sometimes a killing frost will happen first.

A Weather Underground station in Rogers Park, just north of the Rosehill Cemetery, also reports frost-like conditions, with calm winds and temperatures dropping below 32° F at 2:44A and remaining there till 8:33A this morning, a period of 5:49 hours.

The final local Weather Underground station in Uptown reports temperatures broke 32° F at 6:44A and remain at 31° F at the time of the most recent reading, 8:47A. That indicates a frost period of at least 2:03 hours. That station is located just east of Graceland Cemetery.

The current temperature at WGN TV studios is 32.9° F, indicating the frost has passed in that area.

Frost conditions are very localized. A frost happens when the winds are calm and the sky is clear. Both these conditions happened early this morning. In addition, the temperatures hold to just below freezing. Under these conditions colder air settles near the ground and warmer air rises.

The temperature may vary from ground-level freeze to a warmer temperature just two meters above the ground. A frost such as we had last night is likely to end the growing season of most small plants and containers. If you protected your plants last night they may continue to grow. Larger and hardier plants and plants that still have tree leaves protecting them may also have survived.

With the end of the frost, we enter a period of waiting for additional weather conditions: the killing freeze, a heavy frost and the first snowfall of the season. The first snowfall can take two forms, precipitation that does not cover the ground and ground cover.

National Weather Service, which maintains records of these events since 1885, says only two Novembers have had no snowfall, most recently in 2001, but also in 1999. Several have only reported trace snowfalls.

Here is what we wrote previously about this:

According to the Old Farmers Almanac, Chicago experiences its first frost, on average, October 26. The Illinois Climatologist says, on average, October 14.

The earliest killing frost in Chicago, according to the National Weather Service, happened on October 2, 1971. The earliest frost happened on September 22, 1974, while (sit down for this one) the earliest snowfall in the city happened on September 25, 1928, the earliest measurable snow: October 12, 1909.

According to the data from the Illinois State Weather Service, the latest frost at the Chicago Botanical Garden over the 20 year period from 1981-2000 happened on November 6.

A light frost may have occurred in parts of the Ravenswood neighborhood during the morning rush. Three weather stations report temperatures dipped below 33 F for a period of about an hour.

In addition, the winds were calm with bright sunny skies. Was it a light frost?

The readings:

A Weather Underground station located about two miles west of the neighborhood in Irving Park says the temperature dipped below 33 F for 1 hour, 7 minutes at 7:22A today.

A different Weather Underground station located in Uptown, about a half mile east and that much closer to the lake says the temperature hit 34 F, but didn’t dip below that, for a period of an hour, starting at 7:38A.

Finally a third Weather Underground station located north of the community, near Rosehill Cemetery says the temperature dipped below 33 F for just 18 minutes, starting at 7:57A.

None of the temperature reported to have dropped below 32 F. Conditions can be highly localized.

Do you see signs of a frost?

“It’s going to be an interesting winter,” Tom Vollman, The Bulldog’s resident weatherman warned Tuesday.

Chicago and the Midwest are known as the Battleground, Vollman said. The current storm, with the media warning it is one of the worst in decades, is the first of the winter storms blowing in from the Pacific, he said.

The Battleground, this winter in particular, will affect weather in Chicago and making it interesting, Vollman said. The Battleground is an area of colliding air masses between the warm wet Gulf mass and the cold and dry Canadian Shield mass. There will be a lot of percipitation: rain, snow, ice according to Vollman.

Vollman, who worked for the Kansas City Times writing its weather, watched as winds blew through Rockwell Crossing early this morning. “This is just the beginning,” Vollman said, “the first of the three day blows.”

The Chicago area could experience an interesting winter according to Tom Vollman. Credit Accuweather.com

• Frost: The temperature of the air reaches 32 F there are calm winds and clear skies. Under these conditions, the ground temperature may dip below 32 F while the official temperature, measured a distance of 5′ above the ground, is often warmer.  The temperature will increase the next day. Many plants can survive a light frost.
• Heavy frost: The wind conditions are similar to a frost, i.e., calm winds, clear skies and a rising temperature the next day. The temperature drop is to 25 – 28 F for several hours. Most plants cannot survive a heavy frost.
• Freeze:  The wind is about 5 mph or higher with temperatures below freezing. The height of the cold air mass extends to 500′ or more. Many tender plants are killed or damaged.
• Heavy freeze: Similar to the freeze. Temperature declines to 24 F or lower. Vegetation is killed the ground is frozen.

According to the Old Farmers Almanac, Chicago experiences its first frost, on average, October 26. The Illinois Climatologist says, on average, October 14.  The earliest killing frost in Chicago, according to the National Weather Service, happened on October 2, 1971.

The earliest frost happened on September 22, 1974, while (sit down for this one) the earliest snowfall in the city happened on September 25, 1928, the earliest measurable snow: October 12, 1909.

According to the data from the Illinois State Weather Service, the latest frost at the Chicago Botanical Garden over the 20 year period from 1981-2000 happened on November 6.

There are a number of weather stations in the neighborhood to measure whether a frost, a freeze or even a snowfall happens. They are St. Matthias Elementary, St. Andrew Elementary, Queen of Angels Elementary, Lane Tech and WGN Studios. If all the stations that are operating on a particular date agree, we’ll declare the event to have happened on a particular date.

It would be a pity to have all these weather stations working over time without there being a bit of fun involved. Do you have a prediction of when the first frost, first freeze, first snowfall and first measurable snowfall will happen in Ravenswood? Send your educated guess or shot in the dark  in the the form of a comment and we will find a way to reward those who  guess correctly.

No matter what we do winter is coming our way, we might as well have some fun with Mother Nature as she changes seasons on us. A bit of fun should make the weather inside a bit warmer for us all.

Still another month to ripen, but for their younger brothers we have a plan...Photo Credit: Jane Rickard

I’m just not the tomato gardner that my Mother was.  Now she could grow a tomato plant 11 feet tall that would bear a bushel of fruit, big red beefsteak beauties. Sometimes the plants overproduced and she would take the few greenies wrap them in newspaper and line up them up in the root cellar for a December treat.  Well, living in Chicago root cellars are few and far between, however green tomatoes are not.This year I decided to do a bit more than simply pick and put the greenlings on the windowsill to ripen. This year I’m going to be prepared for the leftovers on the vines.

Common to all ripening methods is to check for any soft or dark spots. Toss these bad boys from the start, they will go rotten before they ripen.Second remove all stems and leaves, wash and let dry throughly. Always keep an eagle eye out for any decaying tomatoes and remove them from whatever process you use.  Not all of them are going to make it to the salad finish line, just do your best.

First there is Momma Fisher’s method wrap them in newspaper and place them in a cool dark place.  A shelf in the corner of your basement will do nicely, simply throw an old blanket or drop cloth over it to provide the darkness. Check them at least once a week.

Banana method: Should take about two weeks. (bananas give off ethylene gas which hastens ripening)

For just a few or cherry tomatoes:

Clean a large jar, place clean tomatoes in jar with the greenest banana you can find. Screw lid on tightly and place out of direct sunlight.  If banana starts to decay replace with fresh green banana. Check daily for signs for mold or decay.

Box method:Two week method:

Line box with several layers of newspaper. place tomatoes in box but not touching, add green bananas.  If you like add several layers of newspaper and add another layer of tomatoes.  Place lid on box, check for decay and ripening bananas frequently. Place in a cooler less humid place in the home like a pantry.

For a longer ripening process, do not add bananas and keep in a cooler location.

For smaller kitchens both plastic and paper bags can be used with a trusty green banana.  However the refrigerator will always be too cool as a ripening place and result in tasteless fruit.

We are all squeezing the dollar until the eagle screams this fall, let’s make those tomatoes last a bit longer!

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

One of the 160 plots at the Victory Garden at Campbell and Peterson.

If there is one thing we as American’s take for granted it’s land and our use of it.  Those of us lucky enough to grow up on big lots usually can remember our parents large vegetable and kitchen gardens just outside the back door.  Even those of us on smaller plots had smaller gardens.  Indeed one of the most productive gardens I can remember was a 2‘X15’ salad garden that produced an abundance May through July.

Yet todays apartment and condominium dwellers, gardens often are limited to a lone tomato in a pot on a balcony.  For these hungry citizens community gardens or allotments as they have been know in Europe for generations are a God send.  At the corner of Peterson and Campbell is a prime example of such a garden.  A group of hard working and organized volunteers have built 160 raised beds for landless gardeners to grow whatever they want or need. I had a chance to tour the allotment and was impressed, all the beds were well tended and watered. There was a sign next to the entrance reminding those with beds it was maintained by the community and what needed to be done to keep the garden in hand and blooming.

As these community gardens become more common in our city we all might take a moment as we go home to our flats and condos.  Could we be the first in our families to work an allotment plot?  The Chicago Park District provides links to current community  gardens and information on organizing one in your neighborhood.

http://www.wellesparkbulldog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/IMG_4342.jpg

.

Photo Credit:Jane Rickard

Years ago when living in Buffalo, New York I got to know the head gardner for a yacht club down the street.  Marcia ruled the ladies who lunch with an iron fist in a garden glove especially when it came to bulbs. Nothing ever interfered with the beauty of her gardens .She was a real believer in letting nature maintain itself and using as few chemicals as possible. That included fertilizers for bulbs, just leave the leaves alone she would tell the volunteers as they wanted to cut the daffodils as soon as the flowers faded.

Marcia was a Organic Gardner ahead of her time, it is unnecessary to fertilize daffodil bulbs if you let those green leaves lie.  The rule of thumb I use is they stay on the ground until completely brown, and that usually takes until the end of July. Daffodils are there own little fertilizer factories.  Once the blossom dies, dead head bloom so it doesn’t go to seed. Then the plant will return all the nutrients it was going to use developing the seed to back to the bulb. The perfect amount for it’s summer  and winter sleep.Sometimes nature just needs to be left to it’s self a bit to stay in balance.