This isn't Colorado. This isn't even the Sierra Nevadas. This is 13 miles from the coast in central California. Egad.
We were surprised. Usually I watch three different reports every day to ensure that if a forecast of extra-cold weather pops up, we cover the garden with frost blankets.
Even the best of gardeners, and even the best of weather reporters, get caught off guard.
Last Friday early evening, around 5:30, in the space of about 30 minutes, we received a hail storm of epic proportions. Since it was already dark, and the hail was plummeting down as hard as Tiger Woods' reputation, we couldn't run out and throw the blankets on.
In the fourteen years I've lived in Ben Lomond, I've never seen this amount of hail. It looked like snow. Of course we unskilled Californians were slipping and sliding around the road like a bunch of city folk.
What's been interesting with this hail is that up close, it looks exactly like Dippin' Dots. It also has stuck around through a couple of decent rain storms. Two days later, during my Early Spring Gardening Class, my students couldn't believe it was still here. It was a good teaching moment, though. The lesson is that often Mother Nature catches you off guard. And despite your best efforts, she reminds us who's in charge.
Not cool and yet very cool!
Posted by: Tina | February 01, 2010 at 05:07 PM
Were you able to recover most of your plants that got caught in the hailstorm?
Posted by: Kate Blue | February 06, 2010 at 08:03 PM
Yes, Kate. There are a lot of holes in the cabbages and pac chois, looks like bug damage. But they'll be fine!
Posted by: Love Apple Farm | February 07, 2010 at 08:01 AM