Late December Heat Wave and Its Effects on the Garden

Well, now.  Here we are two days after Christmas and we are in the throes of a heat wave.  Since Christmas Day we've had high temps of 80 degrees!  My firewood sits in the rack biding its time, neglected and unused.  The air conditioner drones on, keeping us cool.  The grass continues to grow and the cows have pasture to munch on.  

And then the garden.  The garden is growing like crazy!  The eggplant is full of blooms and fruit.  The peppers are producing.  We're even picking tomatoes for our garden salads!  Unheard of.  Things are actually growing TOO fast.  The heat has caused the broccoli to fruit early.  The heads aren't as big as they usually get and we have to get out and pick the florets every single day.

The high temperatures cause the plants to bolt to flowering and if you aren't determined about picking every day, you'll have the prettiest little yellow flowers on your broccoli that you've ever seen.  I'd rather eat the broccoli BEFORE it blooms.  The honey bees, on the other hand, were voicing their disapproval today as I was picking the broccoli, even those with flowers on 'em.

You can see, for example, this head of broccoli.  If I waited one more day, it would be too late.  It would be all bloomed out versus something good to eat.

The cauliflower is ripening too quickly as well.  With the temperatures persisting in the 80's for the next week, at least.  We are having to do a lot of harvesting that we wouldn't ordinarily be doing for a while.

We've been eating the broccoli and cauliflower in salads, roasting them in the oven with garlic, steaming them and intend on blanching and freezing some for later.  Tricia also made a Broccoli Cheese Soup for supper the other night.

We're waiting on some cooler weather.  If I understood correctly, the long range forecast shows some potential for freezing temps in the next 10 days or so.  That will be something to see.  A 50 degree fluctuation.