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April2019Weather diary page April 2, Aomori: It's snowing. It's April 2nd and it's snowing. Still some snow on the ground from the 5" we had a couple days ago. (It hit 5 yesterday and most of it melted.) EDIT: More snow. It's 5PM and the temperature is back down to 0 so if it keeps snowing, I will have to shovel in the morning. This is unusual. April 3, Aomori: More snow. I spoke with a coworker who has lived in this area for over 20 years and apparently this is highly unusual. April 13, NR: Unfortunately i'm not geared up to properly take advantage of the weather - mostly sunny with a few showers, 15-25C - every day - you could not design it better for growing stuff. As it is, i've got a small vegie patch that i never water - oh, i did plant 200 natives - never watered them either after the first couple of days. On the down-side, the grass grows like crazy so i spend a lot of time dealing with that - hopefully next year i can work out a better system. Cut a circle of grass around the natives with the weed whacker and mulched them, which is hard work when there's 200 of them - then mowed around them with the ride-on mower, which blasted away all the mulch i'd put on. Next time - mow first! Apart from a couple that i decapitated with the weed whacker most are doing well. A few of the 'pioneers' look a bit sickly. Had an explosion of white moths in the last couple of weeks - apparently their larvae eat the grass roots so there are large patches of dead grass - not high on my 'things to worry about' list at the moment. Also weed whacked around several fruit trees that were getting strangled by chest-high grass - the last owner had just let it go - hopefully they will recover. Includes several lime trees, oranges, figs, and a sweet, soft orange fruit. Several small avocado on the sole-avocado tree - wish there were more. Oranges are getting attacked by birds - bought some netting but too many things to do to get around to putting it up - next year. There was a burst of field mushrooms around mid-March, but they are mostly finished now. Also noticed quite a few other mushrooms white with a gold-top, light brown gills, and a stalk that stains with a blue ink-like substance when you squeeze it - they started coming up in the last couple of weeks. COMMENT: I'm surprised to read the oranges getting attacked by birds. We have loads of citrus trees on the property in Florida and they're indestructible. The fruit is also inedible, maybe that's why the birds don't like them. They're super acidic. There are a few trees producing sweet fruit, but most of it is used for cleaning fluid. I've read it all comes down, ultimately, to the soil, but now that we're in Japan it's a moot point. COMMENT NR: It may be possums, but the other suspect is cockatoos - i don't think they eat it, it's just something destructive and naughty in their nature -i did see one carry off a lemon - then drop it uneaten in a field April 24, Aomori: Temperatures are all over the place, but it hasn't gotten below 0 for a couple weeks. Today will be warm and balmy with a high of 24. Compare this to Friday, two days from now, when the high is only supposed to be 8. Lows with this coming system are supposed to hit 1! That's damn cold considering they turn our heat off in a couple weeks. The forecast high tomorrow, 15, is lower than the low today. Cherry blossoms are going like crazy. Looks like they'll peak in the next 10-14 days. Lots of migratory birds showing up. Spring has sprung, but it's only hopping at this point. April 30, NR: A couple of dry days but rain was back today. Natives are doing well - showing healthy new sprouts. Been seeing a lot of playtypus in the creek - appears to be three spots that have them - not sure how far they roam from their home territory. Despite their reputation of being extremely shy and only appearing at dusk and dawn, have seen them frolicking in the middle of the day a couple of times. Also spotted a white-bellied sea eagle - very impressive bird - although it's far from the sea here they will inhabit any waterways. Blue-faced honey eaters also about feeding off tree blossoms, including red wattles which are in full bloom. Days are still warm, though forecast to get down to 10 next week - might be time to get the wood fire going. April 30, Aomori: This was a brutal April compared to last year, with lower temperatures and more snow that I would have liked. It ended up with more normal highs in the teens. Cherry blossoms have peaked or are peaking. |