Timothy Lawton

     This is the first year that I have started to clear out my greenhouses so early. Usually in northern New Jersey our target date of the last frost is between May 10th and 20th. This year I took a calculated risk and brought all of my trays of seedlings out around the last week of April and the first week of May. Hopefully any truly cold weather will hold off and this will not be a mistake on my part. The next few days will be a little iffy between wind and possible frost, but it was a chance I had to take.

PS I’ll be trying to design fences of fishing line to protect some of my gardens from the EVIL deer. I’ll try to post about how it works out.

Well, we are witnessing another strange season in norhtern New Jersey. No surprise!!! I’m almost done with my indoor seeds and have started many outdoor plants. Peas went into the ground about a month ago and I recently planted lettuces and carrots outside. Now is the time to plant trees if you want to. Most species have bloomed early despite the cold and snowy winter. The heat wave we experienced in early April accelerated alll growth. Thank God it ended and we are back to more typical weather for this time of year. I started my tubers (cannas and dahlias) and am actually keeping them outside for now. Watch for frost if you want to keep your plants safe. Remember many tropical and sub-tropical plants react negatively to a 39 degree temperature rather than 32. This is because water is densist at 39 degrees which separates it from all other compounds. This is why water is a miracle. If it were more dense as a solid than a liquid the oceans, lakes, and rivers would freeze from the bottom up and all life on earth would have to be completely different.

I have had the first flowers at my new home come up. Crocuses. The first fruits of my efforts last fall. The daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips shouldn’t be too far behind. Outside I planted peas on the 18th of March only one day behind schedule. We’ll have to see how the unusually warm and wet weather affected them. In the green  houses I have planted many different types of seeds. Coleus, peppers, srtawflowers and tomatoes to name a few. Next week will be more tomatoes and marigolds of all sorts. I’m going super heavy on the marigolds this year because the deer don’t seem to like them. Yet, I’m still going to work with the plants they have been eating as well.

I have been an avid weather watcher for my whole life. Over the years my personal observations, of what has been around me and from reports around the world, have lead me to conclude that the climate will only continue to spiral out of control. The generally subdued weather and climate of the period from 1850 to 1990 is not the norm. The more extreme events that we have seen over the last two decades are far more likely to be typical earth climate. Since our societies have largely developed into the state that they are currently in during this tranquill episode we are not prepared to deal with the variability that our future climate presents. Regardless if mankind has an influence on this current uptick in extremes I believe it to be a natural occurrence.

Massive blizzards, extreme winds, and now flooding have been a hallmark of the 2009-2010 winter season over much of the eastern United States. Conversely much of the northwest of North America has had a rather warm and relatively snowless season. All over the world this is being repeated and it is occurring year after year. Whether it be droughts or floods, hot or cold, or prolonged periods of calm or extreme storms the climate is becoming far more erratic. Desert floods, fires in the rainforest, the European heat wave of 2003, and countless other events are showing us a world in transition. It seems that no place on this planet is being spared from these freakish examples of nature’s fury.

Yet, we must look at what this means for people as a whole. What does this foretell of the future? Can mankind adequately respond to a climate that challenges us on a nearly continuous basis? It is easy to sit in the industrialized world and simply dismiss what a more turbulent climate may mean for us, but that is very short sighted. First off the effects that will be visited upon us will eventually become an impediment to our every day existence, but before that the trials and tribulations that decimate the third world will visit their results upon our nations. Europe, the United States, Japan, and the rest of the first and second world will be overrun with the refugees from nature’s devastations. Thirsty and hungry people will not go quietly into that dark night while an arrogant, lazy, and spoiled people hold all that they need at their finger tips to stave off their impending doom.

The third world will be hit first, but the more technologically developed societies will not be far behind. The crops that we have cultivated are mostly hybrids bred for the traits that made them suitable to the climate of the past. Clean and reliable water will quickly disappear from much of the world. Massive crop failures will make it to the farm belts of the Northern hemisphere and probably to those of the south as well. Wars over the most basic materials such as water and food will naturally ensue. Malnutrition will lead to epidemics and pandemics and no corner of this globe will be immune. This applies to our livestock as well. Our precarious and comfortable position on this earth is about to take a turn for the worse. All of these natural disasters will only further stress the institutional problems that have been exposed over these last few years. On top of all of this the eco-systems upon which we depend will thrown into complete disarray. Forests will disappear, marine life will evaporate, and the cost of the most basic necessities will skyrocket.

What does all of this mean? What can we do? My primary concern is that we now have no leaders, for the most part, across this world. There are virtually no people who will stand up and take the tough measures which we need to address this coming series of crises. Planning for alternative means to generate agricultural and natural resources is paramount. Again, I must stress the impact that this will have on the populations of the third world. They will be first to endure these hardships, but they will quickly spread to the rest of the world. What are now weather anamolies and inconvieniences will become increasingly meaningful challenges to our very existence. We ignore them at our own peril!!!!

Well, I just sent out my seed order on Friday. Hopefully I’ll get them soon. It’s been a tough time because I’m traumatized by the deer eating half of my unfenced in gardens last year. So, I’m preparing for battle. I shall go on to the end. I will fight them in the gardens. I will fight them on the lawn. I will fight them with growing confidence in my choice of plants and deterrents. I will defend my land. Whatever the cost may be. I shall fight in the parking lots. I shall fight them on the streets. I will fight them on the paths, and if I should I will fight them in the forests. I SHALL NEVER SURRENDER!!!