Weather Rollercoaster

It started with a long, cold winter then on into a longer cool spring & just when we thought summer would never come, the calender turned to the first day of Summer and wouldn't you know it, warm summer weather arrived...for one week. Then back to cloudy, cold & rainy for a week just before the 4th. The forecast for the weeks beyond look more summerlike; only time will tell.

Such is the challenge for Michigan gardeners, cool periods, slowing the garden's growth, followed by hot, dry spells stressing your plants that are trying to explode with growth. Not to be outdone by a cold rainy period watering everything thoroughly but not allowing you to weed or pluck! What is a time-stressed gardener to do? Relax and enjoy the ride, variety is the spice...and all that. Really, you would be sooooo bored if the weather was the same all the time. You wouldn't have to try new plants this year because some didn't work last year (or aren't working this year!) You wouln't have to look at the weather forecast & worry about when the next rainfall was coming...it would take all of the fun out of it.

In other news, remember that we were soooo exited about the plant plastic recycling day that Polly's hosted on June 26th? It was a tremendous success and we had a phenomenal turnout and collected enough plant plastic to FILL a semi trailer from front to back almost completly from bottom to top! If you weren't here & can't believe it, click HERE to see our photos. Or maybe you were here & want to see it again or show someone that you contributed to saving the planet.

In case you missed what went on, Polly's teamed with Emmet County Recycling, Emmet County Conservation District and East Jordan Plastics to host a Plant Plastic Recycling Drop off day for local residents & businesses. All of the plastic was collected, sorted & stacked into pallet-sized gaylord boxes to be recycled into new pots, trays & cell packs. Overall we filled 35 of these boxes some overflowing with pots stacked 8 feet high! We are still trying to fathom the amount of landfill space that was saved. Because it was such a success, Emmet County Recycling is hosting another drop-off day October 3, 2009 at the Emmet County Transfer Station located on Pleasantview Road. So keep planting and save your pots, trays & cell packs until October.

Happy Gardening!