End of June/Early July: A Retrospective on Thunder & Lightning

I can't remember the last time we had 2 weeks of daily thunder and lightning storms. I love this sort of weather, mostly because it's exciting, but also because it waters the garden quickly and efficiently - and then goes back to being somewhat sunny and humid - perfect tomato weather!

Today's thunder & lightning show was exceptional at least here in Somerville. The sky darkened rather quickly, and before I could look out the window, the wind whipped up very strong, and soon rain and pea-sized hail fell in a torrent. The rain was horizontal actually, everything went gray and even white at times. It was alot like a microburst of snow we had one day this winter. The whole shebang didn't last long, but one lightning strike was very close, as the flash and thunder were nearly simultaneous...ambulances and firetrucks jumped into action soon after.

I visited the garden and noticed the winds had pushed around the cilantro and my neighbors' squash plants. Other than that, everything seemed pretty normal and well watered. I picked some African basil, and mint from a friend's garden for a meal I'm making with Tony (Soba Pesto Noodles). I went to the Davis farmers market too and bought sugar snap peas, pea pods, Asian scallions, apple mint - all for the dinner, and some raspberries for myself. Mostly a locally grown meal, or the veggies and herbs anyway, w/exception of the meat and noodles.