So glad to have you join us for the August / September “Back to School” Issue!
Now that we’ve been in our new home for over a year, covering two summers, we’ve learned a “lesson” or two about South Carolina living.
First, gotta talk about the weather. No surprise, summer weather arrives early, and stays longer—one reason to head south. Andrea and I do prefer the warmer temps, but still and all, we feel the summer heat is a bit over-stated. Sure, more days than not top 90º. But this is not front-page news (has to get closer to 100º). City kids from Manhattan & Queens, we know from sweltering, humid summers in the “concrete jungle.” Alternately, we now live in a forested, higher altitude region known as The Upstate. Daytime temps are generally more comfortable than towns just 30 minutes south, and most nights cool down considerably.
“Winter” in SC may be my new favorite season. January and February as usual are the coldest. However, the sun shines virtually every day and daytime temps are usually in the 45-60º range; 70’s in March. We did receive one snow. We were forewarned: a couple of inches shuts down EVERYTHING. Municipalities lack snow removal equipment, and drivers are not exactly “comfortable” with the white stuff under their tires. But, the sun comes out and all is clear by the next day.
Winter nights in the hills are another story. Mid to low 30’s brings an occasional frost; a surprise for us for sure — especially concerning our garden plantings. Early spring temps bring March blooms. Wonderful, we thought. However, a late frost took out our would-be fruits and berries: No apples, no pears, no peaches, no plums, no cherries. One blueberry bush delivered. Not so wonderful.
A “hard” lesson we’ve been gradually learning, is how hard it is to successfully garden. Faring much better with our veggie garden this season than our first go-round, it seems like we’ve been feeding the garden more than its been feeding us! Labor intensive, yes. Feed, weed, water, repeat. My Landscape Architect buddy asked me if I had an irrigation system. Sure do! My hoses, rain barrels, watering cans, and ME. Luckily, we get rain a few days a week. On those other days, Andrea and I haul.
We did ok on Long Island with a couple of raised garden beds and pots, Naively, we figured we could simply scale it up. Not quite. As with many new undertakings, there’s a learning curve. Well, lesson learned: in retrospect, the prudent course would have been to start out a bit more simply. “Chalk” it up to another learning opportunity. Live and learn. Really, it is all good. The garden gets us out of the office, under the sun with our hands in the soil. Modest as our harvest has been, it is genuinely gratifying, and a real kick, to be intimately connected to our meals.
Peace All-ways,
Neil & Andrea
