Design

Happily, the suggested rains did appear, and we'd received over an inch by 3 pm this afternoon.  It's a good thing, as it's been dry, dry, dry over the last month or so. And more rain is predicted for tomorrow, so that's good, too.  I can already see plants in our garden perking up!

Woo, hoo! After record-breaking heat (yuck, over 90°F in the mountains), a thunderstorm dropped 3/4 of an inch of rain in a late afternoon downburst. I've been watering my raised beds full of vegetables, but a good soaking is always welcome. I planted more winter and tromboncino squash seeds this afternoon. My idea is that the vines can ramble down the slope towards the ravine, and maybe, if the woodchucks are focused elsewhere (I haven't seen any sign of them so far), I might have some nice winter squashes, as well as fresh tromboncinos. A delicious young basil pesto accompanied the fresh vegetables from the garden with orecchiette pasta in this evening's dinner. Yum. I'll be 'heading down the hill' on Friday to spend a couple of days in the Piedmont (mainly to attend a work function, but also to check on the garden). I'm hoping that there's been a thunderstorm or two there, too. There isn't much that needs watering frequently (I did away with ...

Coming back down from the mountains (unexpectedly, for house painting purposes), we returned to heat and humidity. It was a decided difference.  But it's been rainy here, thankfully;  the rain gauge showed 3 inches in the last week and half!  So everything from containers to shrubs are looking good. It's nice to have an opportunity to check the garden-- that was our first order of business.  It's a good thing to have had plenty of rain! One exception were the short-day onions, whose tops seemed to have largely melted away because of some sort of fungus;  I harvested all of the bulbs, though, which although small, hopefully will be tasty. The garlic, surprisingly (or maybe not), had browned up and is largely ready to harvest. I cut the scapes of the single bed of hard-neck garlic before harvesting; they're probably too fibrous to be good, but we'll see.  The young leeks are doing OK, but also are suffering from too much rain, seemingly somewhat mildew-stress...

We had almost two inches of rain over the last 24 hours, excellent for us, as we needed it.  But I'm mindful of the deluge that folks experienced in Tennessee and Kentucky, and the resulting flooding, damage, and loss of life.  I've become aware of the increasing variability of extreme weather (predicted by climate change models), and it's hard not to wonder (and worry). But the gift of rain, and being thankful for every day, is currently on my mind;  an evening stroll found a luminous light and plants grateful for extra moisture. Last Friday, I had a lovely group of 'students' from a OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) class visit our garden after a presentation about 'Creating a Natural Garden.'  I'm a garden (and nature) educator by profession (and avocation as well, actually); I love to encourage folks to think creatively about their gardens, and what they can plant, how to find natives, etc. etc.  I was delighted to have a full class (25)!  But...

After a decade of drought, I guess I really should be grateful for the abundance of moisture that's recharged aquifers, and led to an official 'end of drought' pronouncement. But it's been so wet, cold, icy, and dark (at least for wimpy Southern gardeners like me), I'm looking for all the signs of spring that I can find. I can't get out and DO anything in my beds; they're way too wet and it's been icy or pouring for every weekend for weeks. We haven't been able to go up to build new beds in the mountains, either, because of snow and ice. OK, I'll get a grip on reality; much of the temperate world is much colder (and snowier) than here. But I want to plant peas, and lettuces, and spinach, and early greens.... I guess I just need to be patient (and grateful for the normally mild weather that we have), and think about all of you that have much more severe gardening climates to face and who cope quite nicely. Best, An impatient Southeastern US ga...

We were still behind a bit on rainfall for this year, but should be caught up now, thanks to the remnants of Ida. Our rain gauge measured 4 1/2 inches, but we probably got more, since its location is buffered by the holly hedge. One of my colleages who lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Escarpment (a much heavier rainfall zone) said that they had 8 1/2 inches in 24 hours. I'm doing a Nature Discovery Walk, focused on seasonal ecology tomorrow -- lots to observe and talk about.

It poured yesterday. Lots of rain. Our small bog will be happy, as will the sedum garden. It looked like a tropical rain forest.

This has been such a wonderful spring for gardening (in the SE U.S.) After 10 years of drought, plants are responding to abundant spring rains with abandon. Our garden looks great, compared to what it's looked like in recent years. And my tomatoes, beans, squash and other summer vegetables are robust beyond anything that I've had before, since I started growing vegetables in earnest ~10 years ago. This volunteer purple coneflower ( Echinacea purpurea ) is huge and the meadow is looking robust. And the side border is looking as nice as it ever has. I've been so grateful for the rain, and it's heightened our appreciation of our garden landscape. Our gardening assistant (Mocha) likes being at home, too.