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Enough Rain?

Konrad___far_north

12 years ago

It rained about the whole week, off and on. I think we're in for

the second year with more then usual. I've heard it comes in

a 20 year cycle, ...hm, another 19 years?

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Comments (34)

don555
12 years ago
Time to stock up on Deep Woods Off...
nutsaboutflowers
12 years ago
We got way too much rain last night.

Found the remainder of my annuals that I was going to plant, floating in about 3 inches of water in my garden cart.

To heck with Deep Woods Off, I think I'll need a canoe first! I'm not staying another 19 years.......
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Let it rain!
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Comments (7)
Seil - I am so happy that you are finally able to enjoy some sunshine and warmth and your roses, I know it was a miserable winter for you! M - I wish you could send some rain to me and Kate! I think Kate would agree, we would be glad to send some sunshine and warmer weather your way! My roses haven't been hurt by the drought yet, but they could be if things don't turn around. It would be so nice if we could all just have the right balance of everything, that's not realistic though. Jim, thank you! The_bustopher - I know, it is frustrating. We've had hit and miss showers for awhile now, until recently they were totally missing my area. I'm not sure how far behind we are, but I would guess it's probably a similar amount to what yours is. This post was edited by Sara-Ann on Mon, May 26, 14 at 23:21
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Problem two: Dry bed
Q
Comments (25)
Please be patient with me as I really know nothing about gardening. In my last house I learned that tomatoes did well in this bed but lousy in the other bed and like that, and that was the extent of it. I have piled my grass and weeds in a pile, but there's a bunch of stuff there (branches) that isn't rotting fast at all. I do have a black compost bin that you turn but it really doesn't hold all that much. Besides, I never have put anything in it but grass and weeds. When they say "add the brown stuff" I shrug. I did just read up about the leaves and shredding them in a trash can with a weed eater and I can do that. :o) What is barn litter? I figure this would be a great time to shovel horse manure as it's been so hot and dry and there are people around here with horses who would let me. For a truck I have a Chrysler Sebring convertible. Is there some way to haul manure in that wihout hurting my car? Like in black trash bags in the trunk or something? Or should I just give up on this idea as one of my stupidest? I do like the price tag of free! And I don't want to shovel it when it's all wet with rain, which is when I'm going to need it, come fall. Right now I'm tempted to let my poor garden keep going. Maybe I should just give up now and stomp it down. Dunno. The corn is the tallest plant in there, maybe a foot high, and the neighbor just told me the raccoons steal all his corn. Figures! The rest of my plants are only about 4-5". Pretty sad, huh? I did start my winter sowing on the late side, because I learned about it late, but this is ridiculous. I'm also a bit concerned about my whackadoodle Wheaten tearing up anything I put down in the back yard. I sure wish she would understand if I would explain to her why she musn't do that! I had put up a fence of sorts but she tore that down too, darn her. Lucky for her I know that beating her senseless wouldn't teach her not to dig there -- she would just think humans were crazy. So no point in that even though that's what I feel like doing when I discover she has killed the three blueberry bushes I planted, or dumped over and desimated two long planters of veggies (I figured the planters would stop her from trampling them). No sense yelling at her after the fact... but I need a punching bag! That dog alone is enough to make me want to either give up the dog or the gardening. I did winter sowing for the first time this year. I was thrilled with all the plants I got. But then the trouble started. I had a HUGE double-trunked tree (fir and hemlock) fall over in my yard a couple of years ago. A stump grinder guy came out and ground it up and left me a mountain in the middle of my lawn. So I wheelbarrowed that dirt to where I now have my garden because it could use a little building up, I thought. Stupid idea. The bad news is that last year my garden didn't grow/flourish at all in that spot (yeah, I've figured out why). So this year I carefully put peatmoss and compost in the holes for each plant and it still didn't grow/flourish. So I got so disappointed and told my neighbor to quit saving milk cartons for me as I apparently can't garden in my garden patch to save my soul, so no sense winter sowing for me. So yesterday I phoned a nursery and asked the guy what to do and he said shovel out all that bad dirt and shovel in good topsoil. I'm too old for that. So I called a topsoil place and they wanted a fortune to take my old bad dirt that has the root chips in it, and also to bring me new dirt. I'm too poor for that. I had never heard of "lasagna gardening" until today. Um, yes I'd heard something about layering, but they always seemed to want something I didn't have and didn't know how to get, so I didn't pay too much attention. I put down newspaper in my old garden once and it stuck around forever and I thought it was supposed to disappear and it was hard to dig a hole through to plant, so I didn't do it again. I just googled it and read up on it. Now I feel a glimmer of hope but I have questions. So now are you telling me I can newspaper over my bad root-chipped garden soil and put layers of good stuff on it and next year I can plant in it and my plants will do well? In just the stuff I added? And they won't send roots down into the old bad soil? Okay, that's in the back yard. Now, in the front yard the grass is a little higher than is the flower bed under the house overhang. So are you saying that if I put newspaper over the grass and add stuff that the grass and roots underneath would decay enough so that I could rake that area to blend it in? I think that's not what you're saying. I think what you're saying is I would have to add enough stuff to raise the whole bed up higher than the grass to the point where I could rake it out to be flat? Then I'd need some kind of retaining wall around it, right? Also, I don't understand using the tar paper. First, I thought tar was toxic? Second, are you building a whole garden on top of the tar paper? It looks like at least in part that's where your grass ended up. (Does it drive you nuts to mow that curve?) Or are you taking the tar paper off later? This post feels like it should be in a "gardeners anonymous" meeting. Come to think of it, it kind of is. lol! Okay, off to google "Euonymus." I'll be darned if I know what that is.
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enough rain, for awhile
Q
Comments (2)
We feel left out here. All wind, no rain. : ( I'm glad y'all got rain and Moni got her tomatoes planted too. Isn't this supposed to be our "good week" for planting? I hope so because I intend to get it done. For the first time in months we have water in the big pond from the rain that fell earlier last week. Granted, it is just a couple of inches, but Biscuit, our old dog who loves to swim, promptly went to the pond and "waded" in it. Maybe he'll get to swim again one of these days. Okiehobo, I hope, hope, hope we get a month or two of good weather before the summer heat arrives, but there's no guarantee, is there? Dawn
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Enough rain
Q
Comments (10)
Dorothy and Carol, Just send any future rainfall to Jay and Jan. They need it over there in SW KS and in the OK Panhandle. I can't believe how much rain both of you have had. In April 2009 when the 12.89" of rain fell here in 24 hours, we had roads wash out like that. Some of them were not repaired with asphalt because of the cost...they just put gravel over the washed out areas. Some have since been repaved, but other areas have not. Counties like ours with little business infrastructure and low tax income cannot afford to fix all the roads that need to be fixed and that situation seems to get worse every year. We were out at a fire earlier this week in another fire district, so I don't know their roads well, but one road we were on was paved, then dirt/gravel, then paved again, and the dirt/gravel part was in a pretty low area, so we speculated at the time that we bet that was one of the roads that they didn't have the money to repave after the flooding of '09. I remember seeing one road in the Falconhead resort/golf community west of Marietta in 2009 that had washed out deeply...the 'sinkhole' left behind was large enough for a car to fall down into. I think I remember hearing that fixing that road alone was going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars because they had to redo all the drainage, replace all the washed-out soil, fix the roadbed, repave, etc. It was a huge understaking and since that is a small, private community, I believe the roads are their responsibility, not the county's. Our county's road repair budget seems to shrink smaller and smaller every year, although I don't think it is that they are getting less money every year for road maintenance, just that the road materials increase in cost every year so that each year you get less and less for your money. We're at the point that all they can afford to do is patch the existing paved roads. There's no money to repave an area that completely washes out, or to pave "new" roads. Y'all can send all the extra runoff down to Lake Texoma. It still has storage capacity available. Dawn
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FrozeBudd_z3/4
12 years ago
"Found the remainder of my annuals that I was going to plant, floating in about 3 inches of water in my garden cart." ... mine were floating in the wheelbarrow, lol.

Konrad, previous to the last few days it's been very dry here, though 2 1/2 inches have fallen in the last two days and more is on the way :(
beegood_gw
12 years ago
I think who ever turned that tap on would you PLEASE turn it off. Enuff already. The creek below my house was almost dry and now is almost a roaring river. Glad my tomatoes are in pots so at least I can move them to a dryer area.
mikomum
12 years ago
We're finally getting rain up here in the Peace country. We were dry last year when the prairies flooded and we were dry again this spring. It's been patchy, so far we have got about 2 inches over the past 5 days but farmers 20 minutes away have got up to 5". Guess we'll all be picking chickweed! My aunt's place near Calgary is downright dangerous with overflowing culverts, designed flood plains overflowing and swollen rapid filled creeks.
don555
12 years ago
68 mm and counting in my rain guage over the past two days...
Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
12 years ago
Took my boots off and found webs growing between my toes!!! The dogs have brought in enough mud that I can plant my garden in the house!!! And my basement walls are starting to sprout green things!!! Nuff already!!
ljpother
12 years ago
I still need to plant raised beds: carrots and beets, and flat and faba beans. To make room for the beans I need to dig up volunteer black currants and evans cherries. However, the costulo genovese zucchini sprouted in two days. I guess it liked the rain.

Kolrobi and cabbage in containers and my potatoes are doing well with the cool weather.

Then there's the poor sweet potato. It's hanging in but the growing conditions aren't what's recommended.
beegood_gw
12 years ago
I sure can relate to the dogs dragging in mud. If I threw down a bit of grass seed I would have a lovely carpet. Maybe bring in some bunnies to keep it cut.
Konrad___far_north
Original Author
12 years ago
LOL....soo...much good entertainment here!

I've heard it's not over until Wednesday!
bdgardener
12 years ago
We are a swamp southwest of Calgary. Mud pit for a driveway. The lawn is standing water. I auger-ed some holes with the bobcat a couple of weeks ago and they are completely full of water. I need some heat!!!!!! My hubby says our fields look like Ireland. Cows and horses are happy, love'n the grass. C
Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
12 years ago
Well I now own lake front property! Had to provide the dogs with flippers and a snorkel this morning! Neighbours sump pump spills onto the north side of our property and half of my back yard is underwater. I think the fence floated away and I can't be too sure ALL the dogs are accounted for! Wonder if we could all concentrate and do a syncronized "dry dance"?
don555
12 years ago
Now 105 mm in my guage in south Edmonton since Friday. And still it rains...
luckygal
12 years ago
More than enough rain here in the hinterland of BC. Dashboard shows sun with only light cloud all week here and the same for Edmonton from Wednesday. Altho it's not always correct. I keep saying it *can't* rain all summer, but maybe it can? :-( I haven't even finished the spring weeding. Not good to garden in wet clay soil. And the mosquitoes are horrendous!

Maybe we need to be doing "sun dances"! ;-D
Konrad___far_north
Original Author
12 years ago
Same here...we're in another soggy period! Over 1.5" rain, that's little compared to 200mm more to the north, sun should be coming out on Friday...that's what they say.
Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
12 years ago
This is part of my backyard under the apple tree after the last bout of heavy rain. :(
beegood_gw
12 years ago
Quack quack Quack !!! Will it never end?
savona
12 years ago
I heard on the radio that it is suppose to go to a drying trend with warmer temps. It wont be this week, the predictions is for rain every day. Today they were predicting clouds and rain and so far it has been sunny all morning. Who knows what the weather is going to do..Jean
FrozeBudd_z3/4
12 years ago
Gosh, 4 1/2 inches in the last several days ... many times coming down in torrents and washing and eroding soil away. The only saving factor is that my soil contains a fair bit of sand and gardens are well sloped and drain freely, though in other areas the water is sitting. Please NO more rain and also no more hail either! My gardens are not looking overly thrifty this year.

THE MOSQUITOES ARE THE WORST I'VE EVER SEEN!
Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
12 years ago
Ditto, ditto, ditto!!!!
Konrad___far_north
Original Author
12 years ago
OH WOW
I heard Eckville got 7"...it was on TV

Here is a link that might be useful: Eckville flood
northspruce
12 years ago
This is just bizarre. Here we have only had 1/2 hour of rain in the past 3.5 weeks. The lawn is crispy brown already. I'm not complaining because our water table desperately needs to go down, but I'm having to water the gardens pretty regularly because it's so dry at the surface.

And this year has about the fewest mosquitoes I can remember. Hordes and hordes of dragonflies and no mosquitoes.
Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
12 years ago
NS- so it is you who is hoarding all the dragonflies. We here in Alberta have started an ark building party and you are mandated to bring the dragon flies.......about 500 BREEDING pairs!! LOL In exchange, you can take back 24 tanker trucks full of rainwater!And mosquito larvae......:)
Konrad___far_north
Original Author
12 years ago
LOL..another week of cool weather with weak bladder.
Local crop is suffering, here some canola under water..
Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
12 years ago
Oh dear!
That looks like my backyard only there is only grass under mine! Mother Nature is sure putting us to the test this year, hey? :(
Konrad___far_north
Original Author
12 years ago
On the news today...
Edmonton has a all time record, June & July, total of 272mm of rain.
In the month of July we only 2 day's without rain in a 21 day period.
They're saying, the rest of the summer still cool and wet.
Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
11 years ago
Here we are yet again.......year three of rainy summers in Edmonton and more in the forecast. After 2 weeks of heat and forest fires across Alberta, the rain WAS much appreciated. Now it is beginning to be a PITA! I wish we could send it to the sorely needed areas of the US and Canadian provinces. :(

And it is raining again!

Ginny
north53 Z2b MB
11 years ago
Well here it was very dry for the entire month, until today when we got 82mm. Luckily it was just rain, no hail. Talk about feast or famine!
northspruce
11 years ago
We only had rain twice in July, and once was today. We had 3 good downpours today but my lawn is still brown. We had a bit of hail but it didn't do any harm.
Konrad___far_north
Original Author
11 years ago
Yeah, but there is light at the end of the tunnel,.. one week of hot dryer weather starting on Friday,...if the weatherman is correct?
Saskatchewan is now getting the storm.
Not sure how northern Alberta did with moisture this year, I think last year it was dry.

We sure are doing good with all the moisture and heat, it's sooo... green, most trees & shrubs love this and grow like crazy, some of my spruce trees, [in a low spot] about 15 of them died, some where about 15 years old, looks like that place needs some willow.
Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
11 years ago
I don't know what weatherman you are listening to Konrad, but Josh Classen just forecasted the next 10 days with maybe 2 days of no rain.......So sorry about your trees. :(

Even this old icky lawn is green and I have a tomato forest! And the rest of this old yard is starting to look like a tropical rain forest. :-/

Ginny
Konrad___far_north
Original Author
11 years ago
LOL...it was on Global TV tonight, isolated thunderstorms possible each day, less rain overal with the HEAT coming back.
Yes, lots of tomato chungel pruning.

So Manitoba is dry, I'll send the rain your way.
Thanks Ginny for reviving this thread, I forgot about it, you're right, it's the third year in a row, ...then another 17! LOL
Collin001
11 years ago
I can say Regina has had an above average rainy season. Not quite double the average. Too much humidity and I can't work outside. The following shot is of late June after about an inch of rain. What is scary isn't the amount it was the intensity of the shower in which the rain came down. Anything more than an inch in an hour and we got problems because of poor lane grade.

The picture below wasn't as bad as the shower two weeks prior which produced the mammatus clouds. I was not finished leveling and the rain was ill timed. You see why there was no garden put in.
marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
11 years ago
It's pouring here this morning, but we've had less rain than you out west. But we do seem to have those "feast or famine" rains - it would be okay to have a couple of days of gentle rain, but it always seems to pour when it does. Oh well - it means a break in the heat. :)

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