Hi Dorothy!

Well, we got three/one-hundredths of an inch of rain but I don't know if it was a little shower that popped up out of nowhere, or if it was some of the remains of Gustav.

We had two days of heavy clouds and high winds, but the local weather guy on TV said we were "on the dry side of the storm", which just figures.

So, still dry and miserable....cracking ground, yellowing and browning leaves falling, and drying-up or dried-up ponds. (It has been a lot cooler though--only 93 degrees this afternoon!) On our way back from a fire today, we were noticing how the grasses are really starting to brown again. The pastures HAD greened up after the mid-August rain, but that moisture is all gone now.

I'm glad y'all got rain. I just wish we had received some too.

I'm watching Ike and secretly chanting "I like Ike!" to myself and hoping maybe he'll send us some rain. Of course, the destruction from Ike in the Caribbean is awful and I don't want to see that happen anywhere in the U.S., but some rain sure would be welcome.

My gut feeling is that our drought here will last at least through October or November (because they usually do). I have been watering the veggie garden (what's left of it--some okra, pumpkins, melons, winter squash, peppers and a few tomatoes) a little because I figured if it survived July and August, it deserved a little water to keep it producing this fall. Many of my flowers bounced back thanks to the August rains, so we've been enjoying them as well.

So, rainfall for the year is about 19" so far. Not our worst year ever, but fairly close.

If you get tired of all that rain there in Adair County, send it to us!

Dawn

Dawn, Go outside and look up and make sure there isn't a tent over your property. I feel so bad for you since you work so hard in your garden, plus attend all of those grass fires.

I watched MESONET everyday to see if you had rain, and it just seemed to avoid you. We have been enjoying some 70-80 degree weather. We had one of those nice slow rains that just went on forever. The ground seemed to soak it up very fast. I had a construction crew working at my house (what else is new) and they finished mid-afternoon and the rain started at 6PM and rained for 2 days. Then we had more a few days later. We got a total of almost 4 inches this week. I am still getting lots of peppers and a few tomatoes, and a cucumber and eggplant now and then, but nothing to brag about.

Carol,

You know, having grown up in Fort Worth where droughts are a fairly regular occurrence, I expected about the same weather here....just 80 miles north of Fort Worth. What I have found, though, is that the droughts are a little more persistent and long-lasting here. Still, there are lots of places in Oklahoma much worse off than us....just look at the poor panhandle counties which have had drought now for almost 8 years.

Rain does seem to avoid us. If I had a quarter for every time it veered east of us or west of us, I'd have a few bucks in the bank. LOL

A construction crew? What's the current project? And, I think ANY harvest is something to brag about! I'm glad you're having plentiful rain. At this point, if it started raining here like that, I think my plants would just fall over dead from the shock.

Since the August rains fell, we haven't had hardly any grass fires to speak of. Unfortunately, the rain gave people a false sense of security and some folks have been burning brush piles, and as everything dries up again, some of those "controlled burns" are getting out of control. (That's the kind of fire we had yesterday.) Still, nothing major lately. I'm worried that's about to change, though, if rain doesn't fall.

The Johnson Grass that grows in such great abundance here along fencelines and in bar ditches grew a LOT during that rainy spell, and now it is browning out and starting to get crispy. And the lovely Sand Lovegrass that we have in great abundance in pastures of native grasses really benefitted from the rains and grew like crazy and then made those airy little seedheads. Sadly, though, sand lovegrass burns like mad in the fall after the first frost and now we have it in great abundance.

This year sort of reminds me of the summer of 2005, when we had a very dry year EXCEPT for one big rainstorm each in July and August--each storm dropped 3 to 5 inches so everything grew like crazy. Then, no rain at all, and by October our worst wildfire season ever in Love County had begun. It would only take a couple of rain showers each month in Sept. and Oct. to push the potential start of the fire season off into Dec. or Jan. but, around here, you just never know.

The poor trees here are VERY dry and their foliage catches fire in a heartbeat if a grassfire reaches them. That worries us. As a part of our "firescaping measures", I prune up all the lower limbs on our young trees (except the fruit trees) so they are at least 8' above the ground and that helps keep fire from reaching them, at least in the areas where we keep the grass mowed pretty short. In a rainier year when the leaves are holding more moisture, the wildfire is less prone to get up into the crown of the trees. What can you do, though? You get whatever weather you get and that is just the way it is.

Since the August rain greened up the lawn and garden, I've been trying to water enough to keep everything green, but I can't put enough moisture on the ground to keep it from cracking. My flowers looks really good, though, for September, so that's something at least.

Praying for rain in Love County,

Dawn

Yeah, I remember the summer of 2005. That was the driest summer I could remember in awhile here. Everything dried up, there was no point in watering because the dry ground around the area would just slurp it up -- and it was hot, hot, hot. Hulah Dam got so low and our City fathers weren't watching that until somebody called in to "Off The Cuff" and asked why we weren't under rationing, as low as the water was, and then they started paying attention. Shortly after that we had to start rationing. We had more grasshoppers than usual. Some summers we have quite a few grasshoppers, other years, not many at all. This summer I saw some but I haven't seen any for days and days now. The birds must be picking them off.

I'm so sorry you're not getting any of this rain, Dawn. Y'all need a pipeline or something. --Ilene

Dawn - Does the Red River have any water in it?

Ilene,

I don't think any of us will forget 2005 and I hope we don't have a year that dry any time soon.

Carol,

The Red River does have water since the watershed pulls in water from southwestern OK and other areas that have been getting rain.

I think the Red River was down to 6' or 8' in depth at the measuring station near Gainesville in late July or early August. When the August rains fell, they were especially heavy in several counties west of us and that rain drained into the Red River. When that happened, the water level rose up to about 21' I think, and it only took a few days of rain to cause that drastic rise. Now, though, the river looks pretty low again.

I saw a guy fishing in the middle of the river on Sunday and the water was only up to his upper thighs. There's lots of exposed land, and sandbars, and little pools of water, but there is still the "deeper" part there in the middle where that guy was fishing, and that water is still flowing.

The Red River hardly ever completely dries up, but there are times you can walk across it and barely get your feet wet!

It is cloudy here today, and cooler, and I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Dawn

I have seen the river many times when it looks like you could walk across. I really have never looked to see what feeds it. I noticed that Texoma is OK. It seems that rain falls all around you and kind of skips over Love and Carter counties. When we lived down there we had a lot of fires but many of them were arson. I think they finally put that dude in jail.

Our construction was nothing new, they were just finishing up an earlier project. Our neighbor runs a construction crew that does fast food remodels everywhere. He just does these neighborhood jobs in between. His work is so perfect, that we wait for him. Our next project is really my husband's project. He is "driven" to build a storm shelter. Now, mind you, in the 35 years we have been married, I have never seen him go to one in a storm, but he is sure we need one. He has wanted one for awhile, but after several storms in our area, he just thinks it can't wait. I think that is our winter project.

Carol,

We've had a tornado shelter for 7 or 8 years now and I think we've used it twice. Still, you get a lot of peace of mind just knowing it is there.

A tornado shelter DOES make a great root cellar for storing potatoes, onions, winter squash, pumpkins, etc. That's what I use ours for.

There'a a huge line of storms moving across parts of Texas and Oklahoma. Looking at it on the radar at 4 or 5 p.m., I would have said it was absolutely, positively going to rain on us. There didn't seem to be any way the rain COULD possibly miss us. Well, guess what? Here it is, 7 p.m., and I have watched it split and go around us. We have rain to our north, our northwest, our southwest, due west....and to the south and southeast of us. No rain here though. Nothing. There's still some of the system to our southwest, so maybe it will hit us eventually, but so far the split has been right over Love County.

There is a little rain on the radar in very far western Love County, so maybe Bubbadillo is getting some rain.

My DH is watching Monday Night Football, but here I sit watching the weather radar. He's probably having more fun than I am. If this rain misses us, I am going to sulk and pout. I'm so tired of the rain going around us. I did everything I could today to "make" it rain. I filled up the lily pond. I watered all my containers. I watered the flower beds around the house. Well, I didn't wash the car or truck. Maybe that's where I went wrong.

Dawn

Dawn - I expect you to be on in the morning telling us how much rain you got, because I don't think this one could miss you. I'll say a prayer and do a rain dance.

Dawn, I heard a rumor that Ike might take a direct north path if it hits around Houston. They said OKC would be in the direct path...surely that means you would see some too! I think they are projecting it for Saturday. Of course, lots can change between now and then....

Lisa

Well,everyone. We DID get some rain. As of 4 a.m., the rain gauge shows about five/one-hundredths of an inch. A whole twentieth of an inch! Maybe more will fall since there is still one pretty good-sized storm to our southwest on the radar and it seems to be headed our way.

I don't understand what has happened to our rain this year. It doesn't matter how big or bad a storm looks on the radar. When it reaches the Red River, it just dies....it peters out....it fades away...it splits and goes east AND west of us but not directly over us. Y'all keep reporting rainfall by the inch or inches and I keep reporting rainfall by the hundredths of an inch. It is a bizarre year and the lack of rainfall has been hard not only on those of us who garden, but also on the farmers and ranchers and wildlife as well. I'm seeing a lot of skinny cows in overgrazed pastures, but skinny deer and rabbits as well.

Lisa, I know that it is pitiful that I am hoping for a hurricane to make landfall in Texas just so we can have a good, hard rain here in Love County, but I can't help myself.

And, a hurricane means DH is in for a rough week at D-FW Airport. He just packed a bag and stayed down there 24/7 before and during Gustav, helping run the Police Emergency Operations Center as they welcomed evacuees from both Louisiana and Texas. Now, they are gearing up to do it all over again and I don't think he's looking forward to another 80-hour week. Maybe by the time he comes home from Ike, we'll have wet, muddy ground and a wet and happy garden and landscape!

So, I guess we'll watch the weather and see what comes.

It is an "early autumn" here, but NOT because fall has arrived. Rather, some of the weaker of the native trees, like the winged elms, are dropping their yellow and brown leaves....not because it is "time for autumn" just yet, but because they are so dry they're going dormant. So far, the tougher oaks are hanging in there, although their leaves are starting to look crispy.

The cracks in the ground are becoming a real issue. I've tried to keep the ground around the house and garage/barn watered well enough to keep that area from cracking, but you can only put so much water onto the ground and once you reach a certain point, there's not enough water to stop the ground from cracking. I've watered the flower beds for three days in a row, and they still look pitiful. We REALLY need rain, and I mean inches and inches of it.

I swear, if it rains 20" in one day, I absolutely, positively WILL NOT whine and complain. In fact, I'll go outside and play in the rain and the mud.

Dawn

Dawn, That is unbelievable! It looked like it was headed straight for you. It is sad when you don't get rain because there is so little you can do.

Everything here is still green and pretty. We had a few trees that started looking a little brown during those terribly hot days so they kind of have the look of being "dusty", but we are still mowing grass every week. Oklahoma has so many different climates.

My tomato plants looked terrible so I have started taking some of them out and dumping the soil from the pots into large pots. I planted lettuce, spinach, chard, etc in one last week and they are already up. I have four big pots that are about 3 feet across. They are just plain old black nursery pots that trees come in, but I think they will work well for winter gardening. I love having the salad greens in winter. I also like winter gardening since you don't have to deal with the insects. I like container gardening so I don't have to weed. Do you see a trend here......I like the food, but I have gotten old and lazy.

The problem with them is that it takes so much potting mix for that size pot. I spent a lot on potting mix this year although I mixed my own. I don't want that to be a total loss, but I don't want to have all those pots sitting around all winter, so I decided to just dump it in my big pots and plant some winter things. I need to pull out my books and see what I can still plant and expect to get a crop. I will probably reserve one for mache because that should grow all winter with almost no care. Besides that, everyone that eats salad at your house always wants to know what that is in the salad bowl!!!! I have not tried growing into the winter months up here, so this will be another experiment, but if it works until Christmas, I will be happy. I will probably rig one with a tomato cage and plant sugar snap peas because we love those. That leaves one more large pot to fill. What is your suggestion?

Carol,

It WAS headed right for us, and on the radar it seemed to stretch for dozens of miles in either direction. How could it miss? It split. That's the story of our life this year. Repeatedly, the storms split and go on either side of us. It is bizarre. Today we've had about 3/10ths of an inch of rain, and it is very cool and cloudy, so that's a little better than what we got last night.

Well, I'd plant whatever I like to eat best in that pot--maybe more mixed lettuces and greens??? I'd say turnip greens or collards or mustard greens or spinach, but it takes so many of them to make one meal, so you only might get a meal or two out of a large container of them. I love fresh salad greens in the fall/winter. The stuff from the grocery store just doesn't compare.

Or, if you want to spice up your life a little, you could succession sow radishes in that last container. If so, I'd plant a handful of seed every week, because you don't want a huge crop of radishes all the same week. Or, if I had one of the small carrots, like Thumbelina, I might try carrots and radishes mixed together in a container.

For what it is worth, with my really, really large containers, I fill up the bottom half with pine bark fines and put the good container mix in the top half. It works for me! It gives you great drainage too. And, if your happen to have sandy soil where nematodes are a problem (which I DON'T have, but a neighbor a mile away does), the pine bark fines keep the nematodes out of the containers! Nematodes can travel in soil, but not through bark mulch that's several inches deep. Just thought I'd throw in that nematode statement in case anyone here has root-knot nematodes in their soil.

My containers definitely are low upkeep compared to the in-the-ground garden. I'm toying with the idea of planting ALL my tomatoes only in containers next year, mostly as a way of crop rotation. Also, it would be easier to keep them watered in containers with drip irrigation on a daily timer if we have yet another summer of low rainfall. (We actually do have some good summer rainfall years here, as I am sure you know, but not since 2004. Well, 2007 was good, but only until the first week of July.)

There are times I think it would be so much easier to garden only in containers, but since I grow so many different things, it'd cost a fortune to fill up that many containers with a good custom growing mix.

Dawn

Good idea on the mulch in the bottom of the pot. It is amazing how much soil it takes to fill one of those big pots. Actually, I didn't fill them all of the way up because I thought the sides of the pot would provide some winter protection. I emptied several smaller pots, then dumped a bag of compost on top to plant in.

I might plant carrots. I never seem to have good luck with them in the ground. My root crops need work. LOL

GardenWeb is acting up again, I guess. It rejected my message because it had the same title as another message I had posted. Well, dah. 2nd try.

Carol,

Sometimes GW just does that. You can get around the accidental rejections by changing the data typed into the "Subject of Posting" box like I did above. It doesn't matter what you put in that box as long as it differs from what was originally there.

Dawn

Yes, I had to change it to get it to post. That is the 2nd time I have had that happen.

Juar saw the weather report and it looks like OK and TX are in for more rain, so maybe this one will get you. Here's hopin'.