Ugh, yes! I live in New Hampshire, and it's not quite as bad here as you describe, but I'm still having flash backs to last year. I pulled a summer squash Monday that looked droopy & bacterial. And there's two winter squash that I should be out there right now eyeballing, but I just can't bring myself to do it. It was supposed to be dry & sunny all week - grrrr - This weekend I asked my husband where in the heck the hose timer got to over the winter. No need! I do sort-of raised rows (heaped up, not using supports), and it does help that water can drain into the paths, which are lower.

Rain gardens as described by raingardens.org: "[A rain garden] is a bowl-shaped garden, designed to absorb stormwater run-off from impervious surfaces such as roofs and parking lots." These are great looking gardens that help prevent water pollution and flash flooding. In Minneapolis, there are grants available for planting rain gardens. You can also get reduced storm water fees for managing your own stormwater and keeping it out of the drains. There are so many advantages to rain gardens beyond these. It would be wonderful to have a place to discuss here. See the link for more information. Or try google. Here is a link that might be useful: Rain Garden Info

I made myself a promise during the last couple of drought-ridden springs & summers that I would never again gripe about any rain at all. I have been very happy to see the almost 7" of rain that we've gotten here this month! Lord knows, we need it. The lakes around are still pretty low, but hopefully they will be up some from all this rain. I do wish that I'd known all this flooding rain was coming before I planted my groundcover out front...poor things have been nearly washed away several times now. And a few of my side flowerbeds were also washed over, but I'm so grateful for the rain, I don't even mind. I could live without all the tornadoes & power outages due to lightning & straight-line winds. We had some close calls here in Tish, but were very lucky to escape the worst of things. We just got our power back on yesterday after 2 straight days of it being off. Our little power outage problem here pales in comparison to the tragedies up in Moore & down in Texas. I don't even feel like I have any right to gripe about the trivial things, like losing a whole fridge full of food...at least I have a roof over my head & a place to lay my head down to sleep at night.

I vote for this one too. I know this is Garden Web, so a meat thread is kind of OT, but...Curing meat and making sausage is a way of preserving...we have our own animals, so it's sort of like growing our own meat ;)