rain rain go away

[lazyBum]

I just want to plant my garden. Whenever i have time to work in the garden its raining. I went ahead and tilled wet dirt and planted some corn and beans tonight. Another big storm coming tonight.

[fishhead]

My garden is so wet that I had to lay down strips of plywood to stand on while I planted my peppers. Hopefully the garden won't flood completely but we have more rain scheduled today.

The last 2 seasons our rain has shut off in July and not rained until fall. We'll see if it happens again.

[lmrose]

Here we planted when it was still cold in the 40's F and dry. Early Spring there was no rain. Since then we have had a couple of drenching rains but the temperature remains cooler than usual in the low 60's most days and cold at night. This is so different than last year when there was no sun and all we had was rain, fog and gloom! Atlest this year there is sun.

We plant everything now in raised beds and are heavy on compost and mulch. In a dry year the young plants are easier to water and put down deep roots to find more moisture. The mulch and compost hold water.

In a wet year the beds drain off excess water better. Either way the garden grows good. When we used to plant in long rows too much rain washed the soil away and too little rain the plants dried up. Watering didn't work as the water didn't penetrate the ground where needed. Planting in beds and having a small green house is how we prepare for unexpected and unknown weather. Add an electric fence to keep deer out and we finally have the weather and critters under control!

[am1too]

I just want it to rain (nice slow drizzle) bout a half inch on Mondays and Thursdays.

[mnn2501]

I suppose it would be mean to tell you I'm already harvesting tomatoes and cukes?

[lazyBum]

We had good weather earlier in the year. But i was waiting to get possession of this place. So i got a late start and starting from scratch. Its not the best spot either. I hit some tough clay about 4 inches down. Makes it hard to break up sod when your tillage equipment is mostly out of the ground.

I did get the rest planted today. The forecast changed from rain all week to just one day. Lol.

[Esprit]

It's pretty much rained every day for the past week. The mosquitoes are the size of busses.

[Danaus29]

I had the same problem earlier this spring. It got dried out enough for me to get the garden tilled and planted. We had one nice evening of rain the day after planting then a couple hot dry weeks before getting rain again. As a result very little has come up, except the buckwheat, wild pigweed, and morning glories. At least we can eat the pigweed.

[FarmboyBill]

My mater plants are over 6ft tall, and im eating pear tomatoes, peas, onions and beans.

In another month I wager no one will be saying as the op said lol.

[Danaus29]

No. We'll want the rain next month. The rhyme does say "come again another day".

[lazyBum]

1:30 am. It poured earlier. Turning the garden back into a puddle. Its storming again. Storm is heading east, wind is going west fast enough to turn the lightning bugs into green blurry streaks. Its kind of unnerving, lol. I present to you Lake Garden of LazyBum, bring your boats.

[GoldenCityMuse]

Rain?

What is this 'Rain' you speak of???

Still waiting for the monsoon season to start here in NM.

[TripleD]

I'll take some. I had to feed hay yesterday to the cows.

[sisterpine]

It has been exactly six months today since a rain drop landed at my home in Tucson...we are not even going to talk about water bills.

[MichaelZ]

Might be time to either do a raised bed or get in a dozer to create some drainage. We are in clay, ice-cold clay at that, and I don't think we would have ANY garden most years if not for a few special setups.

I have a 8x12 raised bed atop 2" of insulating foam at ground level with a cold-frame over it - pole beans (about to blossom), tomatoes, and peppers go on this. I plant in the 3rd week of April (actually start seeds in mid April) and often will have to shovel snow off the area only a week or two prior to planting. This setup NEVER gets too wet, and there have been a few years where it rained non-stop. To keep it watered, I lay down soaker hose and cover with a few inches of compost once summer gets going (just did this last week).

Also have a garden area courtesy of the previous owners. They brought in many truckloads of sand/gravel fill to create a parking area for their downstairs beauty shop. Our garden sits on the corner of this and drains nicely as well as affording easy to work soil that warms much faster than our clay. Used lots of old horse manure left in a pile by the previous owner to start as hardly even weeds would grow on what I had. Since, there have been many wheelbarrows of compost brought in over the years.

These two setups have proved to be very good rain-proof scenarios.

[light rain]

We are getting more than our share here in so. WI. Some tomato plants are developing the tell-tale signs of blight. On the brighter side, when the clouds break, the newly planted Candy Crisp apple tree is most content.

Imrose, I agree about raised beds. I have one this year with garlic but plan to have 2 more put together by August/Sept. for fall cold weather stuff and earlier planting next Spring. Also. I am going to try to purchase 2 holey metal water troughs so it will be easier for my husband to grow more vegetables. Mobility issues.

[light rain]

MichaelZ, does your cold frame have auxiliary heat or is it connected to your house? What kind of pole beans do you grow?

[rambler]

Well, my part of the world has been making the news for all the flooding rains. Got too much rain for the past month, but was skidding by compared to all around me.

Then last Thursday got 4.2 inches. Totally wrecked this year. Some of my fields had 6 feet of water on them, the ditch running through the middle of my farm got higher than I've ever seen in my lifetime. Water went over the pasture fence, cattle only had a tiny corner of pasture to stand on.

Did some damage to a private bridge I have, many acres of crops wrecked, my hay is under water and the forcast is for isolated thunderstorms more days than not as far as they predict. Ground is so wet and slimy can't hardly drive walk on the hay ground that isn't under water.

Had some bad wind storms the 3 weeks before with many trees down, antenna blew off house, gas barrel stand smashed by tree, etc.

Never got around to a garden this year, just too much bad weather, too much rain, too many trees to cut up.

Very tired of rain.

Paul

[unregistered358967]

I'm in MN as well Paul...totally agreed. Today is nice so far.

[lazyBum]

Im planning on raised beds in the future for somethings. I have a small barn beside my garden that im keeping lawn and garden stuff in. Id like to build a small green house onto it using the stack of old windows in another barn.

I am getting a lot of water shed off another barn too. I have too many barns, it makes it hard to place a garden that doesnt take up my field area. I picked this spot because it gets the most sun. But its in the shade when i get home from work so it wont be too hot. And the barn should protect the corn from high winds.

And to the braggers already harvesting. I know where you can put your vegetables. :-P