To rain or not to rain

As the soggy soils finally show some sign of drying, the question becomes how to taper precipitation to match the root systems of whatever remains in the garden.  Most plants have concentrated all their roots in the top couple of inches of soil, so a rapid dry out will hurt them before they can penetrate to moisture.  Of course, if it is a choice between continuing deluges and cold turkey dry out, I would prefer the latter.  After today's showers the forecast is for 5-6 days of dry weather.  That would be anomalous this season, but I will gladly take it.  There is still a lot of gardening left this year, but it will be a different sort than the usual.  Most of the longer season crops which were hurt earlier like corn and potatoes are not viable going forward.  Shorter seasonal crops such as summer squash, fall greens, cucumbers and lettuces will get more space.  Hopefully the customers will use whatever appears at the market this summer and fall.  We'll see....

Egyptian-Arab Winter

As surely as the Arab spring happened, the seasons will continue to change and it looks like the Egyptians will see winter before many of their co-religionists.  Before you sneer at the bumbling attempts at self government made by many middle eastern nations, it behooves us to stare into the NSA abyss revealed by Edward Snowden.  From complicit congressmen and senators who abdicated their oversight responsibility to secret courts who reinterpreted laws in such a way as to negate the stated intent, our democracy has not distinguished itself in recent weeks.  We spend time arguing about the direction our government is going and tugging the wheel right and left.  It turns out the people's representatives are not even in the driver's seat.  The courts and the elements of the executive branch are making decisions we will have to take responsibility for in the long run.  There are good people in Congress, but too many are held hostage by increasingly irrelevant ideologies while the reins of government slip through our fingers.  If we are not careful, the Arabs will be holding us up as an example of a failed democratic experiment.

Another Soggy Monday

More showers and thunderstorms are predicted today as we head into another soggy week.  The long range looks a little more optimistic with several days showing zero % chance of rain.  Of course it will take more than one or two rain free days to get any kind of drying going.  The grass in most of my yard still squelches underfoot and all but the smallest of my gardens is off limits at present.  I still managed to transplant some lettuces and brassicas and seed basil, cilantro and dill on Sunday morning, but it rained immediately after that.  I have reached the acceptance stage of grief regarding this gardening season.  I will keep working on it, but having passed through disbelief and rage, I think I can deal with whatever the rest of the season will bring. 

Natural fireworks

Mother Nature decided to start the fireworks show a little early at Casa Monzeglio.  As we made final preparations for a Fourth of July family barbeque, the thunder started.  The lightning was impossible to see through the sheets of water pounding the yard.  We received nearly  3 inches of rain in less than a half hour.  Of course after we moved the dinner indoors, the sun made a mocking appearance.  It is disheartening to even look at the garden at this point.  Most of the back gardens are too soggy to even step into for the time being.  More on that next week.  As far as celebrating the fourth, as the divine Mrs. M put it, we may not be the vibrant democracy we might wish for, but we are still grateful we are Americans. 

Soggy Declarations

The brief respite in the forecast has been put to rest.  Chances of rain and thunderstorms are back through the weekend and into next week.  Now the weather report throws in heat and high humidity so any lingering hope some crops might escape the relentless rains without too much damage is toast.  I remember one other summer like this during the late 1980s on Long Island.  I watched as my meticulously trellised tomatoes turned black and died as the rains and humidity fed the blight.  As I recall we had about 14 inches of rain in July and ducks were swimming in the field behind the garden.  It is not quite as bad this time, but things are not looking good for much of the garden.  How about some soggy fireworks for the Fourth.

The end in sight

Either the rainfall or the garden; take your pick.  The intermediate forecast actually shows several days without the threat of thunderstorms here in the north country.  It's hard to believe when you have been pounded as many times as we have this season.  The weeds are poised to breakout and run away with what is left of the gardens unless heroic efforts are made in the next few weeks.  If we do get the promised respite, there is still quite a lot of gardening yet to be done.  Lettuces, beets, fall greens and short season crops like beans and summer squash can still be planted.  Some short season sweet corn is still a possibility, and of course herbs and other succession plantings are still in order.  If the tomatoes and peppers can make up for lost time there is still a chance to salvage something.  For field corn growers in upstate and Canada, there will be yield losses in many fields.  This is the year to find the poorly drained spots in your fields.  Some fields will be near total loss as fertilizer is washed away.  Veg crops in heavier soils will also show major losses.  Even with disaster declarations there will be little help for most growers.  Welcome to climate change circa 2013.  Let the games begin...

More of the same

Bad weather and republican stupidity. The two are almost synonymous this year.  As the tragic fire in Arizona took the lives of 19 firefighters, the relentless rain in the northeast continues to decimate crops, destroy roads and killed at least one person in NY.  Meanwhile, republicans in Texas have decided they know best what women should do with the health of their bodies once they are pregnant with the patriarchy's offspring, and the guiding lights of North Carolina's legislature seek to punish the unemployed by reducing and/or ending long term benefits even with an unemployment rate of 8.8%.  I guess there will be a rush to apply for those Walmart greeter jobs that have been going begging.  Really, the feckless stupidity represented by these state governing bodies it almost beyond belief.  The fact most people don't pay attention to local governance needs to change, or there will be more manifestations of this kind of cruel homage to Ayn Rand.  Let's hope the weather is kinder than our fellow men.  Although the whole panoply of climate change is tribute to the kind of short sighted, profits first and the environment be damned mind set which leads to the breaking of the social contract.