Not last night but the night before we had a huge storm the wreaked havoc throughout the country. There were 170km an hour winds and some areas got a month load of rain in a day. It was pretty wild and a lot of damage has been done.
I missed it. I was so tired I slept through it all. Which was probably just as well or I would have been lying awake waiting to hear my greenhouse blow away. But fortunately I awoke to a sunny morning, and an intact greenhouse and no damage at all. We got off lightly compared to others. We even kept our electricity on through the duration apparently. I wouldn’t know – I was asleep.
But what we do have is wet sodden ground. In some places it is ankle deep. This is the curse of living in a swamp. However it being a drained swamp, things could have been a whole lot worse as the very deep drains that surround us have taken most of the water and are filled to capacity.
My wee trench that drains water away from my garden has over the summer months become blocked. I picked up a spade to start to clear it, but saw that the drain it connects to was over flowing, so there wasn’t much point – not just now anyway. Besides Hubby the Un-Gardener has banned me from the garden at the moment because I have a cold I brought back from our trip and can’t seem to shake it. He seems to think working hard out in the cold winter air is not help things.
He’s probably right, and now I can’t go out anyway as working on sodden soil is pointless and will damage my soil structure. I hope my worms are ok. But the storm has passed and the sun is shining and my soil is making that great slurping, sucking sound as it draws the water down deep – back to the water table where it belongs. The boffins at the weather office say it won’t rain again until Monday. So maybe I will get some time in the garden over the weekend – if I’m allowed.
Come again soon – there has to be something horticultural I can do in the meantime!
Sarah the Gardener : o )
Sounds like the rain we get in the Wet. My raised beds have 20cm of rocks in the base, and taps in the bottom to let out excess water. It does wash out nutrients a bit, but because of the taps we can catch it and feed it all back in when things are a bit dryer.
Hi Kate. Gosh – I don’t think it rains enough here to warrant taps at the bottom of my beds! It is great you have this system though. It is quite heart breaking when it feels like you are gardening uphill and everything seems against you. But then for the determined gardener this just becomes and opportunity to become inventive!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Think of it a a weather holiday. Enjoy the sun, get lots of rest and send that nasty cold away so you can go back to the garden.
Thank you so much for your concern. I am finally back to my normal self. I even got to the point where I didn’t even think about the garden so it must have been a stubborn cold. Now the sun is shining and I can go back to enjoying being in the garden.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Hey Sarah … it sure was wet and windy. My garden survived – yay!
Hi Julie. I much prefer the cold and sunny winter days like we are having now – although a frost or two would be nice to kill some bugs! I’m glad your garden survived the storm. I hope we don’t get anymore – they are quite nerve wracking!
Cheers Sarah : o )
In UK you had rain but in Macedonia we had a hail 🙁
I’m glad you missed the brunt of it and hope you feel better soon!
Hi there. Thanks for your lovely comment. I am finally back on my feet and the garden seems to have recovered from it’s recent drowning.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Resilient gardens are so kind to us.
Sad to read that you aren’t feeling well and I agree with your hubby – best to rest for a day or so and give yourself time to get over the worst, otherwise you run the risk of knocking yourself up for a much longer period.
Glad your garden escaped the ravages of the storm 🙂
Hi Elaine. Some times it is hard to admit that you can’t do it all, and so reluctantly I put down my tools and stayed warm and dry and concentrated on shaking the cold. It was quite stubborn, but finally I feel normal again and so I can get back out there again and get stuck in. The sun is shining – although it is quite cold, but better that than more rain!
Thank you for your concern.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Or you can rest, recuperate and cook hearty soups to get better so that when you DO get back out into the garden you get the maximum benefit out of it. Hubby knows best in this case 😉
Hi Fran. I have rested and recuperated and had countless soups made with hoarded summer veggies from the freezer. I went out into the garden yesterday and no-one growled at me to get back inside so I figure I am healed and good to go! Which is fabulous – I have missed my garden and the weeds noticed I was gone!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Either you are G to G or the rest of the family are too sick to protest 😉 Welcome back! 🙂
I don’t know that I’ve ever been anywhere where it rained so much that the ground made slurping noises. Ours just sizzles as it hits the street. 😉
I hope you feel better soon.
Hi Keith. Thanks for your great comment. It really made me laugh! The ground is a lot less boggy and I am feeling much better and so there is nothing stopping me getting out there and doing stuff which is good because I have been missing having dirt under my nails!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Wow! Just a few drops there! Can see why you have raised garden beds!
Hi Jen. It took watching carrots float away from our first winter garden in the ground to realize something needed to change! I love my raised beds – it makes things so much easier.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Good gravy what a mess. I’m sorry to hear about your lingering cold on top of your soggy garden. Best of luck drying out, Sarah.
Hi Alys. It was a bit of a nasty cold, but I’m back on my feet and it is probably just as well I was confined to inside as I am probably crazy enough to attempt gardening in a hurricane!
The weather seems much nicer now – although cold and so I can wrap up warm and get my gardening fix!
Thanks for your kind thoughts.
Cheers Sarah : o )