I woke up this morning and there was this strange bright orb sending laser beams onto my face making it hard to see back out the window. It took a moment or two to remember what it was. Oh yeah – the sun. We haven’t seen much of that about here lately.
It has rained every day for 22 days, oh except that tease on the 21st of July when it was just gloomy and windy instead. The forecast going forward doesn’t look that great. The boffins have a lot of explaining to do!
I am hanging out for nicer weather. I have tried so hard to put a positive spin on it – “well this will give us a good solid base to the soil so it won’t dry out so quickly in the summer” “the reservoirs will be getting nice and full so the risk of drought is reduced” and “that thunder and lightning isn’t so scary – it’s converting nitrogen from the atmosphere into a kind my garden can use. Yay!?” I even celebrated the strong winds as it was helping dry the ground out… Until the next down pour!
The thing is, nature just doesn’t understand what I have going on. Doesn’t it know who I am… I’m a gardener on a mission and I need to get things done! Before all the is rain I was on track to be more spring ready than ever before – now as I wait for the rain to stop and things to dry out, it is looking like I’ll be running behind – again!
My onions seem to have become container grown crops as it is too wet to plant them out in the garden so I have moved them into pots languishing on my deck until the time is right to make the move. If it ever happens. I have cover crops to dig in but digging in sodden soil ruins the soil structure.
Don’t get me started on my strawberries – this was to be my grand winter project. The in ground bed was always roughly divided into three so there is always 1, 2 and 3 year old plants in a continuous cycle. But this time I have decided to raise them up and have already built the beds and they are standing by waiting. The strawberries themselves are marooned in the garden with advantageous weeds encroaching daily. But there is nothing to be done until things dry up. I can’t fill the new beds with wet soil. I’m starting to get a little anxious – the strawberry window is closing in.
Now is also a good time to spray for peach leaf curl, but you guessed it – you can’t spray in the rain! Even sowing radishes would be a waste of time. They’d either rot and float away. Besides I haven’t had a chance to sort out their new bed, so it would be like moving into a new home to find the previous tenants not only didn’t clean before they left, they had lived like slobs and had taken all the good stuff with them when they went… and left the tap in the bathroom running. No one wants to live like that and my radishes deserve better!
Gosh that moan felt good! Am so sorry for having such a bleat, but there is only so much smiling and pretending it is ok that a soggy gardener can take. We get a few of those teasing moments when the sun comes out, lures you outdoors only for it to nip behind a cloud and pour water on you. So I’ll put on my brave face and grab a brolly and take some photos to show you what I mean.
Come again soon – It can’t possibly rain forever….
Sarah the Gardener : o)
Hope you’ll have a sunny spring soon ! Keep dry for now
Thanks Stefan for your kind words. I’m hoping for a fab season.
Cheers Sarah : o)
If you can get your hands on some guttering then you could fill it with soil/compost and transplant your onions or strawberries into it. Then when the garden beds are ready you slide the plants out of the guttering into a shallow trench in the garden.
Thanks for the tip Karey. I’ve used guttering before for my peas. It is such handy thing.
Cheers Sarah : o)
Our springs are this way too. Wet, wet, wet. Sometimes there’s a small window of time when the soil almost dries out, and if we don’t go ahead and work it then it’ll be a month before it is even close to dry again. I hope it dries up for you soon, so your spring planting can commence. Your onion seedlings and potatoes look like they are doing very well.
Thanks Phuong. I’m sure it will dry out soon enough. But fortunately growing things in containers is a good option for now.
Cheers Sarah : o)
Girl! Thank you for this! I needed to know someone else was frustrated. We were dry and doing well and when the rains came they brought the weeds and I am so over my head.
Hi Katy. Sometimes the weather is the biggest problem gardeners have to face. It doesn’t seem to have the same plans as we do! I hope you get on top of those weeds soon.
Cheers Sarah : o)
It is so wet here that a pair of ducks have taken up resident in the garden.
Sorry your garden is so waterlogged at present hoping things will enprover weather wise
Thanks Linda. It is winter so I guess it is to be expected. It should dry out soon enough.
Cheers Sarah : o)
Sorry about your rain. Here it’s 95F plus daily for the last few weeks. We hope cloud cover in the afternoon. Hope your weather improves soon.
I’d gladly send you some of my rain to cool you down. I hope the rest of your season is wonderful.
Cheers Sarah : o)
I am getting so fed up with constant rainy weather here in the Waikato. I can not garden in such conditions and my car is so so so over due for a wash on the exterior and a inside vacuum cleaner attack BUT I am not sure laying an electrical cord over wet concrete to the car port would be a wise move.
Hi Carol. I don’t think I’ve known it this wet. Normally the soggy weather comes in September, but I seriously need it to dry out! Stay safe and warm and dry.
Cheers Sarah : o)
At last you have that wonderful greenhouse .. Maybe it will rain forever .. Lol it’s raining again today
Hi Julie. The greenhouse is great so I can at least get out there and potter about and feel like I’m gardening. Although I am considering collecting animals two by two. …
Cheers Sarah : o)
I totally get what you mean ..😄
It will not rain forever. I promise.
Thank you. That is so sweet. I’m delighted to say the weather has turned and we are now having frosty starts with lovely sunny days and the water has pretty much drained away.
Cheers Sarah : o)
Gosh Sarah I know what it is like, real sorry it’s so bad where you are. I can see that the garden is very water logged. If this bad climate continues, it might be necessary to make raised beds perhaps. Climate change and all that, very hard on serious growers. Wishing you lots of sunshine very soon.
While we can blame some of my flooding on climate change, most of it is because we live in a reclaimed swamp so it is only to be expected in winter. The up side is the soil is rich and fabulous and in the summer holds the moisture really well.
Cheers Sarah : o)
Oeps, sorry Sarah, I was just looking through your other photos again, and of course you have the raised beds already.
I just have a few beds in the ground. I though it would be good for the thirsty pumpkins to be closer to the water table in the summer and it doesn’t get floody while they are in the ground.
Cheers Sarah : o)
Well yesterday and today 7th/8th have brought HOPE in getting things planted in the garden and I planted fruit trees/ strawberries/garlic/carrots and radish yesterday. The weather forecast for Waikato says good weather until Thursday this week so I for one am grateful to be able to get outdoors at long last. You also must have felt joy at seeing the sunny days Sarah– and no icy wind as well 🙂
Hi Karen. Finally there is no surface water lying about the place. It is still squishy but much improved. And feeling the sun on your face is such a joy. I’m on track for getting my late crops in. Hooray. Enjoy the garden in these sunny days.
Cheers Sarah : o)
Too bad we can’t combine our weather. We’re in a drought situation. Definitely need more rain!
I should dehydrate some for you and pop it in the post! It would solve all our problems!
Cheers Sarah : o)
Brilliant!