Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

I am hoping, praying, and about to stand up and do a dance to insure that we actually get some rain today!  The weather forecast has been such a tease.  Two days have passed since that first little rain cloud appeared in the 5-day with not so much as a drop.  This morning the humidity was 90% but still it did not rain. 

In this terrible summer drought where all the lawns in my neighborhood are brown, I have been dragging a 100-foot hose into the backyard to give the garden a little sprinkle each day before work (sadly, the outdoor faucet is nowhere near the garden; thankfully, hoses come in this length).  I then fill a watering can and water the potted plants on our deck and the flowers hanging in front of our house.  Lately, none of this has seemed sufficient.  To say the container plants are struggling is putting things quite mildly.  To say that the garden looks like something out of an old Twilight Zone episode that takes place on the moon would be quite accurate.

I have read arguments in defense of both night watering and early-morning watering, but have had far more success with the latter, though it is sometimes a real pain.  Watering at night creates moisture that can attract slugs and other critters that like to chew on leafy plants.  Since I am attempting to grow a number of leafy plants, and did notice some holes in them early this season, I switched to morning watering, and it has been a success.  Well, as successful as it can be, given these arid circumstances.

Either way... I dread opening the next water bill!  And I will continue to hope, pray, and probably dance for rain.  But just when I thought I had it bad, I heard this story on the radio... and realized that while my desire for large quantities of healthy backyard produce is rabid (and I also love a good thunderstorm), I am not depending on it for my livelihood.  C'mon, Mother Nature!  Do it for the farmers!



I live in the burgundy!  Where we are suffering the worst drought since the Great Depression.