The Summer It Didn’t Rain

Sep
17

In the spring, we had so much rain, we could hardly get our garden planted. (Not a terrible thing in the end as we still had a late harvest, but all our usual cool weather veggies went by the wayside. No lettuce this spring.) Here’s what the creek that runs through our pastures looks like when it floods:

Here’s what it looks like now:

Normally, it’s somewhere in between. We’ve hardly had any rain this summer. I’ve never seen it completely bone dry as it is now. Even the holes that still have water at times when the creek stops running are dry now. Water has to be carried to the animals because there’s nothing in the creek.

It rained a little bitty bit this past weekend. Look, a puddle!

Yesterday it rained steadily for hours, but the creek still looks like this:

It’s going to take a lot of rain before it makes a difference. The river ford is no longer a ford. There’s no water to ford. It’s dry. The three creeks we drive through on the road from the other direction? Two are dry. One is a puddle.

Baby’s first rain.

I’m ready for this strange, long, unusually hot summer to end.

I’m ready for rain!





Comments

  1. Nancy in Iowa says:

    Little GB says, “Watchu lookin’ at? I can’t hep it if I’m wet!”

  2. Nic, SD says:

    It has rained ALL SUMMER LONG, here. It’s beginning to act like autumn now, and it’s still raining non-stop! I’ll see if we can arrange to have some of it sent your way 😛

  3. Jennifer Robin says:

    And here in the Pacific Northwest, it was so cool and downright gloomy at times that we got nothing out of our summer gardens for LACK of sunshine and warmth!

  4. Patrice says:

    We had the exact same weather you did even though we aren’t that close. My hubby farms for a living and it’s a hard way to go when the weather is like this. We grow four+ acres of organically managed vegetables. It was so hard to get everything irrigated, that we just had to give up on some crops. He’s trying to get some hay that managed to grow in for the winter. Otherwise it makes the animal feed bills really high. The drought three years ago almost wrecked our farm business. This past spring we were muddy all the time and could barely get on the land to plant.

  5. RockWhisperer says:

    Meeeee tooooo. It’s been a horribly long, hot, dry summer here in Oklahoma too, and we moved right in the middle of it! –Ilene

  6. Lisa says:

    I’m ready too! I feel like I’ve got a watering hose permanently affixed to my hand.

  7. twiggityNDgoats says:

    We have been adding a few raised beds to our gardening area so that during wet spring weather it is possible to plant the early crops such as lettuce, peas, broccoli etc. They always do well since the soil is enriched with all the goat manure. This helps them from drying out too badly when it does turn dry. The soil drains well and it is easy to keep weeded. With our heavy clay, nothing would get planted early without them. As an aside, I see I that have managed to create two identities so Shelley from eastern Roane County is now TwiggityNDgoats.

  8. SandyCWV says:

    We were worried about the potatoes since it was so dry. Not anymore, we don’t know if it was the wet spring that got them started, or the extra good job the guys did keeping them weeded, but the volume is twice what we normally get (killing my issue about planting in the same spot every year). There are so many that I have even been canning them to avoid so much waste next summer. The rest of our gardens did just enough with some watering. We are ready for rain now too though. The creeks are low here too.

  9. Debbie in PA says:

    Same here. My garden got off to a good start, then deer jumped the fence and chomped on everything. By the time thegarden recovered from the Bambi marauders, it was dry, dry, dry.

  10. CindyP says:

    Exact opposite here! I watered the garden by hose 3 times…when I first planted and 2 days after that. Mother Nature has taken care of it since and it’s bountiful! We didn’t have extended amounts of rain that it wiped the garden or crops around us out either. I was upset with myself at the beginning of summer that I didn’t get my rain barrels figured out and together, but I didn’t need them this year 🙂

  11. beth Brown says:

    I’m ready for rain too! I just wanna kiss that little calf right on her big black nose!

    Beth

  12. Karen Anne says:

    Is that calf adorable, or what?

    Maybe not feasible for larger gardens, but mulch, mulch, mulch helps a lot when it’s dry.

  13. Nikki says:

    We are 5 inches down here in Cincinnati! Somehow the weeds still grew! I am happy for the cooler weather though and love a good rain!

  14. northcountrygirl says:

    We had a dryer than usual summer. Definitely hotter than usual! It rained on and off but not as much as other years. Only “ONE” thunderstorm! Yesterday, it rained all day and all night and even “thundered” twice. The weather is definitely different this year. Wonder what winter is going to bring?

  15. LauraP says:

    Here, we’d like it to stop raining for a bit. Not that we complain much. The last long drought is still a fresh enough memory that we say how deep the mud is today and finish with ‘but I like mud.’

  16. Donna Mc says:

    Be careful what you wish for…. after YEARS of major drought here in GA, almost exactly one year ago we had MASSIVE flooding here in my area. Unforgetable! My pastor awoke to 4 feet of water in his basement due to a lake overflowing & bursting out it’s bank. School was canceled for over a week. My county was an island – cut off from the rest of Atlanta.

    But yes, we need water now, too ….in moderation.=)
    I’m ready for a crisp cool, fall. Tired of these 90+ days!

  17. Barbee' says:

    That tote’in water to the animals is hard work. Shouldn’t be too long till the fall rains set in.

  18. AA says:

    It will rain OCt. 2nd.

    I am in South Texas and we had a wet spring but hot dry summer. We need rain badly. It is always pretty dry where I am but we are coming off of a bad two year drought that ended last year, so we are all edgy about not getting enough rain.

  19. Linda in New Mexico says:

    Next to baby Saint Bernards……baby cows and baby goats are the cutest. I love the baby, she is precious

  20. Lori F. says:

    A drought warning was just issued for our county here in southwestern PA. The garden was plowed under 2 weeks ago since we are on a well and werent’ about to tote water or run hoses to keep it alive. We finally had some rain yesterday and the low-hanging clouds today look promising. The leaves are blowing off the trees without even turning their brilliant fall colors. I’m praying for the rain of fall.

  21. Nancy says:

    It’s the same here in CT. I feel bad for my ducks and geese. The brook in our back yard isn’t much more than a puddle either. 🙁

  22. VaGirl2 says:

    It’s been awfully dry here in central VA…we’re on mandatory water restriction. I feel bad for the farmers…

  23. Vicki in So. CA says:

    We’ve had a much cooler summer than anyone around here can remember. Spring and summer were for the most part dry. September is still dry – and hot, hot, hot! Leaves are falling, but it doesn’t feel like “fall” at all. I would love to have real seasons, but, hey, look where I live!

    Hiiiii, Glory Beeeee! :wave:

  24. Cheryl LeMay says:

    In my part of Wiconsin we had a hot and humid summer and it rained about every two days it seemed. We set a record for the wettest summer this year.

  25. Joycee says:

    It’s been an odd summer here in the Ozarks too. Too much rain and down right cool until August and then BAM…hot and dry the whole month with highs near 100 everyday. Finally the heat spell broke and now it’s been rain nearly every day in the form of thunderstorms…just like springtime. I wish I could send some of our rain your way!

  26. farmershae says:

    I’m such a drama queen about this whole subject. With all the extreme weather and weather records being broken, I keep telling my husband that “The world is ending.” He just laughs at me, but now that it’s messed with our garden, he’s mad about the weather too!!

  27. Merino Mama says:

    Same here in Central WV. My husband had the unpleasant task of digging a grave for his mother’s dog last evening and the ground was bone dry 2′ down! :bugeyed:

  28. FarmYard Gal says:

    That calf is adorable! What did you decide to name him?

  29. Estella says:

    I am ready for FALL!

  30. Chic says:

    I hear ya Suzanne! It’s been one hot dry summer here in our part of Kansas too and they had predicted this was going to be a bad year for storms and tornados. Boy were they wrong. So far so good as far as tornados go but we could sure use the rain. Your little Glory Bee is looking cuter by the day. Hope you’re having a nice weekend. Maura :hungry2:

  31. Valerie says:

    Here in central Minnesota we had a dry spring, then it started to rain…and we’ve had so much rain it’s made haying impossible. Everything is mud. Every weekend we try to get in the woods to cut trees for firewood, and we sink to our ankles in mud. 5 inches of rain this month so far, and more expected Monday and Tuesday.

    That baby is so darn cute, little wonder you are in love.

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