First we had rain. Rain all spring, enough to keep the ground too soggy to work, but that didn't matter, because it was too cold to put the peppers and tomatoes out. The in June, it turned hot, hot, hot, and still it rained. We had 23 days of rain in a row. The frog drowners were rare, but there was at least a shower everyday.
Well, it finally stopped raining, and now we're well on our way to having the driest September on record in the midlands of South Carolina. I hate to ill wish anyone, but couldn't we have just one teeny tiny tropical storm come our way?
I had to water the lawn this week, for the first time all year. There are some melapodium plants that popped up unexpectedly around a bush out back, that have been blooming merrily all summer, despite being mostly ignored. Now, to keep them from wilting, I have to water them everyday. The ground is so dry that the water is just sucked right down from a shallow rooted plant like that. Even the basil jungle looks droopy in places.
This is one of those times that building the soil in the garden up with lots of organic material is really paying off, because the soil there holds the water a little better. A good deep watering twice a week is all the peppers and surviving tomatoes need.
It's always too much or not enough, never just right. I'd like to be Goldilocks just once!
Penelope