A Dry September

 17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall certainly be neither dew nor rain during these years, except by my word.”  1 Kings 17:1

The prophet Elijah shut off the rain for three years.  That must have been just terrible!  It was a very dry June.  It rained a decent amount in July and August, but now, it hasn't rained in a month.  I haven't looked at the rainfall data to see the trend on our little homestead, but I heard on the radio that we are 20 inches behind the average YTD rainfall totals.  That is a significant shortfall.

The fact that we keep a four inch layer of wood chips over the garden soil retains soil moisture.  In fact, we seldom have to do any irrigation at all.  But lately, without significant rainfall, I determined that if we wanted to have crops, I'd better water 'em.  I found the old oscillating water sprinkler that I hadn't used in over a year and hooked it up to the hose.  Well, it no longer worked.  It was pitiful watching it.

I went to the hardware store and picked up a new one.  It cost right at $20 and gave me sticker shock for a bit.  Walking by the clearance bin, I looked briefly at a sprinkler for $5.  I picked it up and came real close to bringing the $20 one back to the shelf.  Then I looked at the square footage of coverage for each.  The more expensive one would irrigate more land with less labor and time expended moving it around.  I purchased the $20 sprinkler and I'm glad I did.  I set it and forget it, and it waters 1/3 of the garden before I have to move it.

I have a big plot of sweet potatoes that are just about a week or two away from harvest.  I want them to grow to the fullest extent and have the soil slightly moist and pliable for harvest time.  Right behind that I have a couple rows of snap beans.  They are full of blooms and little pods.  Good watering will boost the harvest.  We always really enjoy fresh picked green beans wrapped in bacon for our Thanksgiving feast.

But the most important thing is to irrigate the rows of newly planted seeds that I need to keep watered so the seeds germinate and the little seedlings don't wither in the sun.  I have two rows of cabbage, 1 row of cauliflower, two rows of broccoli, two rows of beets, a half row of Swiss chard and two and a half rows of tomatoes.  Watering those things is crucial at this time until they get established, so I'll do it at least every other day until we have a soaking rain.  The 10 day forecast shows none.

In looking at the fall planting calendar, I still must plant (in this order): bok choy, lettuce, kohlrabi, radishes, carrots, mustard greens, turnips, and spinach.  I'll be planting several varieties of lettuce, carrots and spinach.  The sweet potatoes must be harvested first to make room for those items, though.