Here in the Northeast, we usually enjoy the benefit of good winter snow cover, abundant spring showers, and frequent enough summer rains so that most everything is fairly green and lush throughout most of the growing season. Typically we’ll turn on the irrigation lines when new seedlings have been set in the ground, or to supplement rain on the veggies midseason to insure their steady growth.
Some years are wetter than others, some are dryer. Nothing unusual there. But this year? … well, we’re a little concerned about the way it’s coming out of the gate.
Very little snow all winter. Precipitation about a third of usual. A very dry spring so far, with record-setting heat. Predictions, of course, are not very useful, and anyway, they’re all over the map.
The young frogs in the little pond at the bottom of our hill have gone silent; the water level has dropped precipitously, leaving dried-mud banks and what looks now like a large, murky brown puddle. This is late-summer dry; usually it’s overflowing at this time of year.
In the gardens, the perennials, at least, have deep roots; while some are showing signs of stress, most are still holding their own. The spring greens, though – sorrel, dandelion, and the like – are shorter, thicker, and a bit tougher than usual, doing their best to conserve what moisture they can access. We’ve held off on direct-sowing parsnips and carrots, which need steady moisture in order to germinate, although the parsnips should have been started by now. Other seedlings, already planted, need daily watering.
Drip irrigation uses only about a third of the water that overhead sprinklers use; nearly all of our watering is done this way. We’re ever mindful of our dependence upon well water; the flower gardens around the house don’t get watered at all – the Sink or Swim approach to plant selection – but this spring the daylily nursery is getting irrigated regularly. Daylilies can withstand drought conditions, but the quality and quantity of blossoms depends upon spring moisture. Nobody will want to buy a daylily that’s just foliage!
The forecast is for rain this weekend, and beyond. Sure, we’ve heard this before, and watched clouds that held on tight to their moisture day after day, refusing to let go. It’s got to rain sooner or later … right?
