Hate to say this "But I'm so sick of this rain"!!!

[gixxerific]

Not just the rain but the snow we had that peopl like Jal are still getting. That moisture is still in the math so to speak. We haven't dired out all year but for maybe a few short times.

We just had the second major thunderstorm of the day today the second bringing golf ball sized hail here and a tornado just a few miles from us and more that tore up Lambert Airport East of us. They were saying that this last storm was dumping 2 1/2 inches and hour. West of us they had grapefruit sized hail.

That is neither here nor there we have been having storms like this 2 or more times a week each time with hail and heavy rain. Normally lately we have a day or 2 brake than a few days of rain, rinse and repeat.

It is supposed to rain again tomorrow than again Sun through Tue with a break than maybe again next Fri through the weekend.

My yard and garden are so fricking soaked it can't handle any more rain. I have garlic, onions, lettuce, peas, carrots, cabbage etc even some tomatoes in the ground. I am worried I might loose some if not all due to suffocation. It is just so dang wet and we are not getting the chance to dry out. My garden drains well but if you could see how soaked it is you would understand. There is just no where for the water to go right now. It is not flooded right now but during the rains it flood quickly eventually it drains off but it is still so wet it is not funny.

Of course this summer I will be praying for rain and we won't have any so tit for tat right.

[cynthia_h]

Northern California and the PNW are experiencing the normal January/February pattern of storms building in the Pacific like berms and moving east towards us. This phenomenon is referred to with the phrase "the storm door is open" in the rainy winter.

HowSomEver...it is April. April the 22nd. Karfreitag to German speakers, Santa Semana to Spanish speakers, Good Friday to English speakers of the Christian persuasion. Passover is at its midpoint (First Seder was Monday night). All long-established signs of spring. Even the calculation of the date of Easter (the first Sunday *after* the first full moon *after* the Spring equinox) should have given the hint that warm weather, of the kind useful for young, tender, growing plants--certainly not baseball-sized hail, unrelenting cold rain, etc.--was in order.

I haven't planted *any* warm-weather seedlings yet (in my new 32 sq.ft. raised bed rented from the city) due to knee mishaps and two falls this week, but the kicker, overarching everything, is the too-cold weather. I can only get to this specific raised bed, which has a full-sun, southern exposure, from 8:00 to 5:00 Mon-Thurs and 8:00 to 4:00 Fri. No evenings, no weekends, to tend the plants and cover them or give them any protection from unwonted rain or sudden temperature plummets.

(I think the city was taken by surprise at the popularity of its "Rent-a-Raised-Bed" program; this is Year #1. They arranged access *only* when the Seniors' Center--where the beds are!--is open. Maybe the city hasn't heard that a few people still have jobs? not me, not much of a job, but many do; mightn't they want to work a raised bed? And maybe the city doesn't know that plants need help when the weather changes suddenly?)

I still have the heat on in the house. Last year we had actually turned it OFF in mid-May, having forgotten to turn it off at the beginning of May. We gave up and turned it back on in mid-June after a series of nights in the 40s. It's still on from that re-lighting of the pilot.

I hope Gixx's tedious rains are not the beginning of another 1993 Mississippi River scenario. And I don't want to run the heat this "summer," either.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[TWC015]

I'm tired of the rain right now too, and like you, I will be desperately needing rain by July and August.

We had 3 days of rain in a row with at least an inch on each day. There has been a total around 4 inches in 3 days. I checked to see how the soil moisture was in the garden today. The area that has had the plants and I have walked on frequently is not suffocatingly moist. On the other hand, the area I recently tilled and haven't walked on/planted has a little too much moisture in the lower layers.

My onion plants appear to be developing a fungal disease. I need to spray them. With all of this rain, we have had 3 separate storms with strong wind gusts. The first storm snapped a broccoli plant and the last storm broke a few onion tops.

We are having a nice break in the rain today through Sunday. My area is forecasted to have another 3-5 inches on Monday through Wednesday. It would be nice to have this rain in the summer.

[Francis Barnswallow]

Yeah, the US weather pattern went from winter, skipped most of the spring and went straight to summer.....at least where I am. We even might have our first tropical system of the year in the Atlantic already. It's been really dry and hot and with little rain. I'm watering my plants 3 times a day.

I can't wait for the rain to return.

[gixxerific]

Just up there watching the news you may see us your news we went national with the destruction this last storm brought. They actually closed the airport due to significant damage. There are houses and power lines destroyed all over. Welcome to St Louis as they say.

[soil]

were having an absolute perfect spring here in the sierra nevadas. been frost free for over a month now and the weather looks perfect.

[BrianSkilton]

I hear ya. We have gotten rain for 2 weeks in a row now. Most of April it has been cloudy, and the plants are hardly growing because we have maybe seen the sun three times in April so far. It has snowed here like 5 times in April, which never usually happens.

[applestar]

A New Project! -- Time to design a rain barrel system.

Here's one to inspire:
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=124682

I only have two rain barrels but so far, I've been just using water out of the barrels for my gardening needs.

P.S. I cannot even imagine a grapefruit sized hail A hard hat, anyone?

[rainbowgardener]

It does seem like it is hard to get the right amount of water... Last year we had a horrible drought, no water at all for four months. Now we are getting pounded with water. I keep thinking there must be some way to balance it out, ship some of all our excess to some desert place....

I am worried about all those wildflower bare root plants I planted, either getting washed down the hill or drowning...

After the drought last year, I hate to complain about rain, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing...

[FruitAddict]

Here in Oshkosh WI we had one day in the 70's about 3 weeks ago now and then back in the 40's since --- This week we had 10" of snow!!! ARG... don't tease me with nice weather like that!!!

I can not have another overly wet year like last year - I will have to move my garden elsewhere. Or change my garden to a pond - are there any vegetables you can grow in a pond?

[garden5]

I haven't planted the onions yet!!!!


And it's because of the darn rain. OK, it's not entirely because of the rain...but it is.

You see, I haven't cultivated/tilled my garden yet because it has yet to dry out. I'm not sure how true this is, but I heard if you cultivate soggy soil, it will create clods that will be there all summer. Therefore: I've not yet planted the onions .

Gix, I entirely feel your pain and as you can see......I really like home-grown onions .

Hope you get some dry weather soon.

[gixxerific]

It's raining again, just had some big boomers roll through. At least I'm using the gentle rain now to water my potted tomatoes, the only thing I didn't water yesterday.

Cynthia first off I hope you are felling better and get to go out to your garden when /if the weather ever allows us. Secondly you were talking about the floods. We have been getting ready for a while already. Sandbagging is already going on just waiting for it. The ground is so saturated and the north snows have yet to really start melting so it's gonna be a wild ride for us for sure. 1993 was insane it may be like that if not worse this year.

Soil you know what you can do with your "perfect" spring don't you.

applestar Funny you say rain barrels. I was thinking about this again just yesterday. But I would a 100 gallon or better with all this rain. I have though in a perfect world I would have a huge underground barrel , maybe a few hundred gallons. All of my gutters at this point are funneled to the back yard to dump stations. Actually one of them is in my garden yeah I need to fix that but it doesn't seem to hurt anything. But it would be somewhat easy to funnel them further down the yard to a massive container. I would than have to pump it back up but that is for another day.

rainbowgardener I am worried about some of my stuff as well. I don't mind the rain but we can't catch a break for it to dry out at all. My whole entire yard is like a swamp and more rain most of next week it could ugly. Though at this point everything seems to doing alright. Rain is one thing but this is ridiculous. Another month and it will high 90's no rain 100% humidity so what are you gonna do.

garden5 you don't need to till for onions. Just use a hoe to make rows or whatever, they don't get planted deep you know. You really need to get them in soon. I have had onions in for about 3 week maybe 4 now. They are doing good even with all the rain.

Oh yeah and St. Louis Lambert Airport is shut down due to the storms last night. They had serious damage, roofs blowing off, widows breaking, cars being moved, airplanes moving on their own. It's ugly. It should be up by tomorrow maybe later today at least part of it.

[BrianIllinois]

Gix,

I'm getting the same weather as you. I'm not all that far from you.

I've been covering some of my better tomato plants with 5-gallon buckets and large stones when I see a storm approaching on the radar. That routine is getting pretty old.

But come mid-July, we'll see if you're singing the same tune!

[megany]

Definitely agree with you. So far, spring has brought almost nonstop rain and very, very little sun!

It's a shame our rain collection system is up yet. We bought what we need to make a barrel, but haven't had time to do it.

[SPierce]

I'm sick of all this rain, too, but at least my garden seems to like it! Stuff is finally coming up above ground.

[garden5]

Gix, you know, I think you are right. I know that the plants must be able to get their roots through the compacted soil, I mean, after all, they go down 3ft. deep or so. That's way deeper than any tiller or cultivator is able to go.

However, I'm just trying to break the thought-process of "the garden soil MUST be loose and crumbly." I think I'm just going to go for it the next chance I get!

Oh, I guess I was incorrect in my earlier rant. I do have SOME onions planted, but they are on the side of the house and only get part-sun, so they are for experimentation mostly. I'm not sure how they will do.

It's the full-sun, garden onions that I'm hoping give me a good harvest.

[soil]

I am both tired and extremely thankful for all the water I have had. all of my swales and terraces have collected massive amounts of water this winter. hoping to not have to water at all until July.

[rainbowgardener]

Newspaper today says we have already had the wettest April on record and there is still rain forecast every day until Thurs!

By the time we get a chance to mow the lawn it will be knee high!

Lots of plants still sitting in my basement. It's plenty warm enough to bring them out, but too stormy...

[cynthia_h]

By the time we get a chance to mow the lawn it will be knee high!

Do you have a scythe? Maybe that's the way to go if the ground is wet between storms with no standing water....a person could go out in rainboots with a scythe and at least take down the 2-foot-tall stuff.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[lorax]

I feel for you, Gixx - I've got a rainy season that just won't end down here, and the volcano started up the other night so it looks like it's just going to keep going. The volcano messes with the weather when it's active, and I've been seeing amazing electrical storms at night, as well as buckets and buckets of rain during the day. Today is the first dry day in a couple of weeks....

[garden5]

I DID IT!!! I finally planted the onions!

Thanks for giving me the motivation, Gix.

I took a hoe and lightly broke up the surface. The soil is quite sandy in this part of the garden, so it did not clump.

I started planting my sets and it started to pour. I stayed out there and got them all planted. They are about 4 in. equidistant.

Unfortunately...it kept on raining LoL and before I knew it, the onion patch was flooded . Well, I went out today and fixed it all up. They weren't displaced that badly, so I'm glad.

[Gary350]

Tennessee weather has returned to normal, rain every day every spring from March 1st to about June 10th. In the past there was times I could not plant my garden until the 3rd week if June because I was waiting for the mud to dry up so I could till my garden. We had about 4 years of dry spring weather not much rain at all, it was great and I loved it. Last years the weather returned to normal again. Channel 5 weather man said we typically have about 300 days of rain every year. When the rain stops about late June the weather changes to desert type conditions for about 2 months July and August, no rain and 100 degrees temperatures. I am thinking very serious about moving back to Arizona.

[ozark_rocks]

Down here in Arkansas, we've had 7 and a half inches of rain since Saturday. My yard looks like a pond, and the garden is too soggy to even think of going in. All I can do is walk to the edge and look for my plants. It has rained so often in the past week or so that I haven't been able to weed or till, so the weeds are really taking over.

I can handle all the rain, but all the storms are making me crazy. We survived a tornado, last April so I'm jumpy. Last night I was so scared, they were tracking a tornado heading in the direction of where my daughter lives. Thankfully it missed her town, but it hit Vilonia, and killed 4 people. My heart goes out to all the people who have lost family, friends and their homes. I will be so relieved when storm season is over for the year.

[TZ -OH6]

One good thing about the grass getting out of hand from spring rains is that it is wonderful mulch. I let the first two cuttings go a long time anyway for that reason.

We were supposed to have heavy thunderstorms and watermelon-sized hail all day today but instread it was mostly sunny with a bit of wind, so the newly potted up tomatoes got their first field trip onto the back porch.

[trinoc]

Down here in Arkansas, we've had 7 and a half inches of rain since Saturday. My yard looks like a pond, and the garden is too soggy to even think of going in. All I can do is walk to the edge and look for my plants. It has rained so often in the past week or so that I haven't been able to weed or till, so the weeds are really taking over.

I can handle all the rain, but all the storms are making me crazy. We survived a tornado, last April so I'm jumpy. Last night I was so scared, they were tracking a tornado heading in the direction of where my daughter lives. Thankfully it missed her town, but it hit Vilonia, and killed 4 people. My heart goes out to all the people who have lost family, friends and their homes. I will be so relieved when storm season is over for the year.

West Tennessee, here, and we've gotten the same systems as they've moved out of AR. UGH! I can't even walk out into my back yard because of standing water. I looked at the garden through binoculars. It looks very tired. I have no idea what I'll find when I get out there tomorrow (if enough water drains to let me get out there w/o losing my toddler in an undertow). LOL (sort of)

[Ozark Lady]

Hey, is that strange sight sunshine?

We have had storms, rain, hail, and more rain, and more lightning for the last 6 weeks. We have actually had good sized trees floating down the highways. And this is hill country, high altitude, not flat lands, I can imagine how bad it is where it is lowlands. We have rocks, not soil, and yet, have managed to have real mud, how odd!

I think we have actually had 3 maybe 4 days without rain.
Last year, my pond dried up totally and killed all the fish.
This week it overflowed completely, so I need to restock the fish.

We have had one really warm day, when we didn't need the heat on.
Most nights we have still needed heat as it dips into the 40's.

I am concerned about the potatoes, onions and garlic that were planted before the rain all started. Even if they survive, did all the wetness set them up for rot, fungus etc.?

[lorax]

It is now raining mud on me - the prevailing winds brought volcanic ash from the eruption my way, and with it storm clouds. Everything is covered in a layer of sticky, abrasive black mud - I figure that between yesterday and now I've got about 1/4" accumulation of the stuff. I kind of wish it would stop, but also kind of not because airborne ash is even worse. It reeks of sulfur.

All of you up in tornado alley - stay safe!

[gardenvt]

It poured Tuesday night and now there is water in the basement - AGAIN!!! this is the rainiest April on record (following the third snowiest season on record). there is so much flooding around I probably shouldn't complain but geez! that's where the laundry and freezer are. We have them up on cement blocks so they stay dry but getting to them would take a canoe.

It's terrible all the storms that have a occurred this year and the most recent ones with all the loss of life.

[jal_ut]

I have had a few years to observe weather. I can say for sure: The weather will always hold surprises. The weather will always occasionally break a record of some sort. The weather will do as it darned well pleases. Recorded history is a very short time compared to the age of the Earth. We haven't seen anything yet!

Here in dry Utah we may get aggravated that the weather has been excessively cool and wet this season, but we can also be thankful for the moisture. In a land that only gets from 12 to 15 inches of rain a year average, 5 inches in April looks pretty good. Not much we can do about the weather. Just have to try to live with it. Have a great garden!

[gixxerific]

Way to go G5 my onions and garlic seem to love this cool wet weather.

As for the grass getting tall I love it as well I have enough to mulch my gardens well I had to steal some of the neighbors but whatever ti takes right?

It's finally a half way decent weekend here. But rain every other day next week just not the 7+ inch a week stuff with deadly tornado stuff we have been having.

"Come on garden you can do it it's gonna dry out never you fear".

[rainbowgardener]

In case any one has noticed me posting more lately, here's why. I just looked at the hour by hour forecast for today. Here's what it says:

10 AM Rain
11 AM Rain
12 PM Rain
1 PM Rain
2 PM Rain
3 PM Rain
4 PM Rain
5 PM Rain
6 PM Rain
7 PM Rain
8 PM Rain
9 PM Rain
10 PM Rain
11 PM Rain

Guess what the forecast is for tomorrow... you got it-- RAIN. The first actual sunny day in the forecast is MONDAY next week.... Jeez, this is getting old...

[!potatoes!]

send some here!

western north carolina is awful dry these days. we've been getting occasional brief, hard rains, but with a week plus between them, we're actually below our average rainfall for the year.

[donworden]

I hate to say it, but I am starting to believe we are going through a monsoon season...... good thing the yard likes water.

[Brant]

Ten day forecast: 90's and sunny every day.
I have harvested six tomatoes, a bowl of green beans, and a few salads worth of lettuce.
Just thought I'd rub it in.

[SPierce]

Thank goodness, we are finally getting some sun here!