Rain Rain Go Away

This afternoon was hot and windy. 80 degrees with pretty good sun. It was amazing! The lettuce tripled in size, the chard appeared, and I see a few peas which is a relief because the first planting has been in the ground 17 days and I was beginning to worry about them rotting.

I had to go back to 2007 to find photos of a dry April. Thank Heaven (and Tim) we didn't have to till and put up fence. It just wouldn't have happened.

April 3rd 2007

And the BEST part about raised beds is that it will never look like this:

April 29th 2007

Another thing I've noted is the large number of earth worms that are in the leaf layer. Remember, I dumped chopped maple and ash leaves in each bed, then covered them with an inch of mulch. Whenever I dig in the beds, I find a lot of worms in that leaf layer just chomping away, doing their thing. And, if I find a worm out in the lawn, I run it over to the beds.

My seedlings in the house have been transplanted. I've started tomatoes from seed for 6 years in a row now. Each year I am worried about their spindly little necks, and I'm sure they will never grow up, but each year I still end up with a tomato jungle. The Japs were the best with 100% germination and stout, compact seedlings. Maybe there will come a time when all I start is a flat of them. Life sure would be easy.

Anyway, this afternoon was so nice that when I got home I started dinner, then ran right out to the garden to check on progress from the sun. And guess what happened? ....it began to rain.