The Year of the Soggy Chipmunk

That title got your attention didn't it?

It's fun and intersting to keep track of garden statistics.  I make notes of overall weather, pests and frost dates per year.  One of the most important numbers is rain.  Its a little tedious having to remember to check the rain gauge every morning, but some years you can go weeks without having to remember to do that.  

I print a chart each year for the months April through September since those are my gardening months.  I clip it to a clipboard and hang it on a nail in the garden shed.  Every time I empty the rain gauge I write the measurement down on the date.  That way I can keep track of whether my garden is getting the minimal one inch per week.

We're basically half way through the gardening year. Two and a half months down.  Two and a half to go.  May rainfall was only slightly above average (my husband will argue against that but I have facts).  It didn't even come close to May 2014. So far this month (halfway thru) we have had all the rain we should be getting in June.  I hope we don't break the record.  It's wet out.  Really wet.  Several days out of each week we have standing water in the lawns.  This morning was pretty squishy.

 I also make note of the approximate date of arrival of the Japanese beetles.  Severity of cucumber and flea beetle damage.  Approximate date the powdery mildew shows up.  Stuff like that.  Number of chipmunks removed from the population.  We've already exceeded our average and tied our record on that score.  So I officially dub this 

The Year of the Soggy Chipmunk.