We're officially in the drought-time now at Seven Oaks. The local town alert system rang in automatically yesterday to request that town residents limit watering. That doesn't affect those of us who live outside of town, but it's a sobering reminder nonetheless to conserve water.
In our Master Gardener class, we had one presenter who demonstrated the importance of water conservation. That presentation really made an impact on me. I know that I am more careful now about taps that drip, and about using water from Shadow's bowl that I'd normally just toss down the drain to water my houseplants. It's the little things like that which I believe do add up.
Right now, we received about an inch of water this week from a few thunderstorms, which was very welcome news. The grass was crunchy underfoot - it was so dry you'd walk across and just hear crunch, crunch, crunch. The flowers had all slowed their blooming significantly, too. With the little bit of rain, the grass has perked up just a bit and some of the flowers seem a bit better, but the garden is nowhere near its peak as it was during the years when we had plenty of rain.
The vegetable garden is doing quite well, and we have more tomatoes than we know what to do with. The pepper plants appeared stunted and small, but upon investigation we found huge bell peppers lurking under the leaves, so I think I will be doing a lot of canning this weekend! Not only the peppers, but the wonderful harvest of Yukon Gold potatoes needs some canning since our basement isn't cool enough to keep them forever.
Last night's dinner was almost entirely 'from the garden' and featured fresh tomatoes and basil salad, and sausage, peppers and onions. At this time of year, such suppers are so welcome...yet I wonder how much longer the garden will continue to produce with the drought going on. I'll continue harvesting and hope for the best.
How is the drought in your area of the United States? I know that some areas have been hit very hard. Good luck and may your crops thrive...
1 comment:
I understand crunch, crunch, crunch. Stop by when you get a chance and you'll see how dry it is here. I'm posting about the plants I'm trying to save. Sigh. Our year round water conservation has kept our city from taking any drastic steps yet but tonight is a meeting where an update will be given to see if we need to start a tougher phase. I have a new water source I'll be posting on soon. Otherwise, I'm starting to move in every plant I would try to overwinter anyway. It's just too tough on them out there. Enjoy those tomatoes!!!!
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