The seasons changed overnight. Gone is the hot, dry summer weather that bled all the way through September and into October. Several inches of rain settled the dust and soak the ground. The rain did more than just water the crops. When necessary, and it has been very necessary, we have irrigation for that. The rain drenched all the pasture lands so that the forage can grow back. It refilled the pond. (The frogs have been ecstatic).
A multitasking cover crop
The long awaited rain watered in the fall cover crop seeds that we propitiously flung about last week. Soon buckwheat, red clover and deep digging daikon radish will be sprouting. The buckwheat will be killed by the frost, but it is quick and hopefully it will have a few weeks now to help keep weeds down while the slow growing clover gets established. The cover crop will protect the soil from washing away in winter rains, channeling that water down deep into the ground. It will provide habitat for the vast diversity of life in the soil that supports our plants every year.
Waiting for Weeds
The rain also watered the spring garden beds we hastened to shape way back in early September. Making the beds in advance assures that we will have somewhere to plant early spring crops, but it also allows us to flush out the weed seeds resting near enough the surface to sprout. For that to work, we need the weed to come up. And for the weeds to germinate, we need rain. We had to wait a long time, but now I expect we will see the green tinge of seedlings just reaching above the soil surface in the next few days.
A Change in Mood
The rain did more than water the garden and the pasture, settle the dust, fill the pond, sprout the covercrop and get the weeds growing in the spring garden. It washed away stress and anxiety and tension and fear. The heat of early fall fried my brain. I wasn’t doing my best thinking. I panicked easily and made reactionary decisions. Fall is really here. We can all breathe now. I’m not saying the rest of the year is going to be a stroll through the goldenrod, but the cool down has me seeing less red and more green. I really like green, it’s my favorite color.
Small Shares
- Juliet Tomato
- Small Cabbage
- Sweet Potatoes
- Carrots
- Beets
- Curly Kale
Full Shares
- Juliet Tomato
- French Breakfast Radish
- Sweet Potatoes
- Carrots
- Beets
- Curly Kale
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