Weather forecast: Highs in the 80s, 50-60% chance of rain.
Not long ago you were hearing me talk about all of the problems we were having due to too much rain. Well, now things have swung a bit in the opposite direction as we've got seeds and plants in the ground which could really use a drink. Diane, John, and I have been hauling bucketfuls of water out of the lake to sprinkle on the tomato, broccoli, lettuce, and onion plants we planted last week and I can tell you that that much hand-watering is getting old fast! We don't want to start up the irrigation system until we've got a few more of our lake garden beds planted, since if we soak the unplanted beds, we'll have to halt our planting for a day or two until they dry out again.
I'm happy to have rain in the forecast this week, since nothing can take the place of a good thunderstorm for getting seeds germinated and plants growing. But we've got lots of plants and seeds I'd like to have in the ground before the rains come and so we'll be making a big push to get those in on Monday morning and early afternoon. A generous neighbor donated a heaping truckload of composted horse manure to us over the weekend, so we'll be spreading it on the beds, working it in, laying paper mulch, and planting more tomatoes and our earliest beans. I may also ask some of you to start mulching the plants we've already got in the ground with hay. This will help retain soil moisture so that we don't have to water as often and also protect and feed those soil microbes we keep talking about.
Bring rain gear if you've got it. We'll work outdoors in a light sprinkle if we have to, though a thunderstorm may drive us inside to soil block winter squash.
I finally updated the farm blog with a new post this weekend. If you'd like to check it out, here's a link: Harvest of Joy Farm Spring Slideshow
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