The Blind Pig garden was looking pretty good until the monsoon of rain hit this week. The wind and rain have caused most of the plants to blow over. The beans need some strings to climb on and the tomatoes need to be staked up, but there’s not been enough dry weather to get either task completed. And I don’t even want to talk about the weeds!
Every year we plant way too many tomato seedlings. We give the extras away, but we hate to waste any of the plants so we end up planting more tomatoes than our small space really allows.
This year The Deer Hunter laid down the law: we were not planting so many tomato plants. So we didn’t and wouldn’t you know it the ones we did plant were the poorest looking tomato plants that we ever grew. I believe the dirt we used wasn’t as good as what we normally use and that may have impeded the seedlings growth. Thankfully the tomato plants have perked up considerably since they’ve been in the ground-now if the weather would just cooperate with helping us get them staked before they start growing horizontally along the ground we’ll be doing good.
Tipper
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Sounds like you folks are having the kind of rains there that we had here in New England last year. I hope the weather changes for you soon, you get a chance to knock the weeds back, and your gardens recover and thrive.
I’ve got some pole beans and candy roaster seeds planted in the garden, and many of the seedlings in my little greenhouse (okra, kale, chard, lettuce, melons, zinnias, herbs) are looking leggy and in need of something…thinning, maybe? It’s going to be HARD to do that. Maybe I’ll try to transplant some instead, though they don’t really look big enough to fend for themselves. And it’s supposed to rain here all weekend. Guess I’ll do some reading first about what I ought to be doing,
Cannot even get in the garden! Everything is up but the grass is overtaking!
Tipper,
Nantahala Lake has it’s Flood-Gates partially opened to let some water out and the Nantahala River Road is closed. James’ boy, Adam McLean works for the Coke plant in Bryson, and he had to drive 1 1/2 hours to get home a different way.
When I was younger, I loved to take my boat and camp at the Head of Nantahala Lake when it was full. I had a Jet-boat then and I’d take it up the swift water, dodging the big rocks, and you could see some of the biggest Trout you ever saw, underneath. They reminded me of those big trout in the Hatcheries at Balsam Mountain years ago.
Thanks, Don and Susan for those video and pictures of the river. …Ken
I have been worried about you and all the Western North Carolina bloggers. Weather reports tell of your heavy rains and mudslides. Hope you are all well and stay safe. Last year we had too much rain and had our retaining wall wash out and front yard went with it. Too much of a good thing is not always a blessing. Need the rain, but wish we could share it with those who need it. A few nice sunny days will hopefully perk up your garden. Wishing you all the best.
Tipper,
If a Depression can cause so much trouble, especially on most of the East Coast, Just think what a real Hurricane would do. All this rain will make it’s way in a few more days and we’ll have some decent weather again, but it’s about time for those mean Hurricanes to start swaping ends across the Atlantic. …Ken
It dried out enough one day in May for me to mow (not till under) the weeds in my garden. I can sort of see some beans, squash, corn and tomatoes in amongst all the weeds now.
The other night, they noted on Channel 13 out of Asheville that we’d had more rain this month than any in recorded history, breaking the monthly rainfall from August, 1940. Although they didn’t realize it apparently, August 1940 was when we had tremendous flooding in WNC.
Susan and I drove over to Marble on Wednesday. The Nantahala River had been unleashed; I’ve never seen it anything remotely like it was. I got a few photos and a bit of video:
http://www.diagsol.com/Photos/P1070040.MP4
http://www.diagsol.com/Photos/P1070021.JPG
http://www.diagsol.com/Photos/P1070022.JPG
For those not familiar with the area, flow in this section is regulated by a dam, so they must’ve been bypassing some. I also don’t recall ever seeing the river ever being so muddy.
We had a mini drought here yesterday. It actually dried off long enough for me to mow part of the yard. I hadn’t been mowing but about 15 minutes though before wall cloud formed to my north and in another 5 the bottom fell out. I got back on the carport to wait it out but the gutters overflowed and sent a small creek swirling around my feet. My neighbor’s dog “Poopiedog” was over for a visit and had to climb up on a stack of 2″x 4″s until the waters receded.
I’m not complaining mind you. Just observing.
I know what you mean about weeds in your garden. Mine was weed-free the day before I went out of town for Memorial Day. After being away for a few days, a sea of green met my eyes as I came down my lane. I secure a bicycle rim on a six foot post with attached strands of macrame or thin rope for my White Half Runner Beans to climb. Looks like I will be picking beans off the ground and complaining of a backache this year if it doesn’t stop raining long enough for me to put the rope up.
Yes, the farming life, seems it usually is too much, too little, wrong time or something. And as you say, the weeds are so happy. I hope after all this rain it doesn’t just suddenly quit.
Thanks for the planting calendar. I need to do some transplanting and decide whether I will do any more for summer.
Wouldn’t you know that a tree that had been overshadowed by its taller neighbors, and was pretty much dead, decided to fall over in one of our recent overnight storms, and it fell right between 2 of my tomato plants, knocking down the cage that supported them both? Fortunately it was a small tree, and I was able to bend the cage back into shape. I’m hoping the plants will make a full recovery!
This really is some kind of rain were having! I’m thinking I may need a hay baler by the time I’m able to mow the yard!
I’m always glad when your tomatoes do good, since I don’t grow any you are my only source for really good tomatoes to eat!
Yep, one evening Dad called and said we had gotten 4.8 in in his rain gauge and that all came in just about 2 to 3 hrs, it literally looked like a creek running thru our front yard and it slopes downward. I don’t know how much total for the month but they’re calling for more today and this weekend.