and then it rains...

...and the forecast looks fairly wet for the next 7 days. which is just fine with me. the grass is starting to brown on lawns everywhere. it's been a little dry.
still, even if rain was predicted today, it wouldn't have kept me from watering the garden. I think the best irrigation practice is to water deeply every 4 to 5 days. Unless its actually pouring down when its time to water-- just go ahead and turn on the faucet. in the past, suspecting that it might rain has lead to under-watering our plants.

Getting Dry

It feels like it's been a long time since we've had a good deep rain. I'm not sure how long it's actually been.

I watered the garden today and the strawberry patch (about 4 gallons per raised bed). I put the timer on for 70 minutes for the sprinkler. The water pressure seemed a little low today.

I hadn't seen the garden since July 6. Thankfully, nothing was wilting (Aaron watered last week too). The squash, etc. are vining like mad. It looks like it's planted too densely. But I know we followed the directions, so it shouldn't be too dense. I didn't have the time to really check for any new fruit. I saw some cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen.

Today, I just trained the vines up the trellis and then started up the water. Pulled a dozen weeds. I moved some of the strawberry runners back inside the box.

The newly planted grass (where the garden used to be) could use a deep watering too. Only one sprinkler, however. And I didn't have the time to wait tonight for the garden to finish its watering cycle.

I drove away considering that I'd probably stop by the garden less often if the watering was completely automated. Maybe total autmation isn't the best idea for me. At least if the gardens not in my own yard. I need a reason to drop by. If I only had more time in my schedule to really observe what is happening in the garden. Next week, maybe.