Rainy Day Gardening

So after running some errands after work I figured I'd come home and work on more yard/garden stuff. I want to get all my homegrown fall crop seedlings in the ground now that their bed is ready. I raked through it one last time, turning in some 5-10-10, and started digging little trenches to pop seedlings into. The thunder started up fast, but lately the thunderstorms have mostly gone around us... I figured I could plant fast, or not even have to worry about it.

Dammit.


Boy did it come down fast and hard! Lightning was striking all around (about made me jump out of my skin at one point!). The rain gauge showed it was coming at the rate of 1.73 inches an hour, and the gauge is actually too close to the house right now and probably not real accurate. I don't know how much rain we ended out getting, but I went out afterwards, tip toe-ing around briefly in the super squishy yard.

Another shot, different speed, during the rain storm - showing my interrupted work area (I was sitting on the bucket).


Four of the five arborvitae I planted the other day (probably ought to stake those, hunh?). Looks like I need to dig a trench around the bed - both to make it look better, and for better water flow!


After the storm - at least none of my trees blew over! Note the filled-in trench across the yard (where I used better top soil than we have across the whole yard - this should be a fun pattern of grass growth).


You can see here I got some of my spinach in, and you probably can't tell that there's also broccoli interplanted. They've really been snacked on by something. I need to dust them a little I think. WHEN it's not raining!


I didn't get any lettuce, brussel's sprouts, kale, bok choy or swiss chard planted this afternoon. :(



Here's a spot where I got the tiller stuck in a surprisingly soft spot on the weekend - note the size of the holes compared to my foot after the rain storm. Grrr....more patch work to be done!