Who else got rain?

I'm still dry as dust here. And unless something changes within 3 years we will have a worse dust bowl than the original. Unfortunately I don't have quite what I need for a down payment, but I am done investing in this house beyond what it would take to sell it. And I've given up a lot of my gardening, down to native plants, tiny patch of regular garden and I've got my water bill down to a dull roar. Surprisingly the pond with the veggies on it is super efficient. I am LOVING that.

Gypsi, we're in the same boat. Erm, maybe not boat, you actually need water to pilot one of those ;)

I even have native plants crisping up in this dry heat. Feel like an idiot watering them since they're supposed to be tough, but hopefully it won't be much longer til they're established and more drought tolerant.

On Aug. 6, I said there was thunder, lightening and some rain. The next day when I went outside everything was bone dry. Oh, foot!

We had thunder noises, orange wierd glow at sunset, but nary a drop yesterday evening- and I watered the garden anyway. Everything went from drippy to dust in one day, so none of the sprinkles amounted to a hill of beans. Even xeriscaping plants throw seeds and wait for water. The whole USA is goin mobile chasing livable earth. The trees are nothing but matchsticks looking for a spark.

Very eloquent, kitt. No rain here. Looked like a storm yesterday in the sky over North Richland Hills (driving east from Fort Worth), but when we got there it was no storm. Today it sounds and feels as if it might rain -- the next hour or so should either rain or not.

Looks like were gonna get some rain now, but it's done this quite a few times this month and nada -- not a single drop! My wunderground app even shows rain literally right next to me (the blue dot is my location) and it will skip right over us.

I figure this time if I post a screenshot, then Mother Nature is obligated to fulfill prophecy right?? 😆

I missed rain all day- spent last night turning into a crispy critter in east Dallas- today am sitting in Tulsa and wondering where that rain was s'posed to be - guess Full sun was my measure for the weekend. Good to see ya Carrie- we have new folks on here learnin our Forums...

We were told 40% chance of rain in the morning today. Hot and sunny as usual.

Huge rain in Freestone and Limestone counties today ! Praise God !

Not a drop here, but I am happy for what you got.

Bone dry here, as usual...

Nuthin...

I watched the rain falling a few hundred yards away last night. It fizzled out before it got to us. But today, 7 miles down the road, there are huge puddles on the shoulders. I swear if it wasn't raining nearby, I would get so upset. I'm beginning to take it personally!

It rained here hard starting abt noon. I heard a huge boom, it was thunder but the only prediction for rain was in the late afternoon and evening. This rain event was a huge surprise. I am grateful for it.

I was hearing thunder for the longest time yesterday evening. We got one short shower-yippee! But people north of I-10/West Hou seem to have gotten lots of rain. Lucky dogs!

Looks like we got a good bit by Hobby last night, too! The grass sure looks happy, LOL!

I want to start broccoli as soon as weather breaks. a lot of my yard that used to have stuff growing is now bare dirt, I'm getting more mulch to cover it

Usually this area has a "bubble" over it and we get rain all around us but never on us. This year has been so different we have had much more rain then is normal for summer. Yes, I am grateful, even if the initial Boom yesterday scared the "cr*p" out of me. Lol

I also find it interesting how different areas of Texas get such different rates of precipitation. We are still in a major drought but not having to water is really nice.

Gypsi-you may want to start your broc. before the weather breaks so it will be establish before it gets cold.

Guess I could put it in the greenhouse over the tilapia. I doubt I could get it to germinate in the garden. Thank you Lisa

Actually broc, and many of the "cool weather" crops require warmer, abt 80* to get the best and fastest germination. They grow great in it too the only problem is that the flowers bloom right away. We grow them in cool temps so they form edible heads, without bolting. Many root crops will grow great in warm temps but the quality suffers greatly and they may not even be called edible. The one veggie I can think of that needs cool temps to germinate is lettuce, I'm sure there are more but I cant remember them. Lol

Broccoli was from the Anasazi- hot days and cild nights in the desert. These broccoli DO need to be started now, like other cabbages

Gypsi,

I started some cool/cold weather veggies (broccoli, cabbages, collards) indoors in my "warm room," two weeks ago, on Wednesday, July 30th. They were up by Sunday, August 3rd.

As of today, they are almost throwing out a 2nd set of true leaves. Since I don't snip seedlings to thin, I'll be separating them this weekend to individual pots, and moving the trays to my "cool room" to grow on for the next 4 weeks. Wonky ventilation in my house affords me a "too warm" and a "too cool" room -- I just go with the flow, and it works very well for the seedlings, LOL! They'll be transplanted out the weekend of September 13th.

Gardeners on another forum asked why I bother to start these cool weather seedlings indoors with the Texas weather being so warm out. They just throw their seeds out and park them under a shady spot. They say the wind hardens them off, then they just move them to where they'll be transplanted.

What those gardeners don't take into account is that they are growing in Zones 5a and 8b, Ohio and Kentucky -- I'm growing in Hellfires of Zone 9a.

Like LiseP said, the seed'll take off just fine in our 98° heat. But, then, they will begin to languish and suffer against the +100° ambient air temps. I've found that when they struggle like that early on, the production down the line is negatively impacted.

Last season, I set my seedlings out in too much heat. This season, I'd rather hold them inside after germination, in as cool a location as I can. They grow steadily, and sturdily. When I begin to feel the slightest chill in the air is when I'll consider setting them out for hardening off. Then, they will make a very smooth transition into the cool weather, and not stall after transplanting. If all goes well, they'll grow even faster, and produce a better final product.

Hope this helps.

Pic#1 Georgia collards (old seeds)
Pic #2 Arcadia Broccoli
Pic #3 Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbages

This message was edited Aug 14, 2014 8:43 AM

Well I know brooksdale spinach won't germinate in the wrong temp, i've tried starting it in warm weather for fall a couple of times. So instead of spinach I am babying my lambsquarters, stir fried in an omelette it tastes like spinach and it is drought and temp hardy.

I put some broccoli seed in the garden this morning, in the ground, in the part I am watering twice a day. I have a couple of cups of broccoli seed I gleaned when the bees got to the spring broccoli in early 2012, kept refrigerated, so if it doesn't take off it is not a big deal. I put red beet seed, Jacob's cattle bean and a couple of pumpkin seed in the ground about 10 days ago and started running the garden sprinkler twice daily. So far everything has sprouted some except the beets. My house is too dry and my greenhouse, while humid, is over 100 degrees most of the day. Not sure if I should try seeds in pots there or not. What do you think?

The plants I carefully watered all summer in the greenhouse are in the process of failing in the garden despite twice daily watering. My hens (and I suspect a cricket) are part of it, but I fenced them off today to see if I can get a 3rd set of leaves on my pepper plants, the squash is mostly dead, the watermelons planted in the spring produce a bloom and a tiny melon which rots now and then but some are dying because the sprinkler doesn't reach. None of my winter squash made it, between weeds and lack of water it didn't even live to July. yeah, not a great garden this year.

My tomatoes on the pond are mostly alive and one banana pepper has a fruit on it today, a couple of beans lived, cucumbers lived but are scrawny. I have some large koi 8 adult tilapia, a LOT of baby tilapia and I feed them a lot so they will feed the garden on the pond. While not much fruit I have had some tomatoes this year, as many as last year, and my water bill before I started twice daily on the garden was $53 for the month. Last year it was $150 a month and I only got 7 tomatoes and a tiny amount of swiss chard. I worked so hard on the garden last year and it did so poorly, this year I didn't even try most of it except to try to beat weeds and fire ants back.

Dang Gypsi, sorry for the luck!! At least the aquaponics are working!!

Earlier this afternoon we had dark skies, loud thunder, lots of lightening, and a teeny bit of rain. The temp has really cooled down, tho.

Bloomsdale spinach or brookside? Rained on me this mornin, creeks were runnin fast enough to lay grasses down, but sunshine the rest of the day- took pix for SPWDirt, but gonna put em in a diff thread...

Spinach is another one that won't germinate if temps are too high, like some types of lettuce. I think it's called Thermal dormancy. I would direct seed beets when the temps cool off according the planting guide I have for N Central Texas that would be Sept 1 - Oct 1st.

Chickens will destroy a garden before it ever gets started.

I have done wholesale orders in the past and I started the fall seeds in paper towels in plastic baggies on my bathroom floor (tile) bc it was the only place that wasnt supper hot. This is around the 1st of August. I sowed the sprouted seeds in individual pots and put them outside on my back deck to mature and grow large enough for market. This was the summer it was 113 over Labor Day. I kept water in the trays so the plants were fine but the radicchio and Chard didnt turn colors until the temps cooled down.

This spring I had some broccoli germinate and grow. It never formed an edible head bc it was too hot it went straight to flowers. I guess I'm trying to say that a lot of edibles need heat to germinate and grow fast, but the end result won't be what we expect. A lot of gardening and getting quality plants is timing.

What do you mean your house is too dry? I usually start and grow 1000s of plants a year for sale and wholesale. I don't have a GH just my house (laundry room) and the garage. I can't afford to keep a GH cool or hot enough, I need to make a profit.

1Lisac,
Are temps inside the fridge too cold to germinate lettuce seeds? Just wondering if there's another potential tool here...

Thanks!

Fridge temps can be adjusted, but light is another matter.

I am happy to report that we received 8/10 of an inch of much needed rain today here in Arlington.

Congratulations on the rain....we didn't get any today. Glad you did.

GG- I have no idea abt germinating lettuce seeds in the refridge. Not all lettuce requires cool temps to germinate. I don't think it minds light tho. Usually I just toss it when the temps cool down. It germinates and grows really fast. It will freeze tho so if a freeze is predicted I cut it down to the ground and let it grow back. I grow the "blends" from Baker Creek so if some of the seeds don't like the growing conditions I'll never know bc te rest grow fine. Lol

Thanks, guy! Yeah, that light thing in the fridge might be challenging. Maybe something battery operated? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

I am happy to report that beginning late Sat. afternoon and lasting until noon-ish on Sunday, we got a major gully washer of a storm.

Around 6 or 7 yesterday it was still lightly sprinkling when I decided to make a food run by driving the 2 blocks to my neighborhood Tom Thumb. (Yes, I drove, but in my defense, I would have had to cross a busy street.) The grocery store had lost power and was running on backup generators! Thus any area that had food that had an even mild need for 'cool', like most of the produce aisle, was blocked off. Wonder if they're having a big sale today on melted ice cream.

If they lockdown the freezers they stay frozen- or they chunk dry ice in to keep temps low. Refrigerated foods that are meat based are where the problem will be as these foods are highly perishable. Frozen bread/pizzas also lose temps fast. Look for meat sales since this will be what is most affected...

I'm happy to report that, although we didn't get rain last night as forecast, we got a light shower this afternoon and evening. It lasted several hrs...I really need to get that rain gauge put up. Lol

Austin, and other areas to the south and east of us got hammered yesterday. We didn't get a drop.....I can't say enough about the cooler temps. Lol

I think I have had 4 inches of rain since April, the last big rain event I got about 1/16th of an inch. The one before that I got about 1/32nd. God's way of telling me it is time to get out of Texas, if I wanted to live in the desert I'd have stayed in West Texas or moved to Nevada to be near my uncle, but for now I am not ready to move. Day is coming though.

Water bill is $100 a month since I started watering 1/4 of my garden, I've gotten 3 yellow squash, half a zucchini. Have learned to eat lambquarters and to cook the leaves of Hopi Amaranth to get them to taste something like swiss chard as the chard won't grow. needed to pick asparagus this evening, may go out there later and get some. I cut the seed tops off last week for a fall harvest.

My broccoli seed went in 3 weeks ago, plants about 6 inches tall, and I put in red beets, some beans and a couple of pumpkin plants in late July as well.90 days before estimated first frost, it was too late to try butternut squash, and I lost my spring bunch to the drought... Going to play around with growing chard and some other stuff in the greenhouse or in the house this winter, 400 baby tilapia put out a powerful amount of plant food. Been accumulating fluorescent lights for this purpose. Might as well give it a try.

Sounds like a good fall garden. Where would you move???

We've been getting rain on and off all week. Some places got really slammed, thank goodness we got mostly slow usable rain.

I'm thinking Northwest Arkansas, if I can find decent land and home I can afford. Looking at the rain maps and temperature maps.

I am sick of hundred degree desert. or 90 degree desert, temps weren't that bad this year, but my garden isn't pretty because I am in the a/c, and I can't afford to water to loosen the weeds and not have the dirt blow away

Gypsi---We lived for many years just over the border from northwest Arkansas on Table Rock Lake in Missouri. It is a beautiful place to live. However, gardening is a challenge. We lived in Stone County and it is appropriately named. Every time you try to put a shovel in the ground all you hear is "CLANG". Many parts of Arkansas are the same. The weather is very warm in the summer, but not like here. 100* makes the news big time. There is also humidity, but that goes with getting a lot of rain. Rain is a wonderful thing. There will also be snow in the winter and often an ice storm in February or March which breaks trees, bringing down power lines.

Probably no place is perfect, but southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas are close to it. But then, my grandchildren are in Texas, so I will be staying.