THE RAIN THE BLESSED RAIN

In the Willamsport area we have been averaging an inch and a half or more per week. All my "stuff" looks as good as it has in years. Hope we do not get a long dry spell which has been a fact during the last few summers. Have my sprinklers all set up but have used them only twice all this year. Last night's thunder buster dropped another two inches of rain. What's the general conditions in the rest of the Northeast? My Micorrhiza is cob webbed 100% all over the gardens just below the mulches.

The Micorrhiza will really help my gardens if that dry spell should appear. You do not use or know about Micorrhiza.... Google it up and read up. You should use the "ENDO" type. It's not to late to use it if you move quickly. After the end of this month it's value would be questionalble.

Eight inches of rain in June-- the average is generally around 3! There are mushrooms in the veggie garden. Nothing has really had a chance to dry out in months. A lot of the rain we've been getting is coming in the form of evening thunderstorms, so I've got some fungal problems going on with my tomatoes, squash, and roses right now.

But, it's better than drought! I still don't think it's as wet as the summer of '03. It felt like it rained every single day that summer and the farmers around here had a lot of trouble with their crops being drowned out. This year, aside from the late start most farmers got, everything seems to be doind well.

03 when was that? :) Glad you remember. I can't print here what few words are in my garden book for the spring of 03. My personal comments were not so nice.

Spring 03 worked pretty well for me. Mess around with plants, go to bed, rain overnight, rinse , repeat.
We just got several stormy days which have us back in good shape .

2003 as I recall was officially the wettest year on record around here. Our poor new little fruit trees! Their first year, they got drowned, and the next year they hit a drought.

You're right, everything looks good this year with the "right" amount of rain around here. Definitely better than what a lot of folks in other areas are experiencing!

Since I took up hanging laundry on the line outside, seems it's rain in the forecast daily now :) I wasn't here before (newcomer to the area), but according to the weather site that I use, it seems we're about 5 inches ahead of last year, and still below normal. Everything here is growing like gangbusters, and I'm thankful!

Hineni- I'm hanging laundry too, but you sure got to watch out for the late afternoon storms! My mother read that it can save about a dollar to hang a load- that sounds high tome, but it helps me justify the extra time.

It's been really dry here for seven weeks until the last several days. We haven't gotten much compared to some neighboring counties, but it has taken the grass from crunchy to green and perked up the garden. Today the weatherman says it'll be a .1 inch or torrential downpours. I'd like something in between, please. Sally, DH says he'll put up a solar clothes dryer for me as soon as we manage to get grass to grow in that area. When I was a kid, it was my job to hang the clothes and it had to be done just so, so the clothespins wouldn't leave big marks in the towells. I didn't like the job, but if I wanted my allowance, it had to be done. Now I think it's one of those zen things that brings calmness and a sense of fulfillment. Have I lost my mind?

Ha no. you've matured! I don't mind it much either. How can I mind a job that's putside in nice weather?

Paper says more people are doing it and getting in violation of their HOAs.

I SO agree that hanging laundry can be Zen and a quite pleasant task actually - I often do it while chatting on the phone with a friend - easy and really, it is hardly any more time than loading and unloading the dryer. I have set up lines and drying racks on my sunporch and that keeps some of the worry about having to run out when it sprinkles or storms - plus protects the clean laundry from theft, bird plops, etc.

There IS a "Right To Dry" movement - HOAs be - more folks should use the sun for such no-brainer chores.

~ Amy

Funny, but in all the times I've hung laundry, only seen one bir d accident
but I do get little spiders on the line

Yep, I had one of those little jumping spiders on mine when I took it down yesterday before the downpours :) I haven't used a clothesline since I was a child, with my great-grandmother. And my first experience was anything but zen-like - new 'stretchy' clothesline, lots of denim, and then a sudden rain shower...LOL! But they finished up nicely, with a rainwater rinse :) Since I'm washing by hand in the tub, I think I'll do it more often, smaller loads, less work, less stress on the line. It was very frustrating at the time, but pretty funny later after I finally got them up and done. One of those 'memories' to keep about how out of touch I am with the 'non-electric, non-convenience' lifestyle. Maybe it will become zen for me later ;)

Recently I became a zen-charcoal specialist. "IT" just happened. From the net came a set of instructions. I have done IT twice. When we move into the last tepee on our block I will share the wood from my house with all the other zen-charcoal makers and tepee owners. We will sit around a three piece charcoal cooking fire on our one foot square hand spun wool rugs and discuss how lucky we are having returned to basics while sipping our ten dollar a bottle of imported German beer. Someone will surely be concerned that a bird will break its neck trying to fly through the spinning wheel while another will label the spinning wheel as a modern convenience we should not be using. That may be our final non-waring encampment because computers are no more.... having been shunned by the whole world. We may lose our peacefull world with no computers to find our way. This may be the last and final notice that the whole world is comming to and end there being no further need for creative invention. There will not be enough whales to support the whale bone tool markets and the world will become very peacefull and quiet. Zen the last few remaining will be smiling and discussing the possiblity of going back to some of the more important things that were given up.

Soooo, how did you get the imported German beer to your teepee? :D

Hineni- I think there is more to your story. Washing all clothes by hand?

:P Yes Sue, a little more. I'm living 'hunting camp' style in a way - although I have electric and DSL (since I work from home) - but none of the standard 'convenience' things like dishwasher (that would be me!), washer or dryer. So I'm washing right now in the bathtub - hoping to find a used wringer and a good washtub, as doing it in the bathtub is rather hard on the back. I really don't see a need for those three items, although a dishwasher would be nice when it comes time for me to learn to can, as I have a really, really small kitchen area.

But the lack of conveniences is greatly overshadowed by the beauty, the land, the fertility of the soil, the spring and the quiet that we have here. I sit at my office desk and watch hummers, song sparrows, cardinals and thrashers all day; I see honey bees in the clover, and bumble bees all over the flowers, planted and wild; I hear the river across the road at night when I'm sitting on the porch; and I have my own personal twinkly light forest when the fireflies arrive each evening. I wouldn't trade it for all the high-end appliances in the world right now! The move to homesteading is new to us, and it's hard work! But I am loving it :)

Hineni, Maybe you should start a Homesteading thread, if there isn't already one. Looks like we may all be doing it sooner than later. I read an article the other day about 60-some per cent of UK'ers say they either already have or will have a vegetable garden next year. They are harkening back to the days of 'The Good Life', an early 70's British TV show where a young couple in Surbitan, outside London, start homesteading in their suburban neighborhood, to become self sufficient, including getting their power from methane (cow manure) converted in the basement, raising pigs and other farm animals in their small garden, making their clothes from home spun wool on a loom, and selling their surplus veg to raise money to pay the rates (taxes). It's been on PBS for years. Maybe it should be brought back.

Personnally I'm loving all of the rain this year. I'm especially enjoying the daily mushroom crop. (for photos, not eating). My township charges sewage rates based on water usage. It burns me up to pay for sewage treatment of plant watering. I figure the lower water and sewage bills allow me to spend more on the garden.

My only Zen experience is that my Drip coffee maker died at Christmas. I dug out my mothers old Paul Revere stove top percolator. The aroma of perked Joe wafting through the house is so inviting and brings back so many memories. You have to be careful though, boiled coffee is so much HOTTER, absolutely warn all guests!! The bottom cup can be tough, with the grinds settling there. I keep finding reasons not to replace the coffee maker......

Hineni, I've getting great amusement at the mental picture of you hand wringing laundry in the tub while consulting with some telecom execs on your bluetooth!

Although I did lose a nice little Xmas cactus to all that rain in 2003. I had a few things to rescue from sitting in water the other day.

Our cheapo coffee pot croaked last year. We mulled and debated, and brought home a 50 buck model that can be set to come on for you. Nice feature that we rarely need. And the thing is so tall I have to slide it out every dayto get the grounds in. Grr.
My parents never had any coffee at home so a coffee perker always seemed mysterious and complicated to me.

I might be a subsistence farmer, IF i could grow chocolate.

Ah, Hineni, sounds like you're living in paradise. :-)

Hubs & I are trying to go that way-- become more self-sufficient and simplifying our lives. We're focusing on little things right now-- growing and preserving food from our garden, raising a small flock of chickens for meat/eggs/fertilizer, setting up a rainwater collection system, ditching the dryer for the clothesline. Some day we'd love to have a small farm up in the mountains somewhere and be totally off the grid. I think Pam is right in that a lot more people are going to be moving back to that way of life soon. Gas and food are just getting too expensive. Electric, too-- I was checking our electric bill today against the past couple of months because it was so high compared to last summer. Turns out that the price for our electricity has increased by 75% per KWH since April! Shocking!

Anyway, back to the subject of rain-- we haven't had any for two days and there's none in the forecast. First time that's happened in forever.

Kubileya, The electric company does that every year in the summer. They call it a peak demand surcharge, supposedly because of the drain on their resources by the air conditioners.

I've actually had some recent plantings drown in this weather, but I still prefer it to dry dust. Don't worry, those dog days are coming!

Sally, we'll have to help you learn to cultivate cocoa. Doc should be able to help there! The electric company told me that depending on the time of year, it can cost up to $4 to dry a load!!!!

Well, that's just plain mean of the electric company! :-)

I wish I had last year's bills so I could compare. I know the cost has to have gone up since last summer because this month's bill was $60 more than the highest bill from last summer and that's with using the clothesline instead of the dryer and keeping the AC on only in the afternoons (last year I used the dryer 2x a day and kept the AC on most of the time because of the baby). There was some hullabaloo right before we moved from Maryland about deregulation and the electric company and how everyone's bill was going to skyrocket. I wonder if that effected Delaware, too. As you can see, I'm really on top of current events...

I admire you hardworking minded people and don't mean any disrespect in this-- I had to laugh at a show on HGTV where some guy retired to a sheep farm and started making artisan cheese- AFTER he made millions on Wall Street. It helps to start with some resources!! $$$
thanks storyla- I just got a 400 percent raise at my laundry drying job LOL

This message was edited Jul 12, 2008 11:32 AM

Pamgarden: I've been trying to think of a place to put our progress - right now it's under Farm Life, titled "We're Moving". I've been posting pics there of our limited progress in clearing the place, and the puppies growth. I do think we're going to see more and more people growing food, reducing their consumption of electric and whatnot, not so much because they're homesteading, but simply due to costs. Sounds like a good show on PBS. There was one, "It Ain't Easy Being Green" - where the people restored a HUGE castle-like place. Wonderful to watch, but as sallyg pointed out - we didn't retired from Wall Street, and are doing this on a shoe-string budget. Make a leeeetle bit of a difference (ha, okay a LOT of difference)!!

sallyg: I'd also have to learn to grow coffee, in addition to chocolate...hehe. Supposedly it can be done here - although I've got my hands full just getting normal crops into the weed-filled upper garden for now. I'll save the exotics for after I can feed myself. No shortage or price run on chocolate or coffee that I've seen yet ;)

Kubileya: Same direction we're heading, I'm sure I can learn a lot from you guys. When J gets up here full-time, we'll add the chickens and goats to the repertoire, but the fencing will have to be repaired first. We may can manage chickens, but before we bring in goats lots of work has to be done. Our timeline keeps growing...lol! I haven't used the a/c at all here yet, but we haven't hit the dog days yet either. Since it's just me, no kids or anything, I find that a fan does me well, and I'm learning when to open and close windows on opposite sides of the house to reduce heat and pull cool (from the shaded areas), cover up windows on the south side of the house, etc. I'm far, far more attentive to the weather now, for laundry, crops and cooling. I like it. I like being more attentive to the land and air and such (getting a little behind on current events though!) Totally different pace of life, and if a job wasn't required, it would be even more different. Some days are a little tough trying to work and do what needs done here, nevermind what I WANT done as well;)

Stormyla: funny you should mention that....we're working on a bluetooth solution for times when I don't have to absolutely be at my desk (there isn't much of that right now) or to be able to work from the laptop on the porch when it's cooler out than in.

We're only down about 2.5 inches from norm here in the rainfall arena; and way above last year, so I'm happy. Tomorrow is my 'work in the yard' day, so I'm not too keen on the 80% chance of rain for tomorrow, BUT, I'm not sugar, so I won't melt in it and it makes the weeds come up easier :)

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement; we are truly living a dream, in paradise. Dreams worthwhile require work. I don't mind that one bit (although my body complains far before my brain does...haha!) We have so much to learn still - and reading differs far from doing...LOL! It's all good though, and it IS a good life.

sounds great- and compare those squash to the nasty bruised ones at my local supermarket for 1.50 a pound.

Doc, I'm having a hard time finding a really good write up on the Micorhizza. I see lots of it for sale and lots of talk about using it in Bonzai culture. Do you spread it all over your land? Is it just in your veg & flower beds? I saw articles about using it when planting shrubs. Basically it helps the roots retain water????? Why do you say next month is too late?

http://www.bio-organics.com/ is the site that will answer all questions about Mycorrhiza. I believe it to be one of the finest sources of information and product. Read more practical information in the archived news letters.


There are two types of Mycorrhiza. Mycorrhiza can not sustain itself when the host plant dies. It must for most garden plants be applied to the seed or planting holes each spring.

Thanks, Doc

Boy did we get rain last night! This is turning into one W E T July.

If one inch a week is your goal Mother has met your wishes or at least mine. :) Last night was no exception. The measurement was just over an inch here.

We only recorded 1/4" here, but it was nice and slow and gentle. I'll still need to water mid-week though, unless I hang laundry and cause a week of rain by doing so again...

Me too an inch I think. I have leaves about15 inches wide on my bushel gourd plant and if I suddenly stop posting in August I bet you'll find me swallowed up in it. I think I am "set" on bushel and birdhouse gourds this year.
My days laundry is on hold due to clouds. Dusting and vac are a go : ^( but sorely needed.