Joanne wrote:

Here's my tale of woe. The seedlings were planted and begining to
grow, the seeds I planted were starting to sprout, then the water tap
broke!

First I should explain my situation a bit. I have two plots in a
community garden about six blocks from my home so the broken tap is
more than just an inconvenience. I do not drive, so the only method of
getting water to my garden is on foot carrying two watering cans and
making probably 15 round trips inorder to moisten the soil.

Other mitigating factors a
Did not mulch.
No significant rainfall.
Relentless heat.
It's now been three weeks! Apparently a part had to be ordered and
that was the last we heard.
The building we get the water from is not ours, so we have no control.

By the time I thought of laying mulch the soil was bone dry, so I did
not think that it would do much good. On the other hand, having never
mulched before I have no actual knowledge to draw from, just ignorant
logic. To be honest I have avoided going over for the past week, it's
too depressing.

Does anyone have some advice or even words of encouragement? I know
that there are lots of gardeners here who are probably quite used to
these conditions. Is it too late in the game for me to salvage this
situation?

Thanks for any help!

jcm

Joanne ... mulch. Heavily. Make any water you ARE able to provide work
harder. Mulch will collect the dew better than bare ground and channel it
down toward the ground. Moreover, having mulch piled on helps keep the soil
cooler and that is good for the roots.

It is almost always a good idea to mulch all the soil in the garden except
the paths and there are even good reasons to mulch them, too. Just grab
whatever is available and get a thick layer of it down. (NOT plastic!)

Clearly, until you can get water to the ground, no answer is going to
provide complete relief ... but mulching the beds will be a huge help!

Bill
--
I do not post my address to news groups.