First we had rain. Rain all spring, enough to keep the ground too
soggy to work, but that didn't matter, because it was too cold to put
the peppers and tomatoes out. The in June, it turned hot, hot, hot,
and still it rained. We had 23 days of rain in a row. The frog
drowners were rare, but there was at least a shower everyday.

Well, it finally stopped raining, and now we're well on our way to
having the driest September on record in the midlands of South
Carolina. I hate to ill wish anyone, but couldn't we have just one
teeny tiny tropical storm come our way?

I had to water the lawn this week, for the first time all year. There
are some melapodium plants that popped up unexpectedly around a bush
out back, that have been blooming merrily all summer, despite being
mostly ignored. Now, to keep them from wilting, I have to water them
everyday. The ground is so dry that the water is just sucked right
down from a shallow rooted plant like that. Even the basil jungle
looks droopy in places.

This is one of those times that building the soil in the garden up
with lots of organic material is really paying off, because the soil
there holds the water a little better. A good deep watering twice a
week is all the peppers and surviving tomatoes need.

It's always too much or not enough, never just right. I'd like to be
Goldilocks just once!


Penelope