Driest Summer on Record

Last week, the local NPR affiliate mentioned that this is the driest summer on record for this part of the country. That's sobering by itself, but then the report went on to say that "el nino" conditions in the Pacific are ramping up to push us in the direction of a dry winter as well.

Clearly, we need to get serious about a rain catchment system. We don't know if we can afford it, but at very least we need to see what it would cost!

Happily, last night brought with it a modest amount of thunderstorm activity. It rained off and on through much of the evening. Today has been overcast with brief periods of gentle rain. The garden has received a decent drink. Angel & I transplanted a couple of things.

Tomorrow, hopefully, we'll have a small amount of earth moving in prep for a little retaining wall just below the south wall of the main vegetable garden. More on this as it unfolds, but basically I consider this the first step in the (urban ag) development of the east side of our property.

We're also trying to make a rent vs. buy decision on a rototiller. It costs $70 to rent one for 24 hours. A new, fairly heavy duty model runs about $700. The big question is of course how many times are we likely to need to till the soil. Also, once the soil has been broken up and amended, subsequent rototilling could be accomplished either by hand or with a smaller, less brutish model.

Food for thought.