The First Precipitation of Summer

Rose "Birthday Girl"

We awoke to cloudy skies and by 7:00 AM there was the softest sound of rainfall on the roof. It never really rained this morning, but we did get what I would call heavy showers at times. It ended by 9:00  AM but it was enough that the ground was damp and the air smelled clean. We need a lot more rain to help put out the fires and really renew the earth but even the 10th of an inch we got this morning was certainly a welcome gift.

Rainy Weather

We are experiencing a very wet week. Sunday broke a rainfall record for February 5th in Eugene, with 1.24" of rain recorded. Now a tropical system is moving through the area tonight and tomorrow, which could bring an additional 2" of rain. All of this moisture is good news, after experiencing dry, mild Winters the last 2 years. It is also fun to see the creeks on our property so full, and to watch the water quickly rush downstream with a noisy roar.

Spiderweb with Morning Dew

Late October in Oregon means Fall color, low, golden-yellow light, acorns scattered on the ground, and spiderwebs everywhere. We have had record rainfall this month, and everything is dewy and wet. As I went on a walk down to the Big Garden, I passed a mowed meadow. With the morning sunlight hitting it at just the right angle, I could see dozens of small, detailed spiderwebs covered in the morning's dew. Each one was no larger than a few inches but they were everywhere in the grass. Such tiny, perfect pieces of art, woven between the blades of grass.

Record Rainfall

It should come as no surprise to see mushrooms sprouting up all around. We have had so much rain the last 5 days! It began with Thursday's record breaking 1.45". That was quickly followed up by Sunday's record breaking 1.25" and then Monday's record breaking 1.38"! So far, month to date, we have received 6.4" of rain. It is actually a wonderful thing, as we have been below our average rainfall month after month for years now. While it is pretty much putting a temporary stop to my mowing projects, the sweet earth is drinking it all up and the  mushroom are returning in droves.

Bouquet Before the Rains Return

The rains arrived, as predicted around 2:00 AM this morning and continued until sometime around 8:00 AM. Since this was to be our first significant rain this Fall, I headed down to the big garden yesterday to tidy up and prepare the dahlias. Before I left, I cut 5 big blooms on my "Lexa" plants. Up at the house I stuck them in a simple glass vase and voila - a lovely arrangement. This is only the second flush on the "Lexa" plants, so the blooms are still a good size and the color is great with the diminished Fall sunshine. There probably isn't enough growing season left for a third flush, so I am enjoying these blooms even more knowing these are the last I will see until next year's garden.

Planting Day #7 - Washed Out!

"Newaukum Honey" BB ID Orange/Pink

Today started out innocently enough. I got up early and was outside by 8:00 AM. Dad came home with a truckload of Nature's Best and we were off to the Big Garden. We began by off-loading all of the Nature's Best. After we finished up with that project, Dad reattached the rabbit fencing while I labeled a few more rows of dahlias. Then we got to work planting, getting another 16 in the ground. We now have 126/227 planted or 55.5%. Since we had the empty truck down in the garden, we decided it would be a good idea to bring up all of the empty pots. Right as we started loading up the pots I felt the first raindrop hit my head. Then another and another. Within a minute it was raining and within 5 minutes it was pouring! Talk about good timing! It rained hard for the next hour, which included a period of hail and one loud clap of thunder. Then it was all over and we had blue, sunny skies for the rest of the day. After dinner we decided to venture down to the garden to see if it was dry enough to plant. We ended up getting 8 more holes dug but then abandon planting for the night. The ground was way to sticky and the wheelbarrow was getting clogged up with clay. Oh well. We still got a lot accomplished today.

So very glad that we took the time to put up the rabbit fence this year!

Rained Out

Verbena Bonariensis in the evening sunshine

There's sunshine on the flowerbeds late this evening but we were rained out of our dahlia planting. I thought we were going to get lucky. It seemed that all of the rain cells that moved through the area today missed our part of the world. Right after dinner I went upstairs to change into gardening clothes when I heard the first drops on the roof. They quickly escalated and within minutes it was pouring! Rained out at the last minute. The good news is it didn't start right after we got down to the garden. So tonight is a night of rest, maybe just what the gardener needed.

Mostly Rained Out

The first Salvia "La Trinidad Pink" blooms of the year

Over the course of the day we received 09/10 of an inch of rain. Needless to say, it wasn't a really productive day in the garden. I did manage to get another 23 dahlias potted up after dinner, so that is something. But mostly is was a catch-up on indoor tasks kind of day, while listening to the rain beat down on the roof. I guess the good news is I don't need to do any more hand watering for a while.

Rain, Rain, and More Rain!

Sometime during the night it began to rain once again. And when it started, it started with enthusiasm! I woke up to the sound of heavy rain, and it continued all morning. It finally began to let up around 3:00 PM and by 4:00 PM it had quit. I had emptied the rain gauge yesterday, so I got a good measurement of this latest storm - 1 3/10 "! With camera in hand I eagerly headed down to see what the two creeks looked like. I could hear Dorthy's creek long before I got there. It is currently a brown, raging, rushing torrent. It is double its normal width; I can't imagine any animals will be crossing it here in the next week. I then walked down to the main creek. It too was impressive, very full and  roaring along at a fast clip. I do love the site and sound of our creeks when they are swollen with water and rushing near full speed. It's a good reminder of the power nature can unleash.

Weather

Last night, as predicted, a major storm moved through the area. The western sky started illuminating with sheets of lightning around 9:30 PM. Then, by 10:30 PM we has a non-stop show of sheet lightning, bolt lightning, and lots of rumbling thunder. Around 11:30 the rain came in a torrential downpour. Typically, in Oregon, when the rain arrives during an electrical storm, the thunder and lightning conclude. But not this time! It poured for another 45 minutes and the lightning and thunder just grew louder. Finally, around midnight, the storm pasted directly overhead. The house shook with two separate, loud thunder claps. The storm moved on and the rain let up around 12:30 PM and finally sleep was possible. We have experience some more substantial rain, off and on, throughout today. Our final rain tally was 7/10" last night and another 3/10" today. As these storm clouds leave the valley tonight, the sun is breaking out and we are being rewarded with a perfect rainbow.

Much Needed Rainfall

As promised, the rains returned today. I was so glad that they came as promised. The forest and fields are getting awfully dry and the threat of fire grows stronger with each passing day. Right as I left for work at 7:30 AM it began to rain. By the time I returned home at 4:30 the rain gauge was filled with 4/10" of water. While we certainly would have welcomed more, almost 1/2" should green up the grass just a bit.

Rained Out Again

We received at least another 2/10" of rain today. I keep reminding myself how badly we do need the rain but today marks the 4th day in a row that I haven't been able to plant any more dahlia.

Since gardening was out of the question tonight, I instead took a walk around the property. I noticed that the wild filberts had nuts developing in the young husks found hanging from the branches. Some of the husks are solo on the branches, and it is fairly easy to find a set of two developing together. My big find of the night was this cluster of 4 nuts. Once mature, it is going to make a squirrel or Stellar's Jay very happy.

A Misty Afternoon and Rainy Evening

As promised the rain returned today. What started as showers in the afternoon switched over to a downpour by 8:00 PM. It certainly wasn't a day to work in the garden. But we still had a 20' gap in our rabbit fence to fix so after dinner Dad and I grabbed raincoats and headed down to the garden. It look one full roll of fencing plus 4' of another to close our gap. Thankfully it appears as if none of the bunnies found the opening in the fence last night so there was no further damage to the dahlias or other cut flowers. Now I just need the garden to dry out so we can begin planting once again. *Note- we received 9/10 of an inch of total rainfall today. That will certainly help green up the fields and fill up the creek once again.

Here is one of the dozens of rabbits that are roaming our property this year. We seem to be in a "peak" year, with bunny numbers like we had back in 2010. Everywhere you travel, there are rabbits large and small hopping out of the way.

Before we headed down to the big garden, I did take a quick moment to plant three more "Poletschka" pole beans in the kitchen garden. These were some of the plants that I started in 1" pots after the voles ate most of the seed that I planted in the ground.

Rainy Sunday

As promised, our long streak of sunny days came to an end late last night. All day today, the rain has come crashing down in torrential downpours, with 1/2 hours sun-breaks in between. With the weather so lousy outside, I turned to work that I could accomplish inside. I ended up planting the seeds that I purchased last weekend. I planted 12 cells of "Minnesota Migit" cantaloupe and 24 cells of "Kneehigh Sonata Mix" cosmos.

The Rains Returns

The rains returned today. This was our first rainy day since October 8th - a spell of 18 straight dry days. I am now really thankful for the excessively wet days that we experienced at the end of September. Without them, the forest and fields would be dangerously dry and brown. It certainly was a long, lovely streak of foggy mornings that turned into sunny, warm afternoons. It's hard to beat October weather in Oregon.

The Rain Returns!

It rained today! This was our first significant rainfall since June 26th and boy was it welcomed. It started sprinkling around 8 this morning and rained off and on until noon. Around 6, just as weather.com predicted, the rain returned. It was quite heavy at times. Our rain gauge showed a total of 4/10" after it was all done. While we certainly could use more rain, today's moisture was much needed and appreciated. It will help decrease the fire danger by just a bit and I know that all of the plants will love it.

Grey Days and Potting Up Tubers

It was a mixed bag of weather today. We had a nice period with some sunshine in the early afternoon. But by the time I made it home after work, some dark clouds were rolling in. The rains let up after dinner and I decided to take advantage of the break in the weather and pot up some more dahlia tubers. 

I worked for about two hours and got another 40 tubers planted. So I am now up to an even 90 tubers planted in the one-gallon pots. I am still not 1/2 way complete with the project but I am getting close to that point. Hopefully this coming weekend I can get a lot more done.

The beautiful pink poppy in the west flowerbed is really starting to bloom now. I bet it has 10 open buds and has another 15+ that haven't yet opened. Even with the rains showers that we have received the last three days the plant is still looking really nice.

A Christmas Eve Walk

I managed to find some time to take a hike around the property today. In the last four days, we have received another 2" of rain. Thankfully, today was dry and there were a few sun breaks as well. The creeks were running high today but not all full capacity.

As you can tell from the washed out bank, the creek has been over a foot higher recently.

Even in Winter there is still beauty to be found if you look for it.

Down around the big garden I found a new patch of mushrooms that has popped up since my last trip down there.

They had very interesting thick caps that folded upward like an inside-out umbrella as they aged. Their stems also had a pretty texture that resembled a tree trunk. A nice find on Christmas Eve.

Stormy Weather

I think that I can safely say that the record Summer dry spell is officially over for good! While we received our first significant rain in over three months on Friday, the last two days have really closed the door on Summer. Yesterday over one-half inch of rain fell and today we received over two inches! The rain-gauge was full and overflowing. While it caused some damage to our gravel road and to the blooms in my dahlia garden, it is comforting to know that the threat of a forest fire is over for the year.

One Step Forward, Four Steps Back

Late yesterday afternoon, Dad and I took the pickup truck to Lane Forest Products and got two scoops of blended mint compost. When we returned we dumped it in a dry corner of the garden. My idea was tonight we would spread the mint compost,with the help of our tractor, down in the wet end of the garden.

As you can see, after last weeks big rains, there is standing water and mud here. So Dad carefully distributed the compost and I raked it evenly over the area. Then Dad started to till the garden, for what I optimistically thought would be the fifth and final time. What happened next was a bit of a disaster.The more we tilled the worse that garden got. The soil was so wet and it just turned over in huge, clay clumps. And the wet end where we dumped the compost was so wet the tractor wheels just sunk and we weren't even able to really till in any compost. So after almost one month of tilling - and rainfall - the garden is in worse shape than it was in mid-May. To be truthful, I can't ever remember the whole garden being wetter than it is right now. I am at a bit of a loss how to proceed. We certainly can't till anymore until there is some major drying out.

On a happier note, Dorothy's rose in the garden has begun to bloom. I noticed the first blooms open yesterday and quite a few more opened in today's sunny weather.