A recent local news story shocked us: a weather expert told us that we are experiencing a drought.
Drought in a temperate rain forest doesn’t look like drought elsewhere. We haven’t had weeks or months of pounding heat or relentless sunshine. Generally, our weather has been colder and wetter than normal. April through June comprise our dry season; it’s easy to focus on them, and decide the year hasn’t been very dry, but in fact, it has. That has us concerned.
A welcome rainy day. The rhubarb is especially pleased (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
The garden should be getting an inch of rain daily at the moment. We can barely keep it watered. Usually, by now, we’ve switched to the summer water source, but we held off (see Fresh Water: Collecting and Conserving a Precious Resource). Now, there’s no new water coming into the summer water, nor can we hear anything coming into the winter tank.
So, Friday’s rain, gentle though it may be, was very welcome!
