What a difference a little rain makes....
 

Garden in early May, and it was the driest May EVER on record here:

http://www.digistash.com/data/026a39...1_p118314.jpeg

and garden this morning, after a fairly wet July:

http://www.digistash.com/data/026a39...1_p118650.jpeg

That corn is ten feel tall. There is are 2-3 bushels of green beans needing picking, and a bushel of squash.

The 3 Sisters have done well this year.

Re: What a difference a little rain makes....
 

Real nice. I wish I lived somewhere that it actually rained. It has only rained once so far this year, and that was only about 1/4 inch in a 15 minute downpour. Last night it clouded up and spat, but you could hear the drops sizzle in the sand. Nothing even got wet.

Andy, can you explain the "three sisters" thing? Is there history behind that?

Attached: a picture of the "grass" in my front yard.

Re: What a difference a little rain makes....
 

... and a picture of my pasture out back.

Re: What a difference a little rain makes....
 

Man, that isn't grass....that's excelsior ! ( that wood shaving stuff they used to use in packing before bubblewrap came along ).


The "3 Sisters" were the main crops of Native Americans......corn ( maize ), beans and squash. Mine isn't a "true" 3 sister's garden, as they plants all three together on a mound of dirt.....whereas mine are separated out. Heck, I may try a true one next year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_S..._(agriculture)

Re: What a difference a little rain makes....
 

Cool! Do you think there is an organic benefit to planting them all jumbled in a heap?

Re: What a difference a little rain makes....
 

Well, as I read it, it wasn't a jumbled heap.....it was a carefully developed plan actually.

The corn was planted first, then allowed to get up about knee high, then the beans and squash planted. The beans were pole type, which would use the corn stalks as their "pole", eliminating the need for a separate pole or string to climb, and also adding nitrogen to the corn, which is a heavy user of nitrogen to develope all those green leaves.

The squash runs the ground area and helps choke out weeds with it's huge leaf area, and also tends to keep critters away from the corn/beans due to the prickly nature of squash plants.

Also, they could plant a fish in the mound, and supply all three with nutrients at the same time.

Pretty well developed plan as it turns out.

Doesn't lend itself to mechanical planting, harvesting, etc, like a single row crop does, but, then, they weren't into that anyway.

Re: What a difference a little rain makes....
 

I drove through eastern TN last week. I came up through the mountains on I-40 from Ashville to Knoxville. Then up I-75 back home to OH.

I was surprised to see Douglas lake on the river near Knoxville. It looked like the lake was about 10 or 12 feet low.

Re: What a difference a little rain makes....
 

Yep...All the TVA lakes have been down this year.....but the rain is coming back now, seems that high pressure system that was stuck over us for so long is broken and we're back to a more normal rain pattern.

Re: What a difference a little rain makes....
 

I was just thinking the same thing myself. The drought finally broke over here, my pond gained 1 foot yesterday alone! The trench I cut out with my hoe to help drain my field has been running like a little river. I've got enough water now, almost too much. Whereas during the drought I had to plant everything in shallow depressions I now plant on small hills.