Gardening in the RAIN

It didn't surprise me that I was the only one out working at the Happy Valley Community Gardens today. After all, there was constant rain and our high only reached 45 degrees F.  Wearing my Muck boots, a fleece jacket covered with big rain poncho and my souwester fisherman's hat, I managed to stay fairly dry, and it really was a rather comfortable temperature for working in the garden. We've received so much rain lately, our rivers are once again close to flood stage, and as it turns out, so is the rhubarb in Garden Nbr 01.

 The strawberry bed has standing water in places too.

My goal for the day was to remove that pallet board (visible here on the upper left). The remnant from the compost bin I've deconstructed, this seemed like as good a day as any to get it out of there. Water soaked from all the rains, these big pallet boards are quite heavy when wet. Heavier than I expected anyway. Having been in my garden for a few years, it was also somewhat rotten on the bottom. With a thick layer of mud from sitting in the dirt for so long, it was probably just as well that I was the only one in the gardens today. This certainly wasn't one of my more glamorours garden tasks.

I left the pallet board that served as the back of the compost bin in place. I did that for a couple of reasons. First, it creates a bit of a privacy wall for me and I am hoping it continues to help shield my view of the garden directly behind the north end of my Garden Nbr. 01. For three years, that garden has remained an eye sore. The lady that gardens there does not pull weeds, barely works the soil, plants very little and harvests even less. Rarely does she even show up at the garden. It amazes me that she continues to maintain a lease there. Anyway, enough of that! Secondly, I left that pallet board in the back because I can use it for vertical gardening. Maybe I will attach twine to it and encourage squash or cucumbers to climb, allowing a smaller footprint for vegetables that normally require a larger amount of ground space. Just a thought anyway. I attached boards at an angle to the back pallet board and the raised bed frame for extra support. I like how it opens up the growing space in the middle of this garden. Here's how it looks now.

The raspberries seem to be enjoying this cool, rainy weather. They are sprouting out nicely since I pruned them, and all those new little plants that I dug up and transplanted last week are looking strong and healthy. I could tell that they had grown - maybe doubled in size already.

The weather forecast says more rain, heavy rain, for the next three to four days. Let's see if I brave the rain again and head out to the gardens. Do you garden in the rain?