Made a mess of my corn patch

[ducks4you]

DawnSuiter, are you located on the east (leeward) side of the mountains? You might be in what is called a "Rain Shadow." check this out~
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_shadow
"The effect appears even in the eastern United States. Although much more humid than any obvious deserts or steppes, the Shenandoah Valley mostly in western Virginia, lying between the Blue Ridge and the Appalachian Mountains, is drier than areas to the east and west because the modest mountains reduce rainfall within the valley. The lesser rainfall than that of surrounding areas makes this long valley paradoxically a richer agricultural area than rainier areas nearby. "

Don't know if this would work, but it's worth a try--I have been using "Equine Fresh", (same product, aka "Stall Dry"--available at any feed store)--this winter because my 1,000 pound gelding floods his stall. It really soaks up liquid, and since it's made from pine it is a natural product. I would think that it could work to soak up moisture, then, if covered with mulch, to slowly release it.

Certainly, you could lay down a soaker hose after you've planted, then cover with mulch to get everything wet. How about putting cheap "Dollar Store" sponges down around your seedlings. They could also release liquid as they dry out.

I'm sure that others have some ideas for you. We hardly EVER have a drought where I live--I swear, if the farmer's hadn't tiled here, there wouldn't be ANY dry land!!

 

[digitS']

. . . I think that we ALL had a hard winter . . .

Since this evolved a little to comments on winter, I just want to say that it wasn't a hard winter for some of us. (And, where ARE our western Washington gardeners?? )

Here, it was a remarkably mild winter. There was only 1 night of sub-zero temperatures. After record snowfall in the winter of 'o8-'o9, this winter, we hardly had any snowcover!!

There's snow in our forecast over the next few days but the last time it was prophesied -- only enuf fell to make me dizzy watching at it . Meanwhile, to the south and, certainly, to the east - winter has been tuff.

Here's to a Good Growing Year, Dawn and Everyone!

Steve

P.S. There are 2 kinds of "stall dry" - one is wood pellets, the other made from pumice. Either may be good choices in certain circumstances.

 

[DawnSuiter]

I suppose it's possible that we do live in the shadow, it often feels as though we have an umbrella overhead!!! I think it's difficult for low clouds (rain clouds) to get past our surrounding mountains...

I do use a lot of mulch and that is one of the reasons I stir woodchips into each planting hole.. and I appreciate the ideas. I am trying not to spend any additional money.. the soaker hose would be ok but I hate that it waters everything, including the weeds. I much prefer to water with a cup & a bucket instead of a hose.

I hope the bottles will work WONDERS.. and they will be easy to refill... and may work as a long term watering system for some plants. I'm also using those bottles to attempt an aqueduct/reservoir system for my back garden.. too far from the hose.

I heard a NASTY rumor that locally, our plastic bottles aren't ALWAYS being recycled properly... so I'm trying to reuse/recycle it myself.

 

[DawnSuiter]

Well... it wasn't NEARLY as bad as it looked before!!!

I pulled the straw off the ROWS only... and piled it up in between rows and around the whole big square in our walking paths, which will help during our short muddy season still to come. DH & I decided it would be more cost effective to apply the dirt coming in ONLY to the actual planting rows instead of the whole space which would include walking rows.

Then I used the pitchfork and dug in REALLY deep and turned over each row. And when I did, I found OOOOOOODLES of earthworms! More than I have EVER seen ANYWHERE in my yard before.


That's good right? That means the clay soil is alive and well... right? Well, I think that's the case and I'm so happy and excited to bring in the top soil next week!!!!

 

[seedcorn]

earthworms are coming up to eat the fiber on top. Yes, that's a very good thing.