The story starts back in the winter of 2014 when we had some time to start clearing out some dead trees that had succumbed to the drought. When the sight was cleared, I looked around at all this wonderful space with a fabulous southern exposure and said, "We should build a second vegetable garden here."
And so in the Spring of 2014, I ordered a 12 yard dump truck full of soil and with the help of our trusty tractor, my husband and I built a garden.
The white bags seen below contain recycled material from the House Rabbit Rescue folks up in Pflugerville. The material is comprised of rabbit manure, pelletized pine, Thomas hay, and alfalfa meal. We're composting the material, which appears blonde colored in the photos, in between the beds. It will help to create the paths now and when it decomposes later we will rake it up into the beds.
I had quite a few excess plants leftover from a plant sale, so I planted them in this garden and in an instant I had a growing, productive vegetable garden.
Sounds awesome, right? Well, it was until we started to get some rain. After the first rains fell in Fall of 2014, I knew I had a problem. The new garden was built on a deep vein of clay and drainage was a huge problem. I knew I would have to build the garden up, but that would take time. Apparently, time I did not have.
El Nino was brewing and Texas was about to start getting a lot of rain. My poor little garden just could not cope with all that excess water. After a recent heavy rainfall, I started to formulate some ideas for drainage.
On Sunday, May 24, 2015, I dug some trenches as a stop gap measure to see if I could get some of the water to drain off. The weather forecasters were predicting a big rain storm for the following day and I was very concerned that any additional rainfall would only add to my existing problems.
Ideally, I would like to continue to raise the whole garden up and install a french drain down the front and side of the garden. I'm not convinced that a french drain would completely fix the problem, but it might be worth a try. I'm still mulling this over.
Another problem is that the beds create mini dams that trap the water within the garden. I dug some additional trenches to further facilitate drainage along the beds and my measures seemed to be working. The water was slowly draining away.
So far, the corn, beans and watermelon don't seem to mind being so wet. The cantaloupe is not happy, some of the tomatoes are wilting due to root loss, and the artichokes have given up the ghost. Of course, at the point these photos were taken, the garden had only been swampy for about a week to 10 days.
The fungal problems are also starting to take their toll on the tomatoes. I'm just hoping I can get my crop in before the plants really go to heck.
Amazingly, I'm still pulling out plenty of produce for now.
But, as long as this garden stays this swampy, it's impossible to get any work done or keep your socks clean.
Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. A huge storm rolled in on Monday and dropped huge amounts of rain. Adding all this rain together, this is our wettest May since 1891. Yikes!
The photo below was excerpted from a video my husband took shortly after the storm ended on Monday, May 25, 2015. The water was already receding at the point this photo was taken of the trench I had dug the previous day.
Here are two interesting comparison photos. The first photo was taken on Sunday and shows our little creek managing the water flow quite nicely. The second photo was captured from a video taken on Monday after the storm ended.
A year ago we were still in the worst drought ever and I don't think anyone saw this coming, least of all, me. What will I do now? I don't know. Any suggestions? I'm open to hear them.
I know there has been a lot of destruction caused by this storm and we all have very mixed emotions. One the one hand, we're happy to see the lakes are filling up and on the other, the loss of life and property is devastating to so many. My little problems are minuscule in the grand scheme of things. Knowing that helps keeps things in perspective.
I hope you and yours are safe. Happy Belated Memorial Day.
Oh, my, Ally. So sad to see all that damage to your beautiful garden. I hope you can keep your spirits up and find a solution that gets you growing again soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks Diana. I'm hoping I can figure something out. Maybe this will be my La Niña garden.
DeleteIt's so hard to see all your hard work turn into a swamp. But, remember...this will pass.
ReplyDeleteThis weather pattern has been very unusual. Looks like, under normal circumstances, your creek does it's job. But, sometimes it comes down so fast, nothing will help.
We have that same problem here. But, it does drain off eventually.
Let's hope for something close to normal, for a while. Soon....
You're right on all counts. This is the wettest May since 1891. It's tough to plan for that. On the bright side my ornamental garden at the front of the house looks amazing. It's on the high ground, so it drains real well.
DeleteMixed emotions for sure. We're all glad the drought is (mostly) broken, but sad for the folks who lost their homes and loved ones. We're happy for the rain but kind of over it too. Up and down. I'm sorry to see the damage to your garden, Ally. It's no fun to have one's work undone.
ReplyDeleteVegetable gardening is always a gamble. Luckily, I still have the old garden, which seems to be doing fine. Unfortunately, I put almost all my tomato plants in the swamp garden. Next time, I'll hedge my bets and split them up.
DeleteWhat a terrible thing to see all your work washed away. And that water looks so rich. Wherever it is going it is going to give a boost to whatever is growing. I really think the only answer is to have contained beds. Maybe you can do it bit by bit. If you aren't fussy about looks then use the bags of rabbit droppings. You could also use hay bales or rocks, if you have them. Cedar logs would also work. The ultimate would be masonry block. The water would be free to flow in between. At least you know the way it flows now. Praying for a dry spell.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. The beds need to be a lot higher if I'm going to continue garden on this site. Thanks for all the great suggestions!
DeleteMy new, seriously enlarged garden is on low ground and with clay soil. Three wet summers and I'm done with it. I've moved it to a smaller, raised garden that I used to have herbs in it. I suspect I will get as much yield from a carefully managed, good soil, smaller area with a lot less work and heartache. I feel for you!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your perspective and commiseration. Texas seems to have more dry years than wet, so I'm going to wait and see how long El Niño sticks around. Ironically, this sight was ideal for gardening in drought. The clay held on to the water and I found I didn't need to water as often.
DeleteThat is a huge amount of rain / flooding. Seems it is feast or famine when it comes to rain in TX. We either get none at all or massive flooding. It is hard to know how to prepare your garden from one year to the next. I've got powdery mildew on my squash plants. I'm hoping they will dry out eventually. On the bright side, your bowl of tomatoes and green beans look wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThe fungal diseases and insects are going crazy with all this rain, but at least the rain will keep the spider mites and grasshoppers from becoming a problem this year. July and August aren't that far off. We'll dry out eventually.
DeleteOh Ally - I'm so sorry. The best options i see are probably widening the dry creek bed and maybe adding little "detention ponds" (i.e. rain gardens) along the edges, which would be useful in the areas where you can't widen the creek because of the plantings you already have.
ReplyDelete