It's raining, it's pouring...

What a challenge this spring has become. Our small, corner of Ohio saw record rain-fall in April and that trend has continued this month. There have only been a hand full of dry days since mid-April, and even then, the ground has been so saturated it's difficult to work.

Some of the choices that we've made in the past have resulted in unexpected benefits, however, in this weather.

The choice to farm using raised beds, rather then the traditional row method, has provided dryer ground in the near constant rain.  The beds are moist but not saturated or under water.  Water has been effectively drained from the beds into the straw covered paths.  The plants that we do have in the ground are not drowning, rather they are thriving.

I installed French drains (Here's a good idea of what we installed) in three different locations this spring.  The first was placed at the edge of the new kitchen garden.  It is needed to help keep the patio dry and drain the kitchen garden bed.  The second 11' drain was installed under the lowest path in the fenced in upper garden.  That path acts as a swale, catching all the run-off without letting the water escape.  This creates a swamp in the lower beds, which in turn spills into the lower garden areas flooding them as well.  The new drain retains the water until it can effectively soak into the ground relieving the swamping.

The final drain is actually more of a sump (a gravel filled pit) that catches and holds the rain water near the upper garden's back gate.



The last decision we made that has made the biggest impact, and allowed us to work the garden when everyone else is waiting for the rains to end, is the purchase of my Gulland Forge Broadfork.

I've written previously about my decision to use a broadfork and to also sell my rototiller, but I never expected the tool to have made such a difference so quickly.  The fork is allowing me to work the ground, even when very muddy, when it would be simply not possible to with a tiller.

To date, we have planted six beds of tomatoes (all started from seed either saved from last year or purchased), peas, broccoli, lettuce, beets, ground cherries, an elderberry bush, and three of six grape vines in the new trellis section.