April 24, 2021 by Born To Organize

Thirty Days in the Garden: Waiting for Rain

I’ve been following the weather forecast all week, daring to hope for a bit of rain. When I drove downtown this morning, NPR reported possible rain by midnight. The forecast changed again, and we’re now hoping for Sunday at noon. The rain may pass us all together, but that’s too sad to contemplate. We need this rain.

I walked through the garden at dusk, enjoying that special charge in the air when the weather approaches.

If you’re a weather nerd like me, you probably know that: “people can smell a storm from far away. A sensitive snout is smelling ozone, petrichor, and geosmin; in other words, the nose smells oxygen, the debris that raindrops kick up and wet bacteria.” Move over Chanel No 5: there’s a better smell in town.

Negative ions are also present when it rains. This WebMD article, Negative Ions Create Positive Vibes, explains the science behind the mood-elevating properties.

In anticipation of a bit of precipitation, I brought the outdoor cushions inside. I folded back the cover to the VegTrug, so the plants don’t miss a drop if it rains. The strawberries are producing fruit, and with the cover in place, they’ve been left undisturbed.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the tomatoes are doing as well undercover. They look a bit pale. I’ll have to stake them soon anyway, so I’ll remove the cover for good this week. Hopefully, Tessa behaves herself so the fruit can thrive.

Come on, rain!petri

November 2, 2015 by Born To Organize

And Just Like That It’s November

Halloween came to a screeching halt at midnight, October 31st.

Thanks to the end of Daylight Savings Time, the clocks rolled back an hour the next day. We spent part of Sunday putting things away and adjusting to the time change.

We’ll leave our Jack ‘o Lanterns on the deck until the inevitable decay. Mike’s pumpkin carvings were as wonderful as ever. He carved three masterpieces, two from commercially bought pumpkins and the third one from our garden: The Great Drought Pumpkin of 2015.

The tall, slender pumpkin is a Minion for the popular children’s movie.

The squat pumpkin is Jack Skellington. Jack is a fictional character and the protagonist of the 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town and lives in a fantasy world based solely on the Halloween holiday.

Jack Skellington

I found inspiration for the smaller pumpkin from a fellow blogger. Mike used small saws and a drill to create the stars. It’s our beacon of light.

A Beacon of Light

My sister and I celebrated our birthdays together with a cheese fondue and salad lunch and a full-screen viewing of My Fair Lady. That beautiful movie just turned fifty years old. (We’re still older).

Today I woke up to rain.

Azalea after the rain

In other parts of the world, rain is a big bore, something to endure till the next sunny spell. Here in our drought-parched state it’s the topic of conversation on Facebook. I woke up at 3:30 this morning and could hear the rain coming down outside my window. Large, musical drops fell and fell and fell. I stepped out on the deck in my bare feet with my camera, wanting to preserve the moment. Then I came back inside to warm my toes and grab a few more hours of sleep. Bliss!

As I write this late in the afternoon, the wind is beginning to howl. Be still my heart. It might just rain again!

Have a terrific week.

September 25, 2014 by Born To Organize

It Rained!

Yes, folks, right here in San Jose, California, in the midst of a protracted drought, it rained. In September.

Real rain too, not that “did I just feel a drop?” kind of rain, but puddle-forming, windshield-wiping, garden-refreshing rain. I lingered in bed this morning with the doors flung open and took in the mesmerizing sounds and smells. Then I got dressed and went outside.

Rain, glorious rain!

Good thing, too, since the sun was out by 10 but I enjoyed the refreshing drops while they lasted.

Acer leaves

Cloudy skies and Salvia reflected on the deck

This is a tremendous gift to the firefighters battling the King Fire in Northern California. We are not in harm’s way, but others are. Many of the state’s late-summer fires are the result of lightning. Sadly this one was arson. Fortunately they’ve made an arrest, but the fire has raged out of control for two weeks.

The good news today is that the fire is 43% contained, but the damage is unbelievable. 95,000 acres burned and a dozen homes lost. Their are over 8,000 fire personnel from across the country battling the flames.

Today I celebrate rain in my little corner of the world, as well as the potential relief for crews on the fire lines and displaced residents in our parched state.

Let it rain, let it rain!

Here’s the latest from the Weather Channel:

Western drought status as of Sept. 16, 2014. Darker shading indicates progressively worse drought status. (NOAA/USDA/NDMC)

Yes, runoff triggered by soaking rain from this September storm in far northwest California will raise a tad.

However, the key to drought relief in California is not rain, but snow.

Critical to water supply in this part of the country is the buildup of winter snow pack in the mountains, whose melt water in the spring replenishes reservoirs.

Snow melt provides up to 75 percent of the West’s freshwater supply. The Sierra and, to a lesser degree, Colorado River snow melt, is crucial for California.

In short, California and the West needs a persistently wet winter, with a combination of significant rain and mountain snow to replenish groundwater and reservoir levels.

January 29, 2014 by Born To Organize

Drizzle, Fizzle

Our ‘chance of rain’ was a tiny drizzle in the middle of the night. San Jose saw 0.01″ in the past 24 hours. No puddle splashing for me today.

On the bright side, the garden looks refreshed. The fog, mist and drizzle freshened up the foliage so that’s something.

Here’s what I saw on my morning rounds.

I mentioned a random bulb growing out of the bottom of the vegetable bed last week. The lovely Narcissus made her debut yesterday.

Narcissus

I need to prune this four-in-one fruit tree but I’ve been putting it off. It’s grown tall so I need a ladder. Two years ago I fell off the ladder trying to cover the tree with netting, and I’ve been nervous about it ever since.