The drought continues in Central Texas — we closed the door on 2012 more than an inch below our average 4th quarter rainfall totals.
So this week’s substantial rainfall was a welcome drench for plants and animals. And of course, I had to go out into the garden to record the effect of the rain on my plants.
Don’t step in the puddles as you tour the garden.
How much rain have you gotten lately in your garden?
The winter vegetable garden came bearing gifts yesterday.
I ventured out into the rain to harvest our first cauliflower.
It was big and beautiful in the garden — and it had been calling to me for several days.
With a nice roast, mashed potatoes and roasted beets waiting as accompaniment, I brought it in.
Of course, we took a few pictures of it first.
I cut it up and put it on a baking sheet with some olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Then I sprinkled a little shredded Parmesan cheese on it and topped that with some bits of garlic from the garlic press. After 30 minutes at 425 it was a nutty, cheesy, crunchy batch of yumminess.
Jeff checked online and learned that the beautiful leaves that I cut off of the cauliflower are also edible like greens. I cut and cleaned them and set them aside. Tomorrow I’ll steam them and toss them with some bacon, onion and sea salt … maybe a little balsamic vinegar, too.
There are three more heads of cauliflower growing in the garden, but they have a few more weeks to go so we have something to look forward to.
We’ve been given another gift of rain this week. Tied up in a lovely wet bow, our gardens are drinking it in, happy to have the thirst-quenching relief from our frightening drought.
We’re not out of the woods yet in Central Texas — we’re still in an official drought. But our fall and winter rains have reduced the severity of the drought. It has been down-graded from the most critical level of last summer — exceptional — to moderate. (There are five levels outlined by the U.S. Drought Monitor – from abnormally dry to exceptional.)
A brief bout of garbanzo bean-sized hail at our house yesterday gave me quite a scare — I was cringing for the daffodils, blue bonnets and vegetables. But they’ve all weathered the storm and are doing fine. They are a little droopy today, but not damaged. (I realized after tweeting that yesterday that only a gardener would describe the hail as garbanzo-bean sized, since it was bigger than pea-sized. It only occurred to me later that non-gardeners might have called it marble-sized!)
The mountain laurels are in full bloom here, and the row along the driveway is looking green and juicy with all the rain. And I can’t seem to get enough of their wonderful grape-like aroma, which conjures up summer Kool-aid memories for me.
My rain barrels are all full — which is great — but it’s still raining. I wish I had more of them, but we’re talking about getting a rainwater collection system. Maybe that needs to move up on my to-do list for next week so we don’t miss any more of this precious spring rain.
Are you enjoying some rejuvenating rain in your garden today?
Thursday, city officials will hold a public meeting to discuss development of new Stage 3 water restrictions for Austin. Austin has never implemented Stage 3, but the current severe drought is forcing officials to plan for the worst case scenario.
Williamson County had to implement their Stage 3 restrictions last fall, and their restrictions consisted of:
No water for lawns, even without a hose
No water for cars, even at the car wash
No water for pools, public or private
I can’t even imagine the devastation of such an action. Austin is in desperate need of a comprehensive water policy that is more than a band aid approach.
If you’re interested in participating, the city workshop on potential revisions to water restrictions is tomorrow, Thursday, January 19, at 6:30 pm at the Water Utility’s headquarters on East 10th street.
I know I’ll be there.
With the worst drought in Texas history and 80 days with temperatures over 100, plants and people and pets are struggling this summer.
It’s 10 degrees cooler here today — 92 instead of 102 — and we have gusting wind cooling things down as well. Sadly, there are a half dozen wildfires in the Central Teas area around us. We’re safe for now, but 500+ people have lost their homes — burned down to the ground, 2 people have died, and today’s winds are spreading the fires ever further. 25,000 acres have burned. This is the back side of Katia. Instead of the rain we so desperately need that is flooding thousands of other people, we got wildfires. We’re praying for everyone in the path of these terrible fires.
While we are safe from the fires, we are at the mercy of the drought. But with a LOT of hand watering to supplement because we are under water restrictions, the garden looks o.k. overall. The secret? The long shot!
My mother-in-law was visiting two weeks ago and wanted some photos of our house and the gardens. I took lots of long shots, and realized as I looked at them that I rarely post photos like that. And it’s one of my great disappointments when reading other garden blogs — I really want to check out the big picture.
So here are photos of everything in the garden — showing of the bright and colorful and much too far away to see the dead and dying plants.
Come take a stroll around the garden with me…
These plants in the front bed are highly xeric and doing pretty well considering they were planted this spring and have endured this drought while trying to get established. There are dying narrow leafed Zinnias and Euryops and adwarf yaupon holly, but you can’t see them from here.
Yellow Esperanza (Yellow Bells) on the right are native to Mexico and very hardy. They are used to the heat.
The veggie garden needs protection from bunnies and our dogs, hence the fence INSIDE the other fence that keeps the deer out!
This is along the path in our woods that leads to the fenced back yard. This is where we feed birds and water the deer, squirrels, foxes, bunnies and mice! With this drought, we have 3 birdbaths and countless little bowls scattered around to provide constant drinking water for anything that needs it. With less blooms, hummingbirds really need our feeders this year, too.
The play scape, the cutting garden, the greenhouse and the xeric rock path.
The back corner of the yard got a few new plants this summer along with an old, worn out bistro table and chairs and a stunning Filamentosa yucca for a focal point. Even rusty metal furniture looks good from far enough away!
We’ve had some more much-needed rain here in Central Texas. And while it’s helping to ease some of the drought, it’s really just the proverbial drop in the bucket so far.
Lake Travis, just outside of Austin in the Hill Country, was down 36 feet — yes, FEET, at the height of the drought this summer. The recent rains in September and October have caused the lake to rise a little more than 13 feet. Which means that it’s still 23 feet below its historic October average of 666.61 ft msl.
Forecasters are predicting a strong El Nino weather pattern for this fall and winter.That means Central Texas can expect a wetter and colder than average fall and winter.
El Nino occurs when the Eastern Pacific Ocean water warms up. During an El Nino, the jet stream pushes more storm systems through the Southern United States. El Nino events occur on average every three to five years.
“We’ve gone back and looked at 17 cases of past El Nino events, and we’ve seen in general about a 30 percent increase in precipitation during the wintertime months,” said Paul Yura, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in New Braunfels.
However, a moderate El Nino event may not erase the drought. Experts say that even with normal to increased rainfall, the large hydrologic and soil moisture deficits may mean we will be vulnerable again next summer.
Sigh…
Glad I have two pairs of wellies.
And I’m going to subscribe to the theory that every little bit helps. For now, everything is green and revitalized here in the garden. And that’s good.
I’ll worry about tomorrow…tomorrow.
