Rain, rain, here to stay?

I was talking with my neighbor (as I was upgrading the RAM in his computer - but that's another story) about the very wet March we've been having. He bought the house next to us that at one point, we had made an offer on. I was attracted to the already built raised beds and the sunny exposure that his home enjoys. But it was more expensive than the home we are now in, and we dropped the offer.

He says, when he lived in Gilroy, he used to keep an extensive garden. And in the early days here, he was often busy puttering around the raised beds that I had so coveted in the beginning. But he used a small rototiller to turn the beds and I think he broke the gopher wire lining in the bottoms. Needless to say, the gophers had a hey day in his new garden and he abandoned the raised beds and hasn't grown any veggies since. But we still exchange ideas and supplies over the fence. I am usually happy to share any "bumper crop" and he gives me gardening "stuff" that he isn't using. I think I won't elaborate on what the "stuff" is, but any gardener would know what a hobby fisherman can contribute to a garden.

He was saying (while I fiddled with the computer case) that even though there is so much rain coming down, he doesn't mind. Mostly because, soon enough, we will have no rain at all. I have to agree. Even though the "storm door" opens and dumps rain throughout CA, I simply remember what rain we don't get, and I can shrug it off. I find the end of summer more depressing, when everything is dry and parched and it's near impossible to do anything new. It's our version of winter. Better to sharpen the tools and clear the shed, than to garden.

The other pressing job is potting up the remainder of the tomato starts. I peeked into the greenhouse to see how they were doing and I was quite impressed by the growth on the ones in 4-inch pots. Also the sugar snap peas that I transplanted in bed one are nearly 2-inches tall. Boy, the level of excitment here is dizzying. ;-)

Precipitation
30 March 2006 1/4-inch
29 March 2006 5/8-inch
28 March 2006 3/8-inch