Rain

 First rain of the season, a pretty healthy one.  Unusually early for
So. Calif. coastal, where "rainy season" usually runs from Nov to
March + or -.  But whole year has been anomalous.  Global warming.

Caught some H20 in buckets and barrels, for indoor plants.

Will this make my celery finally germinate?   Sowed seed at least 3
weeks ago.  On-line says celery slow to germinate, but how slow?  Seed
is from SLOLA (Seed Library of Los Angeles), which is dedicated to
preserving biological diversity.  "Subscribers" get free seeds on the
understanding that they will take some seed from their crop and return
to Library.  So I figgered it should be gude (intentional) but would
welcome input related to my climate.

TIA

HB

 On 10/5/11 7:44 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:

The California Department of Water Resources uses an
October-to-September "rain year", primarily because rain is rare at the
end of September and the beginning of October.  In 2 of the past 8 rain
years, more than 200 days elapsed without any measurable rain in
southern California.  In 6 of those same 8 rain years, there was
measurable rain in October.  Over longer periods, measurable rain has
fallen in every month.  Usually 75% of the rain falls in December
through February.  July tends to be the driest month.

We got 0.46 inches yesterday, north of the Ventura Freeway and east of
Thousand Oaks.  This was the first measurable rain in 120 days.

--
David E. Ross
Climate:  California Mediterranean, see
<http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html>
Gardening diary at <http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary>

 On 10/6/2011 2:01 PM, David E. Ross wrote:

How do you garden with .46" of rain in 4 months?

It's been raining about once a month here, and I can't figure it out.
Water here (Atlanta) is about 2 cents/gallon, I didn't put in much of a
garden this year. I did add a small pond that is hooked up to about a
quarter of my roof and I still have to add a bit of city water.

As far as Texas... it's crazy the stuff people believe, instead of
believing in global warming.

   Jeff

 On 10/10/11 3:18 AM, j wrote:

Our "rain year" has just begun.  During a rain year, an average of 13.4
inches of rain falls; but this is highly variable.  Most of the rain
falls in December through February.

Much of southern California is arid if not outright desert.  Most
gardens have sprinkler systems.  Take a look at my "Climate" Web page
(link in my signature below).

Some areas depend at least partially on ground water, recharged from
mountain runoff.  The mountains do get more rain than the valleys and
plains.  However, some 17,000,000 people are dependent on the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).  MWD imports
water from the Colorado River and -- via the California Water Project --
from the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Both sources are over-committed,
which means we should garden as if in a drought even when we have
record-breaking rain years; see my
<http://www.rossde.com/garden/drought.html> .

There are also areas that irrigate with reclaimed water, the output of
sewage plants.  A beautiful Japanese garden in the San Fernando Valley
was specifically created to provide a use for excess reclaimed water
from a Los Angeles City sewage plant.  In my own community, parks,
greenbelts, school playgrounds, and two nearby golf courses are
irrigated with reclaimed water.

--
David E. Ross
Climate:  California Mediterranean, see
<http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html>
Gardening diary at <http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary>

 David E. Ross wrote:
...

  "The result was been a permanent reduction of 15% in water deliveries to
southern California water systems (private water companies and government water
agencies). "

  was been?  :)

  glad to see things have improved lately with
the resevoirs.


  songbird