Gardening: Record-breaking rain helps, but drought impacts still there

Wow, this has been a fall for the books. Just enough frost to turn the leaves, no winds to blow them off as of last Sunday, and lots of much-needed rain. While we wait for the leaves to fall, I thought I’d share a few observations of the season.

Smart deer

Deer are smarter than we give them credit for. Last week, my husband and I tackled picking the last apple trees in our orchard. We headed down the driveway – me with a wheelbarrow full of boxes and my husband with the orchard ladder.

As we walked, we observed our doe with her fawn lying on the bank above us. They frequently hang out here during the day and we regularly talk to them as we pass by. As we continued down the driveway, they got up and followed us. They knew exactly where we were going and stood about 20 feet away watching us set up.

I had just climbed up the ladder when our other doe and her twin fawns appeared, making for five critters eagerly waiting for a handout. Just how they knew, I don’t know, but there they were. We didn’t disappoint them. We started pitching the bird-pecked and unusable fruit to them and they eagerly gobbled them up.

As we filled the boxes in the wheelbarrow, they took a strong interest in the contents but fortunately were a little wary of the setup. Were we going to have to guard the wheelbarrow, too? After they ate their fill, they wandered back to their napping spots for the rest of the afternoon.

Dry ground

After two years of drought, our ground is extremely dry. Even with October’s record rains, the ground is still soaking up every drop that falls on it.

To prove just how dry the soil is, you only need to look at the small seasonal streams around the area: There hasn’t been enough rain yet to get them flowing even a little bit. Case in point: We live close to Chester Creek, which comes down from Mica Peak and winds its way between Ponderosa and Painted Hills before disappearing into the aquifer near 32nd Avenue and Dishman-Mica Road. In the wet season, the creek usually fills up quickly when there is a good amount of rain. But it’s still dry and will be until the ground is saturated as we move into winter.

Winter

Which brings me to my last observation. We are way overdue for a snowy winter and even more overdue for a frigid one. After living here almost 40 years, I’ve seen several wet falls like this turn into snowy winters.

So, finish getting your leaves raked and tender plants covered, and then take the snowblower in for servicing before the rush.

Pat Munts is co-author, with Susan Mulvihill, of the “Northwest Gardener’s Handbook.” Munts can be reached at pat@inland nwgardening.com.