Rain - 12.6" in a Month

Between 3-19 May, since we were last on the property, we received 6.8" of rain. This was on top of the 5.6" we had received since April 19. The road up to the house had further erosion well past that due to a deluge in late April, and the garden was a big mess. About half of the asparagus had washed out (some was downhill in the potatoes), and one row of potatoes was a big trench with seed potatoes sitting at the bottom. We repaired the damage and planted beets, corn, beans, carrots, pumpkins, sunflowers, and parsnips, and got a nice 0.1" rainfall overnight to set the seeds. The area where Dogs Run Farm is located gets between 52-55" of rain per year. Over the mountain above us at White Grass Ski, they have received well over 200" of snow in each of the past two winters. This part of WVa is a temperate rain forest.

Outside of rain and its effects, we did get some work done. The split-rail fence is finished up to the house, and will need to be extended at the bottom of the meadow. This is low priority. We finally sealed the deck, a job that has needed done for a while. On Sunday, we spent most of the afternoon clearing trees along the edge of the clearing where the house is located, partly to improve the view, partly because we need to stock-pile firewood the winter of 2012-2013 (it needs to dry at least one year), and partly because this is where Cathy wants to build a chicken/fowl coop. It will get mixed sun/shade and is relatively flat. All the trees felled were hickory, which is our predominate hardwood.