Blessed Rain

We've been blessed with evenly spaced rains here in San Angelo for the past 2 months or so. 2 nights ago, we received another ½ inch at our house on the southwest side of the city. That brings our total thus far this year to 7.72 inches, which is still behind our normal average of 9.8 inches. Lake O.H. Ivie, San Angelo's primary source of water, is currently at 18% capacity, or 102,090 acre feet. Since rains a couple of nights ago were quite heavy to our north and northwest, we should get more water in our area lakes, but it will take a few days for all of that to register.

We are restricted to watering our yards only once per week at this time. So far, that has not been a problem for me as the rains have been spaced apart nicely. In fact, I've not watered my yard in more than 2 weeks, and I do not intend to turn my sprinkler on again until the middle of next week. And if we get a little more rain between now and then, I'll continue to leave the sprinkler system off.

I posted some pictures of my yard in 2 previous entries: "Instant Yard" and "Blooming Yucca". Go back and take a look at the pictures -- in that order -- and then compare them to pictures I took earlier this morning (below). You'll see the grass has come along nicely. I'm really pleased with the grass selection I made (Celebration Bermuda). It is supposed to be both drought tolerant and shade tolerant, and so far I'd say it has performed well. Yes, we've had rains, but not abundant rains. Normally, we get only .2 or .3 inches of rain. Since I've been trying to establish the yard, I'm really pleased.

Grass is a rich green, thanks to the nitrogen in the rain we've had, with a few lighter areas here and there. Pepper, tomato, and cucumber plants line the bed next to the house.

Same area as in the picture above, but from the opposite end.

Donna's raised beds. Zucchini on the left, okra and squash in the middle, and basil on the right. Donna has grown basil successfully for years. When she harvests it, she makes pesto, which she freezes in bags to store in the freezer. We then eat this yummy treat all year long. Store bought pesto can not compare to Donna's.