Finally Rain

           The long dry summer has turned into a tough drought for Tyler County.  Even though the mornings have become cool and the beginnings of fall are barely visible, the damage from the lack of rain is apparent.  Everything around is us brown and crunchy, but yesterday we did have about a half inch of rain out here.  The clouds and rain feel like manna from heaven as it breaks up the heat.  My tomatoes have been wiped out, unable to hold out against the unrelenting sun.  Many of my other plants have actually thrived in the sun, merely requiring more water to grow, but have been stifled by the lack of bees.  I have no way to directly link the drought to the lack of bees, but just by observance it seems pretty clear.
            For one thing it is not just bees that have taken a loss in the new dry climate.  The first few summers we spent in East Texas were filled with mosquito bites from the never ending swarms that feasted upon us and our kids.  I remember rushing the kids from the car into the house and still finding several bites on their legs.  Both kids were mildly allergic and the bites would swell and drive them insane.  One year it was so bad we had to hang a mosquito zapper inside the house by the front door. Every time anyone opened the door the house at least a few of the ravenous critters would get in.  The kids would wake up covered in bites that they had scratched into open wounds.  We practically had stock in Benadryl those years.  Besides the mosquitoes, another benefit is the number of garden pests which has dropped dramatically.  
          No matter how nice it is to not have the mosquitoes and garden pests, the lack of bees is disturbing and directly effects the productivity of the garden.  This year I will have to looking getting my own bee hives. I will almost certainly try to use mason bees because they are supposed to be easy to manage. I don't know how many dry summers will follow this one and the effects may only be get dramatic if the weather continues.  I know of one home owner in Tyler County who already has pine beetles destroying a tree in their yard.  Since pine beetles are most likely to effected damaged trees or those weakened by drought they could spread quickly if this continues. The economy of this area revolves around pine trees, the combination of drought and infestation could be tragic.
           According to the us Drought Monitor many parts of Texas are in the extreme drought range, while we fall between moderate and severe. It is frustrating since we moved here in part to escape the long dry summers of Las Vegas. In the seven years we have lived in Tyler county we have had two hurricanes and three years of drought.  Both of which are uncommon for this area.  As the weather drives up food prices, the need for a productive garden becomes more apparent and more challenging.

The world needs ditch diggers too

Now I know why my father always said the world needs ditch diggers too. This would come up when ever my grades were bad (which was pretty much all four years of high school). I remember thinking "What the hell for?"

Well. Now I know. Probably people who grow up on dirt roads know the importance of a good drainage ditch, but personally I didn't realize that ditches were not a natural occurrence.

I have begun to see the need for good drainage. The last few rains in Tyler County have been like freakin' monsoons. During this last torrential flood, the branch that runs through parts of property was more flooded than I have ever seen it before. The water is normally three feet wide and six inches to maybe two feet deep. Two days ago, the water was up to twenty feet wide in some of the flatter places.

The massive amounts of water are taking a toll on the road. Sections of dirt are coming loose and washing down the road. The problem is that through the years, the ruts that we drive on have become lower and lower until they are little channels that the water can't get out of. Worse, the side that should be higher isn't, so the water is not running down the hill towards the branch anywhere except one spot right in front of the cattle guard at the house. The water has cut a hole right in the road that goes under and across. If left alone, that section of road may just turn into a huge sink hole.

I had to do a little maintenance.

Most people out here use a tractor to keep their roads going, but right now I am a pick-and-shovel guy. I can't emphasize enough to buy a good pick and shovel...spend the extra money, it will be worth it.

In order to get the water off the road I had to cut a small opening on the lower side so that the water can flow down the hill. In order to get the water from the other rut to flow the right direction, I made a small berm, kinda like a big speed bump or dam right before the ditch so the water will hit it and be forced to flow off the road. I made three of them, one at each spot where it starts to change height. I am hoping that I will have few days for it to dry up before it rains again. To make the berm I used big clumps of grassy dirt with thick roots to help bind it together, but without time to pack it down, it may just all wash away.

Someday we will re-cover the road with gravel or concrete wash, which is little hunks of concrete that they wash out of mixing trucks. Right now we're just hoping the road doesn't just turn into one big sloppy mud puddle.