COLUMN: We Need Rain!
Yes, the January snowstorm helped, but not nearly enough. Oh - and for those wondering - it's time to plant potatoes.
By Donnie Johnston
COLUMNIST
We had better hope for ample rain this spring because we are not going into the growing season in good shape.
Yes, I know we had that six-inch snowfall back in January and the ice hung around forever, which made it appear that there was plenty of moisture.
In reality, we only got 1.7 inches of moisture from that storm and less than three inches the entire month of January. That snowfall, although it led to great inconvenience, did much good because it melted slowly, which allowed the moisture to seep into the ground.
But the fact remains that we have not had a single month with as much as three inches of moisture (at least at my house) since July of last year. Over that eight-month period I recorded 14.65 inches of precipitation, which averages out to only 1.8 inches per month.
In fact, we had less than two inches of moisture in each of the last five months of 2025. Our monthly average is about 3.6 inches per month (43 inches per year).
Even the storms we are getting are not substantial. Take this month, for example. Six of the eight days when precipitation fell, the storms produced less than two-tenths each. If you get two-tenths of moisture an event, one tenth will likely evaporate and do absolutely no good. The remaining one tenth probably won’t make it one inch deep into the soil.
In other words, as any farmer will tell you, anything less than four tenths of an inch of rain does little good. That is especially true this time of year when dormant grass and trees are coming alive and sucking up every drop of moisture that can be found. Very little, if anything is getting down to the water table.
The January 24 snow and an earlier January rain (1.2 inches) are the only storms in the past eight months to produce more than an inch of moisture. That’s a long period of time without appreciable rainfall.
Things are greening up finally and the landscape looks beautiful, but my concern is with underground aquifers, those that feed wells. Eight months is a long time to go without sod-soakers that send moisture deep into the earth.
Winter, when plants are dormant, is the time when aquifers are typically replenished. There wasn’t much replenishment this past winter. Now plant roots are claiming almost every drop of rain that falls so it will take some gullywashers to get the moisture down deep.
There is hope for that because April and May are typically wet months. But if we don’t get appreciable precipitation during those months, deep-water tables could be in bad shape when the hot weather arrives. After all, we use a lot of water these days and many suburban homes may feed off the same aquifer.
The drought has eased, but in my estimation, it is not over. Averaging 1.8 inches of rain over an eight-month period won’t cut it.
In fact, my garden could use a shot of rain right now. My beets are starting to come up, but it may be two or three more weeks before my potatoes (planted March 9) send up some green.
If you haven’t planted potatoes, you’d better get at it. If you don’t get them in by the first week in April, they probably will not do well. Potatoes are a cold weather crop.
I’m planting onions and cabbage this week and I will be starting yellow squash in the basement the first of next month.
I’m not planting peas this spring. I still have some in the freezer from last year, so I’ll just eat off them.
I’ve already had people ask when it is time to plant tomatoes. The itch is there. I shoot for the last week in April or the first week in May, depending on the weather forecast. East of I-95 the third week in April might be appropriate.
Some plant earlier, but if you do, be prepared to cover the plants in case of frost. Just remember, however, that even the early plants grow very little until hot weather arrives. Later tomatoes usually catch up.
The peach trees in mountain orchards are about ready to bloom. Let’s hope there is no big freeze in the couple of weeks.
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