Rain is extremely scarce where I live, especially during the summer. In fact, I live in the 4th driest state in the U.S.

There was a very good rainstorm a few weeks ago and it was the first rainstorm since the end of spring. The sky had been cloudless and sunny every day this summer. I had wished there would be a cloud in the sky, just momentarily block the sun so the garden can experience the light at full strength instead of through a shade cloth.

Yesterday, the sky opened up and poured for 20 minutes straight. Being in the desert, 20 minutes of downpour is a lot of rain. It felt like the sky was letting everything go at once.

I went out to check the garden shortly after the rain ceased and I mean, one minute it was pouring and the next, it was like a faucet had been turned off. There wasn’t a drop of rain falling from the sky. I was so glad I pulled most of the mulch off of the vegetable beds. It’s unbelievable how much mulch I had in the beds. Let’s just say, I over-did it with the mulch.

Later in the afternoon, I went and pulled back the mulch along the back fence. The soil was crap and dry. Picking up, it was like sand, nothing to hold it together. No wonder my lily bulbs have been struggling this year, not to mention no seeds were willing to germinate. This soil will need serious amending before the winter hits if I want to put a bunch of flowers in this spot.