No drought this year

     Like so many parts of the country, we have had a series of years that have had some level of drought.  Not so this year, it is again raining.  Normally by the time the hay is mowed, the rains stop and the yard and fields get a parched look to them.  Mowing is reduced to every two or three weeks and the fields are slow to grow to a height that requires a late summer/fall mowing, if it weren't for the invasive stickweed.  Our mowing of as much of the land as possible and then allowing haying in the spring for the past 2 years has reduced this pest, but as we can't mow all of the acreage, there are patches of it that persist and it comes up in the hayfields by fall.  This spring and summer have produced many inches of rain above normal.  Hardly a week goes by that the region doesn't get a flood watch for the creeks and rivers.  The grass continues to grow, thick and tall and it seems we have to pick a semi dry day each week to mow at least around the house and garden.
     I know farm work isn't always pleasant, but dealing with morning chores in the rain is an unpleasant start to the day.  Today we are looking at 100% chance of rain.  The chickens barreled out of their coop this morning and looked at me like I was responsible for it again being wet.  Some returned immediately to the inside of the coop, others huddled underneath.
     In the past couple of days between storms, I did get the upper hand on the nut and wire grass in the garden beds, put down weed mat and a heavy mulch of hay on the grape bed, mulched the beds of squash, cukes, okra, peppers and tomatoes.  On the positive side, I'm not having to water.

     On the next semi dry day, I still have a section of path that never got a layer of newspaper, weed mat or plastic that needs some work and I have a free source of year old wood chips that I am going to haul to the garden to put in the paths and hope to win the battle of wire grass there too.