65 - To water or not to water?

 One day of rain since March 1st, plus one hour last week.

A short, ordinary statement, right?

But the consequences for our gardens here in Brielle are massive.

My allotment club is large but the amenities are modest. We have no mains water, no electricity. So every garden has its own way of managing the water supply.  A lot of allotmenteers have huge square water butts of 1000 litres, as well as the smaller round classic ones. I have 4 square and 3 round, all fed from the roof of the shed, so you'd think I have no shortage of water. But by now 2 round ones are empty already and 1 square almost is, the other square is 1/4 full. For me, with my small amount of vegetables and refusal to water the flowergarden, it is worrying and annoying, but not dramatic. I'll sit this drought out, I think, will manage. But a few of my neighbours have almost depleted their supply.

This is a thought-provoking fact. Will I share my water with them, once theirs has run out? Yes, I will. 

Meanwhile, whilst I am on hands and knees trying to wrestle the weeds from my concrete-like dried-out cracked soil, I reflect upon the parallels with water shortage worldwide. Will we share our water with other countries? I wonder... Humanity has not such a good track record with sharing.

Mental health

Another thought that pops up, quite frequently to be honest, is that this garden is my salvation. It was mental awareness week in Britain, and there was no surprise at all to hear experts declare that working in a garden does wonders for your mental health. I know mine certainly does! It helps keep away those 'blues' I so dearly love to sing about, but wrestle with in daily life. Scent plays a large part, I find, especially that of my greenhouse and that of neighbour Yvon's huge fig. I can actually feel my brain relax, and I feel an uplift of my emotions.

So. Doctors should prescribe gardening instead of anti-depressives and sleeping pills (which I refuse to take).

My flowers are mostly hanging on, although they have almost stopped growing. A good example of this are my digitalis and verbena bonariensis. The four, 2 of each, I have planted on my balcony on the same day I put their siblings in the garden, are three times as tall and wide and far greener. The verbena is almost in flower, whilst in the garden there is not a bud in sight.

Early one morning I disturbed a hare, who was stretched out enjoying the sunshine in a clump of poppies against my greenhouse. He raced away when he saw me. Probably a guilty conscience, because he had nibbled on Hans's beans! 

Jemima definitely dislikes the branches in 'her' frog pond, she repeatedly tries to dislodge them. She cannot, so she chucks in the logs that decorate the edge, just to make a statement. I fish them out again, and thus we keep each other busy.

But oh, oh, oh, would I welcome a rainy day, or what?!

You can follow my garden(ing) on Instagram@songsmith2962 and Pixelfed@DutchDeltaWoman . Have a lovely day in your garden!