After a summer marked with rain, where it seemed to occur every other day, once we planted aronia berries the moisture stopped.    Yes this year that through September had been one of the top five wettest on record, turned dry after October 9th, planting day.   Today we’re finally getting a much needed soaking from Mother Nature.

The plants are doing well for the most part.  Although I’m sure the water I’ve been applying via the tank and pump system behind the lawn tractor isn’t nearly as good as the real thing.  We have managed to keep them healthy by our at least weekly waterings.  It may not seem like a big deal, but when we first started watering it was an eight-hour chore to get around.  Now we’ve fine tuned the operation and it doesn’t take quite that long.  It’s just a tedius, time-consuming task that is best left to Mother Nature.

So we’re celebrating the rain today in central Iowa and enjoying the long-range forecast which includes rain next week too!