HappyDay: ‘ I Can’t Remember a June Rain as Heavy as This One’

Casey O’Neill is a cannabis and food farmer in Mendocino County who has been writing newsletters about his efforts to provide sustainable produce and marijuana. We feature his column once a week.

     I can’t remember a June rain as heavy as this one, soaking the gardens and pastures, flowing down the creeks and topping off the pond.  After the dryness of winter, it’s a strange feeling to have water abundance as summer approaches.

      We’ll be able to plant more summer crops this year after a rough 2021 in which we fallowed 16 beds and underwatered a number of other crops.  Last year we planted just one succession of fall brassica and waited out the dry times.  We were blessed by early rains in the fall, which got us back on track for planting winter crops.

      I’ve never seen cover crops and pasture grasses as tall as they are this year.  The combination of heavy fall rains and late spring moisture has made for impressive growth across the farmscape.  We prepped beds this past week that I had a hard time mowing with the BCS flail mower.  Though it is a powerful machine, the huge load of biomass bogged it down a number of times.

       Some of the mustards are 10 feet tall with stalks as thick as a broom handle, and the pasture grasses are head-high in some places.  In the beds, field peas, oats and bell beans form a thick mat that chops up to a wonderful fertility addition to the soil.  I mow with the BCS, and then we amend, compost and broadfork.  I switch out the flail mower for the power harrow and stir the compost and chopped cover crop into the top inch or two of the soil.  This gets good soil contact to hasten cover crop decomposition, and we lay out old dep tarp plastic over the bed to heat the soil and germinate weed seeds which will die in the darkness.

      This past week was one of the biggest efforts that I can remember in our years farming.  On Friday we prepped eleven big terraces to get them finished before the rains.  Earlier in the week we planted two light dep tunnels and up planted clones for a third.  We planted 300 tomatoes and got cages on most of them.  We sowed beans in the hoophouse after putting up hog panels for trellis, and I sowed turnips and radishes on the shoulders of the bed.  We moved pigs, lambs, rabbits, chickens and turkeys to fresh pasture, and we managed harvest/wash-pack and market on Monday and Thursday.

      I’m feeling a lot of gratitude for the many helping hands who have been part of the kaleidoscope of farm work this spring.  Family and friends working together, laughing, enjoying the fellowship that springs from shared effort.  There is still a good chunk of planting to go, as peppers and outdoor cannabis remain along with winter squash and pumpkins, but it feels good to listen to the rain on a Sunday morning after animal chores, drink a cup of coffee and write.

      Spring crops are coming out, and we cleared the bed of peas and the residue from a bed of turnips, which was re-sown to radishes and salad mix.  The radishes are in the center, and will come out in time to sow the next succession of cucumbers while the salad mix grows on the edges.  The bed that had peas will have sweet peppers planted in it this coming week, as will the remaining blown out salad mix bed.  We also trellised the cucumbers that are in the center bed, and the salad mix on the shoulders of the cucumber and melon beds is ready for harvest this week, though the melons haven’t germinated yet.

      Vertical crops like tomatoes, cukes and beans make for great interplanting on the shoulders of the beds.  We use 30” wide beds, while a single row of vertical crops occupies just 10-15” so long as the trellising work is done often.  This means that we can run an early edge crop of radishes, salad mix or turnips, and later crops of basil and scallions have been very successful.

     The first spring brassica are coming in, gorgeous heads of cauliflower and perfect cabbages.  Their arrival also means that the bed space they’ve occupied is opening back up and will take on cherry tomatoes and butternuts.  As the season rotates the work arises and falls away with completion, marching off into the distance of past and future.  As always, much love and great success to you on your journey!

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37 Comments
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Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago

I remember a June rain that brought the river way up and muddy, bank to bank as I recall, or very nearly, dangerously washing over the flashboards that had been installed just a wee bit too early on Benbow Dam… It held, but I’m sure that there were some nerves that were on edge…

That was the last time that the State Parks put the flashboards up that early.

Great work on your farm!

I’m glad you are getting some cooperation as a reward, from Mother Nature.

It sounds like you have certainly earned it.

I hope you have a bountiful harvest, and that the community has the will and ability to purchase your plentiful produce…

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  Guest

Guest
That rain was on Saturday of memorial day week end. Not sure how far it extended into June, but the storm was phenomenal.
The Redway Fire Department Barbeque was the biggest crowd ever, because people’s other plans were rained out.

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago

That’s funny, I was just trying to remember what year that was when I saw this comment.

Just goes to show ya that every cloud has a silver lining…

That’s right, what I remember is the river being way up and muddy in June, I guess I hadn’t thought about it raining so hard at the end of May that it was still up and muddy in June…

I looked back to see rainfall amounts, but I looked for June🤦‍♂️.

We must have gotten a whole lot more rain back then on Memorial Day, than we just got in this last storm, because the river just came up a little this time, and it was crystal clear in Garberville by today…

Thanks for clarifying that one…

I think that big storm must have been before 1990.

By the way…

🤔🧐I sent in my ballot today, I thought about writing you in for Sheriff…😁.

Seriously. (But I didn’t write it in…)

Redwood Dan
Guest
Redwood Dan
1 year ago
Reply to  Guest

We caught almost 4000 gallons of rain water in 24 hrs! Hooray for rain!

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  Redwood Dan

Nice!

Bozo
Guest
Bozo
1 year ago

Well… 2006 (or so)… rained all the way through late June.
Had a few went winters back then. Salmon were so thick in North Fork of Mad River you could have pitchforked them out.

1963 (?) … big snow on the mountains over Memorial day.
That was the year that the Horse Mtn ski resort operated until July 4th.

redwoodninja
Member
redwoodninja
1 year ago
Reply to  Bozo

Read the headline your name explains everything

Bozo
Guest
Bozo
1 year ago
Reply to  redwoodninja

Well… he ain’t been here that long. How about you ?

redwoodninja
Member
redwoodninja
1 year ago
Reply to  Bozo

I was born here bozo sorry im not 80 years old to remember rain in the 60’s

thetallone
Guest
thetallone
1 year ago

There was a July downpour of 2 plus inches. The reason I remember is we had just laid down the subfloor on my house. Then it rained for 2 days. This was ’89 I think.

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  thetallone

It used to be very common to have July thunder showers back in the 70’s

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago

Yep, more normal June rain during this drought. This is the greenest drought I’ve seen, almost 30 inches in Humboldt and people still calling it a drought, crack me up. 10 bucks a gallon anyone?

grey fox
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Lone Ranger

We are still 14 inches below normal here on the coast. NWS Eureka reports 24.78” so far. Normal is 38.80”
And much worse inland and farther south. So yes there is a drought in California. Have you seen snowpack stats for this year?
Today’s snow measurements aren’t quite so bleak, but they remain devastatingly low: The snowpack — which provides a third of California’s water supply — is 38% of average statewide.Apr 1, 2022

Last edited 1 year ago
Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago
Reply to  grey fox

24 inches is definitely a drought, we need way more rain than that, crack me up. Not even close to a drought, still raining here on the coast during this terrible drought.

grey fox
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Lone Ranger

Trees are getting stressed, starting to see more dry broken branches falling from trees, pines showing a lot of brown. last I checked the Eel is at 69% of normal flow at Fernbridge. The south fork was at historic lows.
Water Year 2020 that was likewise warm and dry. Water Year 2020 was California’s fifth driest year based on statewide runoff; Water Year 2021 has ended up as second driest

Last edited 1 year ago
Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago
Reply to  grey fox

So 24 inches of rain in a year is not enough for the trees in Humboldt? I know 38 inches is good for land slides.

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago
Reply to  grey fox

Is Humboldts June rainfall amount considered drought? You stand corrected, currently we in Humboldt are not experiencing drought weather. Pro-tip , you can’t control the weather and you can’t control the flu, anyone that says otherwise is trying to make a buck.

North westCertain license plate out of thousands c
Guest
North westCertain license plate out of thousands c
1 year ago
Reply to  grey fox

Come on fox. You know The ignorance overwhelms knowledge in the Rangers case.

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago

Come on ,24 inches of rain anywhere is definitely a drought year, crack me up. Its like worrying about the amount of rain in a river that flows straight to the ocean. Crack me up, hows that 8 dollar fuel, that isn’t caused by the current green policy, too funny. Pump with pride Bidenaires

grey fox
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Lone Ranger

Even if you’ve never seen an ocean, you’ve probably felt one — in the form of rain. A good bit of the rain that falls over land comes from the oceans. Eventually, some of that water makes its way back to the oceans, beginning the cycle all over again. Earth’s water cycle is complicated.

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago
Reply to  grey fox

According to Antarctica, the ocean has plenty of water. Its very complicated? Actually its not, just sit back and enjoy the weather. Just like sitting back and enjoying the current circus, 10 bucks a gallon is good for everyone, no need to try and fix it Joe, its all good.

grey fox
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Lone Ranger

Future wars will be fought over water, not oil….
Currently, most of Humboldt County is in an “extreme drought”, while Del Norte County is in a severe drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. NWS measures rain during “water years” from Oct 1 to Sep 30. Since Oct 2021, Eureka is 14 inches below normal so far.Apr 19, 2022.
Best call up NWS and let them know your thoughts on it.

Last edited 1 year ago
Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago
Reply to  grey fox

Future wars will be fought over power, the whoever takes control will dictate, and dam every river up. Crack me up ,save the planet for a dictator. Extreme drama .

Misguidedyouth
Guest
Misguidedyouth
1 year ago

2009 there was a nice big rain in junr

Al L Ivesmatr
Guest
Al L Ivesmatr
1 year ago

Nice weekly almanac diary you provide for gardeners and farmers. Your farm sounds very nice and the descriptions provide good ideas like the cardboard I put on my raised beds for the first time followed by compost and alfalfa grass. Thousands of red worms and night crawlers now and have not watered once because the soil is still moist.
Thanks!

Xebeche
Guest
Xebeche
1 year ago

It has rained every June but one in the last 51 years.

Flat Woman
Guest
Flat Woman
1 year ago

You just don’t remember or you haven’t been here lng

North westCertain license plate out of thousands c
Guest
North westCertain license plate out of thousands c
1 year ago
Reply to  Flat Woman

It always rains on the Cherry’s.
Always. It splits them

Guest
Guest
Guest
1 year ago

No cherries here this year, hard wet frost killed them all. Every single one of them… Killed the grapes and figs back hard, too. They are coming back thankfully…

That’s never happened before that I can remember…

North westCertain license plate out of thousands c
Guest
North westCertain license plate out of thousands c
1 year ago
Reply to  Guest

Thank you for sharing that.
I had to move to Siskiyou County unfortunately. So I can’t watch my trees.

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago

Sorry to hear you had to move out of Humboldt ,Siskiyou is a lovely county , nice and red.

redwoodninja
Member
redwoodninja
1 year ago

Hey genius he is only late 30s do you honestly think he remembers the 1963 flood get over trying to prove Casey wrong and be respectful of what he does seems like all these comments are jealousy comments or haters

Cetan Bluesky
Guest
Cetan Bluesky
1 year ago

Good words, thank you!

Eric Kirk
Member
Eric Kirk
1 year ago

I’ve been told that June, so far, has been wetter than the entire month of February.

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago
Reply to  Eric Kirk

No sheet, now we got too much rain, so Junes numbers don’t reflect a drought? Better let silver fox know , he is still spreading misinformation.

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago
Reply to  Country Joe

So if we average out rainfall across 2016 to now we are right on target. Funny how that all works out, its not about knowledge, it just plain and simple math as usual.