When Ray phoned me on Tuesday afternoon to tell me that little ice bullets were falling on our newly planted Rubeckia and onions in the field, my immediate reaction was "Oh Hail!". (That's the clean version. Actually it was a comment that references manure.)This is the second year that we have had hail at the end of April. Last year we lost 120 tomato plants to disease caused by hail bruising the young leaves. While we appreciate the rain we would prefer to have no ice in our water please. 

 

Speaking of water, the new drip line irrigation parts also arrived on Tuesday and we started laying line last night. In the past we have used a collage of hoses, pipes, buckets and valves to get water where we needed it. This year the main field will have neat tape and individual row valves to help us water effectively and efficiently. Combined with the 800 pounds of minerals we applied on Sunday, we hope this new watering system will help us produce our best crops yet. 

 

In the category of "Oh, Hail" week, Ray's check-up did not give us the clean bill of health we were hoping for. But the good doctor assured us that it would "probably be something else that would kill him" (don't you love doctor humor) so we will look at this as just another thing on the to-do list and look forward to the first summer tomatoes.