Farmers are waiting for more rain after weekend thunderstorms

The Northland is still experiencing harsh drought conditions, and farmers are waiting for more rain to come. After receiving little more than an inch of water, farmers are eagerly waiting for more rain later in the week.

Diane Podgornik, the owner of Whoopsa Daisy Farms, said while the rain from the thunderstorms helped, the plants still needed more. “I had one and three quarter inches and that’s not enough.” Podgornik said.

Whoopsa Daisy Farms is a family farm, vacation rental, and an event space for parties and other get togethers. Although, the family farm offers people a chance to pick berries, meet farm animals, and explore the trails. “I run off three different wells. So I can kind of rotate between them. But when it gets really bad, we put a tank in the back of the truck, fill it with pond water, and water everything with the fire hose. It’s a very exciting adventure.”

However, when it comes to watering plants the type of soil makes a huge difference in how much water to use. Podgornik said that depending on what soil is used for plants, it can determine if you need more or less water. “If you have sand, it’s going to drain really quick. it’s hard to hold water. If you have clay, it holds too much. So you want to be somewhere in the middle.”

Podgornik also said depending on the soil used, it’s always recommended to use mulch for giving plants more nutrients. “Mulch holds the moisture in, to keep it from drying out, but mulch will also decompose and eventually improve your soil quality too.”

According to Dr. Rick Schoellhorn, of New Products for Proven Winners, the basic categories are clay, silt, loam and sand. And depending on what soil used can impact your gardening experience. For more information on the pros and cons of different soils for gardening you can look here. For other stories about drought conditions you can look here.