Tomato Plant of the Month! June Edition!

DYING Tomato Plant

The summer of 2023 has arrived. Grow tomatoes, my friends. Although this represents the "plant of the month" that is growing in the yard of the Gullible Gardener, this is nothing to celebrate. Because, as you might notice to your immediate right, this tomato plant is DYING.

DYING? Wait! Are you sure? The Gullible Gardener doesn't grow or plant tomato plants that DIE. Something ain't quite right here. The Gullible Gardener provides advice to other, younger gardeners, who are killing off plants left and right. The Gullible Gardener does not suffer this misfortune.

The Gullible Gardener learned how to garden from the likes of Farmer Fred Hoffman! He drank in the knowledge provided by nursery owners such as Don Shor at Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis and Angela Pratt of Digging Bliss and Plant Foundry Nursery in Sacramento! Feats of the Gullible Gardener have been highlighted and lauded by the likes of former Sacramento Bee Garden Editors and writers by the names of Dan Vierra, Pat Rubin and Debbie Arrington!

Healthy Tomato Plants!

This is what the tomato garden of the Gullible Gardener should look like! Green! Lush! Healthy! Loaded with tomatoes! The Gullible Gardener does not suffer disasters like this! Those are reserved for "the others." Yet, the photos do not lie. The tomato plant labeled as "Chef's Choice Bi-Color Hybrid" is kicking the proverbial tomato bucket. How on God's Green Earth could this happen to someone with a mouth as big as the Gullible Gardener?

Am I bummed? Not just bummed! More like completely frazzled! Beside myself! I don't kill tomato plants. Ever. Well, that is somewhat of a lie. At one time I would kill my fair share of them. A result that normally took place after I tried something extremely stupid. But, I stopped doing that years ago. Well, kind of.

Tomatoes I Will Never Taste

I decided to write about this rather unfortunate experience after looking some distressing news from another long-time gardener. She is dealing with her own garden maladies at the moment. I know exactly how this gardener feels. This just does not happen to us! To others? Yes! To us? Absolutely NOT! Life ain't fair.

I could ask for help and advice on a Facebook Gardening forum that I troll regularly. But that's an exercise in futility. It will invite some rather odd and conflicting advice. Some of those helpful suggestions are sure to include the following:

-Spray it with Epsom Salts!

-Dump some fertlizer on it!

-Spray it with Lysol!

-Liquid Viagra!

-Dawn dish soap and table scraps!

Pass. I do have some suspicions on why this might be taking place. I have noticed that Bandit the Border Collie has taken quite the liking to this plant and has demonstrated that love by "watering it" perhaps a little too often. Before you can utter the two words of "that's disgusting," I'd much rather he choose the tomato plant instead of the side of my bed.

Bandit the Border Collie

So, I did subject this dying plant to a bit of drip therapy from the garden hose last night. About six hours worth of a slow drip. I was hoping that might lead to some improvement. Alas, it's still acting like an unhappy limp noodle. An unhappy limp noodle, I might add, that is positively LOADED with early production. I like to count the tomatoes forming up on my tomato plants because I'm certifiably insane.

So, you might have noticed that the posting for the June Edition of the "Tomato Plant of the Month" is two days late. That could be it to, I suppose. I'm two days late and multiple brain cells short. But, it just goes to show that garden maladies can strike at any place and any time. Even a garden goober who writes under the pen name of the Gullible Gardener.

Late to the Summer Garden Party!

Sugar Pea Pod Vines

I'm late! Late to the Summer Garden Extravaganza. That picture to your right is the reason WHY I'm so late to the summer party this year. This, and two other sad plants that are not pictured, are all that remains from my fall garden planting efforts. My fall garden doesn't normally look quite this sad, but California's epic amount of rain this winter drowned just about everything EXCEPT what you see pictured to the right.

This spot happens to be the highest spot in the backyard garden. Not pictured is the rest of the garden. Why not? Because for much of the winter that section of the yard was under several inches of water. That's what happens when an area that had not see much rainfall in two or three years suddenly receives TWICE the amount that normally falls in any given year.

That was the winter we needed in Northern California. Unfortunately, a lot of good comes with a little bit of bad. Two to three inches of rain can be very good for fall and winter gardening efforts. Thirty inches of rain is a different story entirely. You needed a rowboat to pay a visit to some areas of the garden this past winter. I could only watch as the fall and winter greens drowned following one epic storm after another.

Lake Northern California!

BUT, there was one bright spot. It was that high section of garden that I'd set aside for the sugar pea pod plants that I'd received from a gardening friend. 12-of those starter plants went into one cirle. 12-others went into another. The plants in the lowest section of the yard, like many other fall garden plants, drowned after the backyard turned into a lake. But the other 12 did just fine.

The unusual winter weather not only covered some sections of the garden completely, it also stunted the growing efforts of those plants that remained above water. So, when the time came to start prepping the garden for spring and summer exploits, the sugar pod pea plants that survived the lake-like conditions were just starting to flower.

Spring Peas

I had a choice. Pull the plants out and declare the fall and winter season to be an entire bust, or wait. I chose to wait. While other gardeners were prepping garden areas for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and other summer efforts, I patiently waited for those blooms on the sugar pod pea plants to turn into garden peas. That patience would be rewarded.

The wait resulted in a weight of 1.1 lbs. of sugar pea pods. That's enough pea pods to fill up a collander. Which is a lot of peas. The vast majority of those were added to some sliced mushrooms and put into a soup creation which resulted in a lot of leftovers. I will be eating the last of that soup for lunch today, which will put a finishing wrap on the rain-challenged fall and spring gardening efforts.

The sugar pea pod harvest did finally allow for some summer garden prep. In fact, that prep started the moment that the pea harvest ended and the plants were removed. But, I will admit, I'm a solid month behind the efforts of many others. The tomato plants are already beginning to produce pea-sized tomatoes, but there will be no "early harvest" this summer. If I get a cherry tomato to ripen up by the 4th of July holiday I'll consider myself lucky.

Spring Pea Harvest

Fortunately, I get to benefit from a special climate called "California Weather." As unpredictable as it has been this year, you can still count on a long summer growing season out west. So, even if you are like me, a month behind schedule, it doesn't matter for us California types. The garden planted in late May will eventually catch up with those gardens planted in late April. When the month of September rolls around, you won't be able to tell the two apart.

The real benefit, however, is all that water stored behind our massive Northern and Southern California reservoirs. Plus, a massive snowpack that is slowly melting in the Sierra Nevada. It's a snowpack that is so very large that all of it may not melt. Our fantastically warm summers won't be warm enough or last long enough to melt all of that water trapped in the high country.

Which is fine by me. That's irrigation water for backyard vegetable gardening efforts!

The Breba

Breba Crop-Fig Tree

Most fruit trees grown in California share a common trait. The same rule applies to most bushes or ground covers that produce fruit. It does not matter if your fruit of choice is a juicy peach, or if it's a red and ripe delicious strawberry. Your fruit of choice generally spends the entire year to gear up and produce a single big crop of fruit.

The same rule of thumb can apply to some tomato plants that are known as hybrids. They produce one big crop for an entire season and that's just about it. Don't get me wrong. It's a good crop of tomatoes. But, you only get one.

There is only one type of fruit tree, that I'm aware of, that laughs at this time-honored model of production. This type of fruit tree says "hold my beer." I must warn you that I do not have a great deal of experience with this fruit variety. I can only tell you that it begins to produce tree-ripened fruit much earlier than most fruit trees. But, it doesn't stop there. It keeps right on growing new crops that become tree-ripened fruit throughout the summer.

Breba Crop 2023

It has more energy than your standard Energizer Bunny.

That first crop, pictured above right and again to your immediate left, is called "Breba." It comes from the Spanish word of Breva. This is the first crop that is produced by your average fig tree. I happen to have one of these trees. It is anything but average. It is also unlike any fruit tree or bush that I've ever grown.

I must admit to you: I have grown my fair share. This includes five different varieties of peaches. Why five? Because four is never enough. Come to think of it, five wasn't enough either.

The Spanish are responsible for bringing the fig tree to North and South America. Blame the Spanish. They also brought peach trees and pigs. They would also bring numerous plagues and diseases that the natives had no resistance too, but we'll save that sad story for another day.

Tree of Gluttony

You know what the worst part of this fruit tree experience is? I'm not even sure what kind of fig tree I have. I know it came from Dave Wilson Nursery. But that is the extent of my knowledge. The tree was in a bucket that was labeled with the name of Kadota. This is NOT a Kadota fig tree. Not even close. It's some kind of black fig because the skin of the fruit is black.

My best guess is this is the Black Mission Fig. That is the industry standard. But judging on the color of the skin and the color of the flesh (red), it could be another variety. This includes the Black Jack, the Purple Smyrna or even the Violette de Bordeaux. In short? I'll never know. I just know this one tree produces a boatload of fruit.

As of right now, this tree is loaded with an eye-popping amoung of Breba. But you ain't seen nothing yet. The main crop will dwarf the size of any and every Breba crop. Or, at least it has so far.

Breba here, Breba there

I give away as much as I can. Neighbors, friends, family members, you name it. You want figs? I got figs. Last year I convinced two members of the Sacramento Gardening Group on Facebook to come over and strip the tree. You know what? They did! They nabbed huge sacks of fruit! Guess what? It did not matter! Because the tree was free to grow a third crop, and it did!

I am kind of sad and disgusted to admit this. But there came a point last summer where I had given away as many figs as possible. I had used the fruit to make gallons of fresh Kompot. Anyone who wanted a whack at that fruit production was welcome to it. Despite this, hundreds of figs dropped from that tree and rotted.

Mango the Magnificent!

There was a day and age when various critters would help with stripping the crop. Rats, possums, skunks and birds ate as much as they wanted. But that day and age ended when Mango the Magnificent arrived and made his presence known. One day my three month old kitten put on a show for me by racing up and down that fig tree. Guess what? Critters no longer visit. They say "pass."

So, should you feel the desire for tree-ripened figs this summer, be sure and drop me a line. You can take as much as you like. I will beg you to take even more. You might even get a free ginger cat out of the deal.

That Instagrammable MUTT!!!

Bandit's Instagram Moment

There he is! In all his glory: I give you the Instagram Moment of the elder generation (this means old). This is Bandit. He is a rescue mutt from the from the Bradshaw Animal Shelter. I believe he is a Border Collie or at least a Border Collie mix. He is in his element. Among the wildflowers currently in bloom at Marco Dog Park in Roseville.

I snapped this photo a few days ago and placed it on Instgram. It has all of seven likes. Bandit has gone viral. Or, as viral as Bandit is going to become. I am not a social media darling and never will be.

For most of the year, Marco doubles as a drainage ditch smack dab in the middle of the busiest of commercial district in all of Placer County. It was built as a flood control facility, but also does double duty as a dog park. After a winter of record rain and snowfall, followed by a few warm spring days, the so-called drainage ditch begins to take on the look of a pristine Northern California foothill setting.

Marco Dog Park-Roseville, CA

This was Bandit's second visit to this park. This is about the time he discovered the well-worn dog trail that multiple other dogs have created. It's a ring of a trail around a park high above the ditch below. This trail gives mutts like Bandit and others an unprecedented view of the countryside. It's also about the time that Bandit would discover this trail and dog park are alive with gophers and other critters that he can chase to his heart's content.

A rescue mutt hath no greater joy than this. Unless, however, a jackrabbit should cross his path.

I am a fan of the many dog parks in Northern California. I am required to be fan of them. That's the price you pay for adopting a Border Collie or any other Border mix such as an Aussie Shepherd or a McNab Shepherd. These are "working dogs." They are a working breed. They need a place to work. Since there are no sheep or cattle nearby for them to run after or herd, a dog park offers the next best thing.

Looking for the Chase

Marco is unlike most dog parks that I've visited. Many of these parks are square or rectangular in nature. There are usually two of them joined together. One side is for small dogs. The other is for larger breeds like Bandit. Most are covered by a large expanse of grass. Others, like C-BAR-C Park in Citrus Heights, feature an undulating hill and a sprinkling of native oaks and other trees.

Marco, however, is unique. If a dog wants to vanish in the undergrowth, he or she can. They can run up a steep hill to the rim of this park and run among the trees, bushes and other plant life that dominates this park. They might be less than 25-feet away, but you will never see them. This is Paradise for a dog. They can run. They can sniff. They can play. They can be safe from trouble. The comfort of a chain-link fence keeps them away from busy city streets and within the confines of the park area.

But the best feature of this park, at least in my option, is the drainage ditch itself. As of right now, it's full of water. It really is just a ditch. But with nature's overgrowth on both sides of this basin, it doubles as a stream cutting through the park. If Bandit isn't chasing a gopher or two on the trail that rims the upper portion of Marco Dog Park, he's playfully splashing after any unfortunate bird that dares to land in this drainage area.

Seasonal Stream (Ditch)

A good hour of running the dog park trails, bounding through high grasses and chasing after gophers or birds produces the required result: a tired herding dog. Tired herding dogs tend to sleep at night. If you don't tire a herding dog out during the day, they might spend the night chewing your favorite shoes into pieces. Or, chasing the cat all over the house.

I do imagine, at some point, the water will stop running through this ditch. The intense heat of summer will turn those green grasses brown and gray. It won't be as pleasing to look at, or for a dog to play in. But, if you're looking for a unique dog park that offers some unique dog exercise, this dog park fits that bill and more.

Is it Spring Yet???

California Humor

This is a question that millions of people in California are asking at the moment. This is especially true if these Californians like to plant vegetable gardens. Which many of them do. By the way, do you like that photo to your immediate right? I sure do, which is why I STOLE it from the Facebook Page of a high school classmate.

Her name is Penelope. Which, as you might be able to guess, is not her real name. I made it up to protect her identity. Penelope, as you might be able to tell, has a wicked sense of humor. She had that in high school. She has it now. In spades. If I run across a Facebook post from Penelope, I'm guaranteed to laugh. She's that good. It's why I've used her name for a character in a book I'm writing. Perhaps, one day, I'll actually get around to publishing it.

Don't give up hope, Penelope!

Pooch Park, Citrus Heights, CA

Truth be told, however, Penelope has a point. Like her, I'm getting tired of waiting for spring to hit the Golden State. Californians are normally spoiled rotten by six month summers. In 2022 however, our normally temperate weather suddenly went south in October. It started to rain and snow in December. It hasn't stopped since and the weather hasn't warmed up either.

While the non-stop rain has stopped some work in the garden, I've been able to "plow" ahead with other work. But, when I say "plow," I don't mean using an actual plow. I'm just working. The mostly clay soil that makes up most of my backyard is very easy to work with at the moment. You can dig a hole two feet deep with a post-hole digger in two or three minutes.

Try doing something like that when clay soil is dry and has the consistency of concrete! It will take a tad longer in two to three minutes! And, if you're lucky, just might result in major back surgery!

Easy Dig Post Hole

But, I digress. I did use our wet weather to indeed dig a hole two feet deep. In fact, I dug two of them. Those two holes are now home to two "sticks." They look like sticks. They are just sticks! At the moment. But soon, those two sticks will take on the names of Himrod and Flame.

Got any ideas of what those might be?

If you guessed the answer of "table grapes," points to you my friend. They are indeed two separate and well known varieties of seedless grapes. These are the types of varieties that I was hoping to pick up when I attended the most recent Scion Exchange hosted by the Sacramento Chaper of the California Rare Fruit Growers. I came away with carefully pruned scions (sticks) for Himrod, Flame and Kish Mish (Thompson Seedless).

Himrod is apparently a close cousin to the Kish Mish,* as is the most popular table grape grown in California today: Thompson Seedless. The Himrod variety is actually a cross between the Thompson and Ontario varieties. It is considered to be the most successful table grape variety released by the Cornell University Breeding Program in 1952.

Emerging Kish Mish

The Himrod is designed to grow well in cold weather regions. In California, where it is just a tad warmer during most years, Himrod also does well. Thanks to California weather conditions, which range from warm to hot, the Himrod is considered to be an early-ripening variety.

Flame Seedless, meanwhile, is pure California. Hybridized and released by the USDA Agricultural Research Station in Fresno in 1973, it caught on quickly. Thousands of acres of Flame table grapes are planted from one end of California to the other. If the table grapes you purchase from your local neighborhood store during the summer are red in color, chances are it's the Flame.

Why plant table grapes? Because I absolutely LOVE table grapes. Is that good enough? No matter how many pounds I purchase from the store, it's never enough. I always run out. I always want more. The best answer to this table grape addiction is to plant your own. Since one single vine can produce as much as 100 lbs. of table grapes, I won't run out until I'm absolutely sick of of them. That sickness is temporary, however. The urge to consume table grapes always returns.

The gardener in me loves to experiment. Rather than amend the soil that came out of both planting holes and use it for growing both table grape varieties, I instead filled both holes with good, old-fashioned, smelly, amended steer manure compost. In other words, cow poop.

Planting Medium

All gardening is local. All gardening can be experimental. What works for me in Northern California may not work as well in other parts of the country, or the world for that matter. The urge to experiment with different growing methods and mediums comes from arborists and others who always advocated for a new approach, rather than the tried and true.

I'm sure Penelope would approve.

Table grapes grow and produce rather quickly in California. That's the reason why so many of them are produced here and shipped to destinations all over the world. The weather, soil and water here are perfect for wine and table grape production. California weather is just about perfect for growing anything and everything under the sun.

Provided the weather warms up. Right, Penelope?

*The Kish Mish table grape is the grandaddy of the table grape industry. Originally believed to have been sourced from Afghanistan, the Kish Mish made its way across Europe and the Mediterranean. Once established in various grape growing regions, it quickly became the table-grape of choice. It is known by a variety of names. These include Sultana, Thompson Seedless, Lady de Coverly and many others. It's believed that early California plant breeder Felix Gillet was the first or among the first nurserymen to bring the Kish Mish to the United States. The Kish Mish adapted well to the California climate and was highly prized because it was one of the first seedless grapes. Today it is known and sold under the name of Thompson Seedless.

A BIG Year for BIG Hydro?

Back to the Future!

1.21 Gigawatts! Great Scott! A favorite line from a favorite actor in one of my favorite movies. Thanks to the rain and snow that continues to hound California, there *should* be more than enough electrical currents in this state to power dozens of Flux Capacitors all summer long.

It is the month of March in Northern California. During a normal year, I would be busy digging up the garden right about now. I would have already planted onions and potatoes. The next step would be tilling up and preparing the main garden area for all sorts of summer vegetables.

This year, however, has been anything but normal. The onions and potatoes are not planted. The section of the yard set aside for these efforts was under several inches of water just a day or two ago. The main garden area, meanwhile, resembles a mud pit. From a gardening standpoint, everything is on hold for the moment.

This may sound like terrible news, but it's not. It's a minor inconvenience. The onion and potato planting party can wait. Mother Nature isn't quite done yet. Another storm or two is in the immediate forecast. This means more rain, more mud in the garden and more snow in the high country. A lot more snow.

Lake Tahoe Snowpack

This bounty of rain and snow that Mother Nature has provided for us in the 2022-2023 winter season is a blessing in many ways. It means more than enough irrigation water for backyard gardening and fruit growing efforts like mine. Commercial agriculture *should* get close to 100-percent of irrigation water deliveries from the state and federal water projects. This will, in turn, reduce or even eliminate pumping for groundwater supplies for many farmers and ranchers.

What farmer needs to pay for electricity to pump water from a well when the canals, holding basins, lakes and reservoirs are full of water? Which they are at the moment, thanks to this winter's non-stop rains. When the rain eventually dries up and the weather warms, the real bounty will come with a record snowpack in the Sierra Nevada that begins to melt. Hopefully, it's a slow melt.

But the biggest payoff should be an abundance of electrical power to run every single air conditioner and light up every light bulb in California  this summer and every other western state with a connecting electrical grid. The power producer known as BIG Hydro is primed and ready to deliver a BIG year.

Lake Oroville-Courtesy Bill Bailey

What exactly is BIG Hydro? There are many definitions. The U.S. Department of Energy defines it as "facilities that have a capacity of more than 30 megawatts (MW)." Other definitions put that number at 10 MW, but you get the idea. It's a boatload of electrical power. The BIG Hydro plants in California are primed to deliver a very big year indeed. This number will be so big that it won't be measured in megawatts, but rather gigawatts (GW).

One GW is a LOT of power. How much? It's enough, obviously, to power a single Flux Capacitor (almost). In more conventional terms, however, you would need roughly 3.1 million photovoltaic panels (solar) or 333 utility-scale (very large) wind turbines to achieve that kind of electrical output. In terms of horsepower, you could possibly generate that same kind of electrical kick with a horse race featuring 1.3 million horses.

Shasta Powerplant-Courtesy KRCR-TV

The Shasta Powerplant located at the base of Shasta Dam, California's largest reservoir, can generate more than 700 MW of power when the reservoir is full. That's enough juice to power 700,000 homes and businesses. This is just one BIG Hydro plant. There are numerous others.

The Hyatt Powerplant, Thermalito Diversion Dam Powerplant and the Thermalito Pumping-Generating Plant are all located at the base of Lake Oroville in Butte County. Combined, all three can also generate more than 700 MW of power when Oroville is full of water. That won't be a problem this year as Oroville has already reached the point where large water releases have already started thanks to a monster snowpack in the Feather River watershed located above the lake.

Oroville Spillway-Courtesy Bill Bailey

Speaking of the Feather River watershed, you shouldn't miss the opportunity to drive up Highway 70 into God's Country this summer. The show of spring and summer wildflowers should be a sight to behold. Not only does this drive offer the pure, stark beauty that is Northern California, it's also home to the "Stairway of Power." The entire river canyon has been transformed into one BIG Hydro plant after another.

Why is all of  this so important? Hydroelectric power is nothing new, after all. This is a true statement. Yet, among all forms of power generation in this country and elsewhere, even in this day and age, BIG Hydro is still the cheapest, cleanest, safest and most reliable form of power generation on the planet. Check that: It's only reliable if the rain and snow fall in any given year. If the rain doesn't fall or the snow melts away quickly, that reliability factor gets a bit "iffy."

That "reliability" factor is important. California gets summer power from a variety of sources. The 2021-2022 season was a dry year indeed. Dry years spell big trouble for BIG Hydro. The combination of power from both big and small hydro projects amounted to a measley 14 GW of power. That small number forced utility companies like Pacific Gas & Electric to burn natural gas supplies to make up the difference. A lot more.

Hyatt Powerplant-Courtesy DWR

This year, however, should tell a far more pleasing story. There's enough "juice" (water) in the Northern and Central California watersheds to power big and large hydroelectric plants all summer long. The last big year for BIG Hydro came in 2017. The combination of big and small hydroelectric generators produced nearly 44 GW of power.

That's enough power for nearly 36 Flux Capacitors if my math is right (31 million homes). Of course, you may need to visit a few California junkyards to find that many DMC DeLorean Time Machines.

It's all GRAVY!

Courtesy: NOAA

February 26th or 27th (depending upon where you live in California) turned out to be a seminal moment in our wacky and wild weather history. It doesn't happen very often, but it did happen this year. It was on these dates (again, depending upon what area of the state you call home), where most communities in California surpassed the average rainfall amount that falls in a *normal* year.

Any rain that falls between now and the official end of the rainfall year (June 30, 2023) is "gravy."

By the way, if you have lived in California for any length of time, you know by now that nothing is *normal* when it comes to the weather in this state. It can be either very hot or very cold, OR, very dry or very wet. If there is one thing you can count on when it comes to the weather in California, it's this: You Cannot Count on Anything.

C-BAR-C Park-Citrus Heights, CA

What does the term "average rainfall amount" mean and why is it important? Again, depending upon where you live, it's the amount of rain that falls over the course of 12-months (one year). In the Sacramento area, an area which I call home, that "official" number is 19.20 inches of rain. The climate station located on the campus of CSU-Sacramento hit that number on February 26, 2023 and has since zoomed past it.

Similar stations located in nearby communities all zoomed past normal rainfall amounts, according to the climate stations created and maintained by the California Nevada River Forecast Center. This is a division of a federal agency called the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA. Large cities and small communities alike in Northern, Central and Southern California have all blown past the *normal* amount of rainfall they receive in any given year and are now entering uncharted territory. This can be a bit nervewracking.

Mammoth Lakes, CA

Where it will stop, nobody knows. The rain continues to pelt Northern California day after day after day. That rain turns to snow as you head east of Sacramento. There is so much of that snow in the higher elevations at this moment that some homes are completely buried in it. They look like giant lumps coated in white. Snow walls are as high as ten feet in some communities. They are about to get a lot higher.

"In the Central and Southern Sierra, the snow amounts are really remarkable," said Dr. Daniel Swain, a Climate Scientist with Weather West. "Buildings are starting to collapse under the weight of the snow. This is notable because these are buildings built in places that are historically very snowy. For them to collapse under this snow load says a lot about this sequence of events."

Dr. Swain, who is now holding weekly briefings on YouTube in response to the series of storms slamming into California, confirms that the state is on the precipice of breaking some long-term weather records. This includes the most recent record set during the winter of 2016-2017. Rain and snowfall amounts, should they keep increasing, may even threaten the 1982-1983 deluge, which triggered both landslides and flooding in Northern and Central California.

NorCal Forecast

It would be useless to list actual rainfall numbers on this blog posting. Why? Because, by the time this blog posting is published those numbers will be "old news." The local weather forecast indicates Northern California is going to get slammed with seven straight days of rain as I write this. Whether we actually get seven straight days of rain is anyone's guess at this point. But, the forecast is rather ominous.

I'm kind of glad that I bought that sump pump for my garage last December. This garage rarely floods. Yet it has flooded five times this winter alone, and may flood again (several times) over the next week.

Yikes.

The rain and snow has resulted in some positive news. The giant Northern California reservoirs in Shasta, Trinity and Butte Counties should be full of water this summer. Reporters who cover news events can switch from "drought" coverage to "floods."

Courtesy: Christine Beal

But the most positive development is plenty of irrigation water for agricultural interests (hopefully), environmental concerns, summer vegetable gardens and fruit and citrus hobbyist efforts. You might even be able to water a lawn this summer without feeling a tinge of guilt over water waste. You would hope that a deluge of rain and snow like this would put at least a temporary end to California's water wars.

But that may be a bit of wishful thinking on my part. There's absolutely no proof that Mark Twain ever wrote or uttered such a line, yet, despite this, it is a true statement: "Whiskey Is For Drinking; Water Is For Fighting Over."

My thanks to the Facebook page The California Water for Food and People Movement for providing some great photos!