[abeeson20]

For those of us in between Chicago and Milwaukee we are in the midst of a HORRIBLE drought. We gotten rain once in the last 6 weeks and it was only about 30 minutes long. Grass is brown and dormant. My yard is completely matted down by the dog simply walking around and I haven't needed to mow for weeks.

I have been taking the time to water my garden every other day and things appear to be moving along at an acceptable pace, but I'm not going to be producing any award winners this year.

My garden is 100 sq foot, raised bed. My tomatoes, cucumbers, egg plants and peppers all have shredded mulch.

Are there any additional tips that anyone uses for severe drought scenarios to help a garden succeed?

 

[abeeson20]

My raised beds are 8 - 10 inches deep, but I used a newspaper barrier to build them a few years ago, so realistically my plants are probably punching through into the earth now.

My mulch is a solid 3 - 4 inches deep.

I've also just recently added a vegetable fertilizer. My hope is that the fertilizer will help with root development during this drought. I know that's a regular concept with grass, so I'm hoping it is true with my vegetables as well.....