Rain and watering and the first harvest of summer

We finally got a welcome drink of rain after a long spell of heat with no precipitation.  I was out watering my rain garden with the hose last night after 4 days of waiting.  Watering ahead of a rain is not always a bad thing.  When the ground gets hard and dry it tends to repel water rather than soak it in.  Pre-watering will loosen up the structure (we have heavy, clay soils in our area that take lots of additional organic material to amend it) so it will absorb rather than repel the water from the rain.  Slow watering is always better than a quick watering.  Deep watering occassionally is better than frequent, shallow watering.  Using each of these techniques will help your plants to develop a deeper root system which makes it more drought resistant.  Early morining watering is also better so the leaves can dry off during the day to minimize disease problems.  Avoid the heat of the day when the water tends to evaporate faster than it can soak in.  Sun scald can also occur on some of your more sensitive plants. 
I am using soaker hoses around the roots of my tomatoes this year.  Right after planting I looped the hoses back and forth close to the root zones of the plants and held them in place where needed with the wide landscape fabic pins.  We mulched around the plants with grass clippings which is helping to reduce soil splash from rain on the plants and to help retain moisture around the plants.  I have a great spot on the south side of the house that used to be in the basketball zone in was home to spireas until they were removed (a friend took them for another landscaping project) this spring.  Lots of compost was added to the soil here and the plants are thriving!  I am eagerly awaiting the first tomatoes.  I have a Sungold cherry tomato which is in the front running but the Romas are not far behind.  The Celebrity tomatoes will be coming in for salsa and blt's soon enough.  Basketball is now a movable hoop which is no longer welcome in this area. 
We made it through the heat wave in Wisconsin and now look forward to the harvest of veggies.  I picked my first pole and bush beans yesterday and will cook those up for tonight's supper.  The dog was excited about the beans as they are his garden favorite.  He whines outside the garden gate while I am picking so he gets his share.  I hope to gather one more crop of lettuce from my early crop that I shaded with row cover from the heat.  I only plant it on the north side of the raised beds now because of the heat factor and it seems to have paid off.  The soy beans are going to be ready for fresh picking soon.  I hope to beat the field mice to the punch this year as they can strip the plants in short order.  They really are best cooked in the pods and salted with a cold beer to chase them.  I have not been able to find them at the farm market.  Even the Asian farmers in our area harvest them as dried beans. 
Stay cool and keep enjoying those evenings of friends and fireflies.