Tuesday’s record high temperatures gave way to several hours of light steady rain this morning, which was exactly what Sunday’s planting needed.

The forecast for the rest of today and tonight calls for isolated severe thunderstorms with the possibility of hail, high winds and heavy rains. Keep your fingers crossed that we don’t get too much of a good thing, which would wash away our first planting and require a replanting.

Today’s rain is also a good for the second planting, which will go in the ground this weekend.

LINEVILLE, Iowa – The first day of catnip planting in 2011 finally arrived at Lucky Badger Farms Sunday after a long off-season that was prolonged by a cool, wet spring.

Temperatures climbed into the low 80s this afternoon and a brisk southeasterly wind as the first seeds went into the ground. Seed for about a third of this year’s 1.5-acre crop made it into warm, black Iowa soil.  Planting will continue over the next two weekends.

With temperatures expected to climb into the low 90s by Tuesday and the ground already dry, we’ll need a few passing rain showers to help this year’s crop get started.  Rain passed within six miles of us on Sunday night but not a drop reached the farm.  Isolated thunderstorms and showers are in the forecast over the next few days but the first likely chance of precipitation for out catnip-plants-in-waiting will be Thursday when a large front is expected to rumble across southern Iowa and other parts of the Midwest.