Drought watering options...

So...,

... as I've been watering all the veg at least every two days for the last several weeks just to keep them alive, does it mean that if the new rain we're just getting, permeates downwards, it will 'connect' with the water table level I've been keeping going?

I reckon so, and therefore, if I've been occasionally feeding them a weak liquid manure (6X mix), then theoretically, this should all wash slowly, and further down the roots, and become part of the lower-topsoil feed area...shouldn't it?

And if this liquid manure feed has been washing around the necks of the veg like carrots and parsnips, then they've had a feed of sorts, and will have wider tops perhaps, but now, with prolonged rain, that will help their bodies fill out lower down?

All technical, and worthy of discussion after I've pulled a few chaps out, but the carrot thinnings are pretty long, and seem very happy so far - as do the parsnips...

Plenty of time for things to go pear shaped of course...;0)

Mulch

The carrot thinnings are max 5" so far, the parsnips are staying where they are as they were thinned s few weeks ago.

I didn't have enough time to get any compost going last year, so am mulching with spent nettles where I can, but this dry weather has really turned the plot into a dustbowl in  parts!

Here's a pic of a parsnip which definitely didn't think forming a tap root was a very good idea...

(We bought them as seedlings several years ago when we wanted to fill a gap at home...