John Dromgoole was ranting about the drought on his show last week (The Natural Gardener in Austin). I listen to his shows as podcasts since I'm out of his broadcast zone. For the Hill Country he's talking about 8 years of drought, not an extension of 2011. I'm always wishing I could live in that area but when I hear about the drought and water issues I'm glad I don't, so that I'm not contributing to the problem even more.
We've been lucky here in Montgomery county to have received an ok amount of rainfall this summer, though it is dry and the pond we are on is down considerably, but not as severely as my neighbor says it was in 2011. The yard has stayed green mostly, but I also mowed it high and not as often. I have had to water newly planted trees from last fall as well as the established trees in the yard too. However, I too have noticed the trees in the area that haven't been treated well are attempting to go dormant or die already.
I too have piles of brush to burn, waiting for the day let us burn once again. I don't know if y'all are on Facebook or not but I subscribed to the Montgomery County Fire Marshal's page and they post updates as soon as bans are instituted. Our two local fire stations have burn flags up and big signs but that hasn't prevented people from burning.
Chickens are on the someday list.
