With rain on Cape Cod harder to find than a $10 lobster roll, it was perhaps only a matter of time before the scorching "D" word was applied to the peninsula.

As of Thursday, Barnstable County has entered the "moderate drought" category, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). The status change reflects a deterioration from the previous "abnormally dry" category.

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Abnormally dry conditions can stunt crop growth, elevate fire danger, turn lawns brown and make gardens wilt, according to NIDIS, and the moderate drought status adds more woes to the parched mix. Honey production can decline and wildfires and ground fires can increase.

Andrew Loconto, meteorologist at the National Weather Service Boston/Norton office, said most spots on Cape Cod have seen a quarter-inch or less of rain in July (through July 21).

"It's been sort of like pulling water out of a stone this spring and summer," Loconto said.

There may be some chance of rain as the current heat wave draws to a close July 25-26, said Loconto, with perhaps another shot at rain later that week.

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For many Cape Codders, dry times mean a dry garden, with cucumbers, tomatoes and flowers crying out for water, like penitents in a desert. But there are ways to keep things growing until the heavens decide to open up again and there are a few gardening advantages to endless sunny days.

"Get out there early and get your work done," advised Cape gardening expert Roberta Clark, a former educator with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension.

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Watering your garden early in the morning limits the effects of evaporation, where moisture lifts skyward instead of into a plant's root system. Early watering also allows water to evaporate from leaves, limiting the chance of foliar disease taking hold.

That's one good thing about no rain. Those rotten fungal and bacterial leaf afflictions, the kind that can make you sob in the tomato patch, haven't had the wet conditions that help them get rolling.

Clark said she has really noticed the dry soil conditions when sinking new plants into the ground.

"You go below the first layer of soil and it's not just dry, it's powder," she said.

Clark has been filling planting holes with water and letting it drain before popping in a new plant.

When it comes to watering an existing garden, Clark advises against hand watering with a hose.

"You'll get bored before you give them enough water," she said.

Clark recommends rigging up an overhead irrigation device, like a pole sprinkler, and keeping a rain gauge in the garden to judge when you've applied a half to three-quarters of an inch of moisture. A timer on the hose can help you fine tune that process.

Under normal conditions, Clark would be watering in this manner one to two times per week. But she said folks might want to up that to two or three times per week under current conditions. Using a top layer of mulch on gardens also helps to keep in the moisture and suppress weeds.

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Container plants need to be monitored regularly and watered more often because they dry out more quickly than garden beds. In both containers and gardens, keep an eye out for wilting, which can be a telltale sign that water is needed.

Looking toward our weather future over the next few months, "there is some hope that it won't be an extended drought," said Glenn Field, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service Boston/Norton office.

Field kindly guided a reporter through a three-month precipitation outlook and seasonal drought outlook on the NIDIS website that indicated that Cape Cod might be out of the drought before the end of the year.

In the meantime, keep those tomatoes watered!

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