It hasn't rained much in the UP either. Those 6 gallon water cans at walmart have come in handy. they are a hell of a lot better than hauling buckets.
At the base of my last two plants, I've put a 5 gallon pail with a 1/16" hole in the bottom. Its a great drip irrigation setup and is pretty cheap. The bucket drains over the course of a couple hours and the water penetrates deep into the soil instead of spreading over the top inch of the soil and evaporating. Its a lot easier to water as well. I dont have to wait for the water to run into the soil then pour a little more. It has cut down my watering time significantly.
The only problem is that the small holes become clogged pretty easily so you have to make sure that the buckets stay clean inside. I painted the buckets brown, inside and out, for safety reasons. A white bucket in the middle of nowhere is a give away, and I was paranoid about the eye in the sky seeing them from above.