The weather promised rain this past weekend and failed to deliver more than spotty showers. It was no where near enough to make up for the deficit we have. There is a possibility fo rain on Tuesday and Wednesday. We can only hope.
Meanwhile, as we can still irrigate, we are actually having a fairly successful garden. I have lost the cauliflower and the broccoli looks pretty unhappy but the tomatoes are doing well and the peppers are loving it. I have just started more brassicas and plan to replant in early August. I will have resort to row covers to beat an early frost but these cool weather vegetables play a big role in our winter eating and I don’t want to face a winter without broccoli soup. More and more, the virtues of learning to like a diet of the things that grow well where one lives makes good sense. Plan A might include family favorites but Plan B has to include what is totally reliable. For us, it’s potatoes and squash, corn and beans. They tend to grow no matter what, especially the old varieties.
I planted an old variety of painted sweet corn this year. It’s doing well with no extra water. It’s a funny looking corn, more like decorative corn than anything else and certainly not as sweet as the hybrids but it’s open pollinated so I can save the seed. I wish I could save the seed on my squash but we plant a number of varieties and they cross-pollinate so you never know what will come up the next year. I know how to keep that from happening (in theory at least) but for now I have just vacuum sealed seeds and stored them in my freezer. Just in case.
A summer like this really drives home the point that nature will always have the last laugh. I have touted the Northeast as the place to live in hard times because of our dependable water. Last year we only had a few days without rain and lost our tomatoes and potatoes to blight because of it. This year, the grass is brown and only constant watering will save the garden in this heat. It just knocks the hubris right out me.
July 12, 2010 at 10:42 am
We got the rain that passed you by, but had already lost some squash plants to the heat. I’m hoping for some of that rain this week too. The popcorn looks better, but still not great. I’ll hook up our one rain barrel to the garage downspout to catch some of the rain, if we get any. It’s been out of commission for repairs. Even a little salvaged water is good in my book.
July 12, 2010 at 10:50 am
Kate has very cool blog for any who have missed it. A recent ppost of eating from glut to glut really hit home with me as I am eating raspberries again.
July 12, 2010 at 10:54 am
wow! how absolutely odd…on this side of the mountain we got a nice good soaking. I was begining to worry about my broc as well, but everything is doing fine. An odd thing; during that heat wave where we had temps of over 103.5 here, the last of my strawberries litterally cooked on the plant! no other way to describe it either.
I’m eating raspberries now too, my plants just started ripening. Happy gardening!
July 12, 2010 at 11:59 am
The rain was so spotty. Some places got soaked; some got a sprinkle. We got a bit bu nowhere near enough. I have heard of strawberries “cooking” like that but have never seen it myself. We just laid down a sun screen that can with the greenhouse hoping to protect the broccoli.
July 12, 2010 at 12:08 pm
I’m definetely going to be investing my “garden budget” in netting and screens next year. If I’m to depend on my garden for all our food (basically)eventually, I need to build these strategies into my plans. I have thought of a greenhouse, but wonder if it’s more work up here than it’s worth.(sigh…decisions decisions)
July 12, 2010 at 1:01 pm
We’ve gotten some rain, but not enough.
Our Corn is really small. My daughter ate some this past weekend, said it tasted pretty good, but it was just so small.
We are getting Green Peas in abundance. But the Coli flour is floundering. Tomatoes are coming regularly. In fact, my wife has planted Tomatoes in small pots and we have them on the front deck. We got one early Tomato and currently have about 17 on a total of 5 plants. I’m hoping they will start ripening soon as, I’m looking forward to eating a fresh Tomatoes with my share of salt.
We spent several hundred dollars on canning jars, two canning pots (one pressure and one unpressurized) and we are now beginning to see that there probably won’t be much from the garden to can.
While, from my prospective, we aren’t too successful, being our first year ar gardening, we are having some success.
Maybe next year we will have more success. The killer, I think, is weeds. They are uncontrollable. We don’t know what to do as, I have been pushing the idea that we stay away from pesticides.
But the weeds are choking everything and there are simply too many for 3 people to manage – especially when two of us work at our normal jobs 10 hours a day…
But hey! We will eventually learn, given the time…
July 12, 2010 at 2:00 pm
It is really demoralizing to have so little to show for so much work and money. We rely on mulching instead of weeding much. Even wet newspaper makes a ggod weed choker and the soil will love you for it. If you get to the weeds before they can set seed, it will get easier each year. I didn’t garden much the years I worked full time. You might consider going to a local farm or farmer’s market to get produce for canning. It will still fill your pantry with good, local food and, canning, like growing food, is something you want to practice with the lights on and a grocery nearby in case of a failed attempt.
July 12, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Thanks for the nod to the blog, Kathy.
C.W., I think that sounds great for your first year out at gardening. Weeds are the bane of every organic gardener, but you can get them under control with some disciplined work. Google for sheet mulching, or lasagna mulching – an invaluable technique in my experience. Try to stay ahead of them, especially early in the year. And don’t give up. I’m just now feeling like I’ve fought the weeds to a draw after three years working in our largest bed. Remember that nature will always put a weed in a bare spot, so try hard not to leave any of those. At least they’re stabilizing the soil to prevent erosion. So in a way they’re doing you some service.