I have been a serious gardener for 43 years.
You would think that I had learned a thing or two in that amount of time.
(Wouldn't you?)
I'm not in the mood for you ()... I'm having enough trouble right now thank you very much.
I haven't posted many pictures of the garden so far this year, because... well, something is wrong......terribly wrong in my garden.
And as in most disasters, several factors are in play, melding together to precipitate the ultimate FUBAR.
Here are the factors in no particular order of importance:
1. While I should have been planting my garden, I was in the air, flying to meet my new grandson. [He was TOTALLY worth it.] :-)
2. When I DID get home, there was a bit of a change around the homestead that took a couple of weeks to sort out.
3. THEN when I did get the seeds in the ground, we promptly began to experience a vicious and prolonged heat wave. This was NOT conducive to germinating seeds.
4. I have been trying to transition my garden over to the no-till method, and I THINK the grass hay I have been piling on is decomposing and in the process may be robbing my soil of nitrogen.
5. [And here is the ONLY comfort I have had during this excruciating chain of events].... many other gardeners are having just about as much trouble as I am this season.
Here's the photographic evidence to document my epic failure as a gardener.... and yes my hens and chickens, I AM taking it personally.
Not much biomass.
The poor flowers are even struggling to survive under the harsh conditions.
There aren't even any weeds growing. Though to be fair, none have gone to seed in my garden for several years, so that MIGHT be a factor. The area above is where I planted kale, carrots, rutabegas, lettuce, and parsnips... TWICE. Sigh.
Even though they look pathetic, I have harvested some nice potatoes. I guess there's a reason the Irish could live on them before the potato blight came. They grow in unfriendly situations.
That is just one of a handful of tomatoes that are on the stunted vines. :-(
The flowers are trying very hard to make it.
That pepper should get some kind of medal of honor. The plant it is growing on is only about 8 inches high....
And here my friends is my only hope for the future....
I planted these kale plants and am keeping my eye on them up by the house. I hope I'll be able to at least get in my fall crop so we have something to eat in winter.
You never knew any gardener who has berated themselves more than I. I'm not sure why I'm taking it so hard, but there you have it.
My strategy for pulling myself out of this mess is to begin building some raised beds out of whatever materials I can scrounge. I have already located an old telephone pole that is lying in the corner of Mr. P's property that he says he will cut up for me to make the first one. It will only be 5 by 3, but I intend to fill it with the best possible soil building materials I can find.
In my defeat, I feel like Scarlet O'hara in Gone With The Wind... shaking her fist at the sky...."I will never go hungry again!"
For trust me, were I depending on this garden to feed me through the winter, I would surely starve.
Thus endeth my tale of woe.
(And not a moment too soon.)
Not much biomass.
The poor flowers are even struggling to survive under the harsh conditions.
There aren't even any weeds growing. Though to be fair, none have gone to seed in my garden for several years, so that MIGHT be a factor. The area above is where I planted kale, carrots, rutabegas, lettuce, and parsnips... TWICE. Sigh.
Even though they look pathetic, I have harvested some nice potatoes. I guess there's a reason the Irish could live on them before the potato blight came. They grow in unfriendly situations.
That is just one of a handful of tomatoes that are on the stunted vines. :-(
The flowers are trying very hard to make it.
That pepper should get some kind of medal of honor. The plant it is growing on is only about 8 inches high....
And here my friends is my only hope for the future....
I planted these kale plants and am keeping my eye on them up by the house. I hope I'll be able to at least get in my fall crop so we have something to eat in winter.
You never knew any gardener who has berated themselves more than I. I'm not sure why I'm taking it so hard, but there you have it.
My strategy for pulling myself out of this mess is to begin building some raised beds out of whatever materials I can scrounge. I have already located an old telephone pole that is lying in the corner of Mr. P's property that he says he will cut up for me to make the first one. It will only be 5 by 3, but I intend to fill it with the best possible soil building materials I can find.
In my defeat, I feel like Scarlet O'hara in Gone With The Wind... shaking her fist at the sky...."I will never go hungry again!"
For trust me, were I depending on this garden to feed me through the winter, I would surely starve.
Thus endeth my tale of woe.
(And not a moment too soon.)