Judging by my garden and the produce (or I should say lack of) I'm currently getting from it, you could easily convince me this is the first of July instead of the first of August.
The weather, the garden, my internal clock have all been totally out-of-kilter this year.
Our strawberry season started late and petered out quickly. These beauties, all cleaned, sliced and ready for fresh eating are the very last of them for this year. Sigh.
Today I found the first couple of ripe raspberries. Just enough for a taste. Last year I did an ample first picking in the middle of July.
Unless something disastrous happens, I think we'll have the best blueberry harvest that we've ever had. Our domestic bushes are FULL.
However, it's easy to see they are not even close to ripe yet. Last year, I harvested the first of them on July 22nd.
Broccoli gave us our first heads on July 20th last year. This year the plants haven't even started to form heads yet.
I could go on and on about everything that is late this year due to our very late, cold spring followed by summer that has been cool, wet and lacking sunshine.
But let's face it; that's life and not every year is just the way we want it to be for our own personal purposes.
I'm thankful my garden is still green and growing and other than way too many grasshoppers munching every green leaf they can get their greedy little mandibles on, I'm not battling much other than the weather. (I always thought grasshoppers were worse in dry, hot summers. Guess that's been disproved here this year.)
The garden does look good (yes, I am a little slow but the August 1st pictures in comparison to June 1st and July 1st should get posted tomorrow), and I still have hopes for a good harvest from much of it.
You hear that, Mother Nature? Please be nice now, okay?
14 comments:
It does feel like it ought to be July again, doesn't it? Every year I wish for a 'normal' year - do you think this is our new normal? Ab-normal? That's an amazing blueberry crop! We usually do our pick-a-thon the second week of August, but the local crop was way early this year, so we are trying to squeeze some major pickin in next week. If we miss them, we'll just come up in October and help you pick yours! :)
Susan - Between insect pests, the blight and the weather these past couple/few years, I really don't know what to call "normal" for our gardening efforts anymore.
I really do think the blueberry crop (both wild and domestic) up here has been early the last few years. Now this year though . . . come help pick in October? Maybe November the way my totally green berries look!
yup, be glad for what you got and think of our ancestors that did not have refrigerators or freezers or shopping centers to tide them over til the next season.
Oh-Tombstone said a very true thing--think if we TOTALLY depended on our gardens. Don and I would be starving to death---aside from gallons of blueberries. So wonderful to see how loaded your bushes are. You'll have some FINE pickings ahead. Better get the fly swatter ready though---I'm sure the birds are already planning their attack! LOL!!
Tombstone Livestock - Oh, I know, I know. I think a lot of the women who HAD to rely so much on their gardens and the meat the men folk could hunt for food to feed their families over winter. And so often the families were large . . . six or maybe more children and perhaps a maiden aunt or bachelor uncle living with them. And don't forget grandma and grandpa. Maybe that made for more hands to help with the work, but if a crop (or crops) failed, there was a true shortage of food. And no money to purchase food even if it was available. We DO have it so easy nowadays.
Sue - I probably shouldn't say this out loud, but we've never had trouble with birds going after our blueberries. (Have we lived a charmed life?) If it should happen this year though, we've got netting we've had to use over the apple trees in years past that we could put over the blueberry bushes. (OR I could sit out there with a fly swatter!)
It feels like August here, wish I could send you a bit of warmer weather. We have had, believe it or not, one of the wettest summers on record. My horror in August is that tomorrow my "baby" girl turns 21!! Ahh, it went by too fast!!
Well, better late than never, right? :)
Although your post title has me shuddering a bit. August means that Fall is just around the corner! I'm not ready for Winter yet! (See how I jump right from the beginning of August to Winter? Always getting ahead of myself.)
Looks so inviting. I wish I had grown anything this year? Oh well,just have to wait for local things to come in to the farmers market.
Stephanie - My daughter and I had dinner together last night (hubby was out of town) and we were discussing a mutual friends' upcoming anniversary, number nineteen. And that their "baby" is now 13 years old. That's what makes time seem like it's flying by . . . when kids are suddenly grown up . . . as your daughter is. Happy Birthday to your beautiful "baby!"
Carolyn - Well, if you feel fall is just around the corner for you, you can imagine the panic it gives ME! (Typically in the second week of August, our night temps start really dropping!) I'm never ready for the change of seasons. Never quite manage to get those spring chores done or those summer chores or those fall chores or . . . well, you get the idea.
judy - So good to hear from you!
If you have a good farmer's market near you, that's a great opportunity for some good stuff!
Are you all settled in your new place? Hope the move went well.
Thank you Momma Pea,we are pretty much settled or will be they ever let Jerry come home. His amputation went well,they kept scaring the wits out of me,saying they didn't know if he would make it off the table.They did it with just a block ? can you imagine? grandson on my lap,he wants to type too--lol
Oh...no.... I can't plant raspberries in my country. Tropical area is too hot for them. I found wild berries in highland Indonesia. They grew on the hillside. The berries are red, juicy and the taste sweet-sour. But so difficult to plant them on my home garden. Please....
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