Such visual confirmation of just how disappointing, both heat-wise and moisture-wise, the start of this year's gardening season has been. First we dealt with the extreme lack of moisture, and then this last week we had so much rain that I still haven't been able to get into the field garden.
I pulled this picture taken on June 1st a few years ago from my picture folders.
And this is the picture from yesterday. Pretty graphically illustrates we haven't had the best start to this gardening season. It will get better though. As a dyed-in-the-wool gardener (with a bit of my super-stubborn astrological sign of Taurus thrown in), I still have faith that all will turn out well.
Every year is a little bit different, isn't it? I just love your raised beds. I've been slogging away digging the last of the weeds out of my increasingly smaller veg. garden (which is the remaining 1/3 of the big garden where now 2/3 of it is strawberries... does that make sense?). I have undoubtedly asked you before, but roughly what are the dimensions of your raised beds? I've been reading they should be no wider than four feet across for ease of movement. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteJenn - My raised beds are all 4' x 8' and, believe it or not, reaching into the very center of the beds (even from the 4' side) is a stretch. So I certainly wouldn't want them to be wider than that. I love my raised beds for so many reasons and yet still want the more traditional "on the ground" areas for planting certain things that just don't seem practical in the raised beds: potatoes, rows of beans, Brussels sprouts, cabbages (although I have grown them in the raised beds some years), full-sized tomatoes, corn, rows of shell peas, etc.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your always encouraging and kind comments, Jenn!
Dramatic difference, yes.
ReplyDeleteBut...
If our ancestors had given up, at the start of a bad growing year, none of us, would be here today.
So you are right, to be determined, to succeed in the long run.
Raised bed envy here....
ReplyDeletewisps of words - You know, whenever I have a little failure in my gardening endeavors and we're short on a veggie for the winter, for instance, I make myself remember what it was like for our ancestors when they had a crop failure. They truly had to do without where we can always get just about anything we want to fill in any shortages. How very lucky we are!
ReplyDeleteMichelle - Oh, I do love my raised beds! Hey, how 'bout enlisting your big, strong teenager to help you make some? It wouldn't be hard . . . :o)
Those beautiful beds will be FULL of green and nutrition in NO time at all. What a wonderful garden.
ReplyDeleteIt is as it is, and soon everything will burst into life and you will be busy storing the harvest.
ReplyDeleteIncredible what one year to the next brings. Still, I have faith that the sun will beam down and brighten up your gardens until they cannot grow anymore! And then the harvest will be a smashing one! :)How's that for positivity on a Monday! :)
ReplyDeleteBut its so clean and tidy! Your hard work has paid off. We're having a slow growing year in Western NY too. And we haven't had it as bad as you have. It seems like cucurbits are PAINFULLY slow to germinate. Second year in a row for that problem. Lettuce is not taking off. The zinnias are rusting. The potted flowers are sluggish. It's all a crap shoot and a waiting game.
ReplyDeleteWow! You are not kidding... that is a big difference! Hope the weather becomes more manageable and you are able to work your garden magic and things will be growing in no time. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a big difference! I think your raised beds look amazing though. Ah, a Taurus! You stubborn gal lol ;) I'm a Pisces...swimming in my emotions and dreams of the garden lol! :)
ReplyDeletebeth - Thanks for your faith in my gardening abilities! ;o)
ReplyDeleteVera - It does always seem to come out okay in the end . . . even if a few things do fail. Like last year when none of the Brussels sprouts matured. We sure missed them over winter, but didn't starve, that's for sure.
SmartAlex - Ha! You have 'bout the most beautifully done garden I've ever seen! What do they say? Misery loves company? Good to hear your season is starting off slow, too. ;o)
MrsDM - Sounds like exactly the pep talk I needed! Thank you!
Lisa - Thanks, my friend. No rain today, but oh my goodness, did we have the wind. I kept checking my cabbage plants I set out yesterday fearing they were going to be blown flat but they turned out to be stronger than I thought. And darn good thing they are!
Rain - The beds would look a LOT more amazing if we could see something growing in them! Patience, Mama Pea, patience!
Thank you for your comment on this post of mine.
ReplyDeleteI did reply to comments, in my blog, which I don't usually do. And I wanted to let you know.
wisps of words - I did notice and like your comments on your own posts! But I know that's not the way you like to do it -- usually -- and I think it's your right to do it any way you want. So there! ;o}
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe how different our weather conditions are from year to year (heck, from day to day!) We had full-on summer, with heat and humidity and now, it's fall. It's downright exhausting. If nothing else, your garden continues to be an inspiration in it's lovely neatness. I bet it will look totally different on July 1!
ReplyDeleteAlways nice to see what other people are doing in their garden. My raised beds here have been slow to start, too. I've had to replant melons and squash numerous times. Can you believe it?? Having a hard time growing zucchini this year. Sheesh! Been trying to keep up with all the stuff around here, and sort of falling behind....
ReplyDeleteAnyway, nice to talk to you after so long of an absence on my part. Just thought I'd say hello, and nice to "see" you!
~~Lori
Susan - Omigosh, let's hope it looks different on July 1st! Otherwise this gal will be throwing in her trowel and probably tearing out her hair. :o/
ReplyDeleteLori - So good to hear from you! Where have you been?? I know, busy with all the day-to-day stuff just like the rest of us. Sounds as if first plantings in a lot of gardens all over the country have not been successful this year. What's up with that??