This was today's harvest. A few cucumbers, squash, bell peppers and a variety of tomatoes -- plus one shallot I pulled to check their progress. Not too bad, huh? Well, take a good look because it may be the best of the season.
Our garden is wilting from the heat and lack of rain. After more than four weeks without any rain, DH used the last of the collected rainwater over a week ago.
Much of May and June was hot -- days over 90ºF. and nighttime lows tended to stay above 70º. After a slight reprieve last week, the National Weather Service issued an Excessive Heat Watch for the next few days. That means it's likely to hit triple digits. And, other than a very slight chance of thunderstorms at the end of the week, there's no rain in sight.
The melons and winter squash in the photo above are mulched with straw. Can you tell the difference between the straw mulch and the regular grass "growing" in the upper right of the picture? The late-planted tomatoes are coming into bloom but I have serious doubts they will produce much edible fruit. Blossom-end rot is a killer when the water supply's erratic. The second planting of beans is looking good but I expect it will start to show the effects of no rain before many days pass. Yes, I know, "always with the negative waves, Moriarity, always with the negative waves." I'll try to do better tomorrow.
5 comments:
Wow! It's so true, Carolyn--we're facing yet another really dry summer here. We water some of our things early mornings or in the evening, but it's expensive and we try to conserve, too. I hope your garden does ok--I'll cross my fingers we all get rain sometime soon! We had some last week, and we were doing rain dances for hours. Your veggies look fabulous, though!
I wish I could send you some of our Kansas rain!
Given the impact on your food budget, is it impossible to water these growing things? I don't know your water options, but on the surface (pardon the pun) it seems that paying for watering would still save money in food costs in the long run.
Geez, the weather all over has been backwards this year IMHO.
Public water isn't available in our area of the county so we have to rely on our private well -- so many wells have gone dry around here in the last ten years that I'm very thankful for ours which has a low but steady return rate. Adequate for household and livestock needs, at least.
DH and I've talked about putting in a water tank and having water delivered during the drier months. Quite a few houses on our county road go that route for all their household water. But it just seems to run counter to our desire to conserve water and other resources that we haven't been able to reconcile ourselves to it yet.
Now a raindance, as Sue mentions, might be an alternative tho... ;) Wish we could trade some dry for some rain. I know SE Iowa's been hit with too much water, too.
I like your blog! I read Suzanne's too.
Your harvest looks great! Those poor squash desperately need some water in that heat. It's been extremely hot here too, but wet!
Sheryl,
The squash are finally looking better as we've had two rainstorms in the last 3 weeks. I know some areas are facing flooding from all their rain so I'm trying to remember to be thankful for what we do AND do not have.
CITR is a must-read here, too!
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