My Sad Little Garden

Every year I try to grow things in my garden, with mixed results. Last year, we had a massive zucchini plant that went halfway across the yard. My husband had to mow around it for months. We were so excited about all the great zucchini we were going to get. Finally, it produced... one... a single zucchini, the size and shape of a watermelon. We managed to cook it, but it was a little weird having slices the size of a small dinner plate. The only other things that grew were some beans (we got a handful of beans at a time) and these things called lemon cucumbers, which grew on a vine and were pretty successful. Nothing really got going until the end of the summer, though...

I tried really hard with my garden this year. I started lots of seeds in March and April. My whole kitchen table was taken up with little seedlings for months. I don't know if they didn't get enough sun or what, because nothing really grew. :-(

So when it was time for planting (the weekend of Mother's Day, according to local gardening authorities), I planted pepper and tomato seedlings that I bought. I planted squash, cucumber, and beans directly in the ground. And then... I waited.

There wasn't any late frost or anything, but the weather never really seemed to warm up. And then, it rained, and rained, and rained. I guess in June the sun only came out 25% of the time. (July is a little better, but still very cool and rainy overall.) So my plants kind of just languished in the garden, not dying but not growing either.

My tomato plants are finally growing. The peppers don't seem any bigger but are producing some flowers.
The squash and cucumber plants are finally starting to grow.

I set up a little pyramid for my beans to grow on. Too bad, I forgot that I was growing bush beans, not pole beans. They don't need to grow on anything. They are growing some beans, and I harvested a whole handful yesterday. I cut them up and cooked them in my rice pilaf.

I had strawberry plants from last year. The squirrels and birds ate all of the strawberries before they had time to ripen. My husband jokes that I put a lot of effort into feeding the local wildlife. I planted blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries all around my property. So far, only the raspberries are producing fruit, but again, someone keeps eating them...

Well, I still have hope. I don't give up on my garden until the frost kills it. I really wish I was able to grow enough food so that we wouldn't need to buy produce during the summer, and also have enough to can and freeze. Well, with results like this... I guess I better keep wishing!