The not so bountiful harvest

I haven't written all summer. Imagine that. I tried to convince you to grow food for the needy and I was doing to it myself. But I didn't write and tell you how it was going. Well, let's just say I let myself get way off track. I did a lot research and found that there were already a lot organizations already doing or trying to do what I wanted to do. So that was a bit discouraging. I got my garden planted and it was growing beautifully. I fully expected a bountiful harvest. First the grasshoppers came. I had a hard time getting them to go without chemicals. I used some organic insecticidal soap. It was okay but not great. In order for it to be really effective I would have needed to sit in the garden all day like a tail gunner shooting at the enemy. I used some stronger stuff in the surrounding grass areas and cut all the grasses within two feet of the garden.

This seemed to help. Grasshoppers were down to a manageable level. But then the rains came. Or should I say rain and hail! We had more hail storms from June - July than we've had in the last seven years combined. They ripped at the leaves of my tender tomatoes. But they came back each time. They just couldn't overcome all the rain. They got late blight - a fungus caused by too much rain - its in the soil but isn't usually a problem in Colorado because it is so dry. So the first bit of tomatoes were mealy and not very tasty. Then the later tomatoes started coming on just as September arrived. Evenings started to cool a bit and they didn't seem to want to turn red. About the time the whole garden was ready to burst in to red, it dipped below freezing and nipped about 75% of my tomatoes. The one plant I have up close to the house that didn't get nipped by the cold got nipped by the deer the same night! Imagine that.

Even my zucchini didn't like all the rain. Normally I can't keep up with the zucchini but I got just a few each week. Beans were productive for about a week.

Mother Nature has conspired against me this season. But like any farmer I am determined to make a come back. I have planted my fall lettuces and they are starting to come up. I am planning to move my basil out of the garden and in to a large pot in the greenhouse, along with my oregano. My onions were fabulous though not enough to share. So I have to rethink what I am planting, how I am planting and what I growing next year. I have all winter to plan.