Garden update

We're finally seeing some produce from the garden, but not an overwhelming amount (except for zucchini - that always overproduces). Our only doubts now are whether we'll have enough warm, sunny days to get everything that's currently beginning to produce to finish the project. It's already starting to be cooler in the mornings.

Our garden has done two things we wanted it to do - it gives Timmy a better idea of where food comes from, and he's trying new vegetables. He still won't eat radishes (the few we've harvested have been hotter than average), but he's tried zucchini and raw green beans. He can't wait until we get some more tomatoes so he can eat them. I doubt we'll get any pumpkins, watermelon, or cantaloupe, although we do have the vines growing everywhere they can.

We have one ear of corn on one corn plant, and that plant was actually planted by a squirrel! We have fox squirrels in the neighborhood, and my next-door neighbor feeds them corn on the cob. The squirrels of course bury the corn for the winter, and sometimes it grows. We have corn plants in several places in the yard that were definitely not planted by any of us.

We planted tomatoes late, but they're finally beginning to produce more than one or two fruit each. We're going to try to plant earlier this coming year. This year we had a freeze on the last day of May, and had to replant. I've found a couple of ways to keep our new plants from being frost-bitten, so we should have a longer growing season next year.

We had a disappointing time with carrots, and the sunflowers are just now beginning to produce heads.

The blackberries I planted ten years ago for my wife are doing well this year. Last year's crop was fairly poor, but we've gotten three or four quarts from the canes this year.

Our big worry now is an early fall snowstorm. I've seen snow in my back yard as early as August 29th. If that happens this year, it will probably mean the end of our gardening until next year.