Golden and green beans are being picked every 3rd day.
The Zinnias have reached critical mass.
Flowers are exploding everywhere.
But all is not unicorns and rainbows in the back forty.
Oh no...It's crunch time out there my friends.
The switch has been flipped and we are in full out Summer time mode.
Everyday for the near future has been forecast to be between 95 and 100 blistering degrees.
And better gardeners than I have seen promising gardens go up in smoke during lengthy heat waves.
The lettuce is already toast. The cucumbers are just starting to grow, the carrots are getting close and I actually have a shot at a bumper crop of winter squash and pumpkins this year.
For some reason last year all I got was male flowers so for me to see so many baby butternuts and dutch longnecks on the vine is thrilling me to no end.
Trouble is I need at least another month to get them to size and if they don't get adequate water or the plant stresses too much from the heat...Well, then I'll be skunked again this year.
I think a lot of folks assume that we have a long growing season here but actually it's not a continuous growing season for vegetables at least.
Everything but tomatoes is done by July and then you have to hang out and wait till September if you want to try for a fall garden.
So I'll do what I can.
When Mother Nature fails to supply us with a daily thunderstorm (few and far between) than the garden hose and I will do that age old gardening dance of summer survival.
Hot, hot??
Squirt, squirt.
Cha, cha, cha...
Whoa, Nellie! That zinnia bed is somethin' else! Good thing they like hot weather. (And also why I struggle to grow them in my garden!) Your garden looks good . . . here's hoping you can keep it hydrated in your upcoming desert-like stretch of weather. Do you have a couple of sprinkler systems you can set up rather than standing there with a hose?
ReplyDeleteOoooh, squash! Yum. I was thinking you had more time to grow things. We are used to packing up our gardening things mid-June down here in Central Florida, but I am starting to experiment with slow-bolting and heat tolerant varieties. We are currently embracing sweet potatoes, green beans, okra, summer melon and basil.
ReplyDeleteWho's gettin' all of your zukes?
Yep, been doing the cha-cha-cha over here, too. Hopefully, this spell will pass in a few days and we'll all get back to normal.
ReplyDelete