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If it’s like mine… slowly. Despite regular watering, our garden has not been as bountiful as it has in past years. The heat and drought are doing some strange things to the garden. I have zucchini vines crawling all over… with no zucchini on them. Green beans climbing high up poles… but no beans on the plants.
It does make you appreciate the fact that produce prices will be rising due to crop loss. I read a SmartMoney article yesterday that said the price of corn is up 45% this year.
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petcouponer says
Picked my first red tomato yesterday. Will make a nice BLT with all the cheap bacon from Dom’s. Will be awhile before others turn red. Plant is very sad looking. No green beans yet. 2 cucumbers, need to grow bigger. Have some nice looking zucchini plants. Lots of flowers. Found one fruit today, too small to pick yet. Have heard zucchini blossoms are good to eat. Any recipes?
Calibabydolly says
well “liquid gold” that is. We have figured a way to use all the ground water that is normally pumped away from the sump pump. We live in a townhouse of 5 units and it appears we have built over what once was a waterway or creek in the middle of a corn field! At first we were upset at how often the pump ran but now my brilliant husband ran a hose outside to the yard, instead of wasting the water underground that pumps into the subdivisions drainage pond.
The hose does not reach the garden, so we have to haul watering cans and buckets out there but this is rainwater! The plants are loving it. It is the heat that has caused all of our gardens around IL to be unproductive. My beans are being eaten by the rabbit. I notice he eats off the flowers and I saw him doing so today. I blamed it on the heat and poor soil.
Normally I have to sprinkle with the hose daily AND use Miracle Grow to get a garden half this good. I used Miracle grow only once this year and that was before the drought. This gives me lots of exercise, but it really is FREE food! I have had peas, beets, spinach, lettuce, zucchini, cucumbers, green peppers, and I will have tons of tomatoes when they get red. I have lots of fresh herbs and my favorites so far are cilantro, basil, dill and thyme. I have to attribute the success from all the repurposed rain water!
Supermom10 says
I am in Arizona and almost never get rain where I live. I have to water it every morning – its part of my morning routine!!! Walk our dog & water garden is the start of my day. Did get a lot of tomatoes – no more now, as it is too hot. Now just green peppers and cantaloupes. Have gotten some green peppers – no cantaloupes yet. Also have orange trees and a grapefruit tree. This is the first year (we had it for at least 7 years) that I have seen at least 100 grapefruits! So I guess keep watering!
Supermom10 says
It is very hot and dry where I live. I have some books that I refer to for gardening in the area. Also, just talking with people at the nursery has been very helpful. So it is possible to garden anywhere! I just found out this week we can grow Apple trees here!! Never thought it was possible…
FDeRosier says
I have two areas where I’m growing veggies. The one on the south side of the house has all kinds of peppers and tomatoes, and they are growing like crazy! The area in the back of the house has leeks, zucchini, strawberries and more peppers, but those aren’t producing hardly at all. My zucchini plant is huge, but not a single zucchini on it. And the leeks look more like chives. I have a bumper crop of banana peppers and jalapenos from the south side of the house that I would like to preserve. Other than freezing or pickling them, does anyone have any great ways to do that? Also, does anyone know of a physical store in the northern suburbs that sells pressure canners? I can find tons online, but would like to go to a store to see/compare them. Thanks!
nice2save says
The price of corn is outrageous this year! Our garden actually looks pretty good in spite of the heat. I think there are a couple of reasons. First, we’ve been amending the soil with compost made from our fruit and vegetable scraps (free fertilizer – I highly recommend it!) for several years. So the soil is really rich and healthy. Second, although the vegetable garden is in the sunniest part of the yard, our yard is on the shady side. I think the shade that we bemoan most years has protected it from the extreme heat this year. Good luck to all the gardeners because there is nothing better than home-grown fruits and vegetables!
4boyshunting89 says
I have one tiny little green pepper, bean plants with no beans, and tomato plants with flowers, but no tomatoes. Pooh!
I have started a compost bin, and a vermicompost bin (worms), so I am hoping next year will be better.
My wildflower garden is dead. The only thing that bloomed this year were the columbine and a few coneflowers.
Outlander says
We have lots of green tomatoes too. Barely a couple ripe ones in the last few days. The one good thing was Hot Hungarian Wax peppers, which we had quite a few so far and they are hotter then usual too. There are plenty jalapeños too, but not ripe yet.
My peaches are great too, even though we lost quite a few to frost this spring. They are ripening now which is a couple of weeks early.
NFriday says
Hi- You can go over to the gardenweb forum, and there are all kinds of posts about this problem with zucchini, and they go into how to hand pollinate your zucchini. It has to do with the male and female flowers. They explain it all over there. When I used to have zucchini in my garden, I had the same problem one year, and they helped me out. Now if they could only come up with an organic solution for the squash vine borer. Once your plant gets infested with that it is next to impossible to get rid of it, and your whole plant dies on you within a day or two after your plant get infested with these borers.
I know that a few of the farmer’s that come to the Evanston farmer’s market, have had problems with the heat too. One of the farmer’s from Michigan had tons of zucchini today for 10 for a dollar, and while I was contemplating whether I wanted to buy that many, he added all his cucumbers and eggplant to the mix too, and so I got 5 zucchini and 5 eggplant for a total of one dollar. As I was leaving the market, he still had tons of zucchini, but his pile of cucumbers and eggplant was a lot smaller. Most people do not know what to do with zucchini, or they don’t like it.
I have a lot of green tomatoes in my garden, but I have only picked one ripe cherry tomato so far. The gentleman I bought the veggies from, also raises a lot of tomatoes, and I asked him when he was going to start picking his heirloom tomatoes, and he said that he has only picked one heirloom tomato so far this season. He should have a few next week though, and lots of them in two weeks. Hope this helps, Nancy
persimeny says
I sometimes find PCs at some Walmarts. Another place would be Farm and Fleet. I found mine (a BIG one) through a free ad. The rubber seal was all that had to be replaced, but a lot cheaper than brand new.
taxkim says
Jill, I, too, was wondering about my beans. Not all even sprouted and planted a few more seeds that are now coming up. Have had lots of blooms and was wondering where the beans were. Just looked in on my garden and finally (yeah!!!) there are some baby green beans. I am growing Blue Lake bush beans. Have many green tomatoes, cucs are doing well, and two zucchini, first could be picked any time. Hope everyones harvest is at least decent this year. Happy gardening.
Jac the Clipper says
My garden is actually not doing as bad as I would have thought with the drought and heat. I’ve had green and yellow zucchinis coming out of my ears! I can’t use them fast enough and give a lot away. We’ve grilled it, baked it, made zucchini bread, zucchini cake. Green peppers are doing good and lots of green tomatoes that should be red in a few days. Beans were terrible – rubbery. I planted eggplant for the first time this year and picked the first one tonight. Now, I need to figure out what to do with it!