My garden left me a letter and I have come to terms with it, begrudgingly
Dear Farmer,
We regret to inform you of the early demise of your garden. Due to forces both inside and outside your control the bulk of the plants are either dead or dying. Those of us who are willing to confess include Spider Mites (who send their regards), Aphids (who send a hearty thank you), Powdery Mildew (who exploded spores in exultation), and the 2 nights of freezing temperatures (which said, "Tough shit! I'm NATURE!"). We thank you for the food source you provided and your ignorance of effective control of us. We look forward to the feast you provide next year.
Sincerely
Your Garden & Nature
This is the letter I was left with Saturday morning. I kinda knew it was coming but didn't want to give in and admit it. The summer has been the longest period of no rain in the area in recorded history and the land is parched now. 70+ days with no rain means all the native plants and trees are showing the signs, so the forecasted rains for the next few days is going to hopefully rejuvenate the land.
Some of the plants did not fair so well when the temperatures hit 29F or 30F/-1C or -2C, but some seemed to come through fairly well. This tomato was one of the uncovered volunteers that are scattered around the garden that didn't do so well.
I have large areas of squash plants that I decided not cover for the freeze but I made sure to cover my 2 rows of tomatoes. It appears my decision was not that bad since the squash are looking like they could bounce back as long as the weather cooperates. They lost top leaves but a lot of them still have live growth and flowers.
The tomatoes fared quite well under the row cover with only slight blemishes on the leaves and a few tomatoes here and there. The rest looked really good and I am really happy the row cover worked better than prior years. Experience is a benefit to a better outcome for sure.
The rest of the main garden is in varying states. The potatoes are ready for harvest/salvage, the chard is prime for harvest, and the beans are sputtering along. The rain is going to help everything with a good shower to rinse off the grime and to help with the humidity levels. There is still a month or more of growing season, judging by the average the last 5 years, so I hope we can get back to a moderately warm spell.
So we shall see what the next few weeks brings and if Fall is really here or if it is just teasing us. I hope it is a tease, it's kinkier that way... and more profitable since I can harvest more produce.
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Fleming Family Farm
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That was a bad letter here, in nigeria we experiencing rain although at a little intensity
Am sure your plants will bounce back with little rains.
Enjoy them and also enjoy steemit
Does Nigeria get monsoon rains? It is just becoming spring there I think but I am not sure if monsoons are spring or fall. Our weather pattern has become drier in the summers and a bit wetter in the winter.
Awww @flemingfarm the 'joys' of gardening. We've just had the most warm winter and I think only half of the drops came to fruition. The rest supported the chookie-babes (aka hens). Hope the results are better than you feared. :)
Your weather seems to have been pretty erratic the past 10 years at least but I have heard far more of it in recent times. That probably means you will have an early year for gardening with such a mellow winter. I'm just hoping this rain does some good.
I hope you can get back the moderate warm spell. Enjoy gardening. May you have a fruitful day..
Thanks, I'm unsure what I want more, the season to continue or to just be done. I want more produce but nature has the final say. I've never been a patient person, even though I am a farmer, so waiting for the answer is never easy.
We haven't had frost here yet, but we got close a couple of times. Then we got a week of weather in the 80s and no rain. That's kind of weird for the middle of September, it's usually not that hot.
I had a narrow miss myself had ice on my back deck but amazingly the garden was barely touched.
Winter is coming !
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Looks like you managed to salvage a good deal of your garden. Which is great. One never knows what to expect, but you went a long time without rain and I expect the good out weighed the bad. Huge garden! Hope you get good weather until harvest time. 🐓🐓
Very informative post. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Please follow and upvote me.
That rain was such a long time coming. Everything is happier now, for sure! Here's to a long autumn -- and the good growing that brings! :D