The only high spot is that it looks like I'll shortly be inundated with
tomatoes. I've already picked a few and they did NOT disappoint. :-)
Though, with all the rain we're having (northeast), they're all
threatening to split.

The cukes are not getting pollinated completely. I have not one
eggplant despite blossoms. The only peppers I have are the lilacs and
the one California Wonder bell that I bought fully grown. The Thai hot
chiles are producing and the basil looks great.

The zukes are stunted, yellow squash is rallying. No pumpkins at all.

Next year, I'm just hoping for semi-normal weather.

Mary

In article , Mary McHugh
wrote:

The only high spot is that it looks like I'll shortly be inundated with
tomatoes. I've already picked a few and they did NOT disappoint. :-)
Though, with all the rain we're having (northeast), they're all
threatening to split.

The cukes are not getting pollinated completely. I have not one
eggplant despite blossoms. The only peppers I have are the lilacs and
the one California Wonder bell that I bought fully grown. The Thai hot
chiles are producing and the basil looks great.

The zukes are stunted, yellow squash is rallying. No pumpkins at all.

Next year, I'm just hoping for semi-normal weather.

Mary

Wow, weird. We could have grown corn up here this year. We had a really
early spring and have had hot, dry weather all summer. It's normally rainy
here in July & August, when we're haying. We just finished our hay (200 acres)
and have moved over to the neighbors to do her 80 acres, and haven't had
*any* rain since we started. Weird weather, indeed!

Jan

On Wed, 06 Aug 2003 17:05:11 -0400, Mary McHugh
wrote:

The only high spot is that it looks like I'll shortly be inundated with
tomatoes. I've already picked a few and they did NOT disappoint. :-)
Though, with all the rain we're having (northeast), they're all
threatening to split.

To date (in Pennsylvania's chilly Northern Tier) we've had
five ripe tomatoes from outdoor plants (6 plants). The
miniature Red Robins growing indoors (in a big bay window)
continue to thrive and produce enough cherry tomatoes to add
to one serving of salad per day, sometimes two.


The cukes are not getting pollinated completely. I have not one
eggplant despite blossoms. The only peppers I have are the lilacs and
the one California Wonder bell that I bought fully grown. The Thai hot
chiles are producing and the basil looks great.

I planted cukes very late (I was sick) and I think they were
permanently stunted from having been in their little 6-packs
so long. I don't think we'll get cukes at all this year.

We picked two green peppers (from purchased seedlings,
variety unknown) yesterday. They weren't terribly large,
but I needed two green peppers for the dinner we were
having.

The zukes are stunted, yellow squash is rallying. No pumpkins at all.

I'm getting tons of zukes, tons of yellows squash (from one
plant each). The white pattypan squash just started
flowering this week.

Next year, I'm just hoping for semi-normal weather.


Wouldn't THAT be nice. I'm hoping the same thing, plus
hoping I don't again have an illness that keeps me out of
the garden for all of June and half of July.

Pat

On Wed, 06 Aug 2003 13:38:01 -0800, (Jan
Flora) wrote:



Wow, weird. We could have grown corn up here this year. We had a really
early spring and have had hot, dry weather all summer. It's normally rainy
here in July & August, when we're haying. We just finished our hay (200 acres)
and have moved over to the neighbors to do her 80 acres, and haven't had
*any* rain since we started. Weird weather, indeed!


(Northern PA) We had a cold, cold, wet, wet, wet spring.
Then one week of hot weather (first week in July). Since
then it's been quite cool (highs mostly in the 70s, some low
80s) and very rainy. I don't think our temperature has been
over 85 since that first week in July, and rarely that high.

And it sure has rained - almost daily. It did rain EVERY
DAY FOR MORE THAN SIX WEEKS IN THE SPRING. Yuck.

Between the strange weather, and the fact we were building
and filling raised beds (a LOT of work), and the fact that I
was unable to garden at all throughout June and half of July
(and still cannot do very much - bursitis of the hip joint
plus back problems) --- anyway, this is NOT a good year for
my garden! Phooey.

Nevertheless, in SPITE of all this, we've had/are still
having:

* various lettuces
* chard
* Asian greens (hon tsai tai, choy sum, bok choy, mizuna,
mibuna, Vitaminna, shungiku)
* basil (doing very well)
* other herbs: chives, flat leaf parsley, curly parsley,
sage, thyme, and oregano. Also sorrell and burnet.
* beets
* tomatoes (few - hopefully more eventually)
* peppers (just starting)
* lots of zucchini
* lots of yellow crookneck squash
* broccoli (a little - didn't plant much)

None yet, but hopefully later: eggplant and pattypan squash

I'm planting - if I ever get to it - seeds for kale, mache,
lettuce and chard for fall crops, also some of the
fast-growing Asian greens.

Pat

On Wed, 06 Aug 2003 17:05:11 -0400, Mary McHugh
wrote:

The cukes are not getting pollinated completely. I have not one
eggplant despite blossoms. The only peppers I have are the lilacs and
the one California Wonder bell that I bought fully grown. The Thai hot
chiles are producing and the basil looks great.

True to rainy conditions, all but 3 of my cuke seedlings were wiped
out by slugs, even when using copious amounts of escar-go (we are
talking 3 packets of seeds....several hundred of them...none lasted
past germination). I had been planning on massive canning operations,
but will have to scale back (I planted new seeds 2 weeks ago but they
might not make it...seedlings are only an inch tall now).

The peppers sort-of like this weather. But if the weather stays damp
AND gets cooler like it was in June (mid-sometimes LOWER 50s F all
month long), then things will change. Tomatoes will be a banner
year, dozens are over baseball size out there but not turning red.
They're doing well mostly because I'm using a newly-tilled
7-hr-per-day sun spot in the back yard. And good thing, what with
tomatoes going for $2 / lb at the store lately.

The zukes are stunted, yellow squash is rallying. No pumpkins at all.

The local bumblebees are true soldiers, some going out in the
heaviest of rain. Winter squash and pumpkin fruits are skyrocketing,
most of the acorn squash and pumpkins are over softball size now. The
butternut and spaghetti have some catching up to do, but not much.

Next year, I'm just hoping for semi-normal weather.

I would prefer mother nature laid out her itinerary of weather ahead
of time. Last year I could've grown cactus and sagebrush with great
success....if I was told ahead of time this year, I could've gotten
the mushroom, cranberry and rice paddies ready.

Dan

dstvns wrote:

On Wed, 06 Aug 2003 17:05:11 -0400, Mary McHugh
wrote:


True to rainy conditions, all but 3 of my cuke seedlings were wiped
out by slugs, even when using copious amounts of escar-go (we are
talking 3 packets of seeds....several hundred of them...none lasted
past germination). I had been planning on massive canning operations,
but will have to scale back (I planted new seeds 2 weeks ago but they
might not make it...seedlings are only an inch tall now).


Dan, I've had very good results from broadcasting generous amounts of raw
coffee grounds over my garden. Last year I was getting wiped out by the
sneaky little blighters (contemplating whether to put in a third planting
of beans or not) before stumbling across some Univ. of Hawaii research into
the effects of caffeine on amphibian that had the interesting side effect
of killing slugs. I applied the stuff and BLAM no more problems with
slugs last year. This year, at the first sign of damage, I did the same. NO
further damage. Lots of earthworms, etc (generally 2-3 per trowel full of
soil) but, so far as I can tell, no more slugs.

According to the Univ. of HA research, the slugs can't handle the nervous
stimulation of caffeine and die within minutes of contact with it.

Bill
--
Zone 5b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.