Back Again

Hey, everyone! I'm still alive. Spring was hectic, and summer even worse. Now that things have calmed down, I finally have the time and energy to write.

The garden was a major disappointment this year. The spring was too cold and wet, the summer was cloudy except for a couple of spurts of hot weather (when we were on vacation, no less). I didn't put Kozy-Koates on my tomatoes, so the first ones are just now getting ripe. The strawberries are still a mass of weeds. Half of the things I wanted to plant, didn't get in the ground.

The cabbages that I started under lights early this year bolted, as did the broccoli. The lettuce nearly died when I transplanted it. The lettuce that self-sowed did much better overall. The cherries had a late frost, so I didn't get any. Even my apple trees are not doing so well, many having succumbed to a fungus.

Now the weather powers-that-be say that we're in for a La Nina winter, which means that nothing will overwinter here without serious protection. September is supposed to be way colder than normal, and October wetter than normal (read "floods"). It's supposed to rain at the end of the week, so I'm going to put something over the tomatoes to help keep them warm and dry (so they don't get late blight).

In lieu of garden fruit and veggies, I've been trying to find u-pick and local food. The boys and I picked 14 pounds of blueberries and several pounds of raspberries. I bought 20 pounds of peaches at a farmer's market and canned several quarts. I'll make a trip down in the valley for pickling cukes, corn to freeze, and whatever other veggies I can find.

I'll still get another batch of lettuce, spinach, radishes and scallions planted for the year, and maybe some arugula and mache. I'm not hoping for anything beyond that, though. I'll be stocking up on supplies this year as La Nina has lately meant two weeks of snow, or I can't get across the valley to the grocery store due to flooded roads. I've already started stocking up on my son's medications, canned tomatoes and beans, although an inventory is probably in order.

Hmm. Nice to core-dump. Back with more (accomplishments this time) soon.