How does your garden grow?

It's been a tough growing season so far with mother nature throwing everything at us from above normal temperatures, to a late frost, a heat wave and now torrential rains and flooding!

(I am kicking myself for not setting up a rain barrel irrigation system)

Miniature sunflowers.

The flowers seem to be loving this weather and are growing much better than the vegetables.

Zinnia

Morning Glory getting ready to sleep last night.

Same Morning Glory this morning.

 Some of the vegetables aren't really enjoying the fluctuating temps and heavy rain too much!

The rain has been really pounding the lettuce, kale and collards. 

The romaine has been holding up well, but the leaf lettuce is looking a bit tattered.

There is plenty of new growth, so as soon as the sun comes back out it should bounce right back.

The tomatillos are loaded with puffy pods. 

This is my first year growing them so it will be interesting to see how they develop.

Cucumbers seem to be doing great. They are planted in the mini-greenhouses with the roof panels removed so they have some protection from the rain. The plants have several flowers and baby cukes!

The garlic and onions all look like they are wearing boots! 

The rain has been falling so hard that the splashing dirt has caked up around the base of the plants.

The greenhouse still holds a couple trays of basil and petunias that were started in the classrooms for the school garden. They weren't quite big enough to be planted when we planted the rest of the garden, but are ready to go in, as soon as it stops raining!

The School Garden

Most of the plants at the school garden are doing much better than the ones at our home garden. Some of the squash, peppers and tomatoes were started here in the greenhouse from the same seed, but because the school garden has more direct sunlight, and is planted in raised beds, it is fairing much better with the heavy rains.

The yellow squash that was started here in the greenhouse is already growing several small yellow squash!

The tomato plants are twice as big and are much thicker than the same ones I planted in our home garden. They were given a dose of coffee grounds, which seemed to really green them up quickly.

The squash that was transplanted just before it got it's first leaves is doing outstanding. 

I swear it doubles in size every day.

One of the most exciting plants this year has to be the sunflowers. 

I planted several different varieties, including a dwarf variety, that are just about ready to open!

I have been having such good luck with flowers so far this year that I am already planning on adding several more varieties next year. I have been diligently dead-heading the marigolds and already have thousands of seeds drying for next season! 

Every growing season is a new learning experience, especially with the changing weather patterns. I think that's part of the reason why I love growing so much. Besides growing healthy food and becoming more self-sufficient, it is always changing and you are always learning, adapting to new conditions. I was surprised at how different the growing environment is between my backyard garden and the school garden, which is only 5 minutes down the road. We have several maple trees in our yard which shade the gardens at certain times throughout the day and lower the air and ground temperatures. The school garden is in an open area, with pine trees on the north side. It gets sun all day long and gets very hot and dry because it has no shade. The plants and beds seem to dry out quickly and we have to water much more that in our backyard garden.

The growing conditions are completely different, some things are better and some worse, but it is a learning experience and it is fun to figure out how to adapt to grow successfully.

Grapes starting to form.

Hopefully all this rain will end soon, the sun will come back out and everything will continue to grow!

I think the ducks are the only ones who really enjoy all this rain!

How is your garden growing?

~Rob~

Shared at:

Tilly's Nest 
The Chicken Chick 
The Backyard Farming Connection 
1840 Farm