Garden Update – Drought Edition

I haven’t done a garden update for awhile because it’s been too sad.

The really high temperatures and no rain has done a number on some of the plants.

Just look at this corn.

Sad isn’t it.

Now look at the corn just a few feet down the row. Same amount of water.
The difference? Shade. We have a large maple tree that shades part of the garden for awhile every day.

It was just enough time to save some of the corn.

I saw some neighbors who put up tarps to shade some of their garden – it’s not a bad idea.

Same thing with the green beans. Half the rows look like this. The other half look better. There are a few little beans on the plants, but most of the blossoms are just dropping.

But it’s not all bad news.

The peppers are doing okay.

They don’t seem to mind the heat. As long we keep them watered, they keep on producing. We’ve even enjoyed our first poppers of the season!

With the frequent watering, the guys have managed to keep the melons, squash, and pumpkins alive, too.

Then there’s the tomatoes. We’ve seen a lot of dry rot on my all-time favorites the Rutgers and Amish Paste.  But the hero of the garden this year is the Jersey Giant.

These tomatoes are amazing! The plants look green, the tomatoes are huge with very little spoilage – even in the heat. These are definitely a good drought tomato!

All in all – we’re counting our blessings.

Some produce is coming in. We’ve had enough water to keep things alive – even if we had to manually apply it!

And at least we don’t have to do any weeding!