Yesterday I stopped by The Duck Lady’s garden to see how everything was doing. I had driven past her house and her garden looked so enormous and lush that I decided to stop by and see what her secret was.
Well, from the road everything looked amazing. But once she gave me a tour… Things were a little different.
Her potato plants? Decimated by bugs.
The corn was looking pretty good though {she thinks it should be ready this weekend}.
And the cucumber plants are doing really well too.
But other things like her summer squash… Not so much. Everytime she thinks she’s going to have a few to harvest, it rains.
And within 2 days she’s pulling up rotted plants. Did I mention how much rain we’re having this summer? The Duck Lady says she has not watered her garden once this summer.
Either the squash plants are dead, or the vegetables are so big you can’t do anything with them. She sais there is no middle ground this summer. It’s ridiculous.
This is her tomato patch. She gave up weeding it because all the tomaotes were splitting {BECAUSE OF THE RAIN}. A garden of weeds, that’s what she’s growing this summer. Weeds and despair.
Even her artichokes are turning black because there’s so much moisture.
These are her pepper plants.
The deer ate them all {and she has fencing up!}.
She has managed to get a few flower bouquets for her farmstand this summer though… When she can find ones the beetles haven’t gotten too.
The one thing in her garden that is doing well this year, is the cabbage. Go figure. I guess it’s all the wet weather we’ve been having because cabbage was the one thing that did really well in my garden this summer too.
On one hand it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who’s having a horrible gardening season this summer. On the other hand, I feel so bad for everyone. Especially those of us who had planned on loading up our pantries and freezers with oodles of our own homegrown produce.
This summer sucks. And that’s all I have to say about that.
~Mavis
PS. How is YOUR garden doing this summer? Are you having an awesome year? If so, what state are you in? I’d love to know.
JennA says
We moved from Texas to NJ last summer so this is my first garden in the Garden State. It’s also my first in-ground garden, I usually do raised beds. Not impressed. So much rain. I have huge, beautiful plants but very little in the way of veggies. Cucumber Beatles are out of control. Then the ground hog I’ve named Buba is living his best life. The garden got a super late start bc my human kid had a medical crisis. So. Not my year either.
Mrs. C. says
Nor mine. Late start for various reasons, then Mr. and MRs. Groundhog ate all my cabbages, about 50 heads, and then a long drought.
Jennifer says
I’m wondering if the commercial farms had better luck or will they have a shortage and now some prices will be higher than ever. I can’t afford as much produce as I want already. I hate if for y’all because I remember having a garden as a kid and it’s a lot of hard work.
Nancy in eastern Washington says
One of the best gardens we’ve ever had.. All except for the green beans. Great broccoli,cauliflower, cabbage, onions, potatoes, snow peas, tomatoes, cucumbers,summer squash, carrots and beets. It’s been got but we’ve been able to keep up with some watering. It’s a lot of hard work, as we are in our late 60’s and early 70’s.
We are in Washington state.
Susan says
Also in Washington state! SW…..
We harvested 40 lb of green beans and 20 lb of yellow bans. Ate some fresh, canned 32 pints of Dilly Beans and froze a bunch
Just starting to pick corn. Eating fresh and freezing the rest
Kale, lots of zucchini and yellow squash, onions, garlic and herbs
Tomatoes are slow here and not as good as years gone by. Not nearly as much as usual
We have 2 hubbard squashes doing great and a few pie pumpkins coming along
Looks like the potatoes will be good, too. Still flowering and not ready yet.
Hannah says
In Wyoming. So much rain this year! Gardens are not successful.
Jamie says
We had a very dry spring and early summer in northern Illinois. Heat and dry and watering all the time just to keep up….. go figure. Squash borers decimated all my zucchinis and squash despite my best efforts. Always something.
Lisa in Colorado says
I’m in Colorado and we had a very cool and wet June so everything I planted was very slow to grow – I am harvesting some things, but not enough to really put by for the winter. I also two days of hail – the second day it hailed for about an hour straight and a lot of the plants were just smashed to bits. I plan on making pickled beets this weekend since one bed actually grew. Have harvested a few cucumbers and zucchini and I may have potatoes to harvest in October – we’ll see. Have had a bumper crop of chives and have actually harvested twice and dehydrated them.
I always enjoy reading your posts Mavis and everyone’s comments and I was really looking forward to seeing your hard work pay off – so sorry it didn’t work out this year.
Every year it’s a new learning experience for me as I got into gardening kinda late in life.
Angie says
My summer garden is officially dead. We had a great start with lots of tomatoes, green beans, peas, zucchini, okra, cucumbers and 2 pumpkins but the heat and a soaking of heavy rain daily has not been a good thing these last few weeks. The plants that I have that would have survived if dog days had not gotten us have now succumbed and I will be tearing out all of my plants to sow seeds for the fall as soon as the heavy rains come to a halt. I learned early on not to sow seeds when heavy rains are expected unless you want crowder peas and cabbage springing up all over your yard!
Even though the harvest was not as grand as I wanted it to be, it was still something and I enjoyed the gardens so much. Cheers to the fall season ahead and hopefully a harvest to bless our table through the winter months.
Debi says
I’m in northern NY (about an hour from Montreal) and my garden has been a mixed bag. The beans and cucumbers have been insane… they must like the rain! My herb garden is doing well and the zinnias and sunflowers are abundant. Garlic was a good crop. Zucchini and tomatoes are a bust, squash is about normal but it’s about time for the squash bugs so we will see. I’ve planted pumpkins for many years and never gotten anything more than the vines so I decided not to plant any this year… and lo and behold two huge plants grew out of our compost pile and we have two pretty large pumpkins. If they last on the vine long enough to turn orange I’ll have homegrown pumpkins for Halloween! I don’t know how the potatoes are doing. They are growing above ground but it’s a crap shoot if there will be actual potatoes when it’s time to harvest. We won’t starve though because we’ve got LOTS of pickles!
Tammy says
I am in the upstate area in SC and we’ve had a very hot summer with quite a lot of rain. I got a pretty decent yield on my tomatoes. I picked my tomatoes at first blush, which helped my yield. This is the first year I’ve done that, and I highly recommend! We pulled our tomato vines at the end of July, the heat made it so they weren’t setting any more tomatoes (I planted indeterminate varieties but that didn’t make a difference) and blight and heat killed the vines. Yesterday I picked all of the rest of the tomatillos and pulled those plants too. The plants were dying and the tomatillos had stopped growing. My cucumbers are done as well – but I got a fantastic crop from them. I had enough pickles already canned so we just ate them and I gave a lot away. My peppers (bell and jalapeño) are doing really well. The heat stopped them for a little while but then they kept chugging on.
I’m going to plant radishes, beets, carrots, and kale this week. I just planted dragon tongue beans and they are doing well! It’s a new variety for me so I can’t wait to see what they’re like.
This year has not been the best year for gardening but I have been happy with what I got. I’m sorry your area has been so hard to garden in! Maybe next year??! !
Diane says
Wild rabbits really hit my garden hard this year, so next year I’m doing raised beds with some kind of fencing/netting.
It’s the second year in a row where cool and rainy weather at the wrong time messed with my fruit tree pollination so I’m not hopeful for much of a crop there either. Pretty much a bummer of a year garden-wise for me.
Started some cucumbers for my neighbor on her deck, those are thriving and it’s fun to see her excitement. It’s stinking hot this week, so any attempts at a fall garden will be after it cools just a bit. Has anyone tried staked netting as an anti-rabbit method?
Western Washington is my location.
KC says
Our weather and watering situation has been weird this year (only occasional water but a lot of it when it comes), so we’ve had a lot of blossom end rot… sometimes inside the tomatoes without any sign outside. Also bizarrely-thick tomato skins. BUT the tomatoes are still plentiful and delicious, so there is that. The long beans also have done well. And that’s basically all we planted, after losing all our squash and melon plants to a horde of beetles two years ago. (we didn’t even get *one zucchini* out of it that year!) I have some dill starts growing indoors to be transplanted later, though, plus a hot pepper plant as an entertaining and occasionally-edible houseplant.
ELAINE says
No rain in 2 months. Fire bans all over the state. Excessive heat warnings daily. The governor has declared a state of emergency. Garden is a dust bowl. *sigh* I am in Louisiana
Carla says
Here in lower Michigan, we have been in drought for much of the summer. Any “scattered showers” in the forecast scattered everywhere but my house. Ha! I did lots and lots of watering. Thankfully we are on well water, so it only cost to run the pump. Finally, now in August, we’ve received decent rains. My potatoes? Who knows! There are some in pots and some in the ground. They look decent from the soil up. Ha! My tomatoes have done poorly this year and I think it’s the location in the garden. They just don’t like this spot. Peas did OK and beans too. Onions look decent and pumpkins and cukes have spread everywhere, but not overly productive. I may have to pay for peppers, though, to make my spaghetti sauce and salsa that I need to can this fall.
Jules says
Dry and HOT this summer in Oregon. We were able to water enough to get green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers and squash. Our corn will hopefully be ready to eat next week. The carrots, lettuce and beets never made it.
Em says
It’s hard when all of your goals get rained out. That being said, you are certainly not alone…here in the midwest all of the calendula seed from last year (thought had picked most up) became flowers this year over taking the garden along with underground yellow jackets that get upset when this gardener walks in the enclosed garden and swarm…well you can only guess what happens next…
SueD says
Everything is pretty much a washout. I’m growing in fabric grow pots. Fresh soil + potting mix, as I did last year. But no comparison in harvest. I’ve yet to have a ripe regular tomato, hardly any cherry tomatoes, and just 2 paste tomatoes. No aubergine, and only 1 giant pumpkin, which isn’t big at all. Last year at this time, we could hardly keep up with all we were harvesting. Watering almost every other day. Mid-Michigan.
Mimi says
Nothing but hot, dry weather all summer in Oregon. We’re in the middle of a heat wave this week (down to 95 today) so I only venture out early to pick a few tomatoes and green beans and water the plants to keep them alive.
The harvests are not impressive this year and I can’t figure out why. I had visions of canning jars and freezer containers full of goodness but the quantities are low. I have a few things started for a fall garden that are weathering the heat well so my fingers are crossed for better luck in the cooler weather.
My pumpkins are ready to harvest now – in mid-August! I hope they’ll keep until October.
Cindy Brick says
I’ve griped and moaned about the grasshoppers decimating what little garden (and flowers) I had. They’re still holding court, but are getting fewer. And older, I’d guess.
The irony: if you go 9 miles away to my friends in nearby Castle Rock, they haven’t had any grasshoppers at all.
One tomato. That’s all I’ve gotten. There are some cherry tomatoes ripening up in two barrels on our friends’ balcony. Looks like the grasshopper haven’t figured out how to get up there yet.
If I plant anything now, they’re still around to eat it. And our frost date starts about Labor Day.
(Although if we’d planted in black plastic, like you had — it would have fried the plants. We get way too much sun. Putting rocks by the plants helped a little, because we also get cooler nights — especially for hotweather plants like peppers and tomatoes. )
These things happen, Mavis. You just can’t take it personally.
Lynn says
Cindy,
Your last paragraph says it all!
I live in Southern California about 30 miles East of Los Angeles. I don’t garden anymore, but when we did, every year was different. Some years were great, and some years, it was pitiful. You just have to roll with it, disappointing as it is sometimes.
Mavis, maybe your husband’s suggestion of reseeding the grass isn’t too far out.
Lynn in Sunny and Hot Rancho Cucamonga, Ca.
Barbara J Benware says
All I know is we have had so much rain this summer, and I am so thankful that it is warm because if this amount of moisture was SNOW we would be screwed. I live in Lake Placid,NY.
Mary Kerns says
Near gig Harbor WA on the Puget Sound. Planted peas 3 times. Have 4 vines to show for it. Carrots growing, beets never came up. Zuc and yellow squash plants stunted, only male flowers. Tomatoes doing ok. One lonely cabbage. Potato plants grew well. I havent checked for potatoes yet. I planted green beans late. Have hopes for them. Blackberries prolific, raspberries ok, some good strawberries. Apple and pear trees loaded with fruit, plum tree not so much. There will be no canning this year. first frost date is November 7 so there is time to get some fall crops in but overall it is discouraging.
Melonie K. says
Southern Arizona – our garden fried. The monsoon rains arrived late and we’re inches behind normal precipitation. We also had some recordbreaking/making highs in July and part of August. I had focused on getting our first perennials in this spring, and most of them are now sticks. The arctic raspberries succombed first, then the elderberries. Now the blueberries are dead. (All had irrigation to them – the blueberries are even getting 120 mins 2x daily.)
The worms in the composting tower gardens are presumed KIA as well; I couldn’t keep the soil anywhere close to damp with the sun, heat, and wind. We’re going to build beds elsewhere and tip the compost and soil (and dead strawberries) into them and invest in more shade cloth.
The only thing that made it was the asparagus patch, which can’t be harvested since it’s a new patch anyway, but it seems okay and even started sending up a second set of shoots this week when the heat eased a bit. And the dragonfruit cacti are growing like crazy – no fruit this year, but hopefully next. I barely saved the figs after they dried up, thankfully they are still potted and getting them a few extra hours of shade and a LOT of water brought them back.
Really rough going to have finally gotten a place to plant permanently and most of it keeled over. “Full sun 8b” is, apparently, not *really* in our microclimate. :: sigh ::
Diane F says
We have had a lot of rain and severe storms this summer in Tennessee! The late freeze we had killed or crippled a lot of perennials, trees and shrubs. Our bees have not done well as the nectar flow was affected as well, and then all the rain on top of that has really affected our honey production. Seems everyone is getting either too much rain or not enough.
Deb from Ohio says
We’ve had lots and lots of tomatoes!
We canned tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, and your recipe for salsa, plus given away tomatoes. Early cucumbers did well, but didn’t last long. Snow peas were late, but delicious. We had lettuce, spinach and kale all spring but they are gone now.
Zinnias and flowers were late blooming. Oh yeah, onions did great.
Rosaleen says
This year seems to be the year of “too.” Too much or too little, I anticipate food prices will be awful this winter. Nonetheless, I am focusing on how fortunate most Americans are. So much of the world has had outright famine for years.
Marti says
In Wisconsin–we had a drought to begin the season. I don’t usually water my garden –too big and too far from a water source–but this year I hand water everything just trying to get seeds to sprout. Some things I replanted 2 or 3 times, but after mid July, we’ve had ample rain and the garden is really flourishing. So far have 52 quarts of dills made, tons of beans canned and the tomatoes are just gearing up for a great season.
sandyf says
I am in Southern CA. I have 3 tomatoes. Yes-you heard me…3. I give up. I pampered these plants more than any year, and they just said “nope.”
Sandi says
Bellingham, Washington and we have one of our best gardens. Reading your comments I think all of us in WA got the best weather, long hot summer but not too hot. We have a 50′ x 100′ garden that we’ve used for 20 years, this year mostly our 16 yr old son’s pumpkin patch. I planted one zuchinni plant and two yellow squash plants and have harvested over one hundred pounds off those three. There are approximately 80 pumpkin plants and they are so tall and leafy and full of pumpkins! We have Vego raised beds for our tomatoes, they are ripening slowly but surely. We have raised beds for our fall/winter garden which I just started: carrots, cabbage, beets and Brussel sprouts. Good year for us and I’m so sorry to hear your weather issues. I’ve LOVED your blog for probably over ten years now!!
Mary says
I have one word for any successful gardening here in Northern VT- greenhouse! The basil, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, basil, cabbage and broccoli in there are doing great! Sadly, it’s not large enough for vine creepers like squash, cukes and pumpkins- they must grow out in the garden, as well as potatoes, corn and green beans. Which are doing ok this year.
Annette says
What are the bugs in the pic after the cabbage?
The Duck Lady says
Colorado Potato Beetles. A menace to all Potatos, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and flowers.
Annette says
How do you get rid of them?
The Duck Lady says
I’m going to attempt to use beneficial nematodes this spring and pray. I’ve tried natural spays and hand picking but that doesn’t work. If that doesn’t work I’m not sure what I’ll do.
Tarah says
Maybe praying mantises? I hatched some earlier this year to take care of some adult Japanese beetles that decimated large parts of my garden and it seems to work. I also did nematodes to attack the grubs in the soil- they have been pretty darn effective.
Sue S. says
Plenty of herbs but so far only 6 cherry tomatoes in our small container garden here on the Cape. Grass needs mowing weekly unlike last year when the landscapers weren’t making any money due to crispy lawns. I rarely water mine and resent the amount of water that is wasted on golf courses. My dehumidifiers provide plenty of water for our small gardening effort. I predict a glorious fall and the Cranberry harvest is expected to be epic.
Lita Bodemer says
My garden did not fare well this year, but I attribute it to the fact we did not have a true winter, the ground did not freeze, and properly provide the “die off” of bacteria and bugs that usually cycle properly. Hoping for a real winter this year so the ground can properly restore itself.
Ida says
I’m in Ontario, about an hour south of Ottawa, and it’s been a mixed bag for sure. My roma tomatoes are doing amazing, but none of the heirlooms are really producing (the flowers all turn black and fall off, it’s the weirdest). Getting cucumbers, but the squash borer killed everyone of my zucchini plants. Beets are doing great, so is chard, but something absolutely trashed the tatsoi. I feel very lucky though, while there’s been some massive hailstorms hit Ottawa we’ve been spared so far (knock on wood).
Kathy says
I am SW Washington but at a high elevation and I have no idea what is going on with my garden. I have had tons of male flowers on my summer squash and zucchini but literally only 1 veg on each plant. The patty pan squash fared a little better but only tiny squashes. I think its a pollinator problem. My cukes are bitter despite watering often. Lots of green beans and peas but this last week of 100 degree temps. finished the peas just in time to plant fall peas, lol. My beets have greens but no beets under them. Peppers are ok and tomatoes are also just ok. Who knows whats going on……….
Amber says
I’m in Indiana, about an hour outside of Chicago, and my garden is basically a jungle. I’m having an exceptional year with my plants, because we’ve had more rain than usual (although not an amount like you!), so everything is just really healthy, happy, and lush in my beds. I don’t plant in the ground, but I have some perennials in the ground and they are doing well, too.
I’m sorry your garden, and The Duck Lady’s, haven’t done well this summer. All of the hard work you put into it…it’s devastating.
Kat Clayton says
Gosh after the money spent this year you should consider a green house. I live in Panama in Central America and we have so much rainfall in the rainy season we just went ahead with building a greenhouse. It is awesome. We canned 125 quarts of tomatoes. And 100 pints of red and green tomatoe salsa.
Kayla says
My garden is mostly a bust this year. I got about 10 tomatoes from about 20 plants. My cucumbers, beans, and peppers died before I got anything. I got a few zucchini, but nothing like normal. I got one pumpkin (last year I got 28)… Northern California. The commercial farmers seem to be doing fine though, but some of them had to replant.
Mona R McGinnis says
NE Alberta. Plant veg garden end of May. Dry/hot initially so watered a few times until 5 in of rain in each of June & July. Peas, corn, lettuce germinated sparsely. Enjoyed some kale. Beans yielded enough to process. Just processed some pineapple zucchini. Deer enjoyed beet leaves & even plucked beets out of the ground. Will have carrots tho’ also buy carrots from a local producer. Waiting on Manitoba & beefsteak tomatoes to ripen; moderate yield. Gardening is always a testimony to hope in spite of our best efforts.