Final harvest

Here is my corn harvest. The ears are actually very small. The biggest one is just 6" long. But the kernels are plumb and juicy. We will have corn for supper tonight. With a plot bigger than 4'x4' and normal summer weather, I could have a decent corn patch.

Everything else is gone. Squash and cucumber numbers were very low. No tomatoes at all. It has just been way too hot and dry this summer. Today is day # 55 of above 90 and day # 9 of above 100 for the summer. Not good gardening weather. Even my drought hardy plants, like marigolds and butterfly bushes look terrible.

I'm pondering changing over to cacti and yucca!

Success!

This evening I harvested and ate my first ear of corn! It was great. Just one ear today, but within the next several days we should have several more. Here is my gardening assistant, posing with our corn.

No tomatoes this year. The new bed doesn't have rich enough soil for this terribly hot, dry year. I haven't had a single tomato, not even a tiny one. We will have to do some serious soil amending over the winter.

We are still getting squash but I think the cucumbers are about spent. Most of my flowers are sad looking too. Only the hearty drought tolerant plants, such as Lantana, Vinca, and Marigolds are still looking nice.

I haven't posted much this summer because gardening is too frustrating this year. For the second year in a row we are having incredibly hot, dry weather. Last summer was a record number of 90+ degree days. We are on track to break that record. We are also nearly 7" below normal for rain.

The only new thing in the garden this year is my one bright spot. I planted a small patch of sweet corn, just for the fun of it, in the front bed. It is doing pretty well. Here are pictures of our first ears. I hope to get half a dozen ears.

The other picture here is a pumpkin, in the same bed. It looks healthy enough. Our squash and cucumbers are doing well, but the tomatoes have no fruit at all.

Most of my flowers have wilted as well. Marigolds and vinca are about the only things that look good.