Garden 2008: Epic Fail

This isn't a very good picture. It's in keeping with the kind of spring and early summer we've had here in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Way too much rain, snow, and cool temperatures. The produce you see here on our kitchen counter is all we have to show for our gardening efforts that began on President's Day back in mid-February.

Now, I'm no great shakes as a gardener. But tomatoes, a few strawberries, pumpkins and flowers are not too tough for even me. But this year it's a different story.

Here it is almost July and our one pot of strawberries is still lime green. Not a fleck of red anywhere. The pumpkin patch is so abysmal I couldn't get myself to take a picture. After snow in late April ruined my first attempt, the heavy rain and lack of sunshine have made what's left of our patch a wretched mess. And our tomatoes, usually safe and protected on the deck look terrible. Just not enough sun and heat. Poor little guys haven't set one single fruit yet.

So, we have a small, feeble bunch of radishes. They taste OK but they're small and kinda tough. Radishes are the first produce I ever planted as a boy and are still easiest to grow. Not sure what's going on with them.

Here's hoping the second half of the season will see a big turnaround. But as I sit here watching another gray, dreary day go by and the Mariners getting trounced again, I'm not too hopeful. For the M's or our garden.

Maybe next year.