Garden Progress

Much of the country, particularly the Midwest, has been much drier than normal.  We are no exception, although I think we've gotten a little more rain than other areas and, by and large, the crops look okay in our area.  The garden has weathered the heat/drought pretty well, in large part thanks to our extensive use of mulch. 

We have had to water some things, particularly the strawberries and melons, which are on black plastic.  We don't have a good source of water near the garden, so we have to haul water for the most part.  We currently use large plastic barrels on a pick up or trailer and haul from either our well or from my parents' place.  We then use either buckets to water the individual plants, or garden hoses to siphon water out of the barrels to the individual plants.  It takes a little bit of time, but it's much more efficient in its use of water than using a sprinkler, even if we had the ability to use a sprinkler.  

The melons are really enjoying the heat and we have watermelons the size of volleyballs and cantelope the size of softballs.  The sweet corn is getting very close, although I believe the heat is going to result in ears that are often under developed and not fully pollinated.  

Here's some pictures to show how the garden looked this morning.

Onions and tomatoes

tomatoes

Peppers and cucumbers

Pie pumpkins

Watermelons

Cantelope

Spook pumpkins

Butternut sqash

Asparagus and sweetcorn

Asparagus

Second batch of potatoes

Potatoes

Potatoes

Sweet corn

Cabin location from garden

Strawberries