Katie, Katie, How Does Your Garden Grow.....

Summer in Missouri of 2015 has not been a great garden year.  I had lots of plans and lots of planting, but unlike many parts of the country and like many also, we are with those that have had lots of rain, and more rain, and less sunshine this year, at least so far.

I have great hopes that it will get better.

My 110 hills of potatoes, well........we dug some for dinner last week and they were okay, but now they are rotting in the ground.  My husband dug some from the garden and they were rotten, and from the potato patch in the old horse paddock (which always grows our most and best potatoes), well, they actually had mold on some of the skins.  So we will be digging our potatoes in a few days before they are all lost.  The plants in the garden are yellow now so we have lost those, about 40 plants.  

I actually had to put on my mud boots and sink into the garden to pick peas and cut lettuce, but we did enjoy the produce.  I cut all the rhubarb and froze it.  We had eaten plenty already, and I am very pleased with how it did this year.  I do hope that the wet weather will not ruin it.  I have it hilled and on the dry side of the garden.  

Tomatoes, peppers are not doing too well either.  My eggplant looks like it is dying.  Now the cucumbers are in the middle of the garden and seem to be driest and doing okay, with nice blooms which is a promise of some produce.  

Even the trees are affected.  Several newer trees, maybe two years planted, are dying, such as my tulip tree and dogwood tree and flowering crab and two new peach trees.  It is just sad to see all of this.  

However, with all of our troubles, I am even more concerned for the farmer's crops, which we are of that group also.  We do not even have soybeans in yet, and the corn is not looking promising.  Some of the farmers will have to till their corn under and it really is too late to plant so I suppose if they can afford it, they will plant soybeans.  

We have a very nice family as neighbor farmers who moved here three years ago from South Africa, where they had a large farm.  My poor neighbors have had three years of strange farming.  Actually when visiting with them the other day, he said, "first year, drought; second year, good; and third year, ugly", then he laughed and shook his head saying , "well, we have had the good, bad and ugly, so it has to get better".  

Farmers continue to amaze me, as they usually seem to have good hopes and spirits.  I am so thankful for all the work and effort they all do to feed our country and lots of the world.  So as you enjoy your food, and please buy local if you can as it is good for you and also the economy in your area, please thank a farmer.  And with that said and knowing you will, I say for my husband and I and our many farming neighbors....you are all welcome.