Summer 2012 aka The Drought

And I thought the summer of 2011 was bad, when our pond dried up and was nothing more than rock-hard dirt with cracks running through it. Oh ... and a few hundred large weeds.

The drought of 2012 is proving to be much worse than anything the summer of 2011 handed to us.

And yet, in spite of the shriveled up cornfields and the wilted soybeans that dot our local landscape, there really are some bright spots to be found.

Such as our garden.  We've tried our best to water everything, but some plants just won't thrive when temps reach well over 100 degrees.

But the plants that have done well?  Our pumpkins and cantaloupes are doing great.  And we didn't even plant any cantaloupe this year!  These are volunteer plants from last year's cantaloupe scraps thrown into the compost bins.


It looks like we'll be getting quite a few cantaloupes in the next few weeks. We've already eaten one, and it was so juicy and good!  And the chickens enjoy the cantaloupe too - they get the less than perfect, slightly buggy cantaloupes.


And the pumpkins.... I didn't plant the small Baby Pam pumpkins this year. Hubby wanted GIANT pumpkins, and that's what we're getting now!


The tomatoes are not doing well.  Green and bushy, but no tomatoes.  Same as last year.  It's just too freaking hot for them.   The serrano pepper plants are beginning to produce some peppers.  And my mint plants are doing pretty good.... you know, for my mojitos!  :-)


We planted super sweet onions this spring.  We've never tried to grow onions before -- we were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and how delicious they are!
  

I've been making Onion Strings the last week or so, to use up the last of our onions.  Onion Strings are just very thinly sliced onion rings.  Hubby has become rather addicted to them!  We'll be planting more onions soon for a fall harvest.  

Here's his lunch today - fresh Onion Strings and homemade egg salad (from our eggs, of course!) on a Nature's Own Multi-Grain sandwich round.  Less bun, more filling - he really likes his flat buns for lunches.  

No, this isn't all he ate for lunch - he had angel food cake with strawberries and whip cream for dessert.  :-)


The stray cat we adopted a few months ago recently decided that a freshly watered flower pot makes a cool napping spot.  I caught Midnight snoozing in my serrano pepper pot the other day....


The guineas enjoy hanging out around the sprinkler, so we have a small green spot in the back yard, amongst all the brown.  It's rather lush looking.  Hey, anything to keep the birds happy, you know?  The chickens, not so much.... they run away if they get sprinkled on!

Finally, a snapshot that says "hey, we do have a few things to be thankful for"..... cantaloupe, eggs, and strawberry jam!


How is your garden doing this year?  What fav veggies are you getting, or better yet, what is providing you with an overly bountiful harvest?

And can we all say 'Adieu' ....  'Adios'.....  'Hasta la vista' .... to summer.

It can't end soon enough for me this year.

Really.  I'm ready.

My arms are wide open and welcoming to autumn!!!!

 

10 comments:

  1. We don't have any canteloupe (went to buy the plants too late), but we do have watermelon. Our onions got burned up, but we have green peppers coming out our ears. Surprisingly our tomatoes did very well this year. My ONE cherry tomato plant is producing like crazy too!
    If we lived near each other, we could trade and share produce. :-)

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  2. I had volunteer potatoes this year...haven't dug them yet, but hope to before they get lost in the weeds...

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  3. It's been hot here, too. Seems like the whole summer has been one long string of hot days. We picked our first tomato today ... a Roma ... and our first cucumbers. Yum!

    You're the lucky one, though, with cantaloupe! :)

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  4. You and me both Susan! I'm doing a happy dance now that we've rolled over into August. I'm MORE than ready for Fall. Seriously, Bring. It. On :)

    It's nice to see someone focusing on the good things instead of all the bad. Sure there can be bad, but it takes a strong person to look for life's silver linings ^.^

    I love cantaloupe so I'm quite jealous of that beautiful one you've grown! Maybe I can try to grow something next year and see if I'm any good? Lol

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  5. Kitty is sweet in that flower pot!!
    We finally have had a few hard rains but it is too late for the crops! Hay is going to be outrageous this year :(
    Let's keep chanting, Fall, Fall...and maybe it will speed up just a little!
    xo, misha

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  6. Wow - your cantaloupe and water melons are looking just wonderful! Cute and happy looking kitty too :) It breaks my heart to know what this awful drought is doing across the country - to all the backyard gardens and to the farms that supply so much of our grocery store produce. We're definitely in a deficit for rain here, but we've been blessed with a few showers here and there to keep things moving along. We planted 25 tomato plants and the heat and dry weather have kept them from producing as much as we expected, but we can't complain! Peppers are doing fairly well, and so are the cucumbers. I've got several sugar baby water melons coming along now. I hope to get some more beans planted, and I think I'll put in some cabbage and broccoli too. I pray y'all get some relief out there!

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  7. Susan, we in Oklahoma are burning up too, for the second year in a row. 112 degrees in the shade. I replanted many things that burned up last year and more, to only be burning up once again. I sure hope this isn't a sign of global warming and this is what we must face from now on. I'm going to try and get my family to move to California if this is the new norm.

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  8. I hope we'll get some rain soon. It looks like the drought is caused by global warming. I sure hope not.

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  9. I'm impressed w/ your harvest!! Wow, what a season it has been. I'm getting a very few heirloom tomatoes, lots of basil & other herbs. That's about it. And now that I think of it, I need to water my flowers today. I was thinking this little cool-off might give me a break on that daily chore. NOT! Congrats on all of your harvest blessings :) -Tammy

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  10. Wow! You actually have some plants! Mine are all gone.... All I can say is thank goodness for a/c!!!! We finally got some relief on Friday when Isaac came in and brought us rain Fri, Sat and Sun. Nice soaking rain--not the toad stranglers! Wonderful! I am with you--welcome autumn! Quickly please! I saw that you guys were 101 degrees today! Ick!

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