Garden Update

This has not been a good summer for gardening so far. We didn't get warm weather until just recently. Even now the temperature has seldom been above the mid 70º's, (about 22ºC). When we get up in the morning the thermometer is standing at 5º to 9ºC, or about 40º to 50ºF. Makes for good sleeping weather, but not such good growing weather.

The other problem is that we are being overrun by three pests: deer, mice and mosquitoes. These were two very niceButtercrunch lettuce heads. I pick the outer leaves, and the plant goes on producing for a long time.

The deer found them delicious, but they prefer the very centre of the plant. I'm afraid these are goners. I found a metal rack to protect the lettuce, so the damage will cease at this point.

Here in the garden's centre path is clear evidence of the culprit.

Here's what they did to the Sugar Snap Pea

vines. In fact, I think they browse this buffet every night! These vines just can't make any headway. But we were able to pick enough mature pods yesterday from this row and the row on the opposite fence to enjoy some with our dinner.

They haven't bothered the corn at all. I usually plant

our corn in 4" pots in the greenhouse sometime in April, but just didn't get around to it this year. By the beginning of August we are usually enjoying fresh corn on the cob. So far I haven't seen any cobs forming, but the plants do look healthy. They about five feet high at this point.

The best corn in the world is the corn you pick from the plant, take into the house, shuck and boil for one minute before serving. Don't forget the butter, salt and pepper!

Today we were able to pick the first pods of

the green pea crop. The deer are keeping

these vines "pruned" back also. We have

eleven rows, so we should be able to pick

quite a few green peas in spite of the deer.

The bed on the right is the potato bed. I've dug up just one plant when we had company, to serve small new potatoes. They were a little too big to leave whole, but when I cut them up I had a surprise: each one had that brown cavity in the centre. I've never seen that in small potatoes before. It could

be that they were too wet for a while. We did have a lot of rain this summer.

Not all the beds are in vegetables this year. Here's a

bed of Asiatic Lilies, and to the right, not blooming yet, is a bed of Gladioli.

Some summers we have lots of beautiful flower bouquets in the house, but somehow this year I just haven't gotten around to it. We'll just enjoy them in the

outdoors.