We got Summer in Spring, now we're getting Spring in Summer

Up here in Northwestern BC Canada, it was scorching hot from mid May to mid July, but has been cool and wet ever since. A lot of crops simply fail outright in such conditions. Luckily, thanks to planting a wide variety of crops, my garden has done fairly well this year. Especially considering I just moved here, and there was no garden until I got to work with my shovel on the back lawn! 4 months later, I'm eating from the garden daily, and even starting more rows of seeds.

Some of my potatoes ended up getting attacked by pests that damage the skins, but other plants were untouched. In either case, they're delicious. I'm definitely going to do potatoes again next year, although I'm going to look for natural organic methods to keep the wireworms away.

The carrots are coming in! They're nice and long, crunchy, and sweet. I've eaten about 1/4 of the row I grew. I plan to grow at least 2 rows next year, knowing they do well here.

A closeup of a red nugget potato skin. Purple, almost! Nature comes up with some pretty incredible colours.

Here are the latest garden update photos:

You might notice that the grass has become greener than it was last month. Yeah, cool weather and rain will do that! I've been having to mow it regularly, even now in mid August when it should be dried up and dormant.

Gardeners and farmers will know what I'm talking about when I say seasons out of order is NOT a good thing. We humans, especially nowadays with modern conveniences, really don't care if we get hot weather in May, and then rain all August. It's an inconvenience at most. But for plants living outdoors at the mercy of the elements, it's a nightmare. We can do our best to make them as happy as possible when this happens, but a lot of the time it just means the crop fails.

For example, my spinach went to seed in May this year, thanks to the hot and dry weather. It was one inch tall. So I got no seeds, and I got no spinach. Pulled them out and put something else in, instead.

That kind of thing happened a lot. Getting Summer weather before you've had a chance to really develop your roots and shoots? It means you get scorched and stunted. Then, in Summer you end up with molds and other diseases running rampant when it's too moist. Flowering cycles get thrown off, bees don't visit, and you just end up with a lot of problems and outright failures in the garden.

Luckily, this kind of thing doesn't happen often. Well, it didn't used to, but it has been happening fairly often in the past 10 years or so. Hopefully it's just a run of bad luck, and not anything to do with the recent admission by governments that they have been manipulating weather patterns since at least 2012. Maybe we shouldn't be tinkering with things we don't fully understand?

One thing that did well is my dahlia plant. I bought the bulb at a local farmers market in June, watered it faithfully all July, and now it's flowering. My grandmother used to have a lot of them in her garden, and I cared for them for many years until her death, so they have a sentimental value to me. This one is a "red star" dahlia.

To deal with Spring weather in Summer... I'm planting more Spring crops!

The lettuce did well this year, despite the heat. It would have done even better if we had got a proper Spring! I kept it going with plenty of extra watering. Hopefully this second crop does just as well. The salads, sandwiches, and wraps were fresh and tasty. Unless we get a return of Summer weather, this row of lettuce will produce well into October.

A buddy of mine sent me some red malabar seeds, and I planted them at the start of Summer, just as the package recommended. Sadly, we've had cool temps and rain since then! It likes things hot and dry, so the seedlings have basically just stalled. I still have half the seeds he sent, so I'll try another row next year!

Ahhh, the tomatoes. Normally, they're my main crop. I've grown tomatoes almost every year of my life. Dad grew them, Grampa grew them, and now I grow them. And I usually do a pretty good job. This year? It has been a bit of a struggle. The slow start (having to create the garden before I could start planting) didn't help, and then the hot weather scorched all the little seedlings. They needed some cooler weather to get established! But it never came... until now. Now, when they're supposed to be huge and soaking up the sunshine, they're soggy and in danger of developing diseases like blight.

Nevertheless, I've got 6 different varieties going, so at least 1 of them is bound to come through for me! The above tomato is an Old German variety. I have 20 to 25 plants, so I'll get something to make into sauce and store in jars over the winter. Next year will likely be a lot more impressive, as far as tomatoes go.

Speaking of next year, here are some green bush beans I'm allowing to go to seed. These plants will dry up (if the rain lets up!) and the seeds will become ready for collecting. I'll have enough to do a few rows of them next year. They were delicious in pad thai, stir fry, and just steamed with some butter.

I'm having a blast growing these plants, eating the produce, and sharing my experiences with you! Thank you for reading. Keep on growing!

DRutter