Weekly update: Garden Bright Side

Well. Here we are, mid to end July and I have hit that summer depression. Why? Because it's a million degrees outside and my garden really sucks. That's why. (Plus, work is painfully slow, which does not help my outlook on life).

The bright side though is that I am not going to be canning hardly anything (if even that). In hindsight, that's really disappointing. But there is nothing I want to avoid more on a hot week is to spend it canning green beans. Oh well. There is always next year... and hopefully the point of my life when I am an elderly garden sage. I'll save my canning moments for her, at least this year.

My garden is really disappointing. My sunflowers are short. I don't know why. I have 9 tomato plants and only one of them has fruit on it. I don't know why. (Although it probably has to do with the soil). My pepper plants are finally growing, but barely. They've only gained a couple of inches since I planted them in the early part of May. I don't know why.

The only sunshine in this whole mess are my onions. They are big and beautiful and I know why. They were the only thing in my garden that was planted in a ton of manure I got from my supervisor, Maynard's farm. (That llama and sheep poop is pure garden gold). So at least I have that.

Another bright side is that I have somehow been able to enough produce to eat from friends and co-workers. My co-worker, Tina, has too many cucumbers. I will happily take those. My friend Amy is away on her month long escape from Kansas vacation and told me to raid her garden, which I happily did despite being scared of her chickens. I've gotten basil, tomatoes and green beans there. Another jackpot of free produce is actually the front desk at the Hesston Wellness Center where I work out. It's on the campus of a retirement community, right across their beautiful community garden. So far, I've scored a big yellow squash and a couple of yellow tomatoes that are ripening on my kitchen ledge as we speak/ as you read this.

I am happy to freeload off other people's bumper crop. I just hope that in a couple of days (or weeks) I'll at least have something worth mentioning (and eating) myself.