It is hard to manage a market garden when the soil is under standing water.  The continuous rain over the past two weeks has prevented any direct seeding and soil working in the garden.  Crops that should have been ready for market are either dead, or severely set back.  In 8 years of gardening on this land, the drainage problem had not been an issue.  The rain just kept coming without any sunny days in between to help dry out the soil.

Moving forward, we will begin installing drainage systems into the garden to move the water away from the crops that we are cultivating.  If that does not work, maybe there is a market for locally grown rice?  😛

This weather has definately been frustrating, wiping away countless days of hard work and preparation, but we have not lost our vision and desire to provide fresh produce to local customers.  We will continue on as best as we can until the dry season arrives!

Despite the soggy soil, we will be at market on July 06.  We will have green onions, lettuce mix, yellow squash, and zucchini.

So, after all the negative stuff, lets see what is growing and looking good:

The cucumber plants have not been set back by the rain!

It won’t be long until these cherry tomatoes are red and delicious!

Few things say “summer” quite like sweet corn…

Flavorburst bell pepper!

It’s easy to focus on what has gone wrong so far with the growing season, but, I think I’ll focus on these four pictures and think of the  drier, sunnier days that will be coming in the months ahead!

-Bruce