It’s been just over a month since my last garden update. Unfortunately, this has been the wettest summer on record in Des Moines. We have had more rain than the floods of 1993 and 2008. It’s been devastating seeing so many cities literally going under water. The city of my alma mater, Iowa State University, was flooded last week. Local parks and our wonderful bike trails are gone and waiting for the weather to stay dry long enough to see the light of day. Our land is waterlogged and with that, family farmers making a living are struggling. With all of the rain that we’ve had, it’s been the most difficult year for organic gardening that I have ever been through. We’ve had an influx of disease, pests, and mosquito’s. We’ve been lacking the high drier temps that our summer crops have needed. Production has been down all around Iowa and if you grew peppers successfully this year, you can call yourself lucky. Unless you garden can you truly begin to understand what farmers go through each and every year. My prayer is that they are enduring and that God will bring us a better season next year.
I was starting to get down on myself over my harvest. After speaking to so many people I have come to realize that I’m not the only one that is going through this. Praise the Lord my gardening is not my income. With that in mind, I do thank God for what He has given me this year. As I have been going through my pictures I have realized that I haven’t had that bad of a year under these wet circumstances.
Thank you Jesus for my wet gardens but most of all for family farmers that are still able to produce and meet my families needs.
The Lord has given us a couple of beautiful sunny dry days. I was able to clean up my plots, harvest and plant my Fall crops. Below are photos that I have taken today.
Plots at my mami and papi’s house
A few weeks ago I harvested all of my beets, carrots and some of my first ripe tomatoes. Today I cleaned up my plots and sowed my first round of Fall lettuce. I can’t wait for fresh crisp greens again. Next week I’ll harvest my cabbage and make a few more jars of fermented kimchi.
This post is a part of Simple Lives Thursday.
Sorry to hear about the flood. The raspberries look great. So Grow Boxes are really the way to go?
Despite the weather, your garden did very well. Growing a particular plant is never a sure thing and I have said to my husband a few times, "It is a good thing we are not living off our land or we would starve", we try to eat locally and in season, but our garden and weather can be unpredictable.
I'm impressed with how many different garden plots you have.
-Brenda
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We live in your same area and my garden looks like a disaster! The mosquitos are horrid and anytime I attempt to weed, I leave with 10+ bites. I lost two of my winter squash plants and my tomatoes aren't producing like I had planned. All in all though, we have still been blessed with a decent harvest and I'm hoping to get things cleaned up this weekend and plant some fall stuff.
Your cucumbers look awesome – I wish I had planted some to make pickles for my pickle-loving daughter! You mentioned you freeze your tomatoes whole? I've never heard of that – how simple! I've got a huge box waiting to be put up and I was debating on making sauce or canning them. Can you give me a quick lesson in freezing them whole? Do you blanch them or anything first?? Can't wait to try this! Thanks~
Wow, those are amazing looking pics. I have just started my gardening this year and had lots of downs and some ups. I will ask you soon for tips as I want to resow my carrots and some other stuff. I also like the idea of chicken fence.
Hey Girl! Your garden still looks great despite all the water, you always do a good job. I wouldn't of been able to produce all my veggies and fruits without ya! Thanks for all your help and guess what I finally harvested a cantalope 🙂 I couldn't enjoy it obviously with my allergies but Carl said it was great!
You did ok, even though you had unusual weather. We have hot, humid, rainy weather all summer, so you know what type of pests I have to deal with. I always laugh when northerns say to kill weeds, just put down some mulch or newspaper. Haha! Weeds grow through black plastic bags here. They grow through cement!
IT is a beautiful garden! I have a 2×16 ft flower bed right up against the house on the south side. I have tried growing a little garden there but it usually scorches under the intense heat. Our CSA completely failed this year. I was so incredibly sad when I got their letter saying they were refunding our money because it has just been too wet. The few peas we got early on were rotting in the pod because it was so wet. Their potatoes didn't put a single thing on. We did get a few onions and a handful of herbs but that's it. 🙁 They said that this is worse than 2 years ago when the Cedar River flooded everyone out.
Wow! You are so lucky to have a real garden…makes me envious…mine are just a couple of pots with different herbs ….
The soil looks so dark and rich! I like that you are growing Spanish melons, new breeds are so exciting. Will you be growing kale and cabbage in the winter time? I think some varieties of kale are frost resistant.
Its very nice to feel that you have your own garden in the backyard. You can pick it when they are ready to harvest. You have a nice blog and a beautiful garden. Keep on posting. Thanks.
Just found your blog today! I live in Ames – looks like we have quite a bit in common. Looking forward to reading more!
This looks great to me, especially considering the weather conditions. I love the fact that you can not get any raspberries to bring home because your boys are eating them right in the garden. My children did the same while we were in France!! They had so much fun!
Hi everyone. So sorry I haven't responded. I've been busy around here putting up some jars of peaches.
Elaine, I meant to get back to you sooner. I'm sure you have probably done something with your tomatoes by now, but all you need to do is put them in the freezer whole. No blanching is required. Once they thaw, the skins slip right off. It's my preferred method of saving tomatoes! I hope you can use this info in the future 😀
Thanks everyone for your comments and sharing your gardens with us!
So sorry about the flood! Here in Corte Madera, we the sun didn't shine much during the summer and I'm not hauling a lot of tomatoes.
I love grow boxes, too, Gardener's Supply's in particular. I definitely prefer them over EarthBoxes.
Thanks for sharing.
WOW! It is a beautiful garden! Nice pictures!