her able hands

I arrived home last night after ten hours on the road with nothing between me and a Toddler On The Edge but a naked Barbie doll and a giant square of fudge brownie provided by Kate. Thanks for such a lovely visit, my dear!

When I wandered over to the gardens with my cup of coffee this morning, I went with the knowledge that things were going to be bad, but that information didn’t make me want to cry any less. This year is officially a bust. Green thumb, indeed.

Every cucumber plant

except for the Mexican Sour Gherkins

shriveled up and died.

They definitely waged battle with beetles, as evidenced by the lacy leaves. But I never saw a single bug. I suspect vine borers combined with the powdery mildew that blew onto them from the decimated patches of Cocozelle Zucchini, Eight Ball, Crookneck, and Pattypans. We got one squash. One. Squash. A dozen vines.

There will be no pickling this year unless I order a bushel of cukes from the farm stand. We’re down to our last jar of Bread and Butter, and have a few of the Hot and Spicy Garlic Dills left, though I suspect they’re mush by now even with the grape leaves I pickled them with.

A lot of the tomato plants succumbed to blossom end rot, and the fruit ripened on the top half and shriveled into gooey red and black raisins.

But the later plantings seem to have avoided the problem and I do have a small hope for either a batch of salsa or some sauce.

I planted far too many cherry tomato plants, and not nearly enough paste.

The beans are just destroyed, thanks to beetles

and the woodchuck who finally realized that there was better eating at the back of the yard and abandoned his giant patch of sweet white clover for my Haricot Verts,

as well as the Nero di Toscana Kale. He also trampled the interplanted onions and munched down the beans in this patch.

I hate to fence (because it’s a pain in the ass to do, and it never looks good unless you use nice wood pickets backed with the livestock wire fencing) (as if!) but I might have to. Without the pickets.

The pole beans I planted in our yard appear to be bush beans and haven’t climbed the trellising I built at all. Thanks Fedco! The beetles have discovered the leaves and started to defoliate them, so I will spray them with Rotenone in the morning. I will NOT give up hope on the Vermont Cranberry Beans. I’ve been fantasizing about eating these buttery shell beans simmered in a broth with garlic, olive oil and fresh herbs (which I’ll need to BUY because none of my herbs made it either) all summer long. Dammit. A few of the beans are plumping in the shells and beginning to blush with purple stripes.

The beetles also attacked the chard and beet greens, though the beets seem to be forming without too much trauma, if not slooooowly. I have yet to pull one. The chard looks so pathetic and covered with holes that I had to force myself to pick some to add to my fresh egg omelet this morning.

Talk about unappetizing. The only thing that hasn’t had to fight for its right to exist is the eggplant, and they’re growing so slowly I’m afraid they’re stuck in a wormhole in the space-time continuum and will just petrify at this size.

This is the first time in my life I’ve planted a garden and not had enough food to feed the family every night during harvest season, and enough leftover to put up for winter. It’s shocking. It’s certainly a deal-breaker for doing the market even for a week or two. There’s nothing to sell! I guess we’ll have potatoes in a few more weeks when the vines die back. And me trying to lay off the carbs and the nightshades. Potatoes, eggplant, and tomatoes the only things to survive! Hahahahaha. Ha. And I have more garlic than I know what to do with.

I’m going to do a soil test this week and figure out what to do over the fall to amend the beds. I think they drain too quickly because of all of the sand my in-laws added (a couple of tons) years ago—so I know I’ll add a lot of manure, then cover it all over with chopped leaves during the endless raking. Hopefully a soil test will help me figure out what else to add so I can work on it before the next planting season. Two years like this in a row and I might lose my faith. I can’t believe I’m shopping for vegetables in August. The shame of it.

Sitting here in my overstuffed rocker by the open window, looking out over the perennial garden full of Black-Eyed Susans and weeds, I’m amazed to feel autumn in the air. The clouds have finally moved out and the setting sun has lit the tops of the trees in our little woods ablaze with brilliant yellow light. I’m wearing a sweater, and made a savory bean soup for supper. In three days I start my new job. School opens on the 30th. It looks like this year’s harvest will have to come in other ways.

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