Where does the time go?

It took a while for me to get over the shame and remorse I felt after the daffodil episode.  But once the bright yellow flowers faded and I wasn't replaying what happened in my mind every time I went outside and saw them, I was able to somewhat put that behind me.  I don't think my sadness over what happened will ever go away, but I think "behind me" is good.

The end of the daffodil blooms means that it's time for spring gardening to start.  Things like lettuce, cabbage and broccoli can be transplanted outside, and potatoes and peas can be planted.

That's how it's supposed to work anyway. 

Winter 2025-2026 was very dry.  We were actually under a burn ban on New Year's Day and during the entire month of January, we only got 0.65" of rain (compare that to 5.39" in January 2025 and 5.08" in January 2024).

On top of that, the temperatures were warmer than what seems should be "normal" for spring.  Many of the trees and shrubs started budding out by early March, only to be hit by a killer cold snap on March 17, when our temperature dropped to 19° F.  Many of the trees and shrubs that had gotten that early start were set back significantly.  The things I had planted out in the garden were just killed outright.

But spring officially began on March 20, right on schedule, with a firey orange sun shining through a haze of smoke from a prescribed burn.

Sunrise at 7:26 am on March 20, 2026

And just three days later (five days after we had the low of 19°), our temperature hit 92.3° F.

For the first time since September 2021 when I planted my first cover crops, the plants struggled.  By the end of March, the cereal rye was only a couple of inches taller than the plants were at the start of March 2025, and they weren't nearly as dark green.

The cereal rye/hairy vetch cover crop at the far end of the garden on March 29.

Really, nothing in the garden showed the "spring enthusiasm" that I expected to see.  Even the winter weeds like Henbit and Red Deadnettle didn't grow that much this year.

February and March were both pretty dry, with less than 2.4" of rain in each of those months.  

To prevent the IBC tanks from freezing last winter, I had drained them, then moved them out by the shop where I plan to build a lean-to shed/greenhouse.

But now with the tanks sitting empty and the winter being so dry, I started worrying about running out of water.  RAF had a good point - that if I needed to water I could just use the "city water."  But one, I prefer to use rainwater if possible, and two, what if was so dry this summer that all outdoor watering was banned?

I priced gutters at the local hardware store and was shocked by how expensive even just a 10' section was.  I just couldn't justify spending that much money for a temporary setup, so I ended up doing some very creating engineering to catch water coming off the shop roof.  It's very tacky, but it works.  

Luckily, we finally did get some rain in April.  By the 21st, the cereal rye and winter wheat cover crops had finally taken off growing.  They still didn't put on as much biomass as they did in 2025, but something was better than nothing.

Cereal rye/hairy vetch and winter wheat cover crops on April 21st.

After the cold snap in March killed off everything in the garden, I replanted, and by mid-April, the Early Frosty peas were about 18" up the trellis.

On the opposite side of the trellis, the Christmas Lima beans were also starting to germinate.

The blackberries were blooming...

...and the potatoes and brassicas in the "Ruth Stout" bed at the end of the garden were putting on some really strong, healthy growth.

The raspberry plants finally started putting out new shoots.

And even the poor little Gala apple tree (which for now seems to have survived the initial attack by fire blight) bloomed and set a few apples!

The fava beans started to bloom and set pods.

And the heads on the winter wheat were starting to plump up.

The celery, bell peppers, snow peas and onions were all growing well. 

Bell pepper plants mulched with leaves from the Red Russian Kale.

The show-out in the garden though, was the strawberries.  This picture doesn't really do a good job of showing just how many berries they had on them - they were absolutely loaded.

We ended up with four or five mixing bowls of strawberries, and I managed to put about a gallon of berries in the freezer.

Then it was May already.  On the 3rd, I decided it was time to go ahead and terminate the cereal rye/hairy vetch cover crop.

There was a decent residue on the rows (not as much as in previous years, but still decent).  I let it dry for a few days, then planted the Kandy corn.

By mid-May, the blueberries were starting to turn.

I estimate that I harvested about a pint of blueberries this year from the three plants.

I set out tomatoes....

..., okra,

...and cantaloupes.

The two yellow squash plants were large and lush and ready to start blooming.

The Early Frosty peas had reached the top of the trellis and were loaded down with small pods.

The Enterprise apple tree had lots of small apples...

...and the apples on the Gala were actually growing.

I was pretty pleased with the garden in May.  In spite of the late start, things seemed to be doing well. 

By the end of May, the corn was getting close to 12" tall.

It grew like crazy in the hot weather of June - by the first day of summer, it was already head high.

The sweet potato plants were loving the heat too.

There were some harvests in June too.  

Onions (mostly small ones, but still...) and fava beans that will be saved for seed.

Potatoes; Tommy Toe tomatoes; bananna peppers; a few green beans; a few cucumbers; and still more strawberries.

By June 24th, the corn had put out tassles.

The Boston Pickling cucumbers (which were volunteers) were making so many cucumbers that I started picking them and just throwing them in a pile on the ground so the vines would stay alive and keep growing. (Sorry youngest daughter...if I had a way to get these to you I would have done it.)

The San Marzano tomatoes were absolutely loaded again.

The okra started to bloom, and there were big green Cherokee Purple tomatoes hanging in clusters on the vines.  The Jupiter bell pepper plants had lots of peppers on them, and the Christmas Lima beans had reached the top of the trellis and started making pods.

But I didn't keep the promise that I made last year about the zinnias.

By the end of June, they were already starting to bloom and I couldn't bear the thought of cutting them out of the walking paths after that.  The flowers came all colors (except for blues):  dark red; light red; pink; fuscia; purple; salmon; orange; yellow; cream and white.

The butterflies and bumblebees loved them.  And I did too.  In my mind, the garden had turned into a beautiful jungle of food plants and flowers and I was not at all displeased about it.

And then came July..........