July 17

The garden has been pathetic this year, and I fear the heat and drought have taken its toll. July can be cruel this way, particularly since we vacationed away at the cottage earlier, when the July heat beat down on the garden, left to fend for itself.

May saw enthusiasm with transplanting of seedlings, the promise of maturity seemingly likely. June’s rains tempered the growth, but it provided moisture enough to facilitate the warmth that we knew would come.

Come it did, and full force no less. The garden I left at the start of July has been replaced by wilting plants, with little to show, replete with the thriving purslane and chickweed among the stalks.

Now we cultivate and water, hopeful for progress. The tomatoes still have flowers; the cucumbers will recover, as with the squash. Only the peppers seem unperturbed, though well behind where they should be.

Notes:

First Goldenrod in Bloom at Highland Meadow