I can’t believe what a difference a few short weeks has made in the garden. Tons of rain and finally some heat have made my garden GROW. I can’t keep up with all the summer squash!

Check out all the greeny goodness in the pics below.

The potatoes are loving their new converted fireplace planting bed

The blackberries are abundant this year. I have never seen them so loaded with beautiful berries.

I only have 6 basil plants but it’s almost too much! (not that I am complaining)

Not only have we had spectacular wins in the garden but we have also had spectacular fails as well. I planted lemon balm and celery and I don’t know if they just didn’t like the soil or maybe each other but they both withered up and died within days of planting them. That was a real bummer I tell ya!

My garlic, my beloved and most anticipated garlic, is failing. I have never grown garlic before so any advice would be welcome but it did not make scapes this year and it’s leaves are already turning brown.

Also we lost all of our sweet cherries to the cold rainy Spring. That’s 3 years in a row we have not had a harvest from these 2 trees. Some re-evaluating will be going on after this season on what to do about it.

And finally our Bosc pear and our apple trees are in trouble due to fire blight which I will catch you up on in another post. Sigh…

On the bright side I have gotten some things preserved and stored in the pantry and freezer for the winter.

7 pints of strawberry syrup, 5- 12 oz. containers of strawberry freezer jam, 5 quarts of sour cherries (which we had abundant crops of despite the sweet cherry fail) and tons of shredded zucchini for cakes and bread all got done last week.

I will give you a more detailed update next time but until then happy gardening! -MM