Summertime blahs

Summer is not my favorite time in the garden. It's too hot to work for more than a few minutes at a time, and it's a constant battle to make sure everything is getting enough water. We have a fairly sophisticated drip/minisprayer system, but drip irrigation is never maintenance-free. Drips get plugged and don't put out adequate water, or a sprayer works loose from its stake and sprays in the wrong direction, so we're constantly repairing and trying to improve the system.

The corn is going to be a disappointment, I'm afraid. Some of the silks have already turned brown and are not filled out, so I would say our experiment with hand-pollination was unsuccessful. Most of the pole beans died as a result of an emitter-failure that went undetected for a couple of weeks, and the surviving ones have no beans. I think it may be too hot for the pollen to be active now. Although we have several squash plants, I can see only one squash growing, and a couple of smallish Japanese eggplants. Tomato plants still have fruit, although they probably won't set any more this summer- too hot for them. There are a handful of blackberries and blueberries left, and our June-fruiting peach tree has a half-dozen peaches.

Sometimes all you can do is keep on keeping on- five minutes at a time weeding, checking for those plants that need supplemental water, and wait for the weather to cool off!