End of the Year Garden Report

Another year at the garden has come to a close. Not to be dramatic or anything, but it was the worst garden in the history of gardens. Let me explain. You see, this was a tough year for gardens in the Northwest. We really didn't have a summer. It rained the entire month of June, it really didn't get hot all summer and then it rained again most of September. This is great for all of the folks who moved to Oregon to get away from the heat, but its absolutely horrible for our gardens.

Early in the season, I was having the best luck with greens and snap peas and green beans--oh boy, did I have green beans. And broccoli. We ate pounds of broccoli. Around the end of August, all of the "cool weather" crops had bolted and it was time to get excited about tomatoes and peppers. Because the early growing season was so wet and because the deer fence was working so well, the tomato and pepper plants shot up like rockets, full of stems and foliage. The fruit started to set on and I started to get worried about what I was going to do with 150 tomatoes. But then, nothing happened. The days stayed cool and the nights stayed even cooler and the green tomatoes just sat there. I had plants full of green tomatoes for about a month, tiny little peppers and okra plants that never got taller than four inches. However, we started to get lucky and the weather got a little warmer, so I thought maybe things would work out.

Then, I saw Linda at work and she delivered the blow: "The deer tore the fence down and got in the garden." I drove out to the garden telling myself that last year, "the deer only ate the leaves, they left the tomatoes alone, everything will be fine." But it wasn't. Everything was eaten. The leaves, the green tomatoes, the poblano peppers, even the jalapenos. Good lord, do I hate deer.

So, the garden report ends up like this. Tomatoes? Fail. Peppers and okra? Fail. Feeding the deer for the second year in a row? Success. Full success.