All Hail Hail

I think my garden was doomed from the beginning. It's been a hot and dry summer. I've been determined to water and baby my plants, most of whom, I started from seed earlier in the Spring. I've done my best to weed and fertilize, although I'll admit, I'm a terrible weeder!

My garden is filled with tomatoes, radishes, lettuces, zucchini, broccoli, and rutabagas. My attempts at growing Chinese Long Beans and Baby Bush Squash had miserably failed earlier in the season. And my sweet corn was enjoyed for the fourth year in a row by a raccoon who seems to enjoy taunting me with his ability to pluck the corn from the stalk just a few days before it's at it's peak ripeness.

At this time of year, I begin losing interest in my garden. I'm often longing for the change of seasons, looking forward to cooler weather and school to begin again. The reality of my garden isn't exactly as I planned it in the Spring. I remember my planning sessions and many drafts of my garden layout fondly, knowing I'll do it again every Spring. I think people who live in areas where the seasons don't change, don't understand this need to dig in the dirt once the snow thaws! We plan, seed catalogs in hand, long before Spring has sprung.

But, I digress. There is a bit of a gambler in me. I rarely measure when I cook and I like to try new things. Gardening is the same type of gamble. Plant these little seeds and you just might get something amazing. Or, as in my case this summer, you just might battle Mother Nature and lose.

Heat and hail. There's nothing I could have done differently in my garden this year. The beautiful plants that just didn't get time to produce were knocked down and splintered by two to three inch balls of ice falling from stormy skies. It happened in just a few short minutes. And in a way, it was really ok. I was really ok. Because that's what happens when you gamble, sometimes you win and sometimes, well, you just have to surrender.