Well…I’m Z5a south of you and we have Definitely had too much rain. We are about a foot over avg for this time of year. We have sandy soil and I have to fence everything or we would have nothing. The wildlife pressure this year has been off the charts compared to severe drought last year. I had to install irrigation last year. This year the peppers started looking lime green and I could not add liquid fertilizer for a quick boost, but I did switch to granular. The peppers are doing great, but the biggest hit was tomatoes. Ugh! They were stunted and the late blight that normally shows up first week of August showed up 3 weeks earlier. I’m hoping to get enough to preserve. I Never had problems growing tomatoes. The hollyhocks got severe rust and other flowers I had to thin out to get air to them. Then the worst thing was the mosquitoes in droves and the stifling no breeze jungle atmosphere-it’s been the worst I agree. It’s like having cabin fever in the summer. I created 3’ wide long rows I shore up with 6” boards or logs, whatever to hold rows in place. The paths I dug down and put the soil in the beds and filled the paths with arborist chips. I have to say it has been a good decision. I see you have grass that is quite a problem to stay ahead of. The other thing I had to do this year is use a lot more fertilizer. We have chickens and used coop cleanings last fall in my north garden that is all in ground. I did use at least 3 applications of fertilizer on the corn. I also planted 3 seeds to a hole like my dad use to do and did two long rows. They all had at least two ears each. We used Silver Queen and they were fantastic, but not the largest kernels for freezing. I think finding the right varieties for your garden is key. Start everything out with nitrogen and once established switch to higher P & K. Gardening is getting tricky even for those that have been at it awhile. Many plants advanced by at least 2 weeks and that throws everything off. Sorry everything is a bust as I know how depressing just my tomatoes alone are to me.
We use a tractor when planting our corn, as that is a HUGE garden (I think it's around an acre in size). The planter drops fertilizer with the seeds, and then we go through a few more times and put more down. The only thing that changed from what we have done previously is the weather. I wish we had sandy soil here, would definitely help on wet years, though probably would have made last year even more difficult than it already was! We will see how the growing season goes next year, we have talked about moving that garden to a different area and if it seems like we really can't grow much there in wet years we may have to. We liked that spot as it gets shaded quite well from the trees in the afternoon so makes going and working over there tolerable on hot days. (I am NOT an early morning gardening type of person 🤣). We may have to move it to an area where it gets more sunlight which should help with the wetness issues at least a little bit... we will see, gardening always keeps us on our toes!
@@WildOnesHomestead oh, yes, corn needs the sun. The sandy soil we have amended but we have a desert like microclimate here-cold nights and hot days. The irrigation was a blessing and had a Much better garden last year in drought. Yes, the sandy soil I am use to, but the rain sure can drain the nutrients.
Well…I’m Z5a south of you and we have Definitely had too much rain. We are about a foot over avg for this time of year. We have sandy soil and I have to fence everything or we would have nothing. The wildlife pressure this year has been off the charts compared to severe drought last year. I had to install irrigation last year.
This year the peppers started looking lime green and I could not add liquid fertilizer for a quick boost, but I did switch to granular. The peppers are doing great, but the biggest hit was tomatoes. Ugh! They were stunted and the late blight that normally shows up first week of August showed up 3 weeks earlier. I’m hoping to get enough to preserve. I Never had problems growing tomatoes. The hollyhocks got severe rust and other flowers I had to thin out to get air to them. Then the worst thing was the mosquitoes in droves and the stifling no breeze jungle atmosphere-it’s been the worst I agree. It’s like having cabin fever in the summer.
I created 3’ wide long rows I shore up with 6” boards or logs, whatever to hold rows in place. The paths I dug down and put the soil in the beds and filled the paths with arborist chips. I have to say it has been a good decision. I see you have grass that is quite a problem to stay ahead of.
The other thing I had to do this year is use a lot more fertilizer. We have chickens and used coop cleanings last fall in my north garden that is all in ground. I did use at least 3 applications of fertilizer on the corn. I also planted 3 seeds to a hole like my dad use to do and did two long rows. They all had at least two ears each. We used Silver Queen and they were fantastic, but not the largest kernels for freezing. I think finding the right varieties for your garden is key. Start everything out with nitrogen and once established switch to higher P & K.
Gardening is getting tricky even for those that have been at it awhile. Many plants advanced by at least 2 weeks and that throws everything off.
Sorry everything is a bust as I know how depressing just my tomatoes alone are to me.
We use a tractor when planting our corn, as that is a HUGE garden (I think it's around an acre in size). The planter drops fertilizer with the seeds, and then we go through a few more times and put more down. The only thing that changed from what we have done previously is the weather.
I wish we had sandy soil here, would definitely help on wet years, though probably would have made last year even more difficult than it already was!
We will see how the growing season goes next year, we have talked about moving that garden to a different area and if it seems like we really can't grow much there in wet years we may have to. We liked that spot as it gets shaded quite well from the trees in the afternoon so makes going and working over there tolerable on hot days. (I am NOT an early morning gardening type of person 🤣). We may have to move it to an area where it gets more sunlight which should help with the wetness issues at least a little bit... we will see, gardening always keeps us on our toes!
@@WildOnesHomestead oh, yes, corn needs the sun. The sandy soil we have amended but we have a desert like microclimate here-cold nights and hot days. The irrigation was a blessing and had a Much better garden last year in drought. Yes, the sandy soil I am use to, but the rain sure can drain the nutrients.
Gosh I hate it for y’all. This is the worst garden year I’ve ever had. Too dry then too wet lol 😩😁👏👏🔥
It is SO bad. I just keep thinking at least I have my garlic. 🤣😅