Drought, but the Garden Keeps Growing

Do you ever have one of those years when your life is undergoing a huge change? That year is the one I'm having. One side effect is that I haven't been keeping the blog updated. Another is that I have been making my garden smaller, to better match the time I have to tend it.

Considering the amount of water that I would need to be applying to the garden at its former size, this has turned out to be a good year for making such a change.

The last real rain at my house fell during the weekend of September 17-18. I was outside a lot that weekend, and I got totally soaked. All of us here, just north of Atlanta, are longing for another rain like that!

Now, outside, we are all covered up in smoke blowing in from forest fires in north Georgia and southern Tennessee, where many thousands of acres are burning out of control.

Park's Whopper tomato plant at the end of September. PHOTO/Amy

At home, though, the garden space I have been tending has done really well. To be honest, it was a great year for tomatoes in my yard, partly due to my having planted Park's Whopper Improved tomatoes.

When I finally pulled out that last plant in mid-October, I had to bring out an extra basket to carry in all the red, pink, and green fruits that were still on it.

The garden now has a couple of jalepeno plants that look pretty festive with all the red peppers. It also has some bok choy, kale, winter radishes (a family favorite!), the usual assortment of herbs, and the recently-planted garlic and shallots.The list is a little bit lean, but we will enjoy every bit of what we bring in.

Hope that all the other gardens out there are doing well!