anybody else remember that song?
!! the drought here has been bad enough (should really say dry spell but hey! you KNOW it'll be official by the end of summer) but now it's been in the high 90s/low 100s for the past three days, with cooler temps only expected by NEXT weekend. so far we've had a cool spring so this is a real shock!

my bean plants are getting crispy around the edges, as are the few corn plants that came up. some of the tomatoes look very peaky. (some are fine).
the peas are dead completely--had a very short season with them due to lack of rainfall. I'm wondering where to draw the line--you can only water so much before it is just a waste of money since some things just can't take the high temps this early.

also, did anybody out there have major trouble with seeds from Park seeds this year? I have used them for several years and been very happy but this year had problems with green beans, limas, corn, squash, watermelon seeds not coming up or germinating at ridiculously low rates. (and yes, I did water them and do all the things I would do in a rainy year--I keep a close watch on seed beds for dryness or excessive water)

I contacted them and asked for a credit--but that hardly helps THIS year's garden, since the things I replanted are now getting burned up because their root systems aren't mature enough or deep enough yet.


ok, whining done? (anybody got any cheese to go with?)

We've been having a heat wave too, low 90's. And of course we never have rain from about April through November. But we had so much rain during the winter that so far the plants respond to irrigation.

I feel your pain. Here in E. Kansas, we've had precious little rain since February. I've had to water everything to get it to come up. To top it off, we had late frosts/freezes that really set my early bush beans back. Luckily, I hadn't gotten around to getting the tomatoes out or they'd have been done for too. Do you live in an area where water is short or is it very expensive? I live in town, and although I definitely notice a jump in the water bill if I have to do outside watering, I will do it, as I can't stand to watch my plants die after I've put so much time and effort in getting them started.

As for problems with Park Seed, I also haven't been real pleased. The newest things I bought this spring have germinated pretty well, but seed I purchased last year (some of which I just opened this year), has done poorly. I realize fresh is usually best, but I have always kept seed for years and had good results. I got nearly 80% germination of Roma tomato seeds from Gurney's that must be close to 10 years old. I like Park's because of the tremendous number of varieties (especially flowers and herbs)they offer and also great customer service. Seems like Gurney's has really cut back on the number of varieties they offer but I still use them as a source to get some of the older varieties (like Early Contender Beans).

Ok - here's my opportunity to whine - after a cool, relatively moist spring in our sleepy little town we are now in the full blast of summer heat. I nervously put my starts outside in the cold frame to harden them off - just 2 days after we'd had a light frost. The second morning I had them in there it was 90 outside by 10 am and my starts were almost dead by the time I got to them. They all have sunscald and are barely hanging in there! I need to just get them in the ground but, dang!, it's hot! Too hot to have my fair-skinned, red-head toddler with me - I'll have to wait until evening when it cools down into the 80's - this is ridiculous... X-(

Gloom, despair, and agony on me! Deep dark depresion excessive misery. If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me!

Is that the one? I know it because I have made it a trademark song of a guy in our office, who is one of those "Po, po, pitiful me" guys, so I sang that for him one time...and it stuck, even though only two others remembered it. I have been trying to find an old Hee Haw on a cd, or video, so I could record it for him.

Dave

...and here in the northeast, it is rain, rain, rain + cold,cold cold.
Forecast for the coming week=rain!

Go ahead and cry. Sounds like your having a really rough season. It might be a year for buying starts instead of seeds. I hope it gets better. I just put my stuff outside. At least the stuff that had germinated. MY pumpkins haven't though and it is fresh seed. I've had better germination from carrot seed from 2000. I have 1 carrot... and it's doing poorly. Well I'll give it some more time and then buy starts.

Living where HOT temps usually arrive in April, I have found shade cloth to be the life saver of the garden... that and lots of mulch and frequent watering...

One must "eat" the cost of water use if a garden is desired...

Improving soil to hold water is a must... lots of compost and organic materials...

I have also found that how I water makes a difference in vegie survival. Slow drips are much better than hose watering. Slow drips with a few inches of leaves on top is even better.

And for crops that simply don't do well with all that sun+heat, shade cloth.

I think your co-worker's sister is in my carpool. I call her Eeyore to myself. All week long she lives for the weekend; on Monday she tells us what all went wrong on Sat & Sun but still how bad it is to be Monday. My garden soil could be like dust, but she'd complain if it rained. Last month I dropped out of the carpool for a week and walked a mile in from the cheap parking spots each morning. I gotta find a new carpool. something a little more upbeat.

pepperhead,

I started laughing right away! I said Hee Haw!!!! Of course everybody else in the room here at work looked at me like I was a nut, but being born in 62, I remember watching it a lot!

Anyway, it's not like I want to instigate trouble or anything... uh... wait. Yes I do! Here is a link to a site that sells videos of Hee Haw. I think I also saw that Time Life even has a complete set for sale, but I'd bet that would be more than you'd need, huh?

http://www.timvp.com/heehaw.html

Where oh where are you tonight?
Why did you leave me here all alone?
I searched the world over and I thought I'd found true love.
But you met another and PTHHP! you was gone.

:^O :^O :^O :^O :^O :^O :^O

Okay. It's kinda dorky now, but it was great then!

BG

Thanks for the site...I don't remember that one when I was looking for it. I didn't remember those other verses of "Where oh Where", but I downloaded that from the site. Maybe I'll remember them when I hear it.
Hear's another I remembered for some whispering women in our office, and got some laughs from them:

Now, we're not ones to go 'round spreadin' rumors
Why really we're just not the gossipy kind
No you'll never hear one of us repeating gossip
So you'd better be sure and listen close the first time!

Dave