Many gardeners and even professional farmers of New England complained about the growing season last year. It seemed that there was too much rain or not enough, and happening with the worst timing along with thick overcast skies and hot weather throughout most of the growing season. Our lettuce and carrots bolted early, our peas did not grow beyond 4 inches tall, and we got two good but small tomatoes. The rest rotted. The squash didn't even grow. The harvest was not much for us, but the insects had a great season. With the carrots and lettuce bolting, they had a wonderful variety of flowers that they don't often get to partake of. If other gardeners and farmers are willing to see the silver lining of the terrible season we had last year, we can have hopes for a good season this year with many beneficial insects supporting our attempts. There will most likely be many beneficial insects working with us to make this season a success. There will definitely be plenty of bracanoid wasps guarding our tomatoes and I've already seen many bumbles establishing nesting sites. I'm strongly considering letting more lettuce and carrots bolt each year, not just for seeds, but to keep those beneficial wasps coming around! Cheers to all and all the best for a successful gardening season!
I'm sorry to say this, but things really aren't looking very good anywhere... Climate change is really happening. Yes we now occasionally get a good growing year. Which makes a lot of people doubt climate change - But what many aren't realizing, is that we have had more bad growing years in the last 20 years. Then we ever did before. So this is most troubling for me. I am really not happy about this at all. I did not contribute in any way to global warming, I always recycled since as far back as I can remember. And I'm today using my own off the grid solar energy - We really don't deserve this...
Beeker, gardeners are nothing if not resilient, and you are showing your great resiliency! Gardeners always think of "next season, new variety, and what I can do better". We have embarked on our gardening season and all is doing well. I hope the same for you.
@S-H - Sorry to hear you're so upset, but there is no need to worry. Very reliable experts such as the head of meteorology at MIT, the founder of the Weather Channel, and hundreds of others have reassured us that the issue is a political tool, not based in reality. @marlingardener - Thank you. Yes, last autumn I prepped the beds and planted garlic. Just a couple of weeks ago, I planted shallots. So far, they are all growing beautifully. Garlic: Shallots were planted on Palm Sunday, 4/10/2022. This picture is the bed on 4/21/2022: Shallots today 4/26/2022: I have to pull those weeds that are poking through, but the shallots are off to a great start! Oh, and the pile of grass along the fence in the garlic picture is actually grown through the deer-fence. It would be impossible to cut without cutting some of the fence with it so I let it go. Fortunately, it makes great nesting sites for bumble bees. The rabbits are chewing through the deer-fence, so we will have to reinforce the bottom with chicken-wire. We found another rabbit nest in the compost bed the same day I took the picture of the garlic. One question, is the garlic too close to be able to companion plant with it? Oh, second question, did I plant the garlic deep enough? Look at those necks. I'm a bit nervous (this is my first time growing garlic).
Well, my environment was somewhat hot, and tropical. I remember it well from my childhood in the 80s. But otherwise everything was fine. Now it's sizzling hot most of the time in summer, and our summers are about 9 months long. And no, it's not likely to get better, (according to our experts) - Every year we are getting more and more frequent heatwaves than we ever did in the past. Heatwaves like nobody ever experienced in their living memories, where people actually died in the streets from heatstroke... As well as tropical downpour which shattered all the last 100 years of weather records, (see links below). So it's not something political for us, as politicizing of an issue mostly occurs in North America and Europe. Not so much here, as here politicians simply avoid complex issues - They simply shy away from it, as they risk getting exposed for what they actually are - Idiots!!! https://www.gardenstew.com/threads/extreme-heatwave.35912/ https://www.gardenstew.com/threads/once-in-a-century-storm-approaching.42183/ So no, with all due respect to everyone here, I'm not going to behave ultra optimistic. Because in my situation it feels the same as burying my head in the sand like an ostrich. Which is something only the elderly and hopelessly senile ladies do in my corner of the world. Actually kind of funny also, as such people themselves now don't have much time left here on Earth anyway. But I've still got a whole life to live. So my generation is the one that will be dealing with the problem for a very long time to come... This problem starts at the equator, then moves to the tropics where I am at the edge of - But soon it will spread out further in both North and South. Until it becomes global. So it's only a matter of just a few years more, until North America and Europe too starts feeling this full on.
