Most things are growing, in spite of the drought! The well was run dry a week ago, and though it has filled again to a few feet, water must be used sparingly. The hose that hangs in the picture above isn’t connected to a source of water, so it sort of sums up the situation. After transplanting we immediately give the plants a good drink, but after that they have to tough it out. Germination of direct seeded crops has been really poor, but we will reseed again when the moisture level goes up. The focus has been on getting as much mulch down as we can soon after transplanting, because it helps to conserve moisture in the soil.

Summer turnips (covered), lettuces (left and right beds), spinach, and seeded rows…

The group of young people from Katimavik we hosted for 10 days and our guest WWOOFer Louai were a tremendous help, especially with mulching, which is one of the dustiest and tedious tasks in the garden. They all worked cheerfully and I think they had a good time. (We know for sure that they loved the food!)

Kamé, Joël, the Katimavik group Greg, Mary, Tara, Jesse, and Stephanie

But back to the garden. The extreme heat we had last week was hard on some of the veggies — a few of the boc choi have already gone to seed, but most have held up pretty well. We will evaluate the situation over the next few days, and may opt to do up the first CSA baskets next week.

In the picture above you can see rows of bunching onions and lettuces, which will be harvestable in a few weeks. Behind those (but in front of the raspberry canes) are rows of our fall-planted garlic growing (more or less) in a sandy spot. The yellowing of the leaves we presume to be because of the dryness. At this point we are hoping for several days of rain to give the earth a thorough soaking.