Rain, rain, and more rain makes our garden wet. It is definitely a great year for squash and cucumbers as they love water. Had we known it would rain this much, we would have planted pumpkins and watermelons. 😉

Getting off to a slow start, our garden is barely growing. Keeping an eye on the drainage to make sure the plants are not sitting in water has been the bulk of our work this month. I am also dealing with slugs. These pests love the moist dirt and the leaves of our plants.

My daughter enjoys picking them up and relocating them in the yard. This activity keeps her busy outside as there are lots of slugs living around the base of our wooden garden frame. Thus far, the slugs are staying on the perimeter.

While most of the garden has not begun producing fruit, we have seen some growth and harvest. During the month of May, our garden made the following changes:

Strawberries

Coming in waves, our strawberry patch burst forth and produced a total of 37 strawberries. I harvested 8 on the 19th, 8 more on the 22nd, and 21 additional berries on the 30th. This strawberry variety is very sweet, so I’m thankful the garden is covered with a net this year. If given the opportunity, the birds would grab these delicious berries too early.

Blackberries

Our blackberry plants are growing quickly. They both are one long stalk.

Sunflowers

My daughter planted sunflowers at school. We have been growing them indoors, and the plant has outgrown its cup. Though it is still fragile, my daughter really wanted to plant it outside in our garden. So, she dug the hole and planted it between the blueberry and blackberry plants near the garden.

The garden is off to a great start with lots of rain keeping the plants moist. One of our cucumber sprouts started to wilt after planting, but it has revived and is doing really well.

In using time wisely, we are tending our garden, picking out the weeds, removing the slugs, and waiting for the harvest. The process is full of changes as this is our first attempt at tending a garden in a rainy summer. This experience is different from the heat of last year, so we are learning how to adjust. Happy tending!

Question: If you have a garden, what are you growing this summer?