9.95"

That's what the Weather Channel said this morning for this month's rain. Seriously, Mother Nature? What the hell?? That is almost 1/4 of the entire average rainfall for the YEAR in one month (41" of preciptation.) We're also eyeing the second coolest July on record, which actually is okay in my book. I hate the heat and the humidity. Everyone who has been in the landscaping business forever say they have never seen anything like this before in all of years of being in business. We're supposed to get more rain tomorrow and off and on the rest of the week which will push us well over 10" of rain for July.

The edible side of Garden Consultant HQ has been teetering on successful and not so much this year with no thanks to the cool damp weather. There's actually been a huge boom in Late Blight in both tomatoes and potatoes this year because of all of the rain. Yeah, that's the same type of blight that caused the Irish Potato Famine of 1845. I haven't seen it here in my garden, thank goodness. That would probably be the straw that broke the camel's back this year. Below are my Grape Tomatoes on crack....they are huge, loaded full of flowers as you can see - tons of GREEN tomatoes. That insanely sad looking tomato over on the left of the photo is an heirloom. I really, really wanted to have them do well because I love heirloom tomatoes. But good grief, it's withered, yellowed and just pathetic. Maybe I will give the heirlooms one more chance but in my upside down tomato grower (which has a decent plant with fruit coming)


Here are the sole three ripe tomatoes I've had all season! I picked a couple today but they are totally ripe. We need some heat that lasts for more than a day for these guys to ripen. I have so many romas, cherries, and yellow tomatoes coming...I just need them to ripen and not all at once!



I have to ask....lettuce in July?!?!?!?! Yes, if you have May weather in July.

I have finally given in to lesser organic methods to get the veggies to grow this summer. With all of this rain, nutrients are just being washed away from the soil. I broke out the water soluble 20-20-20 blue fertilizer. It's pretty much a plant steroid and it's doing just that....pumping up the veggies quickly, very quickly. I really felt I didn't have a choice with this season. I started to use the fertilizer about 3 weeks ago when I noticed my veggies hadn't grown, at all - nothing - since I planted them in May. I finally got a pickler cuke off of one of the plants. I planted them to eat fresh because Eric and I never can finish off a cuke before it turns to slimy, mush. Normally I would apologize for the weeds in the photo....but there isn't a garden in New England that isn't loaded full of weeds this summer. I have to go out and feed the veggies again tomorrow morning if it isn't pouring out.



I took this photo of my herbs in their containers late last month and like the veggies, the annual ones like parsley and basil where just like they were back in May. The rains of June started to rot out my basil which there wasn't much I could do about that. The rains of this month has started to take it's toll on the perennial herbs now....they are showing bad signs of overwatering AND nutrient deficiency. Ugh. This was not the year to do herbs in containers. The basil has seemed to stop rotting and has recovered. I'm going to make some pesto pasta sauce with it this week and that will feel like summer eventhough Mother Nature has other seasons in mind.