It's been too cold and damp here for much of anything to grow. June is often like this in the PNW. But this year seems stranger than usual. We had snow in mid-Apr., temps in the 80s in Mid-May and temps in June that haven't gone any higher than 58 degrees. I don't think we'll have much of a crop this year.

I knew Resident Evil was based on factual events!!

Got my first 3 cukes yesterday! This puts me 3 cukes ahead of my neighbor and gardening challenger. He don't stand a chance, him with all his chemicals.

6 cukes and 14 okras. I'm skunking both neighbors now!

We've had such weird weather this year that when I went to our local farmers' market, most of the produce was tiny. The onions were good--they over-winter--and some of the produce came for the interior of the state, where the weather is warmer, but even it was still in the 'baby' stage. Those farms offered head lettuce the size of a baseball.

One of my favorite farmers lost all of his tomatos and planted his 20 acre corn field in cover crop (which is good for the field, but not for the farmer) because the soil never warmed up enough to plant until it was too late.

As for our garden, the peas are doing well--they're a cool weather crop, and the corn is growing. We may not get a crop, however. Our tomatos are okay, but again, we may not get a crop. Our zucchini didn't sprout at all! My basils are still only a couple of inches high. But we did get a nice crop of heritage lettuce--including Miner's lettuce--and radishes. The beets never sprouted.

What's the farmer's adage? "There's always next year!"

We've picked 14 cantaloupes so far. They didn't ripen how I expected. They are supposed to be the type that goes from green to green with that course tan netted look when ready. Soon after they began to grow the 'net' they started to turn yellow and the 'net' stopped forming. Maybe the sun burned their skin or I didn't water enough. It's been dry this year. Goon news is, they're delicious! And oh so juicy!

More good news is that the aphids are not near as numerous as last year. I also attribute that to dry weather.

Tomatoes are being difficult for many people this year. We're getting great plants with many blooms, but few tomatoes. It's not because of a lack of pollinators. I see honey bees and other pollinator insects in the garden. This lack of production is spread across much of north central Texas.

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but as far as I know red bell peppers are only sweet green bells that are left on the plant a bit longer to ripen and therefore turn red.

You're correct, Windy. Bell peppers are red, yellow and orange. Immature red bell peppers are green. They don't do well here without a green house because they're native to Mexico-northern South America so they take more heat days than we have here.

Yes, and other colors like purple... To grow them takes time. 100 days or so to maturity. I'm not sure I want to wait over 3 months for my first red bell peppers. I use them sparingly, so I guess a trip to the Farmer's Market once in awhile to buy them is ok...

We harvested peas today and pulled the vines. I have enough to last the winter.

There's also some fruit on the tomatoes--a real surprise after the horrible spring we had. I doubt we'll get much of a crop, however.

Most of the corn is doing quite well, as are the apples and pears. I think we should bag the garden next year and build up the soil again. But we probably won't. My husband does enjoy it.