Hope in the Garden

This morning I went out early to water the garden before the onset of the heat of the day, and was greeted with the sight of many new sprouts. It is amazing what sufficient water will do! (Too bad it is from the hose and not from rain.)

There were some strawberry blossoms, so maybe I might have some strawberries in August or so. Some of the plants didn't survive the winter, but most have at least a few leaves.

There were also some radish sprouts, after nearly a

month. I'm assuming they just didn't get enough water to sprout, since last year they were up in just a week or so. There are some chard sprouts too - very tiny, but they are there.

My one cucumber

out has been toasted, I don't think it will live. And so far there have been no more cucumber sprouts coming up. Maybe now it is too wet for them?

Very good news is that the carrots have finally sprouted as

well. I had a chance to take a look at my sister-in-law's garden this weekend, and once I was reminded what carrot sprouts looked like, I could finally identify a few in my own garden. The potatoes are also doing quite well - they seem to be coming up earlier than last year, believe it or not.

More and more peas are emerging as well. Some more beans continue to fight upwards too, but I think the plants that were killed off earlier were the strongest ones, so I may still have quite a reduced bean crop. I may have a few bean seeds left: maybe I will replace some of the dead sprouts and see what happens. Perhaps we will be fortunate and have a warm Fall - I can hope for one, anyway.

The garden seems to be one of the best places to find hope, actually.