The Insanity of Summer....

... Or maybe I'm just lazy.

The first garden I visited after I started gardening was an inspiration, and it was ridiculous. My crop at the time was modest, but my beds were perfect. Row after row of tired burnt plants, yielding their efforts at securing seedlings for the following season. Fruit so pitiful pealing renedered only seeds.

My friend's garden, was chaos. Weed covered, trellissed plants matted together, gigantic unharvested fruits. My fried was however an expert gardener. I scoffed, silently of course, but now, I'v boarded the same boat.

I do weed, around seedlings only. I water, of course, a complete necessity in our climate. I fertilize also, perhaps the most important. Last weekend, though, as I poured my last jug of putrid emulsified fish water over my straining, bending, breaking tomatoes, I had a moment. It's hot! Glad I got the fertilizing done! I'm gonna have a beer!

There will be detractors, but I say let them come. It's fairly mid-summer. I've weeded hard. I've planted, transplanted, chased pests. . . And to show for it, I have so many vegetables I can't keep up with the canning. One more tomatoe and cheese snack plate, and I'm sure my wife will leave me.

If I miss a water mellon until fall when the grass dies, so be it. I work hard to get the most from my garden, don't get me wrong, but after mid-July, I've gotta let her fly. Do what she wants. I've got volunteer plants I've not even identified yet. But the volunteer melons from May were a hit. Who am I to judge.

So, here's to chaos. Keep the fertilizer on 'em, pick what you see, leave some for the pests, and crack a cold one in the shade.