The 2003 Left Field Garden Project ... a series about a fruitful endeavor

Oh, So Dry!- Late August

As anyone with a garden can attest, the last month of hot, dry weather has made it a struggle just to keep plants alive. Forget about lush and green! The St. Joan's Garden is no exception. In spite of the watering that it gets, the garden looks like it has suffered from the heat.

Some plants are drying up, simply because their season is over, and others have given up the ghost prematurely because of the stress of the heat. The dill has turned into a brown version of its former self. The magnificent sunflower has lost its glory, but in the process has become food for the animals, as is evident from the pile of sunflower hulls left beneath it.

In spite of the stress, some plants continue to bear their fruits. This week there were more ripe cucumbers and a variety of tomatoes. There were miniature tomatoes that I called "light bulb" tomatoes, because of their shape and color ( and because we didn't know their real name). They were small and sweet, like cherry tomatoes. There were also more of the "rugby" squash, which I since learned from a reliable source (my friend Anthony), are actually Spaghetti Squash. I took one home and will try to figure out how to cook it. The broomcorn, seemingly thriving in the heat, is now about 8' tall, and its tassels are indicative of where it got its name.

We pray for rain, for the parched earth, and especially for those whose livelihood truly depends on the crops they grow.