The Mid-Summer Slump

I saw that phrase, "the mid-summer slump" on another garden blog and thought is was a good description of my feelings this week.  My garden is far from done, but it sure looks like heck.  This is when you start to see how well you chose your varieties.  Careful selection of resistant hybrids can mean the difference between This:

A lot of mildew

And This:

Vigorous, mostly healthy Dunja zuchini

 I am very happy with the Dunja variety from Johnny's Seeds which is said to be resistant to powdery mildew, papaya ringspot virus, watermelon mosaic virus, and zucchini yellow mosaic virus.  So far, so good.  Just a little mildew but not too bad.  Tis the season.  Tis also the season for everything else to begin to succumb to old age and disease.

The last row of peas is tumbled down and ready to be pulled.  I think there is one more meal left in there.

The potato patch is blighting out and dying back, but that won't affect the plentiful tubers beneath the soil.

The Black Beans are beginning to lay over and split down the middle.  A few of them are a bit chewed up from Japanese Beetles.  Not pretty to look at like the lush jungle of June.

The Melon Patch has stopped blooming and is showing a little yellow around the edges.  That's OK.  I'll settle for two dozen cantaloupe!  I'm anxious for them to begin ripening.  I have at least half a dozen watermelons too.

Elsewhere in the garden.  The first row of cucumbers is fighting wilt as the second row just begins to bloom.  One planting of bush beans is fighting root rot which is getting the seedlings just as they make it through the soil.  About a third are surviving.  I have planted more in another bed.

Despite the challenges and the circle of life drama going on, we still have plenty to eat.  Tonight we had beans, carrots and cucumbers.  I have just begun picking cherry tomatoes and I am anxiously awaiting the ripening of slicing tomatoes and eggplants.  The onions and garlic are ready to pull.  I have enough zucchini to make a batch of bread for the freezer.  All is well after all.