Delays in the Fall Garden

I must sorrowfully say that I am way, way behind in putting the Fall 2016 garden in.  If it was due to neglect or slothfulness, I would admit it to you.  I have tried.  I really have.  Let me show you the sad sight of the fall garden:

That is a really nice crop of weeds growing.  Embarrassing, really.  So what's going on? Well, I'll tell you like this.  I track the rainfall daily from totals in the rain gauge. From January 1 through July 31 I recorded 29.8 inches of rain.  That was for the entire year so up to that point at that amount was putting us right on target of our annual average rainfall of 60 inches for the year.

Then...  Then August happened.  From August 1 - August 25th we have received 24.1 inches of rain. Just this month!  So far!  We have almost received the amount of rainfall in one month that it took us 7 months to accumulate.  It is a muddy mess.  The ground is rotten and the mud just stinks.  We are tired of it and the animals are tired of it.

The cows' milk production has fallen way off and Tricia and I have been theorizing about why.  Tricia even asked me if the bull got loose and bred the cows.  (Once they are bred, their milk production diminishes.)  But no, the bull is within the confines of his pasture locked down.

A gentleman who formerly milked cows dropped by the house today and Tricia told him about the reduction in milk.  He said that in his experience this happened because there is so much water in the grass.  He said it is like eating watered down soup - the nutrition value is diluted.  Perhaps that is it.  I don't know.

This looks like a pond in the pasture, but we don't have a pond!

Mosquitoes are all over the place and you cannot stay outside for long without slapping, itching, and being miserable.  The pumpkins I planted on July 1 are yellow and sickly in the water-logged ground. Okay enough complaining about those things.  I'll discuss my main complaint - the delay in the Fall Garden.

I planted tomato seeds, butternut squash seeds, spaghetti squash seeds, zucchini squash seeds and several varieties of yellow squash seeds.

I also planted two different varieties of cucumbers...

And then there are trays of cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and brussel sprouts.

All of this should have been in the garden by now, but the garden is a muddy, weed infested swamp, and...

The Garden

instead of having the plants in well worked beds in the garden, the plants are still in seed pots on the patio.  They are getting long and leggy and I may have to re-pot them again in bigger pots soon. Even if it was to stop raining today, it would be two weeks before it could dry up and I could even think about getting things worked up and planted.

I'm a stubborn, persistent guy, though.  (Ask my wife!)  I'm not giving up or getting discouraged.  I'll wait it out and get the fall garden in yet!  Better late than never...