HAIL NO!!!

So far in July, we've had nearly 4 inches of rain!! Of course, with this rain has come the threat of more severe weather and the gardeners' nightmare, HAIL! I guess I can feel fortunate that we've only had pea & marble sized hail. The storm that left this loveliness was apparently throwing golf balls around in other areas.

After a few storms, the hail damage is starting to show up in the garden as well. The zucchini doesn't look so bad, just a few holes in the leaves. The one on the right has a couple female blossoms coming, maybe I'll have zucchini soon!

The corn looks a little shredded after yesterday's storm.

This poor little borage didn't enjoy the pommeling so much.

After the first hail, I decided to build some protection for the tomatoes, just in case the golf balls come hurtling through the sky, they might stand a chance. I have two layers of chicken wire (offset so the holes are smaller) attached to a couple pieces of wood at each end. I laid it over the top of the trellis and tied it to the top supports. When the growing season is over, I can untie the wire and use it over the bed to hold down the fall mulch. Of course, this doesn't offer full protection as the sides are still open, but I'm hoping it helps (well, really, I'm hoping it's unnecessary). I also added ropes for the tomatoes to grow up. I still need to add the lines for the beans. The beans aren't growing so fast yet, so I still have a little time on that one.

The spaghetti squash & pumpkins are creeping up the ladder more and more each day. The Small Wonder squash is looking like it will be quite prolific. I may have spaghetti squash coming out my ears come fall!! Of course, the squash will probably all have little hail scars on them... The nasturtiums look the worst of everything in this bed. Those big round leaves took a severe beating.

This is the new addition this week. I finally got the trellis for the cukes & watermelon added. I had a few 2x2's left still so I used 'em along with the spindles that came from the stairs we cut down to fit the garden area (so I wouldn't have to jump off the retaining wall anymore). I had a set of hinges in the basement from an old project that was taken apart and a pair of brackets to keep the thing square (that I have no idea where they came from).

Too bad it doesn't sit at quite the same angle as the ladder. Oh well...

I covered all the bush beans after the first (or second?) storm. I figured they seemed to be having a tough enough time this year with out being beaten to death by flying ice.

They're still yellow, but they're looking a little better than they were. They are putting on growth now and they look like blooms may be on the way soon. I was going to try some fish emulsion, but the only time I remembered to look for some while I've been at the store, they didn't have any. We don't have any nurseries out here and I haven't been nearby any recently. I did apply some coffee grounds around the worst of them, just to see if that would do anything. I still wonder if it's because they're pretty wet. This week is supposed to be hot and I think dry, so maybe they'll perk up a little more. I've never had beans look this bad and the germination rates have been pretty dismal as well. I'm hoping the heat helps these guys get back to normal.

To top it all off, look what I found hatching (or emerging, or whatever these guys do)...

I wasn't sure at first what was wrong with it, it was laying so strangely on the mulch, then I realized it's legs weren't free yet. I wasn't so thrilled to find this guy for sure.

Well, there's my update for this week, a little early. I'm off my usual routine anyway as I didn't do my end-of-week pictures last week and Mom flies in tomorrow so I'm may not have a chance to update for about a week (we be out doing tourist-y things not garden-y things I think!). I'll be back before long though!