Here in the Northeast, or to be more specific, New York, I along with my friends & neighbors look forward to the coming of Spring & Summer. Well, this year I can honestly say that here in the lower Hudson Valley we never really had a Spring, and now here we are in almost mid August, and I'm still waiting for summer to arrive. And if summer ever gets here, it will be a very short one indeed.

In late April is when I put in my Broccoli & Brussel Sprout crops into the home garden. I do that because by the start of June, its just too hot here to grow Broccoli. And the Brussels are established before the summer heat so they have a full growing season. Then in early may, I generally put in a mix of the various salad greens, for the same reasons. But this year there was really no need to rush, but who knew. My Broccoli is still growing spouts, the Brussels are almost mature, the salad greens are better than ever. Unfortunately, the beans, tomatoes, pickles, cucumbers & the zucchini are all lost.

The almost daily rains in the months of June & july have caused all sorts of disease & blight. And not only the rain, but the cold night time air temperatures have taken their toll as well. And did I forget to mention that I lost the entire crop of eggplant & nearly every Bell pepper too. The onions & the beets made it thank goodness. But looking on the brighter side of things, the four, twenty year old Willow trees that normally start to drop their leaves in early July due to the lack of water are not complaining one bit. They've had their feet firmly planted in cold moist soil all season long. And the herd of ten to twelve deer that can be seen grazing on my grass every morning & evening have become so accustomed to the sight of me, they no longer run off when they see me. And if I'm on my tractor, they tend to eat a little faster because they sense that their lush patch of over grown grass is about to be cut down.

I try to tell my self there is some good in everything that happens. The Willow trees got a break, the deer are well nourished, the birds are happy & my electric bill is way down because the air conditioner has yet to be turned on. And as I write this, it looks like today will be the first really hot day we have had. The news is reporting that we will hit 90 today. The first hot day of the entire summer! Now I'm wondering what the Fall will bring. I always enjoy the first really good snowfall & the fun of plowing off my driveway. But as soon as I'm past that first snowfall, I dream of those long summer days. And when summer arrives, I can't wait for the summer burn out when I can take a break from mowing. I guess there is just no satisfying me!

Jerry