Hope you don't mind a neighbor butting in. Our yard has some low lying areas. Earlier this spring there was such a big and deep puddle we had a pair of wood ducks paddling around. I lucked out in the placement of 4 lasagna beds but last year (you know, the rainy summer before this one) we started a new asparagus bed but it should have been a rice paddy. The trenches filled with water and we didn't get them filled as much as I would have liked. Added more compost and grass clippings this year but one end has been underwater occasionally. I was very surprised we didn't lose all the roots since asparagus doesn't like wet feet. The cold has been the worst for some plants. I think it's going to be a lot longer from seed to harvest than usual. There are wheel ruts in another section of the yard where my husband tried to mow.
We're planning to camp in Wiscasset in a couple of weeks. I have my fingers crossed for decent weather.

Well, I'm "from away", and I'm pretty sick of this weather, too! My poor vegetables are just sitting there looking pathetic, pleading for sun. Surprisingly enough, most of my perennials are doing pretty well, and my antique roses are blooming their fool heads off! I'm sure that that will come to a crashing halt when the blackspot hits them! At least I haven't seen any JBs yet (HOPE HOPE!!)

A good day now is when it is misty and cloudy instead of a downpour. I have given up on sun and have been planting and weeding in my rainsuit and even under my large beach umbrella. The SLUGS are doing as much or more damage than the lack of sun. I have used various remedies over the years. but now I am using them ALL simultaneously. I even have gotten the beer out which I haven't used in years. Every morning, and evening I go outside with my beer can in and and replenish. The town is going to think I am a lush- drinking at 8 AM??? Today I also thinned out and staked a lot of my perennials beds so that some air can get through. I usually leave the young forget me nots for ground cover, but I'm evening cleaning them out.

Even the ducks have had enough!!! I'm just happy I have raised beds. Also happy I got everything in the ground VERY early.

Cool weather veggies were sowed in April and had a chance to grow before the rains started. I've been harvesting my cool weather vegetables for about two weeks:

-Peas
-Radishes
-Spinach
-Lettuce
-Swiss chard

I took a HUGE risk this year. I put my sun-drinking, warmth-loving veggies in the raised beds a month before the frost date. Fortunately, May was frost-free, warm and sunny here in Portland.

A third of my tomatoes and peppers were flowering in late May, early June, before the rains came. Some have set fruit, but the fruit isn't growing at all without good sun.

I have 25 varieties of tomato plants. They are all healthy and disease free so far - about 2.5 to 3.5 feet tall with mostly strong, thick vines and plenty of flowers. Just waiting for the sun.

Fred

I am TOTALLY SICK OF THIS RAIN!!! WE are all in a bad mood at my house lately. The slugs are killing my vegatable garden, and none of my beebalm even LOOKS like it is going to produce any flower buds, and they are covered with powdery mildew. We decided to put garden beds IN the greenhouse, so atleast they will not get inundated with rain, and IF the damn sun ever comes out, they will be alot warmer in there than they will outside. I CANNOT TAKE MUCH MORE OF THIS CRAPP !!!!!!!!!!! This is probably the year that MOST people are gardening to avoid the produce prices at the grocery store,,and look what we end up with. WE CAN"T WIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am actually surprised that thread just started!
I'll agree with you all... We are in a very wet area, so I only have raised beds... but I'd love to get to those beds without feeling I am walking on a water bed! My 'greens" are happy, but... my basil, peppers look the same size as when I put them in- early June. Fortunately, my tomato plants were in a "wall of water" (first time I tried these and they truly made a difference) for a while and got a great start.. but everything needs sun and warmth! I pick my strawberries daily, not waiting for them to be completely ripe for fear they rot or that slugs might get them first!
Surprised no one mentioned MOSQUITOES.. they have taken over, and they love me!

Well, all I can say is, in spite of my frustration, I stop complaining when I think about the FARMERS!!

And I bet you, by early August, we will all ask for some rain...If we could just save for when we need it!
Well, better weather by the end of the week??? Can we wait till then???
Anne-Marie--on a very foggy night

I'm not complaining about the rain. One, it doesn't do any good. Two, I don't have a water source that I can currently access at my garden. I've got a well, but no electricity yet to make a well pump work. I'll have an irrigation system set up for 2010, but I knew I'd be relying heavily on Mother Nature this year to provide the rain to get the garden established.

Agreed, it's time for the sun to come out, but I'm happy to have gotten the rain.

John

Raining here right now! We did see the sun for about ten minutes early last evening (around 6pm). I thought I was going to go blind!!! Good thing it was down behind the trees, we might have gotten a sunburn too! Seriously, enough already!!! Just a couple days of sun would really give my veggie garden a boost! We had thunder storms last night, boy we had a good one last week! Flooded my garden among other places. Here's a pic from last weeks storm, I have standing water in some spot in the garden now, but not quite this bad. The water was literally running out of the woods up back and thru the garden. Good thing I make raised beds!
Just a couple of days of sun, the garden is in suspended animation right now....

My friends BBQ got moved inside today due to rain, so I thought it was time for me to chime back in. I am thankful that the last few days have been only moderately rainy, at least I was able to get some long overdue weeding done. defrost49 I hope that the weather cooperates for your vacation. mainerose I hate to break it to you but we found JBs on my friends roses today :( No sightings at my house yet but I'm only 5 miles away so it's just a matter of time. I agree with you marthacr on the lowered expectations for a good day, I was absolutely content to weed the asparagus bed this morning with my muck boots on. fred good luck with your tomatoes, mine are also healthy but like you say 'Just waiting for the sun'. flowersnhens I feel your bad mood, and I agree this is a terrible season for someone starting their first vegetable garden. anne the mosquitoes here have not been that bad. I wonder if the heavy rains have flushed out some of the larvae? I'm thankful whatever the reason that our mosquito population is not huge. If you go outside at dusk, you get bites, but not eaten alive. lamb abbey orchards I am glad that all of this rain has been a boon to someone! chicken lady, that looks like my garden right now! I am considering switching to rice next year. My sister has made similar grumblings about starting a cranberry bog.

I lost a shoe in the deep mud of my garden the other day. I was going to just leave it and dig it up after it stopped raining but I figured it might rot before that ever happens. My beans are so leggy I had to find the seed packet to make sure I didn't accidently plant pole beans. Some of my stuff is doing good such as broccoli and cabbage however the slugs have been staging warfair the last few days. I tried the beer trick but there was just too many of them so I resorted to buying some "bug getta" which seems to have done the job! The weeds don't seem to mind the cold rainy weather thats for sure. Seems like I'm only able to get a small section weeded before a thunder storm rolls in. I will say that this horrible weather is motivating me to put in some raised beds for next year.

lotsa rocks, I didn't dare weed the asparagus patch because one end is under water and the rest is very soggy. I was afraid of compacting the soil/mud and hurting the roots. The bed was started last year. We are very fortunate here in NH to have gotten sun on Sat and it's still here Monday morning. Really great breeze on Sunday made working outside a dream. Hauled an entire garden way cart of bad weeds to the weed dump. Lots of pigweed from the horse manure I used.
We'll have fun on our vacation, rain or shine.

My wife and I have been married now for 8 years, and this year we were finally able to buy our own home here in Bridgton. All she's talked about since we'[ve been married is wanting to grow gardens-- both plant and vegetable. Well, this year she finally got to do it. Started her tomatos growing the end of february. For 4 months, our living room looked more like a nursery, but even I was excited about it, watching those plants get to the point in May where they were getting too big for their pots, and time to plant in the ground. And then the weather forecasters kept saying not yet because of the frost potential. And so they sat in our living room. And sat. And sat, until finally the first week of June we were able to make the raised rows and put them in the ground. We're lucky in that they haven't literally drowned, but I don't think they've grown an inch since we planted them, either. Atleast her flower garden's taking off! :-)