A year in Retrospect...2022

 Every year is a bit different, what can we say about the past season here in west/central Indiana?

Last frost was about right on time (mid April) with no late, hard freezes.  So far, so good.

We had heavy moisture right through May and then a sudden drought in June...not good as we moved into the bloom season!  We did start to water weekly, and had good bloom, but got almost no seed set from any of our early pollinations. Some years, we have so much rain in June that our road is flooded out, but not this year. 

July gave us a bit of moisture, but not enough to make up for a very dry June. We watered part of the garden almost daily and did not have bud drop, as I feared we might. We actually ended up with a good crop of seeds from later pollinations.  We have a bountiful crop of seeds especially for the 'late and fancy' program.  Right now we have 2995 seeds cleaned and in storage, which is about all we have the space for, both inside for starting them, as well as outside for planting those seedlings. 

As usual for our area, August and September were fairly dry, but we kept up the watering and did not experience summer dormancy in any of the plants that are prone to that.  Our first frost was about on schedule in mid-October, but for the most part we have had a very long and drawn out descent into winter.  So far, here in mid-December, we are still having a prolonged dry spell with little water in nearby Otter Creek, and nearby surface water sources are very low.  

Update as of December 22nd...a terrible winter storm is predicted for much of the nation, with wind chills into the twenty-below-zero variety.  A memorable Christmas this year!


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