One measly cherry tomato, a stunted onion, an anemic pepper & a really short cucumber!

What to do with these lone survivors of a sun parched backyard garden? Why, make a salad of course! The head lettuce had to come from the local grocery, but that aside, I had enough veggies to make a passable salad mid-summer style!

 Low yields from the garden are a sad reality for me this year. The heat wave that has plagued much of the nation has also done a number on my growing efforts. What with water bills on the rise, I just don’t feel comfortable letting the sprinkler run for an hour or more as in days gone past. (In the frivolous 80’s, I remember actually watering just the grass. Seriously)! These days, it’s a quick squirt in the morning and then maybe another dribble in the late afternoon. (Like an old man with a bladder problem, my water pressure is also little on the weak side). The plants have responded accordingly and now have all wilted with many moving on to plant heaven. Can’t say I really blame them.

What hasn’t yet wilted and died from thirst has been ably consumed by hordes of rabbits that I no longer quite see. (They must come at some ungodly hour when, exhausted, I get some much needed sleep). The carrot crop has been nibbled to the ground and are completely gone while the few remaining tomato plants receive drive-by nibbles. (Ah, the laments of the heat and bunny beleaguered gardener). Yet, there is a bright side… of sorts.

When you only get a small handful of harvest, you also learn to appreciate every morsel. That’s the lesson I've learned in a year when the produce coming out of my beds is still a luxury and not a necessity. (Were times to get tough and were I to have to depend on the garden for my sustenance, then the game would take on a whole new flavor). Thankfully, that was not this year. Maybe next...only Obama may know for sure!

Be sure to check out my soon to be released blog entitled “The ins and outs of fresh rabbit on the grill!”