I swear you can blame me - we decided to put in a pool and we haven't had a warm summer since. I decided to expand my vegetable garden by epic proportions and we've had nothing but cool weather and rain!! I'm jinxed!!

My pepper plants are about 3 inches tall, the eggplants aren't much better. My squash plants are miniscule - all the way down the line. Everything is just sitting there, doing nothing!! The only things of a reasonable size are my tomatoes because I only put them in the ground last weekend and have been growing them indoors, under lights. And they're by no means big, just a normal, acceptable size. Still no signs of life from my newly planted (5/2) asparagus plants either.

I'm trying to look at this year as a "learning experience". I've already learned a lot since I'm growing things I never grew before, so hopefully next year I'll do better - and the weather will cooperate more.

But I'm right with you - enough already!! Let's goooooo!!!! We need some warmth and sun!!

Lisa

Well, it could be worse, like 6 1/2 hours north of you..lol.. have planted several things twice with spotty germination.. the tomatoes and peppers are screaming for warmth but the ole zukes are holding their own..what's in there is just that..in there and trying to hang on.. unreal the night temps here..very odd weather pattern this year even for us... soil will heat up for a couple of days with lovely sun, then back to pre-winter conditions for the next 5 days..either too much rain and cold then back to dry and scorching... will get what I get and thats that as I will be running out of time anyhow to get much going. There is one really extraordinary item going on though, and its those purple climbing beans that turn green when you cook or can them! Thumbs up for them...they are truly hardy!

I hear you. It is only 52 degrees out there right now. My sweet peas have no blossoms, and my peppers aren't doing anything. Maters are ok, but not really growing. Finally, got the zukes and cukes to sprout the other day. If it is going to be cool and overcast, at least rain. We got less than a tenth of inch of rain yesterday so we will have to water the lawn today(water ban restrictions). C'mon already.

This has been our late spring so far in my part of Ontario (from May 24, the traditional start to the gardening season, until today):

(high/low/avg)
May 24 - 68 46 59
May 25 - 66 41 53
May 26 - 59 41 53
May 27 - 58 49 54
May 28 - 64 56 59
May 29 - 70 50 58
May 30 - 67 42 52
May 31 - 50 35 44

June 1 - 59 42 50
June 2 - 63 41 51
June 3 - 66 40 53
June 4 - 68 37 53
June 5 - 70 39 56
June 6 - 70 48 59
June 7 - 58 45 51
June 8 - 58 48 53
June 9 - 61 47 54

Suffice it to say that my growth has been less than stellar. When I heard of another cold snap coming, I covered everthing up with plastic tunnels. Let's hope that will keep everything nice and warm.

And I thought that it was just us. Havent had a warm ( above 60) in a long while. We dont plant out until June 10th to the 15th. Most of our days are in the mid 40's to the low 50's. And lots of rain so havent even tilled the garden, cuz its too wet. The plants in my greenhouse are just begging to be planted but not yet. Hope everybody else is doing great with their gardens.

We really don't know what Spring is in zone 8. It's a nice toasty 96 right now, but at least there is a breeze.

I teach in an unair-conditioned school building, so on that front I have been grateful for the cool weather. But, I am having so many problems with my garden.

I am new at this and would appreciate any help I could get. My garden is not really really sunny, unfortunately, but the problem I seem to be having is bugs. They are eating the leaves of my squash, eggplant, even my basil and my mint a little bit (I thought mint was hardy!). The tomatoes are doing ok, but I am not sure about the lettuce and cauliflower. That is basically the extent of my garden. I loaded plain old Palmolive and water into the sprayer and that seems to have helped, but it is hard to tell. The leaves of my plants are very dirty from sitting in the wet soil!!!!

Is the wet weather making the bug problem worse? Anything else I can do? I would appreciate the help!

Julie

We had frost twice last week. What IS up with this freaking weather?!

I have a few beds filled with greens and they're doing great  they love the cool weather. I have to admit, so do I! I'd much rather be outdoors when it's cool then on a hot, muggy day. My tomato plants have gotten off to a decent start and there will be plenty of time during the summer for them to mature. Such a nice change to have a real spring that lasts more than a week or two. Isn't that what nature intended? I seem to remember a lot more cool spring days from childhood in Massachusetts than I've seen in the past couple of decades.

I have to admit my garden is actually doing quite well. I have more lettuce than I know what to do with and the broccoli are huge. Cima di Rapa is going nice (though it probably could use a bit more sun) My peas are just about ready. The only thing struggling are the cukes but they like warm weather so no surprise there. Strawberries are also starting to produce fruit...My guess is the first sunny day will cause them to explode.

I have yet to move any of my warm weather plants outside so I still have peppers, tomatoes and basil waiting in the wings. I usually wait until after Memorial Day and for those plants. I will probably shoot for this weekend to get them in the ground.

We've had a lot of cool weather with odd monsoonal weather patterns. I am not complaining though. Soon it will be 98* here, and I work outdoors a lot, so I'm enjoying the cool weather and still eating peas and lettuce. It has been strange though, and I can't figure out if I should plant my okra yet or not...

I think you all took way too seriously the war on global warming, and quit burning enough carbon to keep the earth warm enough to grow food crops.

Enjoy the coming ice age and food shortage! hehe.

Ditto on previous comments. This is more like early May here than June, with days of rain & frequent dips into the 40's at night.I held off on planting beans due to the cool soil temps, and the rain has prevented me from putting out my transplants. The garden is about 2 weeks behind right now, and could be even further behind if rain keeps it from drying out.

Not all is lost, though... this was the earliest I've ever been able to get my peas in, and the onions & garlic are loving it.

I subscribe to a news feed from NASA, and they have been discussing the deep solar minimum that the sun has been going through. The sun has been abnormally inactive for over a year now, to an extent not seen in almost a century. It could be the cause of the weather we are experiencing. In contrast, the previous 3 solar cycles (for over 30 years) were highly active.

Why do critics of the "global warming scam" always use an oncoming ice age to refute its existence? Do you realize that an ice age can be a direct effect of global warming due to melting ice caps and changing ocean currents?

Has no one seen an Incovenient Truth?

I'm not saying I'm on any particular side of whether humans are a major cause of global warming or not, but to say that the weather is cooling, ergo global warming doesn't exist is not empirical evidence

The birds seem to like it, too.

This why God gave us lettuce, corn salad, spinach, arugula, and miner lettuce (and kale and other things). These springs happen, and no spring garden should be without them. You can even interplant them with your pepper and tomatoes, if you are willing to do some lettuce weeding in July. Then you would be swooning over the beauty and delicate taste of your oakleaf.

I hear ya bomber and others, Here in Central Cali the highs have been for a week 1/2 are in the middle to upper 70's, usually it's 90 or above, I have all heat loving plants like okra, watermelons, corn black eyed peas etc. And they are saying on the news this am, that it is going to rain on Sat..

Temperature here today at noon is 56°F.

Temperatures for about two months now have been consistent day after day. Daily highs have been in the low sixties, daily lows have been in the fifties.

It's June for gosh sake! I want to go swimming!

Jim

I hear on you Jim on that, I remember while growing up in the 90's, Right now it would be Blistering HOT. And in the schools everybody would be sweating waiting the last days before the summer vacation, and going swimming afterschool. The weather in recent years is nothing like that.

Ah, is this the Rain Rant thread? Let me add my thoughts. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Besides the arugula, mustard and radicchio, which seeded themselves from last year, all the cool season crops are pokey as well. Even they need SOME sun and a let up from constant rain and murk. The tomato plants look depressed. The pumpkin vines are starting to look bleached.
I know, I know, when we get into a three week heatwave in July I'll be complaining about that too but really....
Please, can we have two dry days in a row?

Yeah, add me to the whiny list. We had some sun over the weekend and Monday, and clouds and general crap since. Foreseeable forecast has a rain possibility every day, and only a sun possibility on about half of them. The really depressing thing is that I looked at pictures from last year, taken a week from now, and the growth is pretty much on the same pace, but I planted a month earlier this year, and they'd only been in the ground about 3 weeks last year. As stated by others, the lettuce, radishes and broccoli seem to be ok, but everything else, including the arugula and spinach, just seem confused.

C'mon sun!

Al Gore, where are you now that we need you????

Jim

Hey, don't ask for heat now! It's supposed to get up to 30C (87F)/87% humidity in the morning/58% humidity in the afternoon, way up north here in Iowa on Thursday! I bet it'll be awful for those further south.

Nineties this week in Sacramento! Red tomatoes and pool parties. :)

I agree, summers are abysmally short in recent years. I might have rethought that pool we put in in '05, if we'd known.

Sunshine...please come out in full force!......with just the right amount of rain.

The sun is forcasted to be out tomorrow here, but then there are 8 days of showers forcasted. I don't mind it a little on the cool side, I'm not a big fan of the really hot weather. I don't mind a day here and there of cloudy/overcast, I can get out and get more done in the yard and garden. I don't mind it too much but my poor tomatoes are crying for a few days of sun and a little warmer temperatures. In April it was looking like it may be a hot season with some days in the 80's and 90's, now it seems like the weather is fighting to get up into the low 70's. There seems to me that there are alot of bugs this year, some really chewing up some of my trees. There are many that I have never seen before and even some that I have not been able to find any info on, I have no idea what they are. The birds are loving it, they are having a feast, the nest of baby robins in the pine tree in my backyard are being well fed.

Good gardening, Mary

Well, I have a different complaint: it has been 100 or over all week here. I put shade cloth over my toms and peppers today, and I usually do that in late July. Global warming is absolutely real!

High temp today was 60°F. Low tonight may break a record. We haven't seen 70°F more than 2 o 3 times so far this year, and then only briefly. This is not normal for middle of June in New England.

Jim

Ugh, things are going from bad to worse........... Check out this ugly forecast

Can we get spring PLEASE!? The summer solstice is Sunday, for god's sake!!

Temps in the high 90's and 100's for several weeks and forecast for at least another week plus wind of 25/30mph. I have been dragging the hose everyday over the whole yard trying to keep things alive...misting some areas to bring down the temps, put tarps up over the tomato area a month ago but the hot wind is drying out the plants on the trellis. It is times like this that I really wonder why I even WANT to garden in Texas until I have a beautiful, large Black Krim for breakfast!

Peggy

Agreed, Bomber. You'd think after the nasty winter we had to endure that Mother Nature would cut New England some slack. I think it might be time to jump in the car and drive 'til I see some SUN and feel the HEAT!

Its rainy here again as I speak. And cool as well. I am lucky though as I have a 32x50ft. hoophouse that I have peppers, tomamtoes and eggplant in. The tomatoes in the hoophouse are 3 times as large as the ones in the field, stems are thicker than my thumb.What a huge difference. Cukes are doing ok, squash being destroyed by SVB. Lettuce and peas are being harvested daily. Others just hanging on. YES WE NEED SUNSHINE NOW

I sympathize with you all, we had that weather all summer last year. Even in the greenhouse things didn't do well. The tomato plants got about 8 feet tall but by the time they started fruiting, it was september and then along came a nasty case of powdery mildew and wiped out everything.

So far this year, I've been dragging the hose around everyday because we haven't had a drop of rain for weeks and the temps have been in the high 20's to low 30's!
Yesterday it finally poured on us. YAY! I was starting to forget that we live in a coastal rainforest. It was more like a crispy forest. I do hope that isn't all the sun we are going to get this year though.

The weather seems to be stuck in place. We've had the same forecast for the last 2 weeks - hot with highs in the mid to upper 90's & no rain. Sure would be nice if you folks up north could send us some of your cooler weather.

Take a look at our weather forecast. Be sure to click on the extended forecast. "Stuck" is a good word for it. But it has been stuck for two months, not two weeks, and there is no change in sight.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Weather Forecast For Coastal Massachusetts

In MA, and still no sign of the sun...we had a glimpse of summer-like weather last Sat. but out of 24 days that was about it. June has really depressed me now. Last year was really bad too, but this year is actually worse! I'm sure it won't be the month of choice for weddings any longer! My poor tomato plants still look so young...

For the first time in over 3 weeks we are getting a small rain percentage(20%)in our forecasts due to an increase in humidity. Our weather guy showed the "front" moving south from the NE. Can't recall seeing this type of forecast before but who cares, keep it coming! Can you work on getting us some cooler temps?

Here is a link that might be useful: 10 day weather outlook

You know we have only had 3 "somewhat" sunny days in june here in MA!!! Im not so much worried about my garden but more about my sanity...my 3 kids are makin me nuts all cooped up in the house!!!! Plus it doesnt help that Ive been slacking on my weeding because of the weather so the weeds are a bit out of control...so looks like the first hint of sun ill be in the garden pullin crab grass and the overbearing morning glories!

So much for the thought of sun today. It's 140pm, and the clouds, fog, and general cr*p thats been hanging around the area for three and a half weeks is still here................. I can't believe this is late June. We normally get this in mid April!!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: More lousy weather on the way!

Not to be contrarian, but I liked having a real, cool spring! My greens did great and the tomato plants are off to a decent start. Granted the slugs were a pain. I'd rather be out on a cloudy, drizzly day than broiling in the hot sun!

Here, we finally have a day of sun for the first time in the better part of two weeks. The weather has been so odd this year. I can honestly say I think this is the first "real" spring we've had in a decade. Normally here it just goes from teens, twenties, forties, right to the eighties and nineties. I am loving this weather but the garden is not.

Rain, rain go away! I wish I could send you southerners some of our rain!

Maybe our whining paid off.

Yesterday was warm, dry and sunny. Overnight growth of everything in my garden was obvious today.

Today was warm, dry and sunny again! Things were wilting (we have droughty, sandy soil) and I had to water.

Forecasts are for more wet weather. But they can't be believed.

Jim

We had some nice weather now back down to mid 50's at night . Today was only in the 60's. I just heard on the weather Channel in could be the coldest summer since late 1800's. Great!

Jim, you jinxed it.

Ahhh! Finally it's July!! Hot, sunny and gorgeou...hey, wait a minute!!!!

They're saying Friday, and Saturday, the 4th, will be warm and more sunny. I'll believe it when I see it!!

Lisa

I cant stand the heat and humidity of the summer, but this is ridiculous. We just got through the cloudiest June since 1903 (according to the news), and July is off to a 58° and foggy start....

Lisa, I heard the same as you, but at this point, even 75° would be warm! :-O

And we have just had the hottest. 100 degree for 7 straight days.