Well, I'm sorry it was so bad for you. If it's any consolation, everyone probably has these same experiences. 2009 was an awful, cold year here and dry. This year has been the hottest ever recorded so far to date here in SE Michigan, and, while we were having at least adequate rain, for the past 2 weeks it has all gone around us and things are now starting to show it. The worst thing of all this year has been the animals eating EVERYTHING. Deer,woodchucks,rabbits, squirrels, voles, like a biblical plague.

Been there and done that in Ohio. I can't complain about the crop of fingerling potatoes I harvested, either. But other than that it's been a mess. Even my Mustard Greens were spotty. Bugs ate them up and then they bolted early.

Using a gun with 1 bullet in the magazine would be suicide. Russian roulette is played with a revolver.
Gardening is hit and miss if you are not very experienced and don't take certain precautions. Soil must be amended for drainage. Water must be applied when there's no rain. Fences must be put in place when animals are in the area etc.etc. Sounds to me like you didn't plant the corn deep enough. Mounding soil around the stalks will help some.

taz:

Good advice. Wish I had only had to deal with those circumstances.

My problem about ten days ago, was that the wind came from every (rotating) direction, was 70mph, and came after 1.6" of rain. I would have had my corn hilled up to the cobs to keep it upright.

Tom

solidago:

same weather problems here on the southern coast... terrible spring & summer, seems like fall is here for good already.

I was three months later this year compared to 2009 with summer crops, now not enough time to finish them before fall...

blah.

Hedge your bets, solidago. I always plant runner beans and some of the more heat-loving beans. Last year the yardlong were pitiful and the runners great, in cold weather, this hot year it is the reverse (I live near Denninmi). And I always have 70% of the garden in root and leaf crops. Potatoes, rutabagas, brassica and chard will make it in a cold or hot year. Going all summer as you do exposes you to the weather. Not to mention you have little to eat in May or October.

Last year I had tons of greens but only a few tomatoes (and I was lucky those didn't get blight). This year I have lots of tomatoes and other warm-weather lovers, but my spinach and lettuce bolted long ago. Tons of black raspberries last year, but most of the canes winter-killed; a few pints of blackberries last year, but gallons this year. Some crops like kale did great both years.

Solidago, what is typical of Oregon weather is that there is no typical weather. Weather can and will do anything it pleases.

You just have to arm yourself for the game of chess with Mother Nature. Cold frames for the tomatoes, fences for the deer. Lights for the fruit tree blossoms, bug spray for the coddling moth. A very well developed sense of humor for when Mother Nature cries "Check mate!"

Some of my plants, I simply never get out of pots. That way I can wheel them inside the garage if it is going to freeze.