It’s mid-August.  And this is the most excitement I’ve seen from my garden all summer.  Three cucumbers, some basil that hasn’t been attacked by either a bug or a disease, and a handful of cherry tomatoes.  Cute, but pathetic.  Especially considering my plants grew 7 or 8 feet tall! Pics after the jump.

My BF’s brother came over to analyze my lack of fruit.  He suggested that it was the lack of bees in the neighborhood. He said that my plants, such as my cucumbers probably weren’t getting pollinated.  When I thought about it, I decided that he was probably right.  I’d seen exactly zero bees in the backyard all summer.  Because I hate bee stings, I’d been fine with that.  But it would have been nice if a few had shown up to help out my plants!  He taught me how to self-pollinate my plants, but it didn’t seem to do the trick.

The other problem was our vacation schedule and this summer’s unrelenting heat.  Were were away for five days at a time – twice.  Both times within that stretch it didn’t rain a lick, causing many of my plants to fry.  Poor plants.  I feel like a neglectant mother.

And then there’s the weird disease or bug that’s destroying my basil, which is growing beautifully otherwise.  WHAT is doing this?  Thoughts?

I learned a few lessons this summer:

1. Herbs are the plants that grow best when you don’t have bees. (My sage, mint and oregano are lovely!)

2. I planted my tomato plants too close to one another – next year they’ll get more space.

3. The peppers were a disaster.  I don’t know if it was a lack of sunlight, or not enough water, but I’ll (sadly) skip these next year.