The sweet corn harvest is late here in Vermont. We haven’t seen the guy with the pick-up full of corn at the traffic circle. No cubic yard bins of corn at the grocery stores. Very little at the farmers’ markets. The orchard I frequent announced that they have corn, but I haven’t made it up there yet. Literally, up there… They’re high in the mountains around Cabot. So maybe they have had a bit more rain.
It’s been as dry as New Mexico here in the valley. Well, not that bad. Albuquerque hasn’t had measurable precipitation yet in August; and, grimly optimistic meteorologists notwithstanding, it doesn’t look like there’s going to be any rain in the next week or so either. August is typically the wettest month in Albuquerque. You can imagine how they’re all feeling about now…
Here in central Vermont, we have had some rain. Some… Mostly intense pop-up storms that dump a half inch or more in an hour, much of which just runs over the baked earth and into the rivers. After experiencing one of the wettest first six months of the year, June and July were both drier than “normal”, thought without triggering any drought alerts. However, now, practically the entire state is officially “abnormally dry” on NOAA’s drought monitor.
There was rain forecast for yesterday. But while it did cloud up and cool off, not much water fell from the sky. This has happened many times over the past 5-6 weeks. There is also some rain forecast for later this week, but it may be that this is just a prediction based on what should be falling this time of year. There has been rain predicted at the end of the ten-day forecast period for many weeks. It never moves any closer than ten days away.
We went up the valley on Friday evening, driving along the most fertile cornfields in our county. But the corn was spindly and yellowish and barely as tall as my car. We couldn’t see one ear on any of the plants. Son#2 declared it “grass”. I can’t argue that, especially combined with the lack of corn for sale.
My veg garden is feeling the same. I haven’t been as diligent about watering as I needed to be if I wanted veg. I haven’t been up to hauling the cans across the street. But I’m also going through my August gardener slump. This is the month when weeds are out of control, the veg plants are galloping all over without producing anything, and everything needs to be dead-headed. Or just chopped down. The rodents are destroying things willy-nilly. The greens and brassicas are running to seed. And the grass is… grass… (I hate grass…) I can and have spent hours out there trying to rein in the feral growth, only to see it all back to chaos within a day or so.
I go through this “why do I bother!” slump every year. Even when the weather is congenial. In fact, August is usually fairly comfortable here in Vermont. I haven’t had to carry water cans in August until this year. And I am finding that I just can’t add that to the list… particularly this year.
But then, there is always something to recover from in August. August seems to be recovery month. Flood, fire, disease, heat exhaustion. Midsummer takes its toll these days. By August, I feel like I’m crawling toward the finish line. I just can’t take any more. So…
I don’t know if there will be much zucchini here. I have lots of tomatoes, but I’m just eating them, not preserving them. I’ve frozen about a dozen quarts of raspberries and somewhat fewer strawberries. I have many bags of peas in the freezer. But there is almost nothing in the root cellar except garlic. And there might not be much more coming. Maybe potatoes. The plants are certainly big. But my experience with potatoes is that the more growth you see above ground, the fewer tubers are happening below.
I might yet get some winter squash. There might be cucumbers in September. Maybe. But all in all, it’s a dud year, and it’s just depressing.
Maybe next week, I’ll feel better about planting for fall and put in some greens, peas and filet beans. This week, I am dreaming up ways to turn the whole thing into a perennial flower garden. Just stop the veg mess… Buy from local farmers who have moister soil, more sun, more time to work at it, and better luck.
But by the height of the corn, I’m wondering if they’re doing any better than I am. Of course, they do have more time… and probably a better toolkit… and obviously a lot more space. Enough that the groundhogs and squirrels can ravage the edges without annihilating the harvest.
But they aren’t getting any more rain than I am.
And there is no corn for sale…
©Elizabeth Anker 2025
By My Solitary Hearth 
We are going through a period when there is little variety in the vegetables on offer – and both they and the fruit are very costly. I am looking forward to spring with a degree of impatience now!
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