This year is rather poor for crops. My stem cabbages never got a chance to grow – the slugs finished most of them off. The same is going to happen to the Brussel sprouts, I fear. With them, the malefactor was the cabbage butterfly, though. I was blaming the slugs for the poor state my sprouts are in, but two weeks ago I saw the many yellow-green-black caterpillars munching away on the plants. Actually, the little creepers are quite pretty. But I collected them off, anyways.

For some reason, the chili peppers brought from circumstance’s this winter first sprouted nicely but then never grew into bloom. They still sit there, as if it were May. I even thought once to bring them a calender out, to let them know, it’s now time to grow flowers and later fruit. Also, my potato plants really never caught on. I’ve already harvested all but one, as the green parts started to die already. There were some potatoes, maybe enough for three meals and they tasted nice, too. But one can’t really call it a crop.

After a great harvest of salads in spring, some strawberries in late June and now green beans, that are doing nicely, there isn’t much to show for my efforts in 2016. The chard just dwarfs along. So does the ginger and turmeric. But there is still time to grow. Maybe they’ll catch up as the season goes on.

And there won’t be any peaches this year, after a late frost got the early blooming trees.

However, nature tries to make up to me with apples. By the looks of it, I shall have real nice apples this year.