The gardening was fine in 1998! I could get used to that kind of season. Though dry, we had warmth, and a longer frost-free season than I've seen in twenty years. Tomatoes ripened enforce on the vine, we harvested a great dry corn crop, and the dry beans had plenty of time to mature. Harvest time was a bit overwhelming, but well worth the effort.

DRY WEATHER -- The lack of rain the first half of the season brought to the fore a number of facts and observations:
(1) Nature is a master at adaptation.
(2) Gardens DO NOT require 1" of water a week in order to produce heartily.
(3) Believe in your own hands-on gardening experiences.
(4) Take care of your soil and it will take care of you.
(5) Let the seeds and plants sprout, grow, and mature at their own pace and they will reward you healthily.
(6) In a VERY dry spring and early summer, I didn't water, yet had one of the best gardens ever.
(7) Plants will reach down to find water - carrots this year were radically long and narrow, and you had to forget pulling weeds out with their roots.
(8) Seeds were content to wait for rain, and grew heartily when it arrived (better and faster than artificially watered seeds).
(9) Work with nature, not against, and you'll all be happier, and healthier, for it.
(10) The effort necessary to cut, gather, and spread mulch (hay in this case) is well worth the effort -- for both you and the garden.

SHORT SEASON DRY BEAN -- I've grown maybe a hundred different varieties of dry beans over the years and the consistent winner for short season is the Jacobs Cattle. It is one of the more common heirloom beans available -- great tasting too. It also takes less time to cook than most other beans. You'll do best getting your seed from a grower with similar growing conditions as your own.

LADYBIRD BEETLES -- We had an unusual abundance of Ladybird Beetles in the corn patch this year, and very healthy, worm-free corn. It was great. The highlight for me was seeing both the adults and larvae at all stages of their life cycles. After all these years of reading about them in books, I finally know what a "Ladybug" larvae looks like first hand.