Beware the Ides of July

Another weekend of toil in the garden to little gain.  Harvested the garlic crop in the steambath Saturday weather after another half inch of rain.  I would guess the garlic yield was off at least 30-40%, between skips and smaller heads as a result of the early dry weather followed by relentlessly wet conditions.  I usually celebrate the half-way point in the gardening season, but this year it's just a slog toward the finish line.  Between the weather, the weeds and an assortment of critters who treat the garden as an all you can eat banquet table it is more than a little disheartening.  If I didn't get an adrenaline jolt from watching things grow and flower I probably would have given up by now.