In spite of the rain the vegetable plot has cranked out the usual fare. There was the wonderful potato harvest. The excellent broccoli heads with abundant side shoots. The loose leaf lettuce, Sangria, that I cannot live without and is still going strong. The Romanesque cauliflower that looks like a Star Wars character and is now resting comfortably in the freezer. The carrots and onions are still in the ground but being harvested, then consumed, on a daily basis. The artichokes are lovely and delicious above and beyond anything commercially available. There is a great deal to be grateful for.

Yet, I cannot help myself from looking at the disappointments. Perhaps there is something to be learned but I can’t see what that is. I already know that gardening is at the whim of Weather. I have long known the challenges of gardening at latitude 59 degrees north.

But the strawberries and raspberries did not produce with their usual abundance. There are no sugar snap peas or green beans in the freezer. The harvest of these were meager, just enough for the two of us, nothing to share. I am not sure I can even talk about the greenhouse. The Brandywine tomatoes were off to a late start in the first place but managed to produce huge, delicious tomatoes. But the romas barely managed. The bell peppers are molding before they ripen. The Sungolds were dismal.

I am not whining. I am thoughtful. Our food comes from such huge distances to sustain us here in the Far North. My goal has been to supply as much of our needs as I can. This is one of those years that I feel thwarted. What do real farmers feel like when they have crop failures i.e.: e. coli in a spinach field?

Think globally, if you dare. A friend was planning a menu based on Ethiopian cuisine. Ethiopian? Isn’t there a whole generation lost through starvation that never knew there was a national dish?

I can’t think of a single place in the world that does not have problems with gardening. If it isn’t one thing it is sure to be another: cold/hot, wet/dry, bugs/no bugs.

I did not harvest a single ear of corn this season. The rain ruined the crop at pollination. Corn? Why am I even growing corn? Because scientists have come up with varieties that are specifically formulated for short season growers. Because for the last 10 years I could. It was warm and dry and almost — dare I say it? — ideal for growing corn.

How about the pumpkins? I grow Trickster, a semi-bush plant. It takes up far less room and produces, on a “good” year, four to six three-pound pumpkins per plant. I have gotten as many as 27 off four plants. They are lovely and keep well in baskets right in the dining room for all to see. When we want pumpkin I merely take one from the basket and prepare it. Not this year. This year I have five pumpkins. Five.

I, we, have been lulled into thinking we are Anywhere, U.S.A. Wake up. If there is such a thing as a “typical” Homer summer, this has been it.

All of the basic vegetables that we grow here in Homer produced beautifully. I am not going to give up corn or pumpkins. I never have and never will count on them as a reliable food source. My plot is large enough that I can devote some space to marginal plants.

But the reliability is in the cole and root crops. These have been the mainstay of Homer gardens for years and years and there is a good reason why: they work, they produce, you can feed your family on them all through a very long, cold, dark winter.

The trees and shrubs are soaking up this rain and have been all summer, and they are thriving. Just look around on Pioneer Avenue. The amur maples and mountain ash trees haven’t looked this good in years. What about your lilacs and honeysuckles? Lovely aren’t they. Lovely because they really needed a misty moisty summer, and they got it. The delphiniums? They have not looked this good in the eight years I have been at this location. I was beginning to think I had lost my touch with them. Watering from a hose is a sorry substitute for a good rain.

How about those Oriental lilies that I have been avoiding all these years because they are finicky? Well, I planted some last year and here they are: moldy. The Asiatics that are so happy to be here? Wonderful, they put on an excellent show, glorious colors, great bouquets.

This is the lesson I am taking from this particular season: Be grateful for the tried and true plants. Devote more room to them next season, backing off on marginal plants.

I will continue to push the envelope with different varieties. How else would I have found artichokes?

Note: Put a splash of chlorine bleach in your kitchen sink full of water and rinse off any pumpkins you may have with this solution. This procedure will inhibit any mold growth, enabling them to store for a longer period.

Consider any plants that you want to store over the winter, now is the time to be acclimating them to central heat.