2014 Wasn't a Great Growing Year

Winter 2014 was the coldest on record since 1996 in southern Ontario.  I was looking through last year's pictures when I realized that this time last year we were in the midst of a deep freeze.  It was cold and blustery with downright nasty snow, ice, and sleet.  Spring was cold with us still wearing winter gear when we headed south the first week of May.  Area farmers had a hard time getting their crops in because it was so wet.  The summer proved to be nice on the air conditioning bill but almost a total wash-out for those with pools.  Not only was it cold and damp but algae became a huge problem.  We were at our vacation home in October then home for three weeks and back there for five.  Normally, the field behind us would have been harvested during that three week period because I always do rodent proofing before going back down south.  When the fields come off, the critters like coming indoors.  From the comforts of the not so sunny and cold south, I read tweet after tweet of the wet conditions at home preventing area farmers from getting their crops off.  From an agricultural perspective, 2014 was not a good year!

Unfortunately, the weather really affected our gardens this year.  We had no peaches and only a few pears but the gooseberries and mint produced nicely.  Other than that, it wasn't a good home garden year.  I wasn't happy but in the end, it proved to be nice that we could focus on other work that needed to be done when the weather permitted.  Even the local growers I buy from had a difficult year so it was harder for me to get the produce I wanted for home canning.  The weather certainly drove up the price of local produce. 
I hope the growing season is better this year than 2014!