This has been a crazy year for growing - we had a very late freeze (several weeks after the typical last frost date), so many of the squash and bean plants were really only just getting going...until this evening, when the most monstrous hail storm we have ever experienced rolled through town, pulverizing everything in the garden, including fruit on the trees. We've had a few other hail storms this year, but since we use forest gardening techniques (planting amongst the trees), the young plants were protected enough to be spared major damage. Not this time - in a matter of 30 minutes, we lost pretty much everything. The lettuce and chard, which has been the staple of our diets for months, has been reduced to a pile of shredded goo.
