What Happened to My Garden? Bill’s grandparents have had a garden for as long as he could remember. As they got older, he helped them with the heavy lifting, moving dirt, digging potatoes, etc. But they still did most of the work, and reaped the fruits and vegetables of their labors most years.
But this year was different. His grandparents’ peppers, kale, potatoes, and other vegetables were not only not thriving, they were dying – all of them. It had been an exceptionally wet year; usually they had to water everyday, but there had been enough rain to limit watering. In addition, Bill had set them up with a catchment system to catch and collect rainwater off the roof of their house. They had been using this to water the plants this year. His grandparents thought this water might be affecting their crops, or maybe it was the hailstorm they had early in the season. They had always saved seeds to replant every year, so that shouldn’t be a problem, should it? They also had new neighbors who had planted a garden right across the fence. They were a young family, just moved in, and they started their garden a bit late, but his grandparents were giving them advice.
What do you think could be causing Bill’s grandparents’ garden to die off? Describe a few possibilities.