It’s September, and I still haven’t harvested a single red tomato. The beets are still grape-size and, so far, my four plants have produced only two zucchini. But the green beans? They’re suddenly ...

As a lifelong gardener, I’m no longer surprised by annual harvest fluctuations. A few years back, my plants yielded a single bean, which I comically steamed, salted and cut four ways to split with my ...