It will be July by the time I am finished this post, however, here is what my garden has been up to toward the end of June.
I simply cannot believe how many snow and sugar snap peas I have grown this year. I genuinely feel as if I know what I’m doing at this point. First time ever! I had so many recently that I needed to blanch and freeze a batch. They are also delicious. That being said, the heat and passing time have done a number on some of the plants. I had to remove a few that were spent and will be starting some seeds to replace them toward the end of August. Although, the summer has been mild enough so far that the majority of the plants are still alive, which is really late for peas I think.
The potatoes seem to be about to wither up. This is the first time I have attempted burying them completely versus hilling up. I usually just do Yukon potatoes, which the YouTube told me don’t need to be hilled. I’m eager to see how many potatoes are in there, and whether or not they are bigger than times previous.
I harvested my first zucchini in a few years! Summer squashes and I have a challenging past. I think my main issue is lack of pollinators. I spent all winter watching gardening videos and have noticed a great many things about my garden space that I hadn’t before. Hand pollinating the zucchini was likely the only reason I got one. Despite having some flowers, the pollinators don’t visit as often as I need them to it seems. More flowers for 2025! I can’t believe… 2025. Damn.
As usual I am waging a war against slugs. I have never had fully developed brassicas because of either pests or heat. I recently planted some kale and some Chinese broccoli and used a birthday gift card to purchase insect netting to go around the seedlings. The babies are only just now coming up. I’m pleased to see that they’re still alive, though I know slugs can potentially permeate the barrier. Slug traps are on the way as well! The little suckers will eat bean seedlings, too. My bush beans haven’t produced at all this year and I think getting a late start from slugs eating their leaves is to blame.
My peppers are way behind as well. By the time they were ready to go out we hit 2nd spring and the cooler temps didn’t allow them to take off. They are developing a lot more leaves at this point, but I might not have any fruit until the late, late summer.
Tomatoes; what can I say. The Roma plants seem to be doing all right. They are just now flowering. I have 3 cherry tomatoes that appear to be doing well. They are very green, just now flowering. However, the other 3 are fruiting but they greenery continues to yellow and droop. Perhaps they are getting too much water? I honestly have no idea at this point. I did pretreat the tomatoes and peppers with some garden lime to prevent the blossom end rot I had last year just yesterday.
Speaking of yesterday, I decided that the cardboard barrier I put down is not working out. I trip on it, bugs love hiding in it, and it just looks bad. I removed all the cardboard yesterday and put down weed fabric instead. I chipped some more brush and added it to the squash plants. The mini cukes aren’t taking off as well as the English cukes, and I think perhaps it’s because of the dryness. The English cuke is growing like crazy but I honestly think it’s because I didn’t know that they made suckers and I failed to trim those back regularly. Whoops!
On Sunday I planted more scallions from a withering bunch from the grocery store. I also planted more bush beans and 2 types of radishes near my peppers. Again, I worry about slugs, but I have some more netting and slug traps on the way.
Thinking about my fall garden a lot lately. My neighbor says he will cut down one of our trees for us, making for a lot more room and sun on the side of the house. I will literally have so much more space I’m not sure what to do. My initial thoughts are just planning for next year, building additional trellis areas and raised beds. I do, however, think it would be worthwhile to create an actual cold frame area for the winter brassicas and early spring lettuces. Now I just have to design the layout.
One hobby I’m pleased to be getting into lately is collecting seeds. I have had both kale and rapini bolt and have taken cuttings of those to use for seeds. I also removed a bunch of shriveled peas and will be doing that for those as well. Oh, and marigolds. Honestly, one of the easiest and worthwhile investments is to collect seeds from produce, either ones you’ve grown or from the grocery store.
Every summer I see videos of people saying that gardening is expensive, that you spend $1,000 and get a single tomato, which may be the case for some people. But you really can invest under $100 a year and get a significant return if you’re resourceful. It takes time to develop any skill. Gardening is no different. Just playing around with what you have available is an excellent way to start.
I’m hoping to make another YouTube video in July. It is much easier for me to keep up with blogging than vlogging, honestly. But thank you for reading. And have fun in your garden!
Comments
Post a Comment