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| July harvest-peppers, squash, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers |
July is the time of year for harvesting the heat lovers like tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, all types of peppers, basil and other Mediterranean herbs. With the hot, dry weather here, watering and fertilizing are key to on-going harvests. It is also the time to plant for fall harvests.
I got my summer garden in mid May this year. Most of my summer vegetables I started indoors and transplanted when it got warmer. The large seeded transplants like squash, beans, and melons I started in pots outdoors in early May. Now, we are having a long string of 90's at the end of June/beginning of July and it is forecasted to remain above average for the next 15 days. The peppers, eggplant, cucumber and squash are loving these temperatures and growing quickly.
Typically all my summer veggies are being harvested at this time-peppers, zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers, and green beans. This year, I have harvested 1 summer squash, a couple of eggplant, many tomatoes, both sweet and hot peppers, blackberries, raspberries, huckleberries, husk cherries and tamarillo fruits. The pole beans, zucchini and cucumbers are way behind. 3 of my summer squash vines have already died. Not sure why. Did not see any sign of disease or squash vine borer but vine borer is the most likely. Only one eggplant is flowering so far and producing well. My other 2 eggplant are growing quickly. There are many baby tomatoes, many baby peppers, and husk cherries. The winter squash and melon vines are really running and have started flowering. I got my okra started late so it is still quite short and will be a while before it is flowering. I put in 2 plants so I should get enough for the year even if they are running late. They all love thrive in hot weather so should be producing within the month of July.
By the end of the month, there should be more summer veggies than we can eat and we will start preserving the extra for winter and spring eating. I will start freezing extra tomatoes tomorrow as they are producing more than we can eat now. Preservation garden
For salads, Red Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, Perpetual Spinach, sprouting broccoli, Blue Feather lettuce, chard and orach are growing robustly and I have been harvesting from them for daily salads and sandwiches. Red Malabar and New Zealand spinach greens love summer heat and humidity so are great substitutes for cool loving spinach. Hilton Chinese mustard and Chijimisai greens are growing nicely and volunteer multi colored Chinese amaranth plant has sprouted in a pot. All are tasty all summer in salads. Growing summer salads
The spring lettuce has flowered and is producing seed. When you see the white fuzzies on lettuce stalks, they are ready to save the seed. I just pull the seed heads, break apart, put in a ziplock freezer bag, label with type and date, and store in the refrigerator. I will re-seed my self watering pots with some of the seeds by cutting off the seed heads and placing in pots. If I don't have time to gather the seed, I just let the seeds spread throughout the garden and move the volunteers to pots or garden spots that I want them. Never ending salad from one packet of seeds
It is best to start new lettuce seed every 3 weeks to keep yourself supplied for salads. This time of year, do start the heat tolerant varieties. Bolt-free, sweet summer lettuces Next round will be the fall and winter varieties that have cold tolerance. Succession planting is key for keeping lettuce in the heat of the summer. Start your lettuce seeds in a cool spot as they won't sprout when the ground is above 75 F. You can start them in a pot indoors and then take outside when they have sprouted.
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| Pole green beans on trellis |
I have put the yard long beans, pole snap and lima beans in the garden bed this year. I went to yard long beans for snap beans again this year because they are so prolific in our climate. When snap beans start producing, harvest them daily to keep them producing. I keep a quart bag in the freezer and add mature green beans as they are ready for picking. Any storage beans like lima beans will stay on the vine until the pod dries. Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer
The garlic plants now have garlic scapes and flowers so they are doing well. The garlic, onions and shallots are all starting to die back so harvest time is here.
Garlic harvest time is typically this time of year. When the tops start dying, it is time to harvest. After pulling, be sure to harden off in a shaded area. If your soil has alot of clay, you will have to dig them. Try to not cut into the cloves when digging. After two weeks hardening, the cloves can be brought indoors for storing. Hardening is critical for the garlic to not rot when stored. I love elephant garlic as the cloves are as their name suggests, they are huge! Save the biggest cloves for replanting in the fall. Garlic harvest time is near! My favorite way to preserve garlic is to pickle them in apple cider vinegar with a few hot peppers and store in the frig. Have garlic any time you need it, just pickle some!
I am growing Yukon Gold potatoes this year in potato boxes. Yukon Gold is supposed to be a good storage potato and should be ready to harvest this month.
Blue Spice basil is growing great. Purple Bush and Cardinal basil are further behind. I can harvest as many leaves as I want for cooking. The Cardinal Basil need to get bigger before I will cut them back to make pesto. I have switched to mainly Cardinal basil for harvesting as it doesn't get woody like Genovese basil. I still grow Genovese basil because the bees love the flowers. Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil
Oregano, dill and thyme have been blooming for a bit. Garden chives have flowered but garlic chives have not flowered yet. The bees love these small herb flowers! All can be cut and dried now, but I love the dainty flowers, too, and will wait until fall. Make your own "Herbes de Provence"
I fertilized all the flowers and vegetables again to keep them growing a couple of weeks ago. Pots lose nutrients at a much higher rate than garden beds so I supplement them with liquid fertilizer. I am using a liquid fertilizer for all the potted plants about every other week and using a solid fertilizer monthly around each plant. I like Espoma or ReVita since both are all natural products. I use tomato fertilizer for all fruit producing plants and their general purpose vegetable fertilizer for all other veggie and herb plants. If the plants need just nitrogen (leaves are yellowish and not dark green), I use blood meal, alfalfa meal or a liquid fish emulsion. Decorative container gardening for edibles
I have been using a mineral supplement in spring for my plants for the last few years, both the garden bed, pots and the potting soil I make. Right now I alternate between Azomite and kelp meal each year. So many soils are low in minerals and micronutrients. Your plants can't absorb what the soil does not have. Kelp has growth hormones in it as well. They can cause your plants to outgrow their pot. If your plants get a big boost when you add minerals to the soil, you know that it was needed. Adding minerals to the plants and soil will significantly increase the minerals in the plant itself, giving you minerals in the veggies you eat. The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals
I have been using a mineral supplement in spring for my plants for the last few years, both the garden bed, pots and the potting soil I make. Right now I alternate between Azomite and kelp meal each year. So many soils are low in minerals and micronutrients. Your plants can't absorb what the soil does not have. Kelp has growth hormones in it as well. They can cause your plants to outgrow their pot. If your plants get a big boost when you add minerals to the soil, you know that it was needed. Adding minerals to the plants and soil will significantly increase the minerals in the plant itself, giving you minerals in the veggies you eat. The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals
A key to keeping the garden productive this time of year is to keep even moisture to all the beds and containers. Inconsistent moisture can cause tomato fruits to crack and blossom end rot. Water the beds weekly and deeply if there hasn't been a good rain; they need a good inch of water a week. During hot, dry periods, your containers may need watering every other day. Self-watering pots with reservoirs in the bottom or very large catch pans are the trick to extending time between waterings. Summer garden tips
If you are getting higher than normal rainfall, you'll need to fertilize more often as the rain can wash away the nutrients. Keep an eye on the growth of your veggies and if they are not growing and producing as expected, they may need some extra food.
Strawberries are done for the season. Blackberries, raspberries, husk cherries, huckleberries and tamarillo fruits have been producing for a bit now. My thornless blackberry looks like it is done for the season; the thorny one is still producing. Back yard strawberries
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| A butterfly on zinnias in the edible garden |
At the end of this month, it will be time to start your seeds and seedlings for fall and winter harvests. You have to start early so they are at full size before frost. Time to plant for fall and winter harvests!
Pests and fungus can also be a problem during this time of year with the hot temperatures and high humidity. I have been finding which vegetables aren't bothered by our heat and humidity and making these my standbys. Trombetta squash is one that can be used as zucchini but doesn't overwhelm in production. It's an heirloom variety from Italy. In my garden, it resists powdering mildew and squash bugs unlike zucchini. Preventing and treating powdery mildew
You can try and stay ahead of pests by monitoring the garden closely and picking off the pests. If they do get the best of you, here are some natural ways to combat them. Natural, organic pest strategies and how to make your own bug sprays If you want to let pests come into natural balance, the rule of thumb is that it takes about 7 years for the "good" bugs and other "bad" bug predators like toads, birds, lizards, to take up residence in your garden to keep the "bad" bugs in check.
Cabbage worms still decimate my sprouting broccoli. And the flea beetles chow down on my orach and amaranth. I keep hoping this will be the year it comes into balance, but it has not happened yet. I first tried to use BT sprays or dust that needs to be reapplied after a heavy dew or rain or inspect and squish daily, but those did not solve the problem over the long term and it was a lot of time to do religiously. The cabbage worm starts in June. If I harvested all my mustard, cauliflower and broccoli by the beginning of June, this would eliminate the problem. I don't because sprouting broccoli leaves are ones that stay sweet all summer long so I use them in summer salads. I have enough volunteers that there is always a plant to harvest from. Maybe later this year, they will come in balance.
