What's happening in the early June edible garden

Chives and sage in bloom

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Typically in the early June edible garden, the summer veggies are flowering and have baby fruits and the spring veggies are at the end.  This year, only my tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers and squash are flowering.  None of the summer lovers have baby fruits.  The lettuce is still doing great with only the plants that overwintered and planted in April having bolted.   Herbs are growing robustly.  By this time of year, we no longer need to purchase produce from the grocery store and can get fresh herbs to add to ordinary dishes that make them taste wonderful.

The greens we are eating-lettuce, French sorrel, chard, spinach, dandelion greens, chick weed, sweet clover, green onions, Ruby Streaks mustard, sprouting broccoli leaves, snow peas, New Zealand spinach.  Growing fabulous lettuce and greens

Herbs to add to dishes and salads-chives, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, oregano, thyme, horseradish, Egyptian walking onions, tarragon, sage, dill, young garlic.  Fruits for salads and desserts-raspberries, strawberries, blueberries.

The flowers that are blooming-irises, spiderwort, marigolds, petunias, roses, delphinium, daylilies, lavender, celosia, hydrangeas, hollyhocks, bachelor button, alyssum and the herbs and veggies going to seed-white flowers on the cilantro, the white, red and pink flowers of thyme, lavender chive flowers, yellow broccoli flowers, white carrot flowers that look like their cousin Queen Ann's Lace.  All veggie and herb flowers are edible.  A fun way to add flavor and beauty to salads or other dishes!

This year I am working on our red, white and blue theme for vining flowers.  I have planted red hummingbird vine, blue morning glory and white jasmine at the base of the covered patio supports.  It did take a while for the blue morning glory to flower last year.  I started it indoors this year to get a jump on growing.  They have been planted out for a while now and are not growing much, but this has been a cool spring. 

The early lettuce is in full bolt so soon there will be the white, yellow and blue flowers from the different kinds of lettuce.  

The tomatoes have flowers so tiny fruits should be appearing soon, but the plants themselves are growing slowly.  Pepper and eggplants are also small for this time of year.  Peppers typically can be harvested in June and tomatoes around the 4th of July.  I'm not sure there will be peppers by the end of June.  We'll have to wait and see on the tomatoes.  Maybe the small pear tomatoes will have a few ripe by then. 

This week end, I'll weed in the garden and pots.  Everything was fertilized when planted.  I'll do another round when the fruits appear on the tomatoes.  I have more flowers started from seed to transplant into the edible garden and pollinator garden.  I started some moss rose plants and ice plants to put in our decorative rocks.  I'll soon be transplanting them into pots to harden off.

With all the cool weather we have been having, there is a bounty of slugs and snails.  I'll be saving our coffee grounds to sprinkle around out potted greens to keep the slugs from eating them.  Coffee grounds are a good source of nitrogen as well so the greens get a double benefit.

The only other pest that seems to be going stronger than I like are the flea beetles on an overwintered eggplant.  I did spray them with an insecticidal soap to knock them back some to give the beneficials a head start on keeping them in check.  

Once the plants get up to a decent size, they will no longer be at risk of being killed or stunted from being an insect's meal.   Natural, organic pest strategies and how to make your own bug sprays

I have also had a very enterprising vole in the garden over the winter.  The good part of this is that they do a great job of loosening up the soil.  The bad part is that if their tunnels go under your plant, there is a good chance the plant will die and voles love to eat the roots of your plants.  I got out the vole deterrent and put it in the garden.  Hopefully, it will chase the vole from the garden!

The lettuce is doing phenomenal for this time of year!  Only the overwintered and early plantings have bolted.  The third round started in late April are still sweet and growing hardily.  I sowed more seed in pots on the patio to replace the ones that are bolting to keep the salads going all summer.  I also put up a shade cloth to provide respite from the heat.  I only put it on one side to see how the plants do.  Last year, I completely covered them and they didn't seem to do as well as I would have liked.  

I start seeds indoors and outdoors throughout the season.  I keep my seeds in the refrigerator for years.  This keeps them fresh enough to germinate even though they are not this year's seed.  For any I start indoors, I put the seedlings on the covered patio to harden off.  The sun is very intense this time of year so if you start seeds indoors be sure to let them get used to the sun before planting in the garden.  I let them harden on the covered patio for a week or two and try and plant out in the garden when it is calling for rain.  

Potted lettuce bolting

On the back covered patio, I have re-seeded summer lettuces.  Lettuce in general likes cooler temps.  When it gets up in the 80's, they bolt, sending up a stalk that then flowers.  You can let them go to seed and then save seed for re-sowing.  Most lettuces start to get bitter when they bolt.  Red Sails is one of the few that stays fairly sweet even after bolting.  This time of year, re-sow every 3 weeks to keep in lettuce.  Also, sow the most heat tolerant varieties you can find to extend how long you can harvest.  Bolt-free, sweet summer lettuces

Lettuce seedlings

I'm enjoying the cooler weather and piddling in the garden.  I am ready, though, for the summer veggies.  They'll be here before you know it!  Until then, I am taking advantage of all the sweet salad greens and berries.