 |
| Late 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. It is also the time to plant for fall harvests.
I got my summer garden going late this year. Typically all my summer veggies are being harvested at this time-peppers, zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers, and green beans. This year, I have harvested only one tomato and overwintered peppers. There are lots and lots of baby tomatoes and cucumbers. There are flowers on the potatoes, eggplant and pole beans. No flowers yet for okra or this year's peppers. They all love thrive in hot weather so will be producing within the month of July. It is typical to have the first ripe tomato on the 4th of July in our area. Small tomato varieties are usually the first to ripen.
By the end of the month, there will be more summer veggies than we can eat and we will start preserving the extra. Preservation garden
On the bright side, the lettuce planted in late April is bolting but many have leaves that are still sweet. Butter King and Bronze Beauty are doing great! Red Malabar spinach is growing robustly and I have been harvesting from them weekly. Red Malabar and New Zealand spinach greens love summer heat and humidity so are great substitutes for cool loving spinach. My other favorite summer salad greens are salad burnet, Swiss chard, collards, mustard greens, green and purple orach, multi colored Chinese amaranth, sorrel, sprouting broccoli, cultivated dandelions, tyron, kale, and Hilton Chinese mustard. Growing summer salads
The early spring lettuce is getting close to flowering and 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. 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.
 |
| Pole green beans on trellis |
The pole snap and lima beans have just started growing in earnest. When they 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. Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer
I put my overwintered garlic cloves in a pot this year to just keep the types that have worked well in my garden going. Garlic harvest time is typically this time of year. After pulling, be sure to harden off in a shaded area. After two weeks, 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!
Our basil has been slow to get started. The trick to keeping the plants from getting woody is to make sure to harvest down to the first few sets of leaves before the plants go in to full flower. I get two-three good harvests before fall. Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil
Lavender has finished blooming, catnip and oregano are just about to bust out in full bloom mode. The bees love small 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 pots again as well as the basil and tomatoes to keep it growing. Pots lose nutrients at a much higher rate than garden beds. I am using a liquid fertilizer for all the potted plants at least every other week and using a solid fertilizer monthly around each plant. I like Espoma since it is an all natural product. I use their 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 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. 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. 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. Water the beds weekly and deeply; 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 are the trick to extending watering duties. Summer garden tips
If you are getting higher than normal rainfall, you'll need to fertilize more often as the rain with 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.
 |
| A butterfly on zinnias in the edible garden |
This is the month 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 was proactive with fungus last year since we had so much rain using organic preventative spraying every 7-10 days. I switched between copper fungicide, Serenade and Southern Ag for my peonies, roses, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash and watermelon plants. This year is much drier so I have not been spraying. 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment