 |
| Baby peppers on potted pepper plant |
Sunday, July 17, 2022
We are harvesting tomatoes, herbs, onions, cucumbers, lettuce, Red Malabar spinach, Chinese Multi Color Spinach, amaranth, Love Lies Bleeding amaranth, and sprouting broccoli. Petunias, zinnias, fairy lilies, daylilies, marigolds, lantana, gardenia, Love Lies Bleeding, Cock's Comb are all blooming. We are in a moderate drought so are having to water the pots 2-3 times per week and the garden beds weekly.
We have gotten more heat than usual this year. Peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, snap beans, and squash are all behind where they normally are for this time of year. I just started getting baby eggplants and squash. The peppers and beans are flowering but no fruits yet except for the cayenne that I overwintered in the basement. It has been fruiting I put it outside in May.
Tomatoes are way behind this year. I have flowers and baby tomatoes on all the plants except the Brandywine. I am getting a few ripe ones each week. One tomato plant has died. The others don't look great but most are still growing. I planted them in a new spot this year in soil that has not been enriched so I am not surprised they aren't flourishing. Neighbors tomatoes are just starting to turn red.
 |
| Oregano in bloom |
Our basil isn't very big yet. I planted them late as I didn't get my seedlings transplanted when I should have, but they are growing nicely. Be able to get my first harvest for pesto in a couple of weeks. It will regrow to give me at least one more good harvest before fall. Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil
Oregano is in bloom. The bees love the purple flowers! I need to check to see if I have enough herbs for the winter to make my herb blend or if I need to harvest and dry some herbs this summer. Harvest and preserve your herbs
 |
| Lettuce gone to seed |
I fertilized all the pots again as well as the veggies in the garden. It is good to fertilize pots biweekly and garden plants monthly during the growing season to give them the nutrition they need to produce well. Summer edible garden tips
Most of the lettuce has gone to seed. When you see the white fuzzies, they are ready to save. I just pull the seed heads, break apart, put in a ziplock freezer bag, label with type and date, and store in the refrigerator. You can also leave them on the plant and you will get volunteer lettuce plants. I need to re-seed my pots with some of the seeds. It takes a couple of weeks for them to be of baby lettuce size to harvest. I may have to start the seeds indoors because lettuce doesn't germinate very well if soil temperatures are about 70-75 degrees F. Never ending salad from one packet of seeds Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver
In the greens department, summer is a hard time for most. Sprouting broccoli, some lettuce, different types of sorrel, leafy cabbage and amaranth, sprouting broccoli, arugula, dandelion greens, chard, lettuce, kale, cress and herbs are all available. The heat increases the sharpness of most of the traditional greens.
Succession planting of lettuce and planting types that are resistant to bolting can keep your lettuce crop going. Plant them in the coolest part of the yard where they are not in full sun all day and get shade in the afternoon. Pots are a good option to be able to move them to the cooler part of the yard. Growing summer salads Bolt-free, sweet summer lettuces
I added a couple of varieties of greens that have a similar taste to spinach and lettuce a few years ago. Red Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, sprouting broccoli, and Hilton Chinese cabbage are now staples in my summer greens garden. They are not true spinach or lettuce but have similar flavor and are heat tolerant. They don't get bitter in the heat.
If you have extras of chard, dandelion greens, sprouting broccoli, sorrel, sprouting broccoli, kale or cabbage, you can blanch and freeze them for steamed winter greens. Freezing the extras for winter
I am growing Trombone squash this summer in place of zucchini because they are robust against disease and squash bugs. I have baby fruits on the vine. The vine does grow very large so make sure you have the space for it to either grow up or sprawl. You can harvest young for the taste of summer squash or leave on the vine and harden for winter squash. I'll use them as summer squash. We love grilled zucchini. What we don't eat fresh, I will make into zoodles for pasta substitute and freeze them. You can also dry them to use in soups or roasts over the winter. What to do with all that zucchini?!
The annual flowers are doing well in the garden right now. They attract all kinds of beautiful butterflies and moths as well as bees. I love watching all the bees and butterflies that are visiting the garden.
Key chores to keep the summer garden producing is to pick often, make sure plants have even moisture, keep ahead of pests, and give the plants the nutrition they need to keep going.
This time of year, it is so nice to be able to walk through the garden and pick what is ripe for dinner and watch the garden grow.
No comments:
Post a Comment