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| 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. 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 going late again this year. It was so cool in May that the summer lovers weren't loving it! I started tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumber, beans, basil, rosemary and sage from seed in my seed starting pots outdoors. The first round sprouted and then died. The second round sat there and looked at me after they sprouted. Now that it has warmed up, they are all growing robustly.
Typically all my summer veggies are being harvested at this time-peppers, zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers, and green beans. This year, I have harvested only a few tomatoes, one eggplant, snap beans and overwintered peppers. There are lots and lots of baby tomatoes, many baby peppers, 3 squash fruits and lima beans. I restarted my cucumber a couple of weeks ago and it is taking off but no flowers yet. There are flowers on most of the volunteer squash plants. The squash plants I started late from seed aren't flowering yet nor are the eggplants. The plants are growing and filling out well. Flowers will be coming soon. 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 should be more summer veggies than we can eat and we will start preserving the extra for winter and spring eating. Preservation garden
For salads, Red Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, Perpetual Spinach, sprouting broccoli and orach are 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. Hilton Chinese mustard is growing nicely and volunteer multi colored Chinese amaranth plants are sprouting up in several pots. 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. 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 |
The pole snap beans have just started producing. I had planted snow peas in late winter in the same pot. I just pulled them out and gave to the chickens. This will give the bean vines a lot more room to grow. 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. I have many lima bean pods going. They will stay on the vine until the pod dries. The 1500 Year Old bean vine just started flowering. It is one you can either harvest young or use as a shelling bean. Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer
I put my overwintered garlic cloves in a pot last year to just keep the types that have worked well in my garden going. Unfortunately, the late winter freeze appears to have killed them all. I had a few volunteers in the garden bed so hopefully, I will get some harvestable cloves next year.
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
Oregano has just started blooming; thyme has been blooming for a bit along with garden chives. 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 tomatoes and squash again to keep them growing. I'll do the pots this week end. 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 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. 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; 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 and 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.
The wild blackberries are already ripe. If you want wild blackberries, you have to get them quickly or the critters will beat you to it. Do leave some for the wildlife. My strawberries are producing new berries again. The raspberry vines are not flowering again yet. Back yard strawberries
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| 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 year before last 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.
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