2020 Garden Update: June 20

June has been a busy month even though we're still staying at home due to the pandemic. With the hot weather settled in to stay until the fall, watering and harvesting have become daily tasks, but the plus side is that we're getting to eat plenty of fresh produce grown in our own backyard!

The garden this year hasn't taken off the way it did last year, as my photos from June 2019 remind me. Last year we had more squash than we could eat and a lot more tomatoes coming in by now, too, but the spring weather had been very warm and wet last year. Everything grew like crazy! This year I'm contending with new beds, new soil, and a number of new types of plants. The problem with a new house is that our "dirt" on the property is basically solid clay with a lot of rocks/concrete bits mixed into it, so only the most determined plants thrive in it (the daylilies don't mind it a bit). I've also got several different brands of potting and garden soil thanks to pandemic shopping issues, and some of those are clearly doing better than others.

In spite of the problems, the cucumbers (all growing in pots) have really done gangbusters, and the larger tomato plants - the Husky Cherry Reds I bought as starts - are providing a steady little stream if not a raging river of tomato goodness. We have yet to harvest any of the heirloom varieties, but they all have green tomatoes on them, so hopefully it won't be long now. I am hand pollinating the squash to ensure that we get a few to eat; so far we've had the best luck with the lemon squash, but I harvested two of the white scallops this week, and they were pretty tasty.

The raised bed with cow peas and corn is coming along quite well, although the pea vines are growing faster than the corn, so I don't know if the vines will get the support the corn was supposed to provide. I hope the corn will catch up because I'm out of stakes and cages and can't find more at the local garden centers when I do make my rare visits to them.

The daylily bank and pollinator patch are full of color and bees now, and I'm already thinking about how to expand on those areas next year with new bulbs and better organization in the small space that we have. It's exciting to see the bulbs we planted months ago sprout and finally flower! The glads and liatris have been especially fun to watch. Next year the daylilies and other perennials should be even bigger and more robust, but they're already putting on a good show this first time out.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I get a bigger squash harvest before the vine borers make their destructive appearance!

The Summer Bounty Begins!

It's early June now, and the heat has definitely arrived, along with the summer staples of the vegetable garden! This week we're eating cucumbers, tomatoes, and the first of the summer squash (finally!). We've got blooming flowers for the pollinators and herbs in full swing. Welcome to summer!

I have pulled up the bolted lettuce and the green peas, which were lovely while they lasted, and replaced them with glass gem corn and cow peas, both of which have already sprouted in their raised bed. I'll be planting more cow peas once the vine borers bring their usual doom to the squash beds, probably by early July. This will be my first time growing corn, and I have chosen glass gem just to do something really different and provide some support stalks for the black-eyed and purple hull peas.

The heat and rain have given the other summer vegetables their rocket fuel boost after the cold spring. So far the lemon cucumber is the champ of the garden. It's 8 feet tall and loaded with flowers and baby cukes. The dragon's egg plants are the slowpokes - will we actually get to eat dragon's egg cucumbers this year? We'll see! Both the DAR and Salad Slicer are producing, so we don't have a shortage even if the dragon's egg disappoints us. The lemon cucumbers are fun with their round shape but taste just like regular cucumbers. They're very mild and add a nice crunch to a dish.

Husky Cherry Red tomato plants are producing a slow but steady stream of fruit. It takes a few days to get enough to make a meal, but we do get there. The heirlooms are growing quickly; I hope by July they will be yielding. I love a big dish of different colored cherry tomatoes! Right now we are eating the red ones with pasta or in tomato cucumber salad, both summer standards at our house.

I was super excited this morning to pick the first of the lemon squash, two little beauties with gorgeous color. They look like Christmas ornaments. We'll be eating them tonight to find out how they taste. So far I have been hand pollinating the squash in an effort to ensure some yield. The zucchini is finally taking off, though, so I might soon have all the squash we can eat with just the pollinators taking care of it. I'm hopeful that the white scallop now has at least one pollinated blossom going, so maybe next week we'll get to harvest the first one.

The flower garden is also taking off, with more daylilies blooming and lots of color in the pollinator patch. Liatris is in bloom, too, and I am seeing a lot more pollinator activity during my daily garden checks. The flower areas are more chaotic this year than I had originally intended due to the pandemic, but we're letting it be a little wild with more clover and less mowing to help the pollinators while we consider the long range plan for the beds.

Next week I hope to check in with more cucumber and squash progress!

* Just this week found out about Baker Creek Seeds' crazy attempt to invite Cliven Bundy to be a speaker a while back. I'm not throwing away seeds I already bought but won't be linking to them or buying from them in the future. There are plenty of other places to buy seeds that are more in harmony with my values as a consumer!