by Jim McGinty
The Heat is here – one hundred degrees Fahrenheit this last weekend, with a prognostication of more hot days for the rest of the July. Time to buckle down and keep the important stuff alive and growing: ornamental lawns not so much, but fire resistant “green zones” around your home, yes. Fruit trees and bushes, perennial herbs, pollinator attractors (think honeysuckle, white clover, mock orange, etc.), and vegetables, all deserve a good water soaking (and maybe some home- made compost/manure tea!) during the hot days ahead. Now is when the drip and weep hose irrigation systems really pay off: expensive water is delivered right to the plant, no water is wasted on the surrounding lawns or weeds, and all it takes is a flick of the wrist – no hoses to haul around.
Remember to water your plants and trees in the early morning or late evening (if possible), to avoid wasting water (and money!) as water spray evaporates in the Heat – inexpensive water timers are available which will turn water on and off, while you sleep, or while you hide next to the air conditioner.
Here at Rancho McGinty, the garlic scapes have been harvested and chopped, breaded, and deep fried, or used in pesto sauce, or dehydrated like chives for future baked potatoes. The garlic plants themselves are not quite waist high, and the tops are about one third yellow, so we’re looking at a mid-July harvest – I applied water to the garlic patch one last time at the end of June, and that’s it – easy food to grow.
Despite an early June frost (31 degrees F.!), our potato plants look good (Pat the Wife has been dumping straw bedding from the chicken house and goat/sheep yard on the plants to stimulate additional spud production), and the other cool weather crops (cabbage, onions, leeks, and scallions) are handling the heat with additional applications of water and some Ree-May row cover used as kinda-shade cloth.
In the “Earth Boxes” on the front deck, the tomatoes are stretching their legs, producing flowers (fewer flowers at this time of the Heat, as tomato blooms don’t set for fruit above 85 degree F. or so), and growing thick stems for all those delicious fruits – remember, knowledge is knowing that tomatoes are actually a member of the fruit family, while wisdom is not putting tomatoes in the fruit salad.
You will want to check your compost bins to ensure they are as wet as a wrung-out sponge, in order for the fermenting and bug-attracting conditions to continue during the Heat – dig into the bin and grab a handful of immature compost: hot material is good, but hot and wet material is better.
If your June-bearing strawberries are through for the year, and/or if your ever-bearing strawberries are about half way through production, then now is the perfect time to fertilize those beds.
Now is also a good time to plant some more salad green seeds to ensure continuing hot-weather meals (Pat and I love to assemble fresh salads from the deck planters, slice in some cooked chicken or beef, and drizzle on the blue cheese dressing – yumalicious), and if you plan to plant some cool weather plants for late Autumn harvests (you DO plan to utilize that expensive garden soil for at least two seasons this year, right?!), now is the time to start the kale, chard, choi’s, bush beans, and anything else that will handle a light frost.
GARDEN CALENDAR:
On the 8th of July, I will teach a Fruits and Berries class at the Newport College Center (1204 W. 5thAve., Newport) from 1-3 p.m. – we’ll learn how to grow (and control!) all those thorny vines and aggressive bushes. You can call the center at 509-447-3835 for more details and to register for the class.
On the 14th of July, our local gardening club will depart from Camden Grange at 7 p.m. for another of our most-excellent garden tours: this month we will tour a “delightful” (according to more than one of our members who have visited this location) garden space with manicured lawns, stone raised beds, vegetable collections, and floral displays. Bring your cameras as you will not remember all the great ideas and innovations you will see – this garden has been the beautiful setting for many weddings and receptions.
And for those of us who have NOT been described as “delightful” or “beautiful,” well, try to stay cool in the Heat, and don’t irritate your loved ones nearly as much as you normally do – we all deserve some slack.
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