Weeding between the lines

By Jim McGinty

Thunderstorms, hail, heavy rain, 100-degree-Fahrenheit heat, and high winds are making gardening in Northeast Washington very challenging this summer.  

Here at Rancho McGinty, our cool weather crops (kale, chard, sugar peas, etc.) are all hanging on much longer than in previous hot summers, due to our constantly changing weather. Our traditional hot weather crops (tomatoes, peppers, livestock squash, etc.) are hanging in there as well, probably on the rumors of imminent long, hot days, and warm overnight temperatures. I think the plants and the humans are all a mite confused, but making the best of it.

Out in the garden, the garlic crop looks really good, with the plant tops already curling and producing edible flower pods (called “scapes”). 

Our strawberry bed is literally overflowing with ripe, red (inside and out – none of those nasty white California strawberry interiors!) fruit, while the vining blackberry plants and their flowers are very popular with the local honeybees.  

In the orchard, the news is from the “good news, bad news” category, with apples and pears hanging from young trees (that’s the good part), and (here’s the bad part) gopher-killed trees that looked SO healthy in early spring. Thus far, the gopher ingrates have de-rooted and killed two apple trees, and have nibbled on two others – the jury is still out on whether or not the trees will survive. Speaking of “survival”, I have taken a whole new, and politically-incorrect, approach to the whole “sympathetic to nature, go-along-to-get-along, kumbayah-singing, rodent respect” mindset: I now look daily for fresh gopher sign (kinda sounds like a mighty hunter, only in miniature), and when I find their mounds and holes, I roll two stinky mothballs into those dark dens of apple-decimating depravity, and cover same with dirt. So far, the fumes from said mothballs seem to have turned the course (literally) of the incisored invaders, as their new mounds are currently on a track to open fields of grass and weeds – may their OSHA-approved hardhats fail them!

In the garden, now is the time to carefully check daily for moisture needs around the plants, especially in your raised beds: I use my Mark One (Mk. 1) Finger Probe to see if the soil is muddy, moist, or dry, an inch or so below the surface. Watering is best accomplished in the early morning now, and inexpensive water timers are your friend – attach one to your hose bib, set the timer, and sleep in late.

This is the time of maximum plant growth and bud/fruit/veggie production, so be sure to apply liquid nourishment to limp or challenged-looking (yellow leaves, sickly appearance) plants: liquid kelp, fish fertilizer, or manure tea will help.

If you are planning to garden in the second, autumn season, now is the time to start those cool weather plants for mid-August transplanting – there is no sense in letting that sweat-equity dirt lie fallow until next spring!

If you have finished harvesting your June-bearing strawberries (berries produced in one big flush, in June, hence the name), now is the time to fertilize the plants, BUT if you are raising everbearing strawberries (berries produced throughout the summer), then you want to wait until half way (mid-August?) through the season.

Oh, and pull all those weeds (snicker, snicker).

GARDEN CALENDAR

I’ll be teaching a slug (no pun intended) of gardening-related classes in July at the Newport College Center (1204 W. Fifth St., Newport).  You can register for any (or all) of these classes by calling 800-845-3324, or you can register on-line at www.sccel.spokane.edu/ACT2.

“Drip Irrigation in the Home Garden” will show you how to set up your own time and labor-saving irrigation system (tools, supplies, and techniques will be discussed in depth).  Class date is 6 July, from 6-8 p.m.

“Herb and Kitchen Gardens” will discuss how to grow delicious herbs from seeds and propagation; we’ll also discuss how to harvest and store those tasty leaves and seeds. Class date is 13 July, from 6-8 p.m.

“Raised Bed Gardening” will show you how to design and construct raised garden beds that will help you get a head start on spring planting and extend your garden season. Class date is 20 July, from 6-8 p.m.

On July 12, our local gardening club will be touring two (count them – two!) local gardens: first, we will visit a garden built from repurposed industrial materials (ore tubs, steel conduit, fiberglass roofing), and then we will visit a home garden featuring raised beds, compost production area, small fruit orchard, and a really cool homebuilt greenhouse. We’ll be departing Camden Grange at 7 p.m., and convoying north on Highway 2 for this tour, so don’t be late!

That’s it for now – time to decimate (not just one in 10, but all!) those weeds in the potato bed – maybe I can train the gophers to appreciate the taste of weeds??!