Weeding between the lines

By Jim McGinty

August temperatures in the 90s mean we Northeast Washington gardeners must be especially proactive in the garden. Keep those plants (now getting up toward harvest-size or laden with produce) watered: your Mark I moisture probe – your index finger – pushed two inches or so down in the soil next to the plants will tell you if the soil is dry, moist, or wet. Watering, especially if you are using overhead delivery methods (tsk, tsk), is best and most efficiently accomplished in the early morning – inexpensive, battery operated water timers are your friend.  Weeds surrounding your precious plants can be a BIG negative factor now, as they suck expensive, life-giving moisture and nutrients away – it’s time for a little focused, positive aggression here – pull those weeds!  Just be sure the plants you pull are actually weeds – the plants that pull easily and completely from the dirt are usually the ones you want to keep – jus’ sayin’.

Some of the cool weather plants (broccoli, chard, peas, lettuce, etc.) will be hard pressed to continue producing food in this heat – in fact, some of them will “bolt” (produce a seed stalk), and turn inedible – sounds like chicken food and/or compost makings.

Speaking of compost, be sure to water your compost bins, as they will dry out and go dormant if the plant materials turn crispy – this summer heat will really increase your compost production, provided the bin contents stay moist.

Here at Rancho McGinty, my gardening partner Pat and I purposely left a couple of last year’s leek plants in the ground just to see if we can capture some of the biennial seeds from the second year seed heads. Right now, the seed heads are bagged (in small brown paper bags) on the plant stalks, and the seeds are nearly ready to harvest and dry.  We’ll see next spring if the seeds are indeed viable.

Our garlic harvest was amazing – lots of fist-sized bulbs, and 6-foot-tall! garlic stalks – yes, I should have trimmed the stalks back when the scapes (the garlic seed pods) appeared, but events transpired to keep me busy elsewhere.

Out in the garden, the chicken-squash PVC pipe trellis is proving to be a winner: the tall mass of huge, dark green leaves can be seen from the road, and there are dozens of squashy-things hanging like body-snatcher pods from the vines. Just be sure to walk well around the pulsating green mass, as the vines are looking for food donations, two-legged or otherwise.

If your berry vines have finished producing raspberries, blackberries, etc., now is a great time to cut those brown, expended canes to the ground, so the plant’s crown can spend more energy producing green, fresh canes for next year’s harvest.

In the orchard, you may need to prop up some of those heavily-laden limbs – no sense in snapping off a fruit branch, and having it tear a wound into the tree trunk.

GARDENING CALENDAR      

On Aug. 7, those prodigious plant producers, the Master Gardeners of Pend Oreille County, will offer their 25^th Annual Garden Tour of local gardens – details of the tour are still not firm, but you can pencil in the date, and call the Newport Extension office at 509-447-2401 for times, locations, and cost.

On the 9^th, our local garden club will tour Rancho McGinty: Pat and I have received numerous, loud requests (and some grumbling threats), asking to see what I’ve talked about in this column. Be sure to wear clothing suitable for a working garden (this is not a garden-fashion show), comfortable footwear (the backhoe guy leveled most areas during our recent construction effort), and bring your gloves: we’ll all be weeding as we walk.

We’ll leave Camden Grange promptly at 7 p.m. for a (very) short drive to our garden.

On the 17^th I’ll be teaching a class, from 6-8 p.m., on backyard fruits and berries (entirely appropriate timing) at the Newport College Center (1204 W. Fifth St. in Newport).  We’ll chat about selecting, planting, maintaining, and harvesting delicious food – blackberry smoothies anyone?  You can call for more information, and to register for the class at 800-845-3324.

Finally, please remember that you can always check out our garden club’s on-line blog for updated meeting and tour information, disturbing pictures, and timely garden tips:  look for us at www.elk-camdengardenkeepers.blogspot.com .

That’s it for now – I think I’ll go count the livestock squash – I’ll just be very cautious near those writhing squash vines – no, wait, they’ve got me – arrrgh!