Weeding between the lines

By Jim McGinty

So the question has changed from “when will the summer heat arrive?!” to “when will the autumn rains arrive?!.” Thus far, the garden (food supply) is literally “cooking right along,, with daily 95-degree heat, and every-other-day deep water soakings from the drip irrigation system in each raised bed. If the summer heat and lack of rain continues unabated, we gardeners may be faced with deciding which crop/plant/tree/orchard needs water the most, while the other plants wither and barely survive.  

Yes, lots of organic matter, fertilizer/manure, excellent drainage, and careful plant variety selection can go a long way to increasing the likelihood of an actual harvest – but (there is always a “but” in the gardening world), our weather (driven by effects of the sun) has the final word. Our pioneer ancestors hedged their winter food supply bets by growing large gardens, harvesting local wild edibles, hunting/fishing/trapping, and trading within their communities – but, even the most organized and efficient family could find themselves in the “hungry times” from late winter to mid spring, when the food cupboard was bare, and there was very little to harvest or eat in the garden. We are all literal descendents of those hardy (and let’s face it, lucky) generations – we’re still here, so darn it, let’s learn how to garden like we mean it!

Here at Rancho McGinty, the recent high temperatures have set back the pollination efforts by the tomatoes, peppers, and the poisonous, ornamental squash. Pollen (according to some experts) just does not work when a certain temperature range is exceeded – LOTS of flowers and blossoms, but no actual fruit. We did harvest our first tomatoes of the year last week, when we tasted fruit from the Balkonoy plants – the short season, Siberian type produces deep orange, medium acid, 2-inch diameter tastiness on a short, easy to raise plant.  Good stuff!

The garlic crop is currently curing back in the forest (I like to tie bundles of five or six garlic plants to a rope stretched between trees in the sunlight-dappled grassy meadows – that was kind of lyrical, huh?), and I will soon clean the individual bulbs by cutting off the stalk at about 2 inches above the bulb, removing most of the roots, and rubbing off the dirt on the outside skins. This year’s garlic harvest was pretty good:  the excellent-tasting Polish Red bulbs are huge (larger than a hardball), the Lahontan mild garlic bulbs are increasing in size and “garlic-iness” (I don’t think that is an actual word), while the hot and spicy Georgia Fire bulbs were few and far between – I don’t know what happened, though I seriously doubt the gopher invaders would enjoy biting into THOSE bulbs!

The great Alaska-based Sweet Corn Experiment was a limited disaster:  small, short plants, and small, delicious corn cobs – I think the black plastic sheeting just heated the soil too much, and stunted growth.  

We started harvesting some limited amounts of potatoes – we just could not wait for actual plant  and spud maturity – we want some fresh, delicious mashed potatoes, and we want them now!  Our Viking Purple potato plants produce killer mashed potato makings.  Remember to hill dirt or place mulch alongside the potatoe plants to keep direct sunlight off of the emerging spuds – we want those tubers covered.

Overall, a good start to the harvest season – just remember to keep checking the soil conditions around your plants: using your Mark I Moisture Meter (your finger pushed into the dirt alongside your plant bases), note whether the finger is wet, damp, dry, or has been seized by malevolent moles! The old standard of “an inch of water every week” is no longer valid when summer temperatures reach our recent highs.

GARDEN CALENDAR

On August 5, those valued vegetation volunteers, the Master Gardeners of Pend Orville Count, will offer their 26th annual garden tour:  for a mere $12, you can pick up a self-guiding map to a collection of outstanding Newport-area gardens, open from 1-4:30 p.m. The tour will include the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden, and will also feature five additional gardens showing gardening techniques such as raised beds, drip irrigation, lasagna gardening, square-foot gardening, and much more. You can pick up your map at the extension office (227-A S. Garden Ave., Newport) from 12:30-1:30 p.m.If you have questions about the tour, you may call the office at 509-447-2401.

On August 14, our local gardening club will hold its last tour of the summer: we will visit a local, multi-family garden, featuring large crops of veggies and fruit – their annual garden harvest feeds these families, so expect to see long rows of beets, corn, cabbage, and additional fruit trees and bushes, and more.  We will leave Camden Grange promptly at 7 p.m. for the short drive to the garden, so be sure to bring your various cameras, notebooks, and questions on how grow family-sized gardens, and then preserve that harvest for later meals.

Additional details on the tour will be available on here on the blog, or you can check our new Facebook page.

That’s it for this month – see you out in the garden – remember to wear sun block and appropriate clothing in the sizzling sun, drink lots of hydrating beverages, and a salt tablet may be necessary to eliminate those nasty charlie-horse cramps.