Sweet summer is here and is a beautiful time in the Victory Garden! Many are firing up the grills and savoring the abundance that we’ve nurtured for the past few months. Of course, summer still has things to tend to, but it is also a perfect time to enjoy the fruits of our labors! Summer to-do’s can dramatically extend your growing season – so let’s get started!
Finish planting seeds & seedlings
Summer is still prime planting time. You may be harvesting but if you had a deer eat everything or you didn’t have time to start in Spring, you can still plant your favorite tomato, squash, and pepper varieties in the heat. Also, don’t forget sweet potatoes, beans, corn, and melons – especially in warm southern states. I’ve had tomatoes and potatoes from my garden on my Thanksgiving table while in the Hill Country.
Once summer starts fading you can add carrots, kale, beets, spinach, and broccoli. Just check your forecast for those rare nights that dip into freezing and cover your plants. This will give your plants enough time to put on growth and develop roots to weather minor dips in temperature in the fall.
Weeding (the never-ending to-do)
To make it more manageable, I advise going out in your garden as often as possible. Pulling out small, barely-there weed seedlings is much easier than hacking with a hoe. Be sure to pull out as much of the root system as you can, since that will prevent new weeds from popping up later. Also, be careful about disturbing easily-dispersed seeds, like dandelions. Try to cup your hands around the seed pods when pulling to prevent them from shaking and spreading their weed seeds.
Once you’ve weeded, you can just leave the weeds where you pulled them. That will cause them to bake in the sun and get composted back into the soil. If the weeds had seeds, however, remove them. For those who have large enough compost piles that reach temperatures over 200 degrees, feel free to throw even seedy weeds in them. Otherwise, pile them in another, unused area of your property.
Water (if necessary)
First, make sure you’re not watering your garden needlessly. You can place a simple rain gauge in your garden to measure whether you’ve received 1 inch or more of rain in a week, and only water if you haven’t met that threshold.
If your garden is getting parched, there are three simple guidelines to follow.
Water in the early morning or late evening.
This will prevent the bulk of your water from simply evaporating into the air, which doesn’t help your plants. Watering when the sun is weakest will ensure it soaks into the soil well reaching the roots.
Water the roots and soil, not the leaves
You only want to water your plants roots. That’s where plants take up water, so put it directly near the source. Also, when too much moisture gets on the leaves, it paves the way for many fungal infections. Clearly you can’t prevent rain, but you should minimize your personal use of top-down watering.
If you have the funds and desire, you can install a drip irrigation system in your garden. These porous strips are pressure-controlled and connect to your spigot, thereby feeding a slow, steady stream of water directly to the base of your plants.
Otherwise, just aim your garden hose at the base of your plants or open soil areas.
If allowed, use recycled water.
Please check your local ordinances before trying this one. Some municipalities, due to severe droughts and weather patterns, seriously enforce laws against collecting rainwater.
Set up a rainwater collection system if you can! Rain is free, clean, and doesn’t breed pests like mosquitoes if done correctly. Bonus- it’ll cut back on your water bill and save more potable water for human use.
Do battle with the bugs
There’s only one task I dislike more than weeding – it’s battling the bugs. There’re so many kinds of insect pests that could possibly plague your garden. My blog covers this more in-depth but for starters:
Go into your garden every day. The more familiar you are with the appearance of your plants, the faster you’ll identify pest problems before they get out of hand. Pay extra attention to the undersides of large leaves, where many common bugs hide and lay eggs.
Make your garden a welcoming environment for toads, spiders, birds, and even lizards. These guys will make your job organically easier by eating bugs by the ton! Leave a dish of water out and make hiding spots/habitats for reptiles and birds. Pro tip: Don’t brush down every spider web you see (see spider backstory).
Pinch & deadhead
Pinching means to remove small sections of plants, usually by hand. Removing the top leaves of some plants encourages them to branch out and grow bushy instead of tall and spindly. Plants like basil, thyme, tarragon, and sage all benefit from this, since they’re grown for their leaves.
You also want to pinch your tomatoes, but not the same way. Every tomato plant has one main stalk and many branches coming off at roughly 90-degree angles. But oftentimes, other branches try to grow between the main stalk and branches. You want to pinch those off because they’ll only crowd the fruit, reduce airflow, and can lead to diseases spreading faster.
Deadheading is a term that refers to cutting off dying flowers. Many plants like hydrangeas, peonies, roses, and lavender will continue blooming or strengthen their roots and green growth if you deadhead. Otherwise, the plants will spend all their energy creating seeds, which you don’t usually want.
Harvest
Seed, time, and harvest. The cyclic time in the garden gives beauty all year, and summer is such an amazing season. Homegrown, delicious food picked from the garden is a joy that never gets old to me. I hope you are harvesting, and planting and your summer to-do tasks bring you delight in the Victory Garden.
Happy planting!
DeeAnn
The Victory Garden Gal