It’s raining yet again.  Even though we’ve had so much over the last several months, I continue to appreciate all we receive because it refills the soil pores for future absorption by plants’ roots.  I love hearing the dribbling on the roof, the soft and yellowish cast to the lighting, and knowing that the plants will look lush and healthy during my next walk through the garden.  And the thrill that I’m not paying for the water!
 
Tomato Planting Time
     I’ve let my tomato plants that I purchased 3 weeks ago sit next to the bed where I’ll plant them so they’re acclimated to the area where they’ll live out their lives and produce their tomatoes that I so look forward to. 
     I’ve already incorporated compost and manure so the soil has accomplished its warming-up and cooling-down process before I transplant the tomatoes so their roots aren’t damaged.
    Varieties I’m relying on this year have been my favorites over the years -- Big Rainbow, Black Zebra, Black Krim, Celebrity, Cherokee Carbon, Cherokee Purple, Pineapple, and Sungold.
     Last year’s tomatoes planted in another area with more late-afternoon shade didn’t produce many fruits although their plants were tall and lush – telltale signs of being too happy and never getting around to reproducing themselves. 
     In that area this year, I’ll plant other edibles that can benefit from the apparent too much nitrogen and water and less direct sun, like broccoli and lettuce and kale and chard that we eat the greenery instead of waiting for fruit.
 
Still Not Planting Other Veggies
    I’m still not seeding or transplanting other summer-loving veggies like beans, cucumbers, and squash since the soil is just too cool.  In past years, the weather would have already consistently been warm and therefore the soil would also have warmed.  But this year we’ve had only a couple of single days of 70-80 degree temperatures for a continuous early spring climate.  So, instead of trying to get an early start for the summer-loving veggies, I’m choosing to wait until the seeds will be happy to germinate quickly, especially since the soil is so nicely hydrated with all this rain.
       I’ve learned this lesson from years of trying to beat the season with planting seeds and seedlings as early as I possibly could, but with consistently unsuccessful results of poor germination and unvigorous plants until later plantings. 
     After years of observing the seeds and plants struggling through the still-chilly weather, I’m now committed to waiting for the warmth to consistently remain before subjecting seeds and transplants to poor conditions.  I want to see seeds pop up out of the soil and transplants perkily carrying on with their growth.
 
For more garden tasks, go to April
 
For past blogs on seasonal themes, go to Homepage
 
 
 
 
 

Following all that wonderful rain – with commiseration to those folks who sustained damage – our gardens are not only waking up with lots of greenery but sending up blooms galore.  What glorious color and lushness as we walk through our gardens! 

​The weeds are lush as well, however, so make a point of getting them out of the garden while the soil is still moist so you can remove the entire root systems so they don’t resprout.  The wonderful part of the frequent rains over the past several months was to help the California poppies and other wildflowers germinate and then continue developing into sturdy plants.  We’ll see whether the weather continues to be moderate so the plants can grow steadily and strongly and hopefully produce a great bloom season.
 
Edibles
 
Edibles we’ve been enjoying the continual harvest include lettuces and chard and kale that overwintered so well.  Peas are continuing their blooming and setting and picking sequence.  Bok choy and beets and carrots are just attaining harvesting size. Broccoli, cauliflower and kohlrabi are developing into sizeable plants.  Cilantro and parsley are just coming up. 
 
Broccoli Raab has come and gone with just a few plants, just like last year.  I just can’t seem to get many of them to germinate well even when I sow them so early and repeatedly, despite the “perfect” rains keeping soil moist and the warmish temperatures.  Maybe I’ll have to start the process even earlier next September.
 
I’m doing another sowing of Wando peas, which are tolerant of warm weather both at the beginning of the sowing season in October and at the end of the harvesting season in June.  The time between these beginnings and endings, I sow all the other varieties of peas that love the chilly growing temperatures.
 
Even though the weather feels like we’ve turned the corner to warm spring and summer, hold off on transplanting summer vegetables except for tomatoes.   Tomatoes are the only summer vegetables that can tolerate the garden’s still-cool soil. They’ll thrive even more successfully if you’ve amended the soil with organic matter and fertilizer prior to planting, spread their roots and watered them in well. 
 
This magic, however, doesn’t work with other summer veggies like cucumbers, eggplant, melon, peppers, and squash, which will just sit and pout if planted while the soil is still cold.  They may not even recuperate ultimately once the soil has warmed in another month.  Best to just wait a good month before getting them into the ground. Then, they’ll take off and develop more successfully.
 
For more garden tasks, go to March.
 
For more major-topic blogs, go to Homepage.
 
 

     Once you've started your tomato seeds indoors - since they need temperatures between 70-80 to germinate - and they've developed their second set of "true" leaves, you can utilize this technique to get them growing strongly in anticipation of transplanting them outdoors in a couple of months when the soil is warm.
​     One technique to assure sturdy tomato plants from seeds started indoors uses quart-size plastic food storage bags. Folding the bags into square boxes allows several bags to fit together as a group in a square drip tray. Also, each plant's root system is concentrated in blocks that are easy to transplant into the garden. To prepare each bag, fold the bottom two corners under to meet, point to point, and tape them in place. Clip the four new corners for drainage.
     Transplant each two-inch tall seedling into its own bag. Fold down the top of each bag to just above the soil level of the plant. Pack each together in the drip tray, and place the tray in a bright but cool area. As the plants grow, add more soil every few days up to the top two leaves, pulling up the sides of the bag as necessary. Water and feed as usual. Turn the whole tray every day or so so that the plants grow straight. The resulting transplants often have half-inch sturdy stems.
     Two main planting techniques will encourage roots to form along the length of the buried stem. The upright deep-planting method is generally chosen by gardeners in areas with warm springs and summers and those who have loose soils in raised beds. The horizontal planting method is more useful for gardens with cooler springs and summers and soils that are heavy.
     For deep planting into the garden, cut open the bottom of the bag, and set the plant and its entire root system into an eight-inch-deep hole deep enough to bury the plant up to its top set of leaves. Slip the bag up and out of the hole over the plant. Fill in the hole with soil, and pull extra soil into a berm  several inches out from the plant. 
     For horizontal planting, also cut open the bottom of the bag, but turn the plant on its side and gently urge it out so it's laying down sideways in a three- inch-deep trench long enough to accommodate the root section and half of the plant stem. Gently bend the plant's top two leaves up above the soil surface.  Fill in the hole with soil, and pull extra soil into a berm several inches out from the plant.
     Fill the berms in with water three times to make sure all the soil is thoroughly moistened.  The third time, use a half-strength solution of a balanced complete fertilizer such as 10-10-10. "Balanced" means all the N-P-K numbers are the same. "Complete" means that there is at least some of each N, P, and K; none of the numbers is a zero, such as 0-10-10.

Begonia backlit and frontlit - beautiful from both sides.
​

     This week’s Springy warmth enables us to open our doors and windows to allow the balmy weather to flow all around with great pleasure.  I even took off my sweatshirt that’s been keeping me on the barely-warm side of chilly for so long!  And the cool-season seeds that I’d sowed in pots and in the ground a month ago are finally sprouting – a good two weeks longer than it should have taken them!  Finally we’ve got a good start to lettuces, carrots, beets and chard, kale, turnips, broccoli raab and tatsoi.  The artichoke seedlings that had germinated earlier are putting out their third and fourth leaves.  All due to the mid-70-degree daytime gloriousness.  With this coming Thursday’s forecast for more rain, I’ll make a point to sow more of all of these on Wednesday to add to the continuing bounty.
 
Planting Flower Bulbs
     I’ve taken advantage of several last-of-the-season sales of flower bulbs from Easy To Grow Bulbs -- https://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/ – including amaryllis, daffodils, daylilies, gladiolus, bearded iris, Japaniese iris, tigridias, freesias and anemones and ranunculus.
Amaryllis bulbs should be planted so the top half of the bulbs is above the soil or potting mix. 
Daffodils I just planted may or may not bloom later this spring, but I’ll count on them to root well and pump in more energy before the foliage dies back with the warmth of early summer.
Daylilies already established in my garden are just sending up their foliage, so the newly-planted ones will catch up in a month or two; but I’ll again expect them to concentrate on strengthening their root systems rather than expect them to bloom this time around.
Gladiolus bulbs will certainly have time to establish themselves and probably bloom later in warm weather.
Bearded iris going in now will definitely need several months to establish themselves because the rhizomes are so small and will need perhaps the entire year to create well-established plants in order to bloom.  If I was dividing any of my existing reblooming irises, I’d expect them to bloom in the fall since I’d choose to replant large segments.  I’m concentrating on adding only rebloomer irises to my garden so I’ll be able to enjoy fall color as well as in spring.
Japanese iris rhizomes are much larger than the bearded ones, so I may get color later, but certainly next spring after a year’s growth.
Tigridias I tried years ago but they didn’t do well, so am trying again now.  We’ll see!
Freesias are among my favorite spring flowers, and I’ve been lucky enough to have an exquisite pinky-purple one proliferate so much that I’ve spread it along both sides of my long driveway.  Now, I’ve planted a variety of colors along the pinky ones, so I hope the display will be even nicer.
Anemones are perhaps the weirdest-looking bulbs, with corms looking like uneven blobs that you can’t tell which side is up, so you just have to plunk them into their holes and hope that the roots and stems don’t waste too much energy trying to figure out which goes in which direction.
Ranunculus corms look like little claws that need to be planted with their “fingers” pointing down.
 
     While I generally try to dissuade gardeners from purchasing late-season sale bulbs from local stores because they’ve been warm and on display since the fall and therefore are pretty dessicated, the Easy To Grow bulbs are stored under ideal conditions until shipped out on individual orders.  I’ve been extremely pleased with the quality and condition of my orders over the last couple of months.  Of course, it’s best to open the newly-arrived packages immediately after receiving them to let the bulbs “breathe” and then plant the bulbs as soon as possible to enable their roots to begin establishing themselves.
 
For more garden tasks, see February
 
For past blogs on main winter topics, see homepage

​

    The weather keeps being beautiful though chilly at night.  With deciduous trees and plants becoming even more seasonally colorful, like my persimmon, and the few summer edibles like my tomatoes still sort of struggling while I wait for the tiny fruits to ripen enough to pick, the edibles and ornamentals that love the chill are perking up vigorously.  And the in-the-70s daytime temperatures make puttering in the garden so enjoyable.  So what to concentrate on?  Here’re some that I’ve been doing.
 
Planting Fig Trees
     Planting my two Violette de Bordeaux fig trees that I’d started from cuttings last spring.  I know their energies are shutting down now for the winter, but I figured it was better to get them into their permanent home now so they could get barely established now and then be raring to grow with the early spring warmth.
 
Continuing to Harvest Chard
    I’ve been so very impressed with chard’s tender leafy production literally year ‘round that I can’t bear to pull up the plants that have made it this far into the winter, although I always reseed more now to assure new strong plants in the spring.
 
Continuing Sowing Cool-Season Veggies
     Leafy greens like bok choy, lettuce, spinach, and all the mesclun mixes provide such a tremendous variety of greens and reds and whites for raw and cooked culinary uses, and for such a long time through the cold weather before they bolt (go to seed and turn bitter) with the late spring warmth.
  Peas reseeded every several weeks provide a continuing supply of fresh pods all through the winter and into the late spring.  Wando is one variety that can be depended on through the cold and as the last planting when it’s already too warm for other varieties.
 
Continuing Transplanting Perennial Edibles
     Transplant globe artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, horseradish, and rhubarb; also cane berries, grapes, and strawberries.
 
Pruning Roses
    For several years, I’d trimmed my roses back to about 3 feet tall since one year I’d forgotten completely and the resulting foliage and bloom was tremendous.  After many years’ development of lots of scrawny branchlets, this year I decided to do the severe cut, down to about 15 inches.  We’ll see how spring bloom proceeds!
 
Planting Posies
   Sow seeds of African daisy (gazania), ageratum, alyssum, baby-blue-eyes, baby's breath (gypsophila), bachelor's buttons (cornflower), calendulas, candytuft, delphinium, forget-me-nots, hollyhocks, impatiens, larkspur, lobelia, lunaria (honesty, money plant, silver dollar plant), lupines, nasturtiums, pansies, sweet peas, California and Iceland and Shirley poppies, verbena, and wildflowers.
     Transplant seedlings of astilbes, azaleas, bleeding hearts, calendulas, camellias, canterbury bells (campanula, bellflower), cinerarias, columbines (aquilegia), cyclamen, delphiniums, dianthus, forget-me-nots, foxgloves, gaillardias, hollyhocks, lilies-of-the-valley, ornamental cabbage and kale, pansies, peonies, Iceland and Oriental poppies, primroses, snapdragons, stocks, sweet Williams, violas, and violets.​ 
 
     Now, it’d be wonderful to have some rain, but gently falling so the soil can absorb it slowly!
 
     Until then, water overwintering outdoor plants. Irrigation should be reduced, not stopped, as plant photosynthesis slows down and cold weather dries plants out. Plants that are stressed from lack of irrigation are more susceptible to frost damage.   Water less frequently but just as deeply to assure that the full root systems are hydrated.
 

    With more rain - however minimally drizzily - promised, it continues to keep garden soil moist and receptive to sowing seeds and transplanting small plants. 
      And, as we get closer to Thanksgiving and the chill encourages some leaves to change color and other fruits to color up, some of my past blogs are timely to review.

See the full listing of the "Fall" grouping on my homepage. ​

Here're two blogs that are especially worth reviewing now:

• Holiday Decor From Your Garden - 11/19/19


• Cool-Season Plant Problems and Solutions - 3/14/21

    Here we are, at our first major Fall holiday, Halloween, and the weather continues to be perfect for sowing and transplanting.  With mid-80s during the day and mid-to-high-50s at night, seeds will germinate well and baby plants will establish healthy root systems as long as we keep the soil moist.  Another benefit of climate change, I guess, having this great weather this late in the calendar year.
 
Remove Struggling Summer Plants
        However, trying to keep summer-bearing plants carrying on is another matter entirely.  It’s not so much the warm days that keep the plants green, but rather the cooler evenings that determine that the plants start shutting down for the cooler weather. 
     Consequently, I give up on the tomatoes and squash and cucumbers that still have clumps of green foliage and even a fruit or two.  Instead of attempting to keep them alive in the hopes that the fruits will ripen up, I pull them and prepare the soil for its next crop. 
       When I first started gardening, I was intrigued with the idea that I could trim back the dead foliage, feed and water the plants, and get them to continue fruiting.  But then, after all this additional effort and nurturing, with a couple of months’ passage of time, the resulting fruit were at best blandly flavored, certainly no better than what I could purchase at the grocery store (and they weren’t available at farmers’ markets since they were off-season).  I determined that I would no longer “waste” my garden space trying to hang on to old plants that were beyond their season, to say nothing of beyond their peak.  Instead, I would revitalize the soil and sow or plant veggies that thrived in chilly weather and bore fully-flavored fruits.  In other words, grow what grows best when it grows best.
 
Still Harvesting
       Chard and Lacinato kale, both of which made it through the summer heat, again put out tender leaves, although they’re growing more slowly.
 
Seeds to Sow and Seedlings to Plant Now
     Sow or transplant fava beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, chard, coriander (cilantro), garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce (especially romaine types and small-heading Bibb and buttercrunch types, which thrive with only minimal damage from light frosts), mustards, green and bulb onions, parsley (the flat-leaf type is hardier than the curly one), peas, radishes, shallots and spinaches, especially the curly-leafed savoy types. While these plants won't grow much till early spring, they'll have well established root systems ready for the great growth spurt with the first warmth.
 
Planting Garlic, Shallots, and Bulb Onions
         Garlic and shallots and bulb onions planted now will develop a strong root system over the winter, and leaf production can begin early in the spring, resulting in a large head next summer. The sooner you plant them now in rich, well-drained soil, the larger they'll be at harvest.
        Planting in the spring, even with rich soil, they will develop only into medium or small sizes; garlic may not separate into individual cloves.
      For the largest resulting sizes, plant individual cloves or bulbs four to six inches apart in a raised planting bed that is well-drained and compost-enriched, and keep the soil moist through next June.
 
Transplanting Strawberries
     Renovate strawberry beds away from where solanum-family plants -- potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers -- have grown within the last three years. Incorporate rock fertilizers, compost, and cottonseed meal. Water well. Let all these amendments mature for two to four weeks.  Then, transplant strawberries one foot apart so the crown is just above the soil level. Strong roots will develop over the winter, and spring warmth will encourage fast growth and large berries.
 

​     Today was heaven in my garden.  After a month of no dirt under my fingernails, I made up for all that vacant time on several scores during the low-80-temperatures – removing dead plants, rescooping and watering tomato berms of plants that still have ripening tomatoes, and scattering and shallowly incorporating fertilizers into the long stretches in beds that’ll be seeded with overwintering edibles.  What a glorious afternoon, feeling exquisitely alive again in the garden!
 
Few Tomatoes
     I’ve never had so few tomatoes to harvest over summer – of my 18 plants I barely got ­­­74 fruits, and those were medium to small in size as well as Sungold’s tiny size.  One bed of 8 plants was primarily of volunteers that had sprouted in my compost pile.  The other bed held the 10 favorite varieties that I’ve successfully grown for years.  Both beds were fertilized and watered well. 
 
Volunteers
     The volunteers developed less foliage but resulted in more tomatoes; of course I don’t know what they were since they were volunteers so could have been crosses among last year’s fruits that made it into the compost pile.   About half of these plants have died, but I’m waiting on letting the fruits that’ve already set to ripen in our continuing mid-80-degree daytime heat.
 
Purchased Past Favorites
     The purchased plants that I’ve grown for years as my favorites grew more foliage but didn’t produce as many fruits as the volunteer plants.  This made me think that I’d somehow overloaded them with nitrogen, even though I fertilized them the same as the volunteers, both initially when transplanting and when the blossoming first started.   About one-third of these plants died early on during that first heat spell, but the remaining plants are very top-heavy (the vines are supported inside the cages up to six feet, then overflow down the outside for another four feet.  On this still-strong foliage, they’ve put out a good number of blossoms, so we’ll see how many of them actually set fruit and develop during this daytime warmth.  But, I’m hoping this out of curiosity since once the evening temperatures get lower than 60 degrees, the plants pretty much shut down the cooler it gets at nighttime, even with the “high” daytime temperatures. 
 
Sowing and Transplanting Overwintering Edibles
     Sowing seeds is a great way to get lots of plants to transplant around your garden or share with friends.  And you get to choose varieties with specific qualities that you like or want to try. 
     This is especially fun with packets that seemingly contain a billion seeds – like many lettuces – because you can count on reseeding them every three or four weeks if earlier ones haven’t germinated or you want many more plants. 
     I love scattering the seeds along the six-inch-or-so front edge of  my large veggie beds so they’re easy to keep sprinkled with water for good germination and then transplanted in small bunches into 6-packs or 4” containers for developing further prior to sharing with friends.

   Onion chives on the left; garlic chives on the right.

         Different cucumber types require different                                          harvesting methods.

Different types of lettuces offer year-round salads and months of harvesting from the same plants.

Cantaloupe on the left is in a pantyhose to foil pests; it'll loosen from its stem when it's ripe.  Watermelon on the right is ripe when its bottom spot turns yellow and it sounds hollow with a palm or knuckle thump.

Peppers - sweet on the left and hot on the right - offer a range of heat and flavors.

Summer squashes are harvested when they're young; winter squashes are harvested at the end of the season when they've developed their hard cuticle skins for long storage.

So many kinds of tomatoes, but the reason we're gardening in the first place!

     While each of us has our flavor preferences, perhaps initiated during our childhoods and further modified as we grew older and began tasting our way through farmers markets and our own and friends’ gardens.  A perfect example is tomatoes.  Tomato flavor is a combination of sweet and acid, with the perfect balance very much an individual preference.  Gardeners love to share their favorites, and over the years I’ve found some friends’ enthusiastic recommendations to be bland or too sweet or too acid to my taste.  I’ve always attributed this to distinctions in garden soil and water and growing techniques and microclimates – similar to differing results of exactly the same brownie recipe.
         Here are some clues that I’ve developed to the optimum time to harvest produce throughout the year.
   When you’re first growing something, I recommend harvesting at many stages as the vegetable or fruit matures so you can determine when YOU like it best. After all, you’ve devoted time and labor and resources to growing your own, so you should be the determiner of which is the best time to harvest the fruits of your labors!
 
Artichokes
These immature flowerbuds should be fully rounded, with the bract scales barely extending outward. Cut the stem about one inch underneath the globe.  First globes will emerge from the center stalk and be the largest.  Each successively smaller globe will emerge from the nodes of the secondary and then tertiary branches. The last ones may be too small to harvest, so let them develop into their purple blooms to enjoy them as ornamentals in the garden.
 
Asparagus
Whether grown in your garden starting with seed or transplants, wait to harvest the first shoots until they’re the size of your little finger – and then, pick only a couple from each plant those first several years.  Shoots should be about 8” long, about 1/2” wide, and not have any of the flower buds at the tips beginning to open.  You want to let additional shoots continue their development to make the root stronger and more productive since they can live up to about 15 years.  In succeeding years, cut only shoots that are about half an inch wide, and be careful to cut just below the soil surface so you don’t damage the root.
 
Basil
Repeatedly pluck young foliage leaves, including stems but leaving the bottom couple of nodes and still-vibrant mature leaves to continue photosynthesis until new young sprouts emerge.  Remove individual leaves from the stems, and save stems for the compost pile.  Use leaves fresh or dried or frozen in ice cubes or crushed with olive oil.  Of the many varieties, you’ll determine which you prefer to use culinarily or ornamentally.
 
Beans
For fresh use, pick pods when seeds are barely visible.  For dry use, wait until the seeds are fully developed in the pod, and the pod is crispy dry.
 
Beets
Pull globes when they’re between 1-2” wide, and use the tender young foliage raw or cooked.  Harvest foliage greens anytime.  However, if greens are harvested too frequently before the globe is harvested, there’ll be less energy for the globe to develop fully, so use some plants for repeated foliage harvest, and leave others to develop fully into globes, using their foliage only when harvesting the entire plant.
 
Bok Choy, Tatsoi
Pick outer leaves, leaving several innermost ones to continue developing for months' long harvest.  Even once the plant flowers and elongates its stem to bolt and set seed, the flesh is sweet and tender.

Boysenberry
In clusters of 3 berries, the center berry matures first.  When berries turn from reddish-purple to dark purple, and from glossy to matte, they’re almost fully ripe.  Gently tickle them from underneath the cluster -- if they’re ripe they’ll fall into the palm of your hand.  If you have to tug them, they’re not quite ripe. 
 
Broccoli
Cut broccoli when it’s deep green with small, tightly packed buds. When cutting main-head types, more smaller bite-size headlets will develop at side nodes for months of continuous harvest.  “Sprouting” varieties developno main head but instead many small bite-size shoots for extensive long harvests.  Yellow blossoms appearing on the elongated stems are also edible when stems are cut short (the longer stems become too woody to eat).  Flowers that are allowed to barely mature into inch-long green seed pods can be harvested and tossed into a salad for a raw bite of spiciness.   
 
Cabbage
Allow these single-harvest plants to get as large as possible before cutting them when they’re still firm.  However, even if the cabbage head splits and the bloom stalk bursts through the top, the cabbage is still fully tender and sweet. 
 
Carrots
Different varieties mature into different shapes both in length and width as well as at different rates over a couple of months’ time.  When a thick mat of foliage stems has developed, gently brush away the soil from the tops of the carrots that are about 1/2 inch wide and pull up a couple to see whether they’ve developed enough, taste a couple to see whether more are ripe enoough.  After harvesting the ones you want, water the bed to resettle the remaining carrots so they continue to grow.  If carrots taste “turpentiney”, they haven’t been watered sufficiently to dilute that natural flavor component. 
 
Cauliflower
Cut this one-time harvest at its base when the curds are still tight.  Once curds start to open up - "ricing" since they look like grains of rice - or when the color of a normally white variety turns creamy yellow - the flesh is still tender and succulent.

Celery
Pull (don’t cut) outer stalks, tearing them from the base of the plant.  Cutting will leave raw edges that will decay and perhaps spread to the plant.  Keep plants well watered so foliage remains turgid.
 
Chard
Snap off (don’t cut) outer stalks, leaving several inner stalks to further develop for continuous harvest.  If the outermost foliage is too mature, toss it into the compost pile.
 
Chives
Cut stems an inch above the soil, and water the bed to encourage additional stems to sprout.  Onion chives have round hollow stems, pink flowers, smell like onions, and are delicate to grow.  Garlic chives have flat solid stems, white flowers, smell like garlic, and are very drought tolerant to grow.
 
Cilantro
Cut stems an inch above the soil, and water to encourage additional stems to sprout.  Best grown in cool weather since they bolt (go to seed) during warm weather.
 
Cucumber
Five types have different maturity determinants.  “Armenian” are 18-24” long, ribbed, light green, seedless, and don’t need to be peeled. “Salad” type are 7-9” long, dark green, and picked full but not round.  “Dill” for canning are 4” long and almost fully round.  “Gherkin” are 2-3 inches long and concave.  “Lemon” are 2” round and chartreuse to yellow.  If cukes are curled instead of straight, they’ve not been watered sufficiently and may taste bitter. 
 
Garlic
Like with beets, both foliage and globe can be harvested, but it’s best to utilize separate plants for each distinct use – some for foliage but other plants for fully-developed globes.  Harvest greens by snipping the foliage an inch above the globe; this will gradually deplete the globe of its energy.  To harvest the mature globe, stop watering and let the foliage die back naturally in May and June, then pull the globe and let it dry on a rack out of the sun or braided with others until the foliage is crispy dry.  This aging promotes the formation of the protective papery sheaths around each of the cloves for longer storage.
 
Kale
Like chard, snap off the outer leaf stems, and toss too-mature foliage into the compost pile.  New shoots will develop for months more continuous harvest.  Of all of the varieties, I’ve found the Dinosaur or Lacinato Kale (Brassica oleracea var. palmifolia) to be the most resistant to bolting (going to seed) through the hot summer.
 
Kohlrabi
Leaves and globe are both edible, however its best to peel the globe for its tender sweet interior.  For its most succulent, pull the plant when the globe is about 2 inches wide.  If allowed to grow larger, flesh becomes tough, woody, and bitter, especially during summer weather.  Best to grow during cool weather.
 
Lettuce
Pull up plants of tight-head varieties when they’ve attained their mature size.  For leaf-head varieties, pull the outer leaves and let the four innermost leaves to continue developing for months more continuous harvest.
 
Melons
Different types have distinct clues to harvest them at their best.  Cantaloupes have tan netting, a sweet aroma, and easily slip away from their stems.  Honeydews are creamy yellow rather than green, a waxy rind, and give a bit at the blossom end.  Casabas are bright, buttery yellow, the whole fruit will feel heavy, and give slightly at their base end.  Watermelons sound hollow when slapped with the palm of your hand or knocked with your knuckles and the white spot where they rested on the ground has turned yellow.
 
Onions
Green onions are harvested fresh at whatever size you’d like.  Mature dried globe onions, like garlic, are allowed to dry out in May and June and then gathered to dry or be braided and stored out of direct sun to enable the papery outer sheath to develop for longer storage.  If necks are thick, use these first as they won’t keep long.
 
Parsley
As with cilantro, cut stems an inch above the soil, and water to encourage additional stems to sprout.
 
Peas
Both edible-pod and non-edible-pod types can be harvested fresh or allowed to mature completely until crispy dry.  Harvest flat edible-pod types – snow peas like Oregon Sugar Pod - when the peas in the thin bright green pod are barely visible.  Harvest filled edible-pod types – snap peas like Super Snap - when the peas rounded but not too firm in the outer bright green pod. Harvest non-edible-pod types – shelling peas like Green Arrow - when peas round and full in their shiny bright green pod. Peas that are harvested too late will taste starchy.  All these types can be allowed to mature completely until they’re crispy dry to be saved and used later as dried peas.
 
Pepper
Whether “sweet” or “hot”, pick when they’re to your taste preference.  Green peppers are less mature, and colored peppers are more mature and flavorful.  Keep well watered so their fleshy walls are thick and flavorful. 
 
Potato
Let foliage dry and die back naturally – this indicates that the potatoes under the plant are beginning to mature and form their protective skins for longer storage.  Stop watering.  A month or so later, carefully lift soil to reveal harvestable potatoes.  The earlier your harvest, the more water will be retained by the potatoes, so cook them in thin slices instead of baking (they’ll turn into a “rock”).  Keep them stored in the soil with no irrigation, digging a few at a time as you use them.  
 
Pumpkin
Wait until the rinds are completely hard and can’t be punctured by a fingernail.  This is their protection so they can be stored for a long time without spoiling.
 
Radish
Shapes range from round to elongated and are harvestable at any stage after they’re about 1 inch in width.  They bolt (go to seed) quickly with warm weather.  Like with broccoli, flowers that are allowed to barely mature into inch-long green seed pods can be harvested and tossed into a salad for a raw bite of spiciness.   
 
Spinach
Like lettuce, pick individual outer leaves, allowing several interior leaves to continue growing for continuous harvest. 
 
Squash
Summer squash like yellow crookneck, scallopini, and zucchini are harvested when they’re only a couple of inches thick or long to retain their full flavor.  Pick them on the small side since they’re notorious for doubling or tripling in size over a weekend.  Winter squash, like pumpkins, are harvested when the rinds are completely hard and can’t be punctured by a fingernail since this affords them long storage.  Harvest squash blossoms early in the morning and prepare immediately before they droop.  
 
Tomato
Tomatoes ripen from the bottom up and from the inside out.  Ripe and flavorful tomatoes will be fully-colored and give slightly when pressed gently in the palm of your hand.  Ideally, you’ll get a good three or four weeks’ harvest from the first to the last fruits of “determinate” varieties, and all summer long through cool fall weather for “indeterminate” tomatoes.  Once harvested, it’s critical to not refrigerate tomatoes unless they’ve been cut, since the chill will damage their cell structure, resulting in a mushy texture and diminished fragrance and flavor.  Choosing to harvest colored tomatoes when they’re still fully green or “breakers” that are barely turning color is a great way to salvage end-of-the-season fruits for fried green tomato sandwiches -- but just setting them on the kitchen counter, they’ll never attain their full potential flavor.
 
 
 

     Hot weather has finally arrived, and plants as well as people are suffering.  Neither of us had a chance to acclimate, so we’re all feeling the brunt of the heat.  While mid-80 degree temperatures may feel slightly warm but still comfortable to people, vegetables like tomatoes and peppers and eggplants (they’re in the same family) can’t complete the pollination process then.  And, in the low-90s, beans stop producing blossoms altogether. 
 
How do I know that my plants are having a hard time during the heatspell? 

• Plant growth slows because chemical activity slows during high air and soil temperatures.
• Foliage may droop and look dull instead of glossy, especially early in the morning which indicates that they haven’t recuperated overnight. 
• Leaves may roll and cup to reduce the amount of evaporation and direct sunlight.
• Leaf edges may dry
• Foliage may be sunscalded on the side of the fruit most exposed to the sun, looking like dead and discolored blotches.
• Plants stop flowering.
• Plants drop buds and flowers, especially after an extended period of high temperatures, and on peppers, squash and cucumbers. Production will resume after the heat wave is over.

 
Watering in the early evening

• Water deeply as soon as possible to keep plant entire root zones thoroughly hydrated.
• Sprinkle foliage after the sun no longer is directly shining on the plants, both on the undersides as well as on the tops of the foliage.  Evening is when the stomates on the undersides of the leaves open up, allowing more absorption of moisture.  Even though air temperatures are still high, evening breezes will help dry the water on the foliage so that diseases don’t become a problem since you’re doing this only the once to recuperate the plant.  

    
Shading
Protecting plants from the intense heat in the late afternoon can be accomplished several ways.

• Shade cloth or cheesecloth covering the tops of the plants, or on the south and west sides will lessen the effect of the direct sun.  The material must be porous, however, to enable sufficient air circulation for the merest breeze to help move the hot air.  Old window screens or nursery trays allow air to pass through them.
• Fencing or other sturdy item with sheeting can be placed to the south and west sides of the plant to block the direct sun during that late-afternoon period.  Keep it away from touching the plant, however, so that it doesn’t block any breezes. 

 
Mulch

• Add more mulch on top of soil surfaces that have been well watered.  You want to insulate moist soil so roots can be further cooled and protected.  Mulch reduces temperature changes and evaporation.

 
If the heat spell continues

• Keep the soil moist but not wet throughout the entire root zone so that both moisture and air will always be sufficiently available when the plant roots need them.
• Keep shading devices installed.
• Don’t plant or transplant.  These activities are stressful enough for plants, without the additional heat stress issues.
• Don’t apply any chemicals for plant disease and insect issues, even soap or neem oil, when air temperatures are above 80 degrees.
• Do get rid of weeds, many of which do well during temperature extremes  and certainly do compete with garden plants for water and nutrients.

 
After the heat spell retreats

• Don’t prune or fertilize, as these activities stress the plant even more.
• Instead, allow plants to rebalance themselves in relief from the intense heat for several weeks.
• After a month or so, when you see that new growth has emerged and perhaps blossoming has resumed (once the air temperature is again consistently below about 85 degrees), then you can gently trim dead foliage without fear that you’ll stress the plant even more.
• Resume planting and transplanting.

 
For garden tasks, see August.
 
For other major-topic blogs for this time of year, see Homepage.