June is the test of a gardener’s mettle, not to mention sunscreen and insect repellant. It’s a fine time to harvest some tips from the pros. They’re the hard working folks that keep the markets full of fresh produce all summer long. You can pick up lots of tips to keep your garden going and get ready for the fall garden, or add to your list of reasons not to!
As Rick Snyder says, “Summer gardening is all about water and fertilizer. The plants need both to keep growing in the heat of July and August.”
Snyder is professor and vegetable specialist with Mississippi State University Extension Service based at MSU’s Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs. He should know, based on his extensive experience growing the huge vegetable plots at the Station.
They are the showpiece of Fall Flower and Garden Fest, held annually in October when about 6,000 guests visit in two days. A trial garden which includes All America Selections (seeds) and Mississippi Medallion plants, the Experiment Station puts hundreds of varieties to the test.
Planting everything from radishes to tomatoes and broccoli to beans is not ever easy, but starting them all in summer? Meet me at the Fest this October — I’ll be doing a program both days and signing books. It’s free and you’ll learn a lot.
To bring water to any garden space efficiently can be a challenge if you rely on traditional hoses and sprinklers alone. If you water vegetable plants in beds or pots by hand, take more time. The plants are larger and dry out faster, but a hose with a fan spray or other water breaker attached can do the job.
Stand over each plant with water raining steadily over it and count to 20 before moving on to the next plant. Ideally, plants in beds will be surrounded but water will soak in almost immediately. In pots, this process should fill a 15-gallon pot once and almost top it again. If not, slow your counting. Farmers use more drip irrigation these days, and simple do-it-yourself systems are widely available.
The insect populations build up to fever pitch in July, and so can fungus diseases if the weather is rainy. Growers who use hoop structures covered in plastic during the winter often replace that plastic with shade cloth for summer growing. The shade cuts down on the sun’s rays by 30 percent or more and excludes flying insects, birds and mammals. In the home garden, a lower-profile hoop covered with window screen works for the same purpose and can be built from plastic pipe attached to a 2×4 frame with staples.
Leave spaces for access at each end and in the middle; tuck those closed when not in use. As the plants outgrow a low hoop, keep a close eye on them for signs of trouble — pale leaves, holes or shredded sections. Some gardeners spray regularly to combat aphids and flea beetles that attack eggplant and tomato plants. Others, like me, pay children to pluck off the 2-inch long tomato ‘worms’ that can devour a branch overnight.
Ray Tyler of Rose Creek Farms markets his produce in Tennessee and north Mississippi. “I have a 2-acre orchard, and an acre of intense close space planting. We have one greenhouse and 1 unheated high tunnel that we use year round,” he says, before listing summer’s usual harvest: tomatoes, peppers, cukes, squash, zucchini, raspberries, blueberries, plums, peaches, basil, potatoes, and kale. In the next two months, he’ll be planting many of these crops again, plus lettuce and greens, a variety of herbs and gourds for fall decorating. You can, too, which is good to know after such a trying winter and spring.
Tyler grows organically, but his biggest challenges are the same as every grower’s: bugs and weeds. His approach is to prevent them, as by using the high tunnel. But for those who want to start a garden, he advises one of my favorite ideas, solarization. Tyler explains, “Till up a plot of garden space, soak it until very wet, then lay a piece of clear plastic (6 ml). Seal the ends with dirt and let it cook for four to six weeks. The soil will cook to 160 degrees and (that) will kill all weed seeds and any soil diseases in that area for a few years, with the exception of Johnson grass.” He advises turning the hogs loose to eat the Johnson grass, but you’ll probably want to dig it out.
“Garden Mama” Nellie Neal is a garden writer, photographer and radio host. Reach her at mama@gardenmama.com.
Speak Your Mind