Hey there,
How are your gardens doing? What’s gone well this year, and where are you having problems?
Things are looking good for me so far. Like every year, I had some trouble with black bean aphids on my fava beans, but that seems to have resolved itself (even though the affected plants aren’t yielding much).
I’m happy with my onions and potatoes… does anyone know why some of my onion sets are deciding to go to seed?
Wishing you all a great week!
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hot and dry
I’m pleased so far. Tomatoes aren’t yielding as much as I’d hoped but the weather has also been manic this summer. I’ve got two crook necked squash plants that have been consistently providing enough to add to dinners. They’re in a 8 ft by 2 ft bed that’s kinda tall along with a racer pumpkin. I probably over crowded that side. On the other is a bunch of strawberries some thyme and a couple sunflowers that just fell over and broke. Marigolds are growing throughout the whole bed. Some from seed, some from seedlings. The ones from seeds I was given by an old couple that I did some work for after I complemented how beautiful they were and they were a color i had never seen. I set up shade before I planted anything which has kept things alive otherwise it all would have shriveled in the heat like my nasturtium patch in the front year did for the second year in a row. All in all I am pleased. I’m learning a lot about a new environment and new crops. I wish I had better production, but I will probably always feel that way.
Terrible. The heatwaves that are passing by are murder. Thank you, climate collapse, thank you, CO2 producers.
Oh, I see—I have the same problem in another garden, too. I actually only water my vegetable beds when necessary (so far, luckily, we’ve still had enough collected rainwater).
For the past few years, I’ve been using grass clippings as mulch on the beds, which helps reduce evaporation… I’ve become a big fan of it.
I’m not doing a lot of gardening this year because I’m getting everything rebuilt for next year. So far rebuilt my chicken run, next is a new coop, then im going to install the 2 dozen metal raised beds I bought once I can get the weeds knocked down. Considering building a greenhouse over the space as well.
The stuff I am running this year is doing…… my potatoes seem to have died last week, 2/3 of my raspberries died, 1/4 of my grape vines died… we get a week of brutal heat followed by days of drowning wet. Is just hard on them, and insects are exploding.
I hope this shitty summer means my lawn grass dies the rest of the way this year. I’ve been overseeding with clover for years because it stays green through august when we get real hot and dry. I’d love the clover and violets to take over the rest of it. They already took over under my trees and most of the back yard, and I love never mowing those places. They are adapted for the sort of weather we get here and don’t die nearly as easily from this climate abuse.
Sweet potato is still establishing (planted after harvesting garlic). Peppers and okra are going strong! And the usual summer herbs mixed in along the edges:
My garden is doing really well. Plenty of flowers in strawberries, huge amount of raw red and black currants… Planted a gooseberry bush and it’s not dead yet, might survive, we’ll see! It has made like 11 berries too. Potatoes look good, beans are flowering… Salads and herbs grow fast. Rhubarb is rhubarb. I also planted some angelica last summer, that looks good too. Gotta be on the look-out for flowers on that one!
I live way above the Polar circle so my progress might seem slow/late, but actually we’re like two weeks ahead of “normal.” Luckily this summer has been cool and rainy, very nice change for the past few infernos.
That sounds amazing, mad probs for your gardening skills!
I also had a very good black currant yield this year and made a few bottles of juice from it.
Which is the southern most vegetable you can grow in your climate? Did you have problems with fungi infections due to the humid summer?
Looks good! I make juice too, also some jam. I think the black currants make better jam, but reds for juice. I like mixing berries and rhubard for juices. (Red currant + rhubarb + any apples is quite delicious combination! Or the heavenly mix of strawberries and bilberries…)
The currants or gooseberries should not grow here, but they do. My father planted the currants about… 10-20 years ago and these past few years I have just cut them every few springs and sometimes given them fertilizer in the autumn. I don’t know what he did, but they just grow. Of course now the climate is changing I can remember and see that the red currants are growing way better in these past… 5 years than in the beginning. And with strawberries the main issue that our ground is mostly clay, but the strain is made by this local lady so this strain of strawberries thrives on clay. It’s pretty cool. If I wanted to grow tomatoes, cucumbers or chilis, those would still need greenhouse. Next summer I’ll try out with sweet potatoes, those are on the border of if they should grow…
No fungi issues this summer, so far, but the gooseberry needs to watched… Have had issues in the past with strawberries when I tried to give them extra water, stopped doing that and it has been okay. It seems to be better to let them dry I guess. Only some days are painfully humid, others are windy/rainy so I think that rotates the air enough to ease this.
Garden is good! So much going on. I’m happy yo nerd out about it for a while.
Garlic harvested this morning! 21 heads. I’ll save the biggest to replant in the fall. Last year they didn’t cure. Fungus I presume. Hopefully not an issue this year.
Onions curing complete. Used a ton fresh. Only four smaller onions made it through the curing process. Have fall onion starts growing now!
Peppers - seem small. I will resist adding additional plants. A few hot peppers visible and growing. Sweet peppers seem to be struggling. Yellowish. Never look happy. There are a couple of tiny fruits just now settling. Not sure they’ll be successful.
Lettuce. Spring plants still going strong just started more. I’ll add shade cloth. Maybe tonight. New lettuce plants recently started. Should have done that a month previously.
Herbs. Mostly out. I have one parsley that hasn’t bolted. I need to start more parsley, cilantro, dill. Sage shrubs are doing alright. I want to plant one and give the rest away. I need to decide where to plant mine. Tbh i kinda want them out of here before the fall plants still swap. They look ready to be up potted again. Basil always bolts for me. Ive been pinching it back weekly and using fresh or drying it. I’m getting some nice dense little shrubs!
Tomatoes are going wild. I need to prune them back again. I have a small salad tomato and a large salad tomato rn. Only one paste tomato plant rn. It’s fruits are not ripe yet. I am considering planting another round of paste tomatoes or propagating the plant i have.
I have a few more things but I’m tired of typing 😂Everybody stay safe in your respective heat waves.
Thanks for sharing!
Have fall onion starts growing now!
Are these winter onions, where you use the greens in the winter, or are they onions that you plant in the fall, like garlic, and harvest in the summer? I’ve heard of the former, but I’m not familiar with the latter.
Peppers - seem small. I will resist adding additional plants. A few hot peppers visible and growing. Sweet peppers seem to be struggling. Yellowish. Never look happy. There are a couple of tiny fruits just now settling. Not sure they’ll be successful.
Do you grow your bell peppers in a garden bed or in pots? At least in my garden, bell peppers always have a hard time growing outdoors; they do better in a greenhouse. I’ve since switched to growing them outdoors only in large tubs or flower pots because the soil warms up faster there and they start growing sooner (though not much usually happens before mid-June anyway). It’s also a bit easier to control moisture and nutrient levels because I refertilize and remix the soil in the containers every year.
Lettuce. Spring plants still going strong just started more.
At this time of year, I’m usually so sick of green salad. xD
Basil always bolts for me. Ive been pinching it back weekly and using fresh or drying it. I’m getting some nice dense little shrubs!
Yeah, Basil bolting is also a usual problem I guess. In the last years I have definitely harvest more flower stands than leaves ^^’ Grinding Basil into pesto and freezing is also a good preservation method (and combined with some pasta a cheap and fast low-effort dish).
Tomatoes are going wild. I need to prune them back again.
I usually lose track of things at this time of year, too, and constantly wonder, “Where on earth did this new shoot come from?” Unfortunately, pruning is absolutely necessary because the plants are outdoors, and otherwise they’ll immediately fall victim to brown rot as soon as the first cooler, rainy spells set in.
However: Have a splendid week and a good gardening season!
Last year I grew onions over winter for the first time. I got seeds specifically for over wintering onions and covered the plants over the winter to keep the snow off. They were ready mid summer. A bit small. But the size of cooking onions I buy from the store. And very little effort. I got a bit of a late start and want to try a different mulching technique this year. So here I go again. I’m using some leftover seeds from last year. As well as another variety that isn’t sold specifically for winter. Just to see how it goes.
This is my first year growing bell peppers. I just have two plants and they’re outside. Two different varieties. They just look so yellow. I wonder whether there’s a nutrient lacking in the soil. Yellow usually makes me think over watering. But these ones haven’t been overwatered, I’m sure of it. I wonder whether it’s just the color they are and they just haven’t hit their growth spurt yet. Or maybe too much sun? I haven’t taken the time to read up on them so until I do, I’ll be patient with them.
Record setting heat, extreme drought, and plagues of pests & critters have made it a heartbreaking and unfulfilling year of heavy losses as well as low productivity.
Pretty sad year, especially for vegetables. My ornamental stuff is doing better. Most of that is close enough to the house that the deer don’t venture into it, lots of it is old and well-established, and lots of it is composed of natives that can handle the extremes.
Same. I had good early crop of beans and squash but the heat has pretty much stunted/kill everything else.
Funny you mentioned squash because I planted a few plants and managed to get a few fruit this year.
Every other year, the vine borers obliterate them before they really get going. My neighbors’ reaction when I mentioned I was going to try some squash again this year was a combination of “why” and “good luck with that”.
Luckily I haven’t dealt with vine borers. Fingers crossed they don’t find my plot. I do usually get hit with hundreds of leaf footed bugs. Suck my tomatoes dry if I don’t keep up with them
How are your gardens doing?
Well, the lawn is completely crispy and yellow already, the trees are on the verge of deciding which of their limb leaves to drop first and the privet hedge pulled a full stop in the middle of its main growth period.
So, the good news: I don’t have to mow the lawn or cut the hedges.
The bad news: Only healthy green looking part left is the bee-food-flower-patch, which is the only place I decided to still regularly water…
That sounds concerning. I’m having a similar issue with the lawn (in another garden): It’s completely yellow by now. A while back, I deliberately planted thyme in a few spots on the lawn—it seems to handle the drought a bit better. Otherwise, though, I have to say I’m not a lawn fanatic: If it dries up, it dries up. In my experience, the grass recovers in the fall and spring.
Like you, I really only water my vegetable beds. In the beds, I’ve become a big fan of using grass clippings as mulch. It retains moisture, there’s a lot of soil life active underneath, and since grass clippings contain a lot of nitrogen (shout-out to the composting community!), they also fertilize the beds at the same time.
So far, luckily, we still have enough rainwater collected from winter and spring… but summers are definitely getting drier here, too.
I just put the clipped grass beneath the hedges. Normally disappears within weeks, worms and stuff that feed of it are happy and the soil quality will be improved.
Regarding the nitrogen: I heard otherwise, that composting it in-situ will reduce the available nitrogen and you should add some long-lasting nitrogen source to it, like e.g. horn shavings.Regarding the nitrogen: I heard otherwise, that composting it in-situ will reduce the available nitrogen and you should add some long-lasting nitrogen source to it, like e.g. horn shavings
There’s some truth to that, but it’s a bit more nuanced: It depends on what you’re composting. With substrates that are very high in carbon and low in nitrogen (such as wood chips or shredded wood, if you have your own chipper), the low nitrogen-to-carbon ratio causes the microorganisms that break down the wood (fungi, bacteria, etc.) to draw the nitrogen needed for cell growth from the soil—and in that case, you’re right: As the mulch decomposes, it initially leaches nitrogen from the soil.
The situation is different when using very nitrogen-rich material like fresh grass clippings: These contain a relatively high amount of nitrogen compared to their carbon content, so the microbes don’t need to draw nitrogen from the soil beneath them… In that case, you have to be careful not to make the mulch layer too thick, as the combination of high metabolic activity and high moisture can create oxygen-deprived conditions (this is why a pile of grass clippings becomes wet, rotten, and mushy and no longer decomposes properly). In my experience, a 10-cm layer of fresh grass clippings as mulch on my soil is no problem and breaks down well.
Thanks for the clarification, I see…
I am actually doing a combination of both: the cut down twigs from e.g. the hedge itself and the grass clippings added on top of it after mowing the lawn.
Keeps it somewhat loose and the air circulating, so no risk of oxygen deprived rotting!
musk melon vines are coming up great! I’ll be planting more new plants this weekend now that monsoon is here.
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“Elon melon” would sound better, tho.
All things considered - we’re very happy with how our garden is going! It’s me and my wife’s first year gardening, combined with a horrible drought in our area and limited free time to work on it we had very low expectations. So basically anything feels like a win! We’ve gotten a million cucumbers, eggplants and beets, a smattering of tomatoes/beans/peppers, and a huge crop of winter squash coming in. We feel like we’re learning a ton, and already have some ideas for what we want to do differently next year!
Things are looking pretty vigorous in the garden still. I just harvested my garlic last weekend (~1500 heads). Better size than last year, but slightly more foliar disease; I may use netting next summer to keep pests off …
To OP - I’m guessing you planted onion sets (baby bulbs). Onions are biennial - they flower on the second year. This happens often when using starter bulbs. The good news - Free seeds! you should wait until they mature and save the seeds. Next year grow from seed - they’ll be bigger and won’t bolt. Put like 25 to 50 seeds in a solo cup (or similar pot) next jan-February and grow them in a window until early spring. Soak them in water to break up the clump growing in your cup and plant them as individuals in your bed - add sulfur with your fertilizer to bed for pest control and better pungency. Protip: trim onion leaves 2-3 times through growing season about 8 inches tall to keep the weight off the stem and prevent early senescence ( triggered by bending of the stem) as well as triggering additional leaf production (ie more layers in yo onion)
Is that romanesco? I love that stuff, but it’s difficult to find regularly for some reason where I live and I’d love to grow it. Any advice or pointers? I don’t even know what season to start but it’s certainly not right now as it’s been either sweltering or windy and cold lately. I finally m moved into a house and got a side yard where I started a garden this year in a raised bed, tomatoes in pots, and a mishmash of old soil from pots that I threw some sunflower, pumpkin, and zenia seeds in with a bunch for fertilizer. Those are doing surprisingly well. Zone 9b.
It’s going bad! Either the heat or something has withered one tomato. The one jalapeño I planted in ground has been EATEN and I’m blaming all the animals I’ve seen (squirrels, chipmunk, rabbits, birds) but ultimately I’m…fine with this. My garden is mostly a way for me to come to terms with the inability to be perfect at something. There’s still tomatoes growing. I’ll make something even if there won’t be enough to can.
I just moved over the winter, so I was only recently able to set up one of the two raised beds in the new yard. It is filled with arborist woodchips which are heating up like compost, so I’m gonna let them cook over the winter and fill the rest with half topsoil/half compost for perennial veggies/fruits, and the other will have the same woodchips and Mel’s Mix on top for annual veggies.
My herbs and strawberries are doing okay, but I can already tell that I’m going to have to go to war against squirrels, raccoons, possums, and skunks.
Poorly but Ive neglected them. My kids are too much work right now.
