My veggies are in – now what?

I hope both you and all your plants have survived the extreme weather this season. We had rollercoaster temperature shifts in mid-June, from the frosty mornings to over 30C in a couple of days, high winds, a downpour with spotty hail, and tropical heat without rain for weeks in early summer. This is definitely a challenging year for gardeners, especially beginners.

Luckily, I used this extreme weather as an excuse to postpone my big work day of transplanting heat-loving tender vegetables so I didn’t have to cry over any frost damage, but now my shoulders are aching from carrying buckets of water. Once plants are in your garden, unfortunately it is not the end of your work — endless work has just begun. I’m sharing what I do to maintain my garden in summer to give you some tips and ideas.

Everybody has their own gardening style. My mishmash garden is interplanted with different vegetables, flowers and herbs all together. Some weeds are even allowed to stay in. They all help each other in a way. (Above, the author’s mishmash garden photo: Ritsuko Honda)

Summer garden maintenance

1. Water deeply

Quantity and frequency of watering depends on plant varieties, weather, mulch, soil condition and plant density, but whatever these variants are, water deeply and less frequently. This will save you time and water. If you water to a shallow depth every day, your plants will get lazy and the roots will grow only close to the surface where soil gets hot and dry quickly. As a result, you would have to water even more often.

Plants mainly take in water through their roots; so, direct the water at the base of your plants. A sprinkler may be convenient, but you would lose lots of water that evaporates in the air before it reaches the roots. I use buckets, a hose, and soaker hoses depending on plants and areas. I make an indentation (a well) around each plant or a trench for a row when planted or sowed. This helps to collect and hold water better.

How deep? That depends on vegetable or flower varieties. For example, tomatoes develop roots 1½ feet deep and below; that’s where I have planted. To reach that deep, you need a bucket of water if the soil is completely dry. I give my tomatoes half a bucket in each hole before planting and another half in the well after planting, and a half each day for the next three days or so, then I reduce frequency. Once tomatoes get established, I water a half to a full bucket every week. Lettuces require more frequent watering, maybe every day in the mid-summer. Cucumbers and eggplants also need more watering than tomatoes.

Ideally, water in the early morning or the evening to avoid evaporation, but if plants are suffering or wilting, don’t wait. Rescue them immediately. Saving rain water is a great way to conserve water. Plants love warm water that has sat in a barrel for a while, instead of cold water straight from the well.

2. Mulch a lot

All gardens need and benefit from mulch. Mulch keeps moisture in and weeds down. Consequently, it saves lots of your time. It also helps regulate the soil temperature and invites more microbes which build your soil better and fluffy. I use hay for vegetables and natural wood chips for flowers. Some people prefer straw over hay because straw has fewer weed seeds, but hay is more affordable and available — so that’s what I use. What about weeds? Mulch thickly and don’t disturb; then, the weed seeds usually don’t germinate.

3. Weed

If you mulch your beds a lot, your weeding job will be easier. Weeds will only come up in spots and the soil should be soft; you should try to pull them out with roots attached while they’re still relatively small. If the weeds are already big, pulling them out may disturb and damage the root systems of nearby plants. In that case, you need to water the plants after weeding.

Weeds can also be beneficial. Some, including lamb’s quarters, sorrels, Johnny-jump-ups, and purslane, are edible. Their flowers can attract pollinators and beneficial insects like parasitic wasps. Weeds can provide some shade to your plants as well as shelter for garden snakes and toads who eat unwanted bugs. After pulling the weeds, of course, you can pile them to mulch your garden too! After all, they are not that bad.

4. Interplant flowers and herbs

All vegetable gardens need flowers and herbs. Companion planting can control pests, enhance vegetables’ growth rates or flavour, attract pollinators and other beneficial insects, and maximize use of space. My favourite companion flowers in vegetable gardens are borage, calendula, marigold, nasturtium and Tithonia (Mexican sunflower). Click HERE for a great chart from the Garden Wisdom Blog.  

5. Feed

If you have worked lots of well-rotted manure or compost into your garden, usually you don’t need to feed much. However, a new garden has usually not built up the soil well yet, and it is always good to give some booster once in a while. You can make manure/compost tea in a barrel or bucket. Save banana peels which contain potassium to make flowers and fruits, and make a flower booster by simply letting them sit in water for 48 hours. Epsom salt is another common item you can feed your plants with.

Part of our gardens is 20 years old, and every year it has been fed with a plenty of manure. I still like to give my vegetables extra organic fertilizer. My absolute favourite is comfrey tea. Comfrey is a super perennial; its leaves speed up the composting process and make potassium rich fertilizer; its flowers are a magnet for bees; its giant taproot makes fantastic salves and poultices. To make comfrey tea, I tear up the leaves, put them in a rain barrel, fill up with water, mix once in a while, and let it decompose until it gets dark and stinky. Apply it just like water, or spray it on your plants.

6. Provide shade

Greens like lettuces will not appreciate the hot sun we’ve been having. They prefer gentle morning sun, but the strong afternoon beating sun tends to make them bolt; that is, they get tall to form flowers and become too bitter to eat. You can protect them by providing some kind of shade. Shade cloths, cardboard boxes, old sheets, and upside-down large pots would work. I usually sow peas on the south-west side of lettuces. When peas grow high on the trellis, they shade and protect lettuces from the strong late afternoon sun.

Root crops like potatoes love to have cool feet to grow. Hill your potatoes as many times as possible. Bury their roots in the deep shade. If you are growing potatoes in a large pot, it’s a good idea to place the pot where it gets afternoon shade to avoid baking the pot with your tubers in it.

7. Sow more

Succession planting promises you continuous harvests. We still have lots of time to grow carrots, beans, and greens. Sow lettuces and cilantro every three weeks. If the soil is too hot for seeds to germinate, place a board over the row. Check every so often till germination, and then remove it.

8. Keep a garden journal

Your garden journal can be a learning tool, a memory stick, a supportive friend and an entertainment.  Every evening I open my garden journal to record what happened in the garden on that day including the weather, what I have done and in which garden, what bloomed, what I saw and heard, good and bad, and of course, what I harvested. I record frost on what and in which part of the garden: this has helped me understand not only different varieties of plants but also our landscape. This has also helped me to determine what to cover at what temperature with a frost warning, and where to install a wind break to change cold air flow. I often go back to my old notes for the name of a plant that I have forgotten. I write down my questions in the journal and do research later when I have more time.

It is a delightful time to reflect on my efforts and hard work. Because I often feel like nothing has got done with piles of things to do still sitting around me, it is wonderful to have a good reminder. And, this is definitely my winter entertainment!

9. Enjoy!!

Walk around in your garden to appreciate what you’ve accomplished, smell your plants, taste your harvests, and read about your plants and gardening. A crop failure? You can cry and complain, but you will also gain knowledge and experience. Every year is different, and I certainly learn something new in my garden every day.

Also, share your experiences with your friends and neighbours. Unfortunately, we all have to miss our monthly horticultural meetings due to the COVID-19 restrictions, but you can post your story or question on the Madawaska Valley Horticultural Society Facebook Page or right here (scroll down to the Reply section). Then we can be richer in gardening knowledge by the time we emerge together from this pandemic.

Our next gardening article will cover animal control. Keep tuned, and happy gardening!

 

About the author: Ritsuko Honda’s passion for gardening and enthusiastic encouragement to novice gardeners is well known in the Valley. Often seen up to her elbows tending the Adopt-A-Beds in MV, Ritsuko lives in Wilno and tends her own gardens in Killaloe and Wilno. She also serves as a director of the Madawaska Valley Horticultural Society and is a certified Ontario Horticultural Association judge.