Garden Update - July 12, 2012

I tested soil this year and found that I had a nitrogen deficiency, so I am using blood meal for that. Also, there's a phosphorus deficiency, so that gets treated with bone meal. Blood meal is once every 60 days. Bone meal is once per season. I also use fish emulsion in the watering can about every two weeks. Definitely be carful not to over use the nitrogen. I found this out with the celery which had been dosed with the blood meal and the bone meal, and then got hit with the fish emulsion. The celery got burned.

I am trying corn this year for the first time. I planted on Mother's Day, May 13, which was a bit early. A cold snap may have killed a few sprouts in the ground, so next year, definitely plant more than you need for replacements, and figure on May 21 as a plant date instead. Also, try planting in a furrow and then filling in around plants once they are about 6 inches high. This will help them stand up against the wind.

Cucumbers and summer squash are not doing well. They are interplanted around the borders of the corn patch. The beetles are having a field day with them. I've tried BT, DE and insecticidal soap. Mother Earth News recommends floating row covers, which are esentially a fine, white screen held in place with flexible tubing to keep them off the plants. I will try that next year. For now, I will attempt a late season planting of cucumbers just in case the beetle mating season is past and they still have time to grow into the late summer.

The celery and leeks were planted indoors in third week of February, and believe it or not, they are still too small for this time of year. I may not be doing these two veggies again if they aren't mature by the end of the season.

Romaine is a big hit. We've been eating salads by picking outer leaves. Now that they have bolted (just did on about 7/4), I've cut them down close to the ground for making in to greens for eating and/or feezing. The stumps are growing leaves again, so I may have more fresh eating. Meanwhile, I've planted a group of buttercrunch lettuce which was ready for transplanting just as the romaine bolted. The transplants took it hard with the heat, but they are springing back and ready to take the place of the romaine in the same bed.

The green bean plants are tall, but the bean crop is not quite ready for the first picking. I am pretty sure that I had already picked beans last year before the Fourth of July. The beets are just about ready for picking. I think I will trim all the greens to process on day one, and then follow up with the bulbs the next day for processing. That way, I don't have to do them all in one day, or have limp greens which had to wait for the bulbs to be processed.

I am trying a patch of strawberries on the east side of the tool shed. Year one is just for plants, and any blossoms were pinched. I accidentally added lime to the patch thinking that would reduce the pH. I hurried and didn't think that lime did the OPPOSITE! Anyway, I have yet to test the soil after this mistake, but the plants look just as healthy as can be irregardless.

I put six tomato plants bought at a greenhouse in what used to be the peppermint bed, which was moved to a new, blocked off bed to prevent them from travelling. Anyway, the toms seem to be avoiding the blight in this new bed. Maybe that's why-- it's a NEW bed.