Garden Notes: What's Growing On
This post is a combination of observations and thoughts behind what is working and what isn't.
To keep my notes precise and to track how factors like sun exposure, wind, and drainage affect each plant, I've organized my garden space, and my observations, by compass direction and specific bed numbers. When you're looking at the garden from the north (facing south) in the layout picture below, the sun rises on the left (East) and sets on the right (West). This system allows me to pinpoint what's thriving where, and what might be struggling due to specific conditions. The new raised beds added this year are highlighted below (circled and with an arrow for reference)
I wanted to add more raised beds so I could have a little more control over water, weeds, and pests. The trouble is I don't think I used the right combination of soil mix in the new raised beds for some of the plants.
Where the arrow is I started cucumbers and beans from seed. I also planted some zinnia, marigolds, dill, onions, and chives. The bed is 3 by 4 feet and fits snugly between the cattle panels that were already in place.
Notes below are as of June 20. Let's dive into some specifics, starting with my cucumbers.
For my ground-planted cucumbers, I protected them with cleaned milk containers, bottoms removed. I had such an issue starting seeds last year because every time the seedlings would sprout, some pest would come eat them. Lesson learned from that was to protect them since cucumbers don't generally transplant well.
This bed has been the best looking so far. I did have some kind of pest digging in the bed, so I ended up putting up some fencing around it. I still had something digging in it, so either it's a ground dweller like a mole, or it was small enough to get through the fencing. I've had issues with squirrels, they loved to get in the garden and plant the snacks the get from elsewhere. I have discovered peanut shells while digging and have caught them on more than one occasion running up the fence and out of the garden!
Despite the holes, the bed looks good. The marigold I planted in this bed has grown phenomenally. The dill suffered a little. I believe it was planted too early for the weather conditions we've had this year (cool and wet spring). I threw in some more dill seeds that seemed to start growing and then disappeared. I caught a rabbit in the garden this year in addition to the squirrels. When I saw it, it was running away and had some greenery in its' mouth. Inquiring minds want to know, do rabbits like dill?
Cucumbers planted: Wisconsin SMR, Boston Pickling, Sumter - all pickling varieties.
Beans planted: Rattlesnake pole beans
Tomatoes are struggling this year. Again, weather conditions early in the season have affected growth. I also believe, at least in my garden, the tomatoes prefer to be in the direct soil instead of raised bed mix that I used for all the new beds. Temperatures were definitely cooler at night than we would normally see in June so I know that had an effect on their growth.
Near my tomatoes I have basil. The early plantings of basil suffered just like the tomatoes - cool, damp weather. When it did warm up, the early planted basil decide it was going to start flowering. I plucked the flower buds off so I could get more leaf growth. I had to pull one plant completely out because it was not doing well at all.
In addition to the raised beds, I have two tomatoes planted in modified pots. I had some larger plastic pots (maybe 3 gallon sized) that I cut the bottom out of. I then dug a hole in the native soil to bury the pot about half way. I filled the pot with a combination of the native soil and some raised bed soil and then planted the tomato in that mix. One of these is doing better than the other, possibly due to location - lighting conditions are a bit better.
Jalapeno plants were growing well and I was seeing flower buds early, but too early for me. I wanted the plants to get taller before they started production so I pulled the flowers off. I planted some cilantro with the jalapenos. That did really well until we got some hot weather and it started bolting. I have since let it go to seed so I can harvest the seeds (aka coriander).
Growing tips for this month:
- Look for a slow bolt variety of cilantro (and found one called of all things slow bolt), plant in a location that gets a little more shade, or cover with shade cloth to protect from the peak sun hours during the day (maybe next year I can do this).
- Soil mix - 1/3 portion each: potting/raised bed soil (comprised of forest product), peat moss (sustainably harvested please) or cocoa coir; vermiculite; garden compost (it's a work in progress always)
- Find a source for bulk vermiculite that is local so I don't have to pay chain store prices
Cucumber and bean bed
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