New England, June 2015

Planted some potatoes yesterday before the rain. I need to plant more today. I'll post a photo as soon as I can find it in my phone.

Onward to summer.




Reminder to self: send snow thrower into the shop for service.

Wow!  Look at all them taters!

OK, no rain for me yet.  I think rain on the Cape in the summer time is a hoax to keep us from using the town water too much.  But I outsmarted them and watered like crazy yesterday. HAHA!

It stayed sunny here all day yesterday but it IS cloudy this morning though so  before work I transplanted all the baby kale, collards and lettuces from their SFG 'nursery' to their permanent homes, some in to the perennial gardens.  The 'nursery' will be used for peppers once it warms up.  Also got the Japanese Maple twig/tree planted and more Hummingbird seed fairy dust spread around everywhere...and I did all this in a winter coat.

The butter colored iris are blooming now and, being next to the kale flowers, they make quite a picture.  Left my camera at home or I'd show ya. Maybe after lunch.

CC

We got a half inch of rain Sat nite and last nite another full inch.  I brought indoors my tray of pepper and Basil seedlings so they wouldn't drown.  I've even put them under the 2-foot houseplant light to give them a bit of 'sunshine' during their indoor stay.
I won't be transplanting till this weekend after the cold nites (in the 40s for us for about 3 more days).  The peppers and Basil prefer it warmer.

June garden chores. 
http://awaytogarden.com/june-garden-chores-2/

It rained most of the day yesterday, all day today, and will for part of the day tomorrow. What a great feeling to have rain again! Everything is going to be super lush after this. Thankfully it will be dry on Weds. so things can start drying out again.

What a summer of extremes! I had the woodstove going today even. Didn't even get to 50F, and tomorrow the forecast is 50F for a high.

I noticed today that my pole bean seeds are sprouting. The pea plants are probably about a foot high. Everything is transplanted into the garden now. The dried beans should be sprouting soon.

Before it rained, I continued work on getting my garden area faux chipped between the boxes and rows. Half my garden is raised beds, half is raised rows. In between I'm putting down cardboard, piling on a bunch of brush (since I don't have a woodchipper, it's going on au naturale), then piling leaves on top of that. I'm trying to raise the entire garden up about 6". Eventually it will turn to mulch and hopefully hold moisture better, while also allowing better drainage in too much rain. This will be a work in progress for a long time.

A 3 day stretch of rain like this is why raised beds are so integral. Otherwise everything here would have wet feet, stuck in puddles. 

I'll take photos as soon as we have a sunny day. (have to remember that!)

2 and 3/4 inches of rain and counting. I expect we will see 3 + inches before it ends this afternoon. Thankfully most of it was slow and steady and everything is soaking in. I pushed to get most everything planted before the rain and it's paying off. I can see the growth already from the rain. 

Only a half a dozen or so squares left to plant, a few 5 gallon buckets for tomatoes and a couple of stray pots and it's all in. Well almost, I built a new 2x4 box for cucumbers and squash, so when the rain stops I'll be making a little MM to fill it up.

Have to net the cherry tree when the rain stops so the birds and squirrels don't end up getting them all. They are sour cherries and boy do they make a mean pie. Drooling just thinking about it.

Ohhhh! Cherry PIE! I love pie!!

CC, did you ever get any rain?

NHGardener wrote:CC, did you ever get any rain?

phffffttt.  Mostly mist and drizzle.  When I left the house this AM it had stopped and the rain guage showed 1/4" and there had been a feeble attempt to wash off the pine pollen from everything.  Well, beats a poke in the eye with a stick.  It's drizzling again now so maybe we'll end up with 1/2" when all is said and done.

This weeks lettuce box harvest:

SFG:



Old school SFG on the left has ground cherries, bush beans, onions, Trombocini & Delicata squashes, all sprouted now.  The green part at the end next to the bucket brigade is the strawberry bed:

Outside the SFG, my asparagus hasn't been staked yet.  To the left of the asparagus bed are parsnips and butternut squash:

New Japenese Maple got planted though:
Don't let it fool ya...it's only 1 ft high.

Maybe the next photo shoot will have green grass...or at least some clover.

Matt on NECN says warmer than normal June for New England, but the jet stream he showed cut the Cape right off so I don't know if that includes us or not.  I think I'll email him now to find out.

CapeCoddess wrote:...Outside the SFG, my asparagus hasn't been staked yet...

Is that something I should be doing? I let them fall over and stay there.

boffer wrote:

CapeCoddess wrote:...Outside the SFG, my asparagus hasn't been staked yet...

Is that something I should  be doing?  I let them fall over and stay there.

Not sure if it matters or not. ALL are down today after a night of wind and drizzle. I need mine to stay up because they are part of a flower bed and are falling over the hosta, Asian lilies, fall blooming Sheffields and some Hummingbird seed mix I threw in there.

The stems are bent now at at least 90 degrees and I wonder if, like daffies and lilies, they need the foliage to be intact to get the nutrients they need for next year.
Anyone know?

Yes! Don't cut your asparagus foliage. The plant draws strength from the ferns, so wait until it dies in the fall to cut it.

I'm sorry you didn't get this moisture, CC. I'm kind of getting sick of it now. I'm stuck for 3 days without working outside. Plus, I'm freezing. 

NHG, It has gotten cold here too and my house feels so damp. I hate to do it but I'm putting on the heat for an hour just to take the chill out of the house. That's New England weather for you! LOL!

I lit my woodstove last night.

lyndeeloo wrote:I'm putting on the heat for an hour just to take the chill out of the house.

I did that this morning and again just now while home for lunch. Cold and damp, but then warm and dry thanx to the little Vornado.

We've been super busy with travel, home chores, and work, so I haven't had much time for posting, but here goes...

The hoop houses continue to accelerate our season. We moved one of the houses off the spring greens bed and have been eating from it for a few weeks. Here's a photo of the littlest helper waist high in kale... in MAY!



We have peas and beans coming up and starting to take over their supports. The hops vines are huge this year, and our asparagus was short lived!  We had maybe 6 spears total... not sure what happened there!

We have 2 dozen tomatoes, 250+ little corn seedlings, winter squash, cucumbers, herbs, herbs and more herbs, beets, carrots, turnips, and more lettuce all showing very promising signs of a productive summer.

We spent the better part of Sunday morning exploring Comstock Ferre in CT... if you're near Wethersfield and have nothing to do on Sunday morning, I HIGHLY recommend!! Such interesting seeds to choose from... I wish I had planned our trip for before I planted all of our beds!  I still managed to convince myself that I can find room for these babies though!

Nice going on the early start, IP! That greens photo made me go WOW out loud here at work... after I hit 'ctrl +' a dozen times to enlarge it. Can't tell what kind of seeds you picked up though, even enlarged.

Any way you can post bigger photos of your bountiful garden please?

CC

That's really a testament to hoop houses, IP! Such progress! Beautiful.

Of course, that big sprout off to the side is still the best.

I had the woodstove going today and yesterday. Despite the attempt to keep the 85F heat from Saturday in the house.

CC, do you remember how long it took your daikon radishes to germinate? I threw seed out there 4 days ago, and with 3 days of rain, I wonder if I can expect to see any germination yet.

Edit: Ah. I see online in one place, it says average 4 days to germination. So I'll look tomorrow. I think I'll be looking for ferns?

Edit edit: Hmm. No, not ferns, looks like I'll be looking for this: 
https://sanctuarygardener.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/daikon-radish-10feb13.jpg

Look at this daikon! LOL
 http://www.wideislandview.com/2009/11/seasonal-eating-in-japan-daikon-recipes/

I lit my woodstove again.

I managed to get out between drizzles today in the flower bed to weed.  They come out so darn easy when the soil is damp.  Since this bed is also my veggie bed with its kale, Swiss chard, chives and herbs and several tomato plants, its a nice combo to have outside my kitchen door.
In the Back 40 I found blossoms on a young Tiny Tim and a Better Boy tomato plant already.
I had to patch my greenhouse plastic cover with duct tape so I could put it back over that bed for tonite.  With temps dropping to around 42F tonite, I want to keep the tiny toms and the peppers in there warmer than Mother Nature.
For the 3 potted tiny tomatoes in the flower bed, I covered those with gal. milk jugs for the nite.  All should be good.   The larger Indeterminates and Determinates will have to fend for themselves.
Our forecaster says we should be in the 60s already, but not yet.  Maybe in a few days.


P.S.  Wanted to add:  We've had nearly 3" rain in the last 3 days.

Thanks Camprn and NHG, that makes me feel better, I hated putting on the heat.

qb - I was pulling some done dandelions out of the garden this afternoon and couldn't believe how easily they pulled up. Now's the time to get your weeds. They'll probably get a lot more attached as it dries out.

quiltbea wrote:I had to patch my greenhouse plastic cover with duct tape so I could put it back over that bed for tonite.

And here I put up the greenhouse frame today and covered the upper 2/3 with sun shade (sheers).  

I went to Home Depot for some organic potting soil and the Salvia was covered with bees.  So if you want bees in your garden, plant some salvia somewhere nearby.

QB,

+1 on the salvia!  Also, basil, thyme, etc.  

Last year, I purchased a Rose Queen salvia, which not only is beautiful and unusual, but is quite a draw for bees.

My neighbor across the street has four well-established lavender plants (my one plant died without flowering) that also attract pollinators.  They seem to enjoy visiting my yard....