June 2015 - N&C Midwest

Goosegirl 6/1/2015, 8:40 am

June 1st in the N&C Midwest. What to plant: Anything we dang well please!!! (as long as it is not a late season crop requiring more maturing time than we have season Shocked

) Frosts should be over for most of us, but we may still have a few MN and ND frost stragglers (BOOOOOO, HISSSSSS).

Now is the time to start thinking about your fall crops, if you so choose to plant some. July and August are the times to plant your fall crops, so start thinking now about where you want to put them, how long they take to mature, and which month you will need to plant them for harvest before .......wait for it.......WINTER.

Beginning of June, I just got my Tow Mater starts in the ground, Peppers will probably wait another week, and Broccoli seeds for fall harvest will be going in at the end of June or beginning of July.

What's happening in the rest of the N&C Midwest?

CitizenKate 6/1/2015, 11:54 pm

I'm a few weeks late planting green beans, zucchini, and yellow squash... they're all just emerging now. My Tow Maters are all about 2-3 ft tall now, with blossoms just starting to open. (I snip off the first couple of blossom clusters to give the plant some time to develop before they start having babies.) Peppers just starting to sprout blossoms.

So far so good!

slimbolen99 6/2/2015, 6:52 am

Biggest culprit to the garden this year, so far, are roley-polies (pill bugs?). They are absolutely devouring my green bean seedlings in particular. All this rain is another detriment...but I think it's going to be a good month. Peas are flowering, broccoli is just about ready to harvest, corn is growing well. I'm already picking green / yellow and jalepeno peppers. And the kids are enjoying picking fresh strawberries.

herblover 6/2/2015, 11:26 am

I am regularly picking greens and radishes; the earliest ones are already done so I have empty squares to plant more. Peppers all have little fruits on them as do a couple of the tomatoes.

Goosegirl 6/3/2015, 7:57 am

We are forecast for the perfect summer week: Mid to upper 70's with lows in the mid to upper 50's (with scattered showers now and then). Can I put in my request for this to last the next 4 months?

greatgranny 6/8/2015, 1:18 pm

herblover wrote:I am regularly picking greens and radishes; the earliest ones are already done so I have empty squares to plant more. Peppers all have little fruits on them as do a couple of the tomatoes.

This is the first year since doing SFG that I have got really nice radishes. I think it is the fact that the weather has not been very hot and we have had just enough rain. The beets have really nice large and colorful leaves with no signs of pests - hoping for nice large beets. (want to culture them)

The entire garden is looking good. The only issue I am having at the moment is slugs but I can deal with that.

Goosegirl 6/8/2015, 7:51 pm

So far no real issues in the garden except the bindweed, which I have been working very hard to snip as soon as I see it sprout. My peppers are finally in the ground, the cilantro looks to be another forest this year, carrots are just starting to pop up, and my first ever success with getting beets to sprout seems to be continuing!

greatgranny 6/8/2015, 8:26 pm

Goosegirl wrote:So far no real issues in the garden except the bindweed, which I have been working very hard to snip as soon as I see it sprout. My peppers are finally in the ground, the cilantro looks to be another forest this year, carrots are just starting to pop up, and my first ever success with getting beets to sprout seems to be continuing!

I think this is a good year for root crops that don't like lots of blistering heat.

CitizenKate 6/8/2015, 10:18 pm

Goosegirl wrote:So far no real issues in the garden except the bindweed, which I have been working very hard to snip as soon as I see it sprout. My peppers are finally in the ground, the cilantro looks to be another forest this year, carrots are just starting to pop up, and my first ever success with getting beets to sprout seems to be continuing!

Bindweed is a problem here, too. I usually try to pull out as much of the root as possible when removing them, because they are so tenacious. The wetter the soil, the more of the root comes out, so I try to take them out just after it rains.

CitizenKate 6/8/2015, 10:33 pm

Had a horrible time trying to get my green beans to sprout. I was going to have a whole box-full, but at this point, I've got 8 squares of them, 3 squares with only 3 plants that sprouted. I should get about 4lbs of green beans, and they'll probably all end up in casseroles. Probably won't have many for canning. Clearly, I have more larnen' tuh do. But my guess is, I waited too long to start them.

The squashes and cucumbers, on the other hand, doing well! Not far along yet, so no photos, but they're doing perfectly so far. My two basil plants are growing like weeds. Gotta figure out more ways to preserve it, because it looks like I'm going to have a lot.

Tomatoes and peppers - best year so far... The Keystone peppers are going nuts with blossoms, they look very promising. First tomato set fruit on Saturday.

greatgranny 6/9/2015, 9:42 am

Goosegirl wrote:So far no real issues in the garden except the bindweed, which I have been working very hard to snip as soon as I see it sprout.

I agree that this is the way to get rid of bindweed. I found this and it makes total sense.

http://organicgardening.about.com/od/weeds/p/Bindweed.htm

CitizenKate 6/9/2015, 1:16 pm

Huh - okay, thanks for sharing that.

Goosegirl 6/9/2015, 7:02 pm

greatgranny wrote:
Goosegirl wrote:So far no real issues in the garden except the bindweed, which I have been working very hard to snip as soon as I see it sprout.
I agree that this is the way to get rid of bindweed. I found this and it makes total sense.

http://organicgardening.about.com/od/weeds/p/Bindweed.htm

This is what I have been working on for the last few years. Unfortunately I generally only spend the time on the stuff in my boxes and not as diligent at the stuff a ways away - which sends out its roots and invades my boxes again! But each year is better and better, and I can already see that each new set of sprouts is more sickly looking than the last bunch, so I keep trying!

Goosegirl 6/10/2015, 8:19 am

Well, yesterday hit 97F, our hottest day yet, and the hottest in the forecast for a while. Today we are thankfully supposed to be back in the mid-70's, which my afro

tolerates much better. 97F and dry is fine (Cal Gal here, like hot & dry) but with humidity - FRIZZ! Not to mention wilting, sweating, difficulty breathing, etc. However, the sky was absolutely AMAZING when I left work - a look to the NW showed complete clear blue sky, then a look to the SE showed a wall of cloud. I counted 5 separate anvil clouds, with gorgeous dark gray underbellies and beautiful white towering, growing billows in between them, with the sun on their topsides. It was a sight to see, but very glad the T-storms missed us.

**AtlantaMarie** 6/11/2015, 8:39 am

GG - did you see that photo from the other day of the anvil cloud sprouting 2 tornados? Very impressive. And scary to be near...

Glad you missed the storms too.

Goosegirl 6/12/2015, 7:58 am

AtlantaMarie wrote:GG - did you see that photo from the other day of the anvil cloud sprouting 2 tornados? Very impressive. And scary to be near...

Glad you missed the storms too.

I missed that photo! Scary!

Marc Iverson 6/13/2015, 2:12 am

CitizenKate wrote:Had a horrible time trying to get my green beans to sprout. I was going to have a whole box-full, but at this point, I've got 8 squares of them, 3 squares with only 3 plants that sprouted. I should get about 4lbs of green beans, and they'll probably all end up in casseroles. Probably won't have many for canning. Clearly, I have more larnen' tuh do. But my guess is, I waited too long to start them.

You really can't start more? Even some bush beans?

I get spotty germination sometimes and just stick another seed in the gap. As long as the seedling doesn't get shaded out, it's worthwhile. Lots of people plant beans and peas in waves.

Why do you think they didn't sprout? Or did perhaps some early birds get them some early morning and you only think they didn't sprout?

Goosegirl 6/13/2015, 8:57 pm

Marc Iverson wrote:
CitizenKate wrote:Had a horrible time trying to get my green beans to sprout. I was going to have a whole box-full, but at this point, I've got 8 squares of them, 3 squares with only 3 plants that sprouted. I should get about 4lbs of green beans, and they'll probably all end up in casseroles. Probably won't have many for canning. Clearly, I have more larnen' tuh do. But my guess is, I waited too long to start them.

You really can't start more? Even some bush beans?

I get spotty germination sometimes and just stick another seed in the gap. As long as the seedling doesn't get shaded out, it's worthwhile. Lots of people plant beans and peas in waves.

Why do you think they didn't sprout? Or did perhaps some early birds get them some early morning and you only think they didn't sprout?

Kate - What variety did you plant? You should still be able to start some and get a good harvest. Sometimes I don't even get mine in the ground until about now and I know I have about a month shorter season than you do down there. Even if it is not a variety you usually grow, find a really short season variety and give them a try!

CitizenKate 6/13/2015, 10:41 pm

Marc Iverson wrote:
CitizenKate wrote:Had a horrible time trying to get my green beans to sprout. I was going to have a whole box-full, but at this point, I've got 8 squares of them, 3 squares with only 3 plants that sprouted. I should get about 4lbs of green beans, and they'll probably all end up in casseroles. Probably won't have many for canning. Clearly, I have more larnen' tuh do. But my guess is, I waited too long to start them.

You really can't start more? Even some bush beans?

I get spotty germination sometimes and just stick another seed in the gap. As long as the seedling doesn't get shaded out, it's worthwhile. Lots of people plant beans and peas in waves.

Why do you think they didn't sprout? Or did perhaps some early birds get them some early morning and you only think they didn't sprout?

Marc, you're probably right, I just re-checked my planting calendar for my area, and it does appear there is still time to get more planted. How long do you wait before just putting in another seed? How many seeds do you put in one spot?

The ones I pre-germinated in wet paper towels and sprouted tails within a couple of days did pretty well, but only up to about 3-4 days in the paper towels. After that it was sharply downhill.

CitizenKate 6/13/2015, 10:53 pm

Goosegirl wrote:Kate - What variety did you plant? You should still be able to start some and get a good harvest. Sometimes I don't even get mine in the ground until about now and I know I have about a month shorter season than you do down there. Even if it is not a variety you usually grow, find a really short season variety and give them a try!

I've been growing Blue Lake bush beans, and had some great results with them last fall, but other than that, I'm not very experienced at growing green beans. I've been assuming they are more of a cool season crop, but maybe I'm not giving them enough credit for being able to handle some Kansas mid-summer heat.

Thanks very much for the suggestions! I will head out there tomorrow and resume my efforts. okay

Goosegirl 6/14/2015, 2:15 am

Beans are definitely warm weather crops. They can be planted as soon as frost is over for the year and will tolerate cool temps when they are sprouting (upper 30's and low 40's, unlike peppers!) but they really get going once the heat hits, as long as you give them regular water. Uneven watering give you the odd-shaped curled pods instead of smooth straight beauties.

Marc Iverson 6/14/2015, 3:30 am

[quote="CitizenKate"
Marc, you're probably right, I just re-checked my planting calendar for my area, and it does appear there is still time to get more planted. How long do you wait before just putting in another seed? How many seeds do you put in one spot?
[/quote]

I plant them nine per square. If a spot's neighbors all have sprouted, I'll wait a few days before figuring an empty space is a dud, and then pop another seed in that spot. I don't want to wait too long because once the neighbors start getting big leaves and shading the soil, a new planting may not sprout in time to get any sun. The canopy can get pretty thick.

CitizenKate 6/14/2015, 10:25 am

Marc Iverson wrote:I plant them nine per square. If a spot's neighbors all have sprouted, I'll wait a few days before figuring an empty space is a dud, and then pop another seed in that spot. I don't want to wait too long because once the neighbors start getting big leaves and shading the soil, a new planting may not sprout in time to get any sun. The canopy can get pretty thick.

That sounds like a much better approach than just planting 3 or 4 in each hole on the hopes that one may sprout. Then having 2 or 3 of them come up and having to waste some. I will give this a try. Thanks for the tip!

CitizenKate 6/14/2015, 10:30 am

Goosegirl wrote:Beans are definitely warm weather crops. They can be planted as soon as frost is over for the year and will tolerate cool temps when they are sprouting (upper 30's and low 40's, unlike peppers!) but they really get going once the heat hits, as long as you give them regular water. Uneven watering give you the odd-shaped curled pods instead of smooth straight beauties.

Ah, okay, so just because they can tolerate cooler temps doesn't necessarily mean that's what they prefer.

Thanks for the tips - I'll let you know how it goes...

Goosegirl 6/14/2015, 8:46 pm

CitizenKate wrote:
Goosegirl wrote:Beans are definitely warm weather crops. They can be planted as soon as frost is over for the year and will tolerate cool temps when they are sprouting (upper 30's and low 40's, unlike peppers!) but they really get going once the heat hits, as long as you give them regular water. Uneven watering give you the odd-shaped curled pods instead of smooth straight beauties.
Ah, okay, so just because they can tolerate cooler temps doesn't necessarily mean that's what they prefer.

Thanks for the tips - I'll let you know how it goes...

Yep, the cool weather crops are ones that you can actually put out as soon as the ground can be worked, like peas. A little frost won't hurt them and they really start to shut down if it gets even reasonably warm.

I wish you green bean success!

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