June in the Western Plains and Mountains

Seems like we are getting our winter precipitation this spring as rain on the plains and snow in the mountains. I hope this is filling the aquifers enough to last the summer. How goes it in the rest of our huge region?

My soil temperature is in the 50s and my night temperatures are supposed to hold above 50 now. But the last frost date here is June 7th, so I am keeping covers close by and looking wary. We always seem to celebrate the last frost date with a hard frost.

I need to plant the corn, beans, squash in the beds. This year the corn is going at ground level in an area covered with black plastic. We dug out all the quack grass we could, but it needs a year of repression before I put raised beds in there.

I have planted the peppers in the greenhouse and cold frames. Beans are up in the greenhouse and the tomatoes are blooming. Cucumbers and melons have been transplanted and are making new leaves. Even though they are in the greenhouse I put WoW around them, they are such fragile things when transplanted.

I am trying to get a soaker hose watering system set up this year before plants get to big to thread it through. Naturally it is having some glitches.

Tell us how your garden grows

I got about 9 squares worth of corn cut in that black plastic and
Now I remember why I have not done corn that way in 20 years.
Plastic is in a heap and the corn is planted. 3 varieties, all the seed I had plus a 2x2 spot I put sunflower seed in. I planted Painted Mountain, Hooker's Sweet Indian, and SUgar Dots (that is very old seed). I put the Sugar dots on the down wind side of the others because I want to save seed the Painted Mountain and would prefer the SUgar Dots to get some field corn pollen than the other way round. It is an 8x8 area with a board laying across the middle so I can walk there. Next year I hope to put 2 3x8 beds there.

Being on a roll I got the bean bed planted too. First I had to harvest the cilantro growing there. I put a cattle panel arched over that bed the long ways. After last years difficulty with trellis for pole beans I figure this will do it. So there is only 3 squares on each end in pole beans, maybe a bit wider than that actually. Favas along one long side and the rest in Venture bush beans. I planted KW on one end and Violet on the other. May they meet in the middle of the arch

I just planted all the squash. I direct seeded this year mostly because I have been low on time and just had not started them inside. I have mixed feelings about starting them inside because they hate the transplanting and it sometimes seems the direct seeded plants catch up and out pace. But I have not done careful side by side trails of this either. I am such a sloppy data collector.

This weekend it turned into summer. Very hot for us. I figure the squash will love it. No sign of beans and corn but it has only been four days. I did look, they are sprouting underground, soon now they will be up.

I was gone this weekend. The peas have doubled in height. The bokchoy bolted but is still tender enough to eat flower, leaves and stem.

The last seed was planted yesterday, coreopsis tinctoria sprinkled on the corn patch. An old friend sent me seed she saved from her plants this winter in Texas.

Here is a garden tour of this moment with all squares planted and the grass newly whacked.

Walking to the garden from the north.


Greens, broccoli (under planted with more bokchoy) asparagus and strawberry.


Potatoes growing in the remains of a 2 foot high cold frame. I have mulched with half composted pine needles and peat more than half way up the wooden part. Next week I will a do a final mulch of sweepings from where the hay was stacked in the barn.


Bean trellis with corn coming up behind.


A bed of peas with cilantro in the middle. The cilantro needs cutting.


Carrots, garlic with scapes starting and rutabagas.


Hungarian Hot Wax peppers. There are also Krimson Lee peppers set.


Greenhouse beans. The outside beans have just sprouted (and squash just sprouted too).


Miss Kim lilac filling the yard with scent.


I hope you enjoyed looking at my garden as much as I enjoy looking at all of yours.

I did enjoy looking at your garden.  Everything looks so healthy.

Lovely, Turan! The pine needle compost mix sounds very use-able to me. Did you mix them from the beginning of composting or at the end? In a wheelbarrow or where?

CC

Turan, I can look at your work and see the love and pride in your pictures.

May you enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Thanks, guys.

CapeCoddess wrote:Lovely, Turan!  The pine needle compost mix sounds very use-able to me.  Did you mix them from the beginning of composting or at the end?  In a wheelbarrow or where?

CC

Nothing so purposeful. My mother in law asked me if I wanted the pine needles raked up in her yard a year ago. My son brought home a pickup load of bags. Last year I used half of them to mulch the potatoes and broccoli. I did nothing with the rest of the bags except pile them out of the way. My potatoes did fabulously with that mulch last year. This year I am trying for a more potato tower type deal. I am hoping that by adding peat to the half rotted pineneedles and adding hay bits on top the potatoes will make several layers of tubers. Then after I dig it that the layers will mix and I will have a good planting medium to add to beds by next spring.

Looking very nice, Turan. Your peppers look so happy it makes me want to plant more peppers!

Marc Iverson wrote:Looking very nice, Turan.  Your peppers look so happy it makes me want to plant more peppers!

Thanks, Marc. I believe it was you who recommendeded those Hungarian Hot Wax peppers. I then found them at the farmers market and we liked them. So I asked the farmer where the seeds came from and how hard to grow in our climate. She said, Johhnys, and that they were one of or the easiest to grow here. Same thing for the Krimson Lee pepper next to them.

Nice turan. Would anyone like to see pictures of my garden this year. Hail three times, ugly. I'll wait and see if anything recovers.

Your pepper-growing inspired me to buy eight more pepper plants today, Turan! Also the heavily discounted price -- a four-pack for a buck and it was buy one get one free!

johnp,sorry to hear you got whacked with all that hail. Nature sure can screw up our plans sometimes.

Johnp, sorry to hear about the hail. Wretched stuff
How are the sweet potatoes in the greenhouse?

Turan - the garden looks great!

JohnP - How are things recovering?

Some what, maybe. We had a skylight that had some damage so I called the insurance guy not thinking the deductible would make it worthwhile. As he left he said the whole roof needs replacing and he would also pay for the new roof for the greenhouse. That is what we evidently had for hail damage so you can imagine what the garden looked like. My chard is down to the ground but new leafs are appearing, the squash leaves are shredded and the eggplant the same. Beets and radishes were also torn up  but they seem to be recovering.Tomatoes, tomatillo's and corn seem unaffected along with carrots and such. Nothing however was really doing very well anyway due to the cold spring. I bet we are almost a month behind last year. I remember we had our first tomatoes by the end of June and this year nothing. The cuc's have just produced their first real leafs. todays forecast to hit 90 so maybe finally summer.

John, I'm so sorry for your loss.

Oh, dear...  I'm so sorry...!