Good Morning Gardeners and Garden Lovers! All are welcome and we thank you for visiting. Do so often. We’re here every Saturday starting at 9am East Coast time.
It’s been too hot here in Central NYS, starting back in the spring when we got some 90 degree days. Rain would cool the temperture down for a few days but then back to the 80’s. It was sometimes a 30 degree shift. I had planted my kitchen patio pots and grow bags in mid April because...well, the temperature was warm. I waited until later in May to direct seed my vegetable garden plot to be sure frost was past. I picked that photo of the pretty pink bee balm (I think?), because I wanted to start with something visually cheerful. But see my headline. Yup, going to have to replant most everything on the patio as well as in ground. We are NOT a happy gardener right now. A master gardener friend said, well, sometimes you just have to replant. I don’t have to like it though, right?
Sooo….what happened? Half or more of the vegetables bolted from the heat and lack of rain. I did my best to keep up the watering but I think the heat was too much. In my research, I read that just ONE really hot day can send some plants into a tizzy of bolting. It’s about survivial so LETS MAKE SEEDS for next season. We recently got lots and lots of rain which took us out (for now) of the near drought situation. That didn’t stop the bolting issue. I researched online how to stop or slow this process down. I tried all the ideas I found online to stop/limit bolting.. As my friend said….sometimes, you just have to start over. Here are some before and after bolting photos.
Patio garden was growing along nicely not long ago. Arugula, lacinto kale, radishes, broccoli rabe, lettuce, spinach, carrots, parsnips. The flat bag is bunching onions. Those are fine! Okay, that’s something positive. That’s a mini greenhouse in the back. I’ve got tomatoes and winter squash plants in grow bags. We’ll see which does well. I’m betting on the tomatoes, at this point.
This was just a few days ago. Radishes, broccoli rabe bolted before I could harvest them even for salad or sauteing. The lacinto kale did the best and still hasn’t bolted. Arugula is fine but slow growing. I can still pick the radish greens for sauteing. They were quite tasty first go round. Master gardener friend said to skip the stems of bolted greens as they can be bitter.
This was my garden plot all weeded and mostly direct seeded near the end of May. Dad would have been proud of those straight rows using his string/stick technique! I later planted bush green beans and pole beans on the far end. Those two small plants under the strings: the one closer is a swiss chard and the other is an Uzbek carrot, both from last year. I’m letting them go to seed to collect for next season.
I set up this old metal shelf a friend gave me and planted delicata squash plants I had started indoors. They’re growing but slowly. This was when I first planted them early June. The theory is that they will climb up the shelf. Maybe I’ll use it for the pole beans next year.
The next two photos were just the other day. Weeds came roaring back with all the rain. The tall plant is the swiss chard that overwintered and is going to seed. The Uzbek carrot plant that overwintered is right behind the swiss chard. It does look like it’s getting seeds. Will update in a diary later in the season.
The collard greens and two kinds of kale are all fine — not bolting. Tatsoi and vivid choy pak choi held out the longest. Spinach bolted fastest after getting about 5 inches tall. I checked the seed company’s web site. Next year, I will buy a type less likely to bolt. I think I can replant the current one maybe in August. It also is listed as overwintering if you plant the seeds and cover with a good layer of mulch in the fall. Might be a fun experiment! Direct seeded swiss chard is not bolting but not growing very fast, either.
The delicata squash growing under the shelf got blossoms! Flowering thyme next to it. The tall plant is anise hyssop. Pole beans in the background. Aaaaannnnd...lots of weeds…..
At the far end of the garden are those two tomato cages with rattlesnake pole beans growing up them. Those are doing nicely. To the right but out of this photo are some bush beans that look pretty good, too. If they start to look like something has “nibbled” on them, I sprinkle on cayenne pepper. That works!
So, weeding, harvesting what’s usable, and reseeding is up next for the veggie end of my gardening.
Now, here are some photos from the neighbor's gardens….
I just love the yellow flowers that blossom every year on this ground cover cactus. Amazing that is survives our Northeastern winters.
I forget what this is but it’s very popular. I have seen it in blue and other colors.
Peony from earlier in June.
I don’t know what this is. Maybe sunflower or daisy related?
Foxglove! This garden has some white ones, too. It’s one of my favorite flower gardens. Even the strip between street and sidewalk has flowers.
A little patch of black raspberries streetside.
And chicory! I remember this growing along the road where I grew up in the country. It’s a darker blue than the photo shows.
Tell us how your garden has been doing this season! And if you have any advice, share that, too.