It’s
definitely summer in the garden. How do I know? Oh, I have a mental
checklist and once I can say YES to every list item, I know its summer. A
few things on the list:
- Can you barely walk past the squash plants without stepping into the adjacent garden beds?
- Have the harlequin beetles returned to feast on the tree collards?
- Are you beginning to find foot-long cucumbers that you failed to see in the cucumber jungle the day before (when they were only 6 inches long)?
- Is the watering hose too hot to touch after 9:30 am?
If you
answered YES to all of these questions, it is probably summer.
I have
cucumbers and summer squash by the basket load and oodles of basil from the
aquaponics system. The pepper plants are lush and bush-like, perfect for
concealing their fiery fruits from the hot sun (and the subsequent sun
scald). The eggplant got a late start, but it’s growing quickly and I can
already see the differences in the three varieties I planted, exciting! The
amaranth is about to go in the ground (and will shoot up to about eight feet
tall) and the sorghum has just begun to set seed. The pole beans are climbing
up their trellises and the baby sugar watermelons have baby melons all
over.
What am I
saying? Tis’ an excellent time to be outside in the garden and see all the
splendor of summer! Stop by and see what we’ll be harvesting next, it changes
just about every week.
Submitted by Kate Wilkins, SFBFS Garden Coordinator
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