Garden farewell to July
Ellen Beberman harvesting garlic. Photo: Rich Brandt
Ellen Beberman, who many of you may remember as our garden blogger in previous years, sent some end-of-July photos from her garden.
Which made me stop and take stock of my own garden. What’s happening in your garden as we move into August? Are you harvesting garlic as Ellen did last weekend?
How are your tomatoes doing? In my garden, the plants look great but the amount of actual fruit on each plant seems a bit paltry and still definitively green. (My Amish friend Lizzie said she ate her first ripe tomatoes last week. Sheesh! How does she do it?)
If the strong windstorms of last week passed through your garden, how did your corn fare? In my garden, the winds blew all of the early corn flat to the ground. See photo below for husband Bill’s improvised support system that seems to have saved the patch. (Late corn did better in the wind–sturdier stalks.)
Have you started any late season crops–Chinese cabbage, spinach, etc.?
Here’s what Ellen had to say about her new hoophouse: “The hoophouse will expand my growing horizons tremendously, but it is a bear to put up! Not plug-and-play as they are sometimes billed. My husband, Rich Brandt, has taken on this project, for which I am endlessly grateful. It would not exist without his determination.”
Rich Brandt assembling hoophouse. Photo: Ellen Beberman
Here’s the photo of Bill Knoble’s sophisticated 😉 urgent care and support system for corn blown down in windstorm.
Bill put posts at ends and in the middle of each row, then we ran string on either side of corn and told each stalk, “You will immediately stand up and come to attention.”
And here’s just a pretty picture of the late corn (no emergency treatment required) and nicotiana run wild.
Remember, we’re only about halfway through the season. Keep those photos coming. Send pictures of vegetables, flowers, patio pots, anything you’re growing to [email protected] and be sure to include your location and some comments about what’s happening in your patch of dirt.
Tags: agriculture, gardening, summer
