Milkweed in Bloom with Bee
Fans in the windows during the night and that intoxicating scent from Milkweed in bloom are true signs that summer is here in Maine. Last night all four fans were strategically placed in windows and the scent from the Milkweed was hypnotizing! The garden is coming along nicely. Lettuce, spinach, pea pods, garlic scapes, and herbs galore! One disappointment this year was the radishes. They were pithy and wormy. Yuck! Thank goodness for our local Farmers' Market so we could buy some decent radishes for our radish and herb butter sandwiches.
Let me forewarn you that this is a "catch up" post. So it may bore you to tears. I'll apologize now. I'll begin "themed" posts once I get my summer zen going and my Apple laptop back from the school tech team. I really can't manage on this PC! Life without Apples; unthinkable. The first themed post will focus on our new rain barrels and compost tea. Only gardeners would appreciate such topics.
For the past month I've balanced getting my garden in with ending the school year. It somehow worked and I've even tried a few new things. For one, a friend asked us to store her rototiller in our barn for her! Yee ha! So we had a rototiller for the first time in probably ten years. So I redesigned the set up of our two vegetable gardens by rototilling them under and laying out the beds in a more manageable system. That being with 3' pathways between the beds. Now I can get my garden cart throughout the garden. Novel idea I know. Second I yanked all the herbs that come up anywhere they choose. That being mostly garlic, chervil, and cilantro. I had a full bed of cilantro that self seeded. I waited until it was about 3" tall and cut it all down before I yanked them and turned the bed under. Now it's full of peppers, cukes, shallots, broccoli, zinnias, and of course I had to leave some cilantro.
I'm trying some muskmelon and watermelon this year. Every few years I give this a try and I have never been successful with either. This year I put black weed fabric down as soon as we tilled the garden in April in attempts to heat the soil. Melons like heat. I left it for a solid month. Then moved the cold frame over a spot and in early June I made a large hole in the fabric and planted the muskmelon seedlings I got from a local greenhouse. The black weed fabric is still in place. I've been closing the lid each evening, until last night. To be honest the seedlings don't look so hot but they are still alive. That's progress.
Flea beetles! Ugh! Every year I struggle with these pests. They love my radishes and cucumbers. Last year I used floating row covers and that helped a lot. This year I forgot to put the covers down and now I'm struggling with the buggers. Them and slugs again. The slugs love my lettuce. I've been hand picking the slugs each evening and seem to be getting a handle on them.
So here's my goal for this year. Spacing. I always plant too close. This year I'm trying to thin and space the plants out better. Particularly with lettuce, beets, carrots, and radishes. Any suggestions for spacing? These are questions I constantly ask myself, "When is the best time to thin? Should I be meticulously spacing my seeds when I plant? Should I thin as the plants get larger? Should I thin as I begin harvests?"
Well, time to harvest lettuce, spinach, peas, and herbs for the local homeless shelter. Might even grab some strawberries while I'm out there.
As always, happy gardening. Here's a neat quote that's on a shirt I got about 20 years ago when I presented at the American Horticultural Society's annual symposium on kids and gardening...."Gardens make the world clean and fresh." I agree.
Happy Father's Day to all you dads. I hope you realize how important you are in your children's lives :) And Happy Solstice! The longest day of the year is a wonderful time here in Maine when the days can be so short.
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