What's happening in the garden this week
June 9-June 15: Planning for fall as summer strawberries, tomatoes and scapes emerge
Seed starting
One of the strange things about trying to grow vegetables beyond the traditional summer garden season is starting seeds for fall before summer even begins. That’s what I did this week. I counted back the weeks from our first frost date, which is Oct. 6 in western Massachusetts and came up with a rough plan of when plants need to go in the garden to give them enough time to grow before the really cold weather begins. It’s not that hard, especially if you use an on-line calendar to help figure out the timing. There are a number of them out there; one universal guide that’s pretty good is by the Old Farmer’s Almanac. You put in your zip code and it gives you recommended planting dates for spring and fall. For fall for much of the country you want to plant cold-hardy vegetables. This week I started broccoli, cabbage, kale, collards, beets and lettuce. I’ll likely start additional vegetables in the weeks ahead and direct sow others.
Last squash seedlings go in
I planted a couple acorn squash and a couple pumpkin seedlings in the straw bales. I’ve never grown winter squash or pumpkins, so I’m eager to see how they turn out. The pumpkin variety is Long Island Cheese, which has been popular for years for pies and soups in the autumn. My plan (hope) is to run the vines up a metal cattle panel fence I put up behind the bales and either let them run along the fence or steer them over the fence and onto the field beyond so they can spread out there. Pumpkins take up a lot of space. I also planted some yellow squash seedlings in one of the garden beds across the path from the spot where I put in zucchini,
Snap peas appear
The two varieties of snap peas planted on March 26 are flowering and beginning to produce. They’re growing up a trellis suspended across the center aisle of the garden. One variety, Early Sugar Snap, is only about three feet tall. The other, Sugar Snap, has already climbed beyond five feet. They should be producing for the next few weeks before they’ll exhaust themselves. I’ve already planted pole beans and cucumbers in the beds to come up the trellis behind them.
Garlic scapes
The hardneck garlic planted Nov. 2 is producing its characteristic scapes right on schedule. I’ve cut the scapes off the plants to allow more energy to go into the bulbs forming beneath the soil. The scapes, which would turn into seed pods without harvesting, are a wonderful addition to the kitchen. They have a mild garlic flavor and can season anything from scrambled eggs to soups. They also make for a great scape pesto. I should be able to harvest the garlic within the next month.
Two firsts
The first strawberries emerged from the strawberry plants I put in the garden as tiny bare roots on April 23. And the first of our tomatoes planted in the straw bales has set fruit. It’s Stupice, a red heirloom variety that is supposed to fruit within two months. So it’s on schedule.
Our Phoebe
The Eastern Phoebe is back in her nest. Phoebes will lay successive clutches of eggs during the breeding season. She seems more attentive this time and we’re keeping an eye out for the cowbird, unless she’s already struck. You can read more about our Phoebe and the cowbird here.
Previous updates:
What’s happening in the garden: May 26-June 1
What’s happening in the garden: June 2-June 8