May 18 iGROW Blog

 Summer is coming

 Wow -more rain in the forecast, not our normal spring but I always am thankful for rain in the dry west, soon enough we will be dry and hot.

 Congratulations Sonoma County, over 600 gardens signed up to be part of the 350 Garden Challenge this last weekend.  What a tremendous success and a great testimony to the power of the garden.   Gardens of all shapes and sizes, in all kinds of places and all types of food and water wise ways were included. Thanks to all who helped make this event such an amazing success.

 I had a chance to see a lot of gardens this weekend, as I toured about checking out what people were up to.  I love to see all the ways people garden, innovative and creative, I got some ideas but I also saw some things I thought I might talk about here.  One thing I saw over and over again was the use of compost as soil instead of as an amendment to soil.  Raised beds should not be filled with straight compost but a mix of soil and compost.  Compost is an amendment to soil, not soil itself.  Plants want to grow in a rich soil, but many composts are too rich and alone dry out too fast. Fruiting plants can have real problems with that richness, as they will grow large and leafy and may not produce fruit.  When you have a raised bed or a large container to fill, you can scrape the paths and areas around the bed and mix that soil with compost in the bed or container. Or buy a soil mix that is made for filling containers.  Smaller containers should be filled with a soil/potting mix that has excellent drainage.  

 I also saw a lot of close planting.  It is hard when you have a little plant to remember how big it can get.  It feels like such a waste of space but those tomatoes, squash, beans and peppers get big and need space.  Too close of spacing will end up with stunted plants that are struggling for water, nutrients, light and space.   If you are new to it, it might be worth getting a measuring tape and marking out 2 foot spacing for tomatoes, 3 to 4 feet for squash, etc…

 As we are in summer planting mode, I want to encourage people to think about planting the Three Sisters together, squash, beans and corn.  I love to make a series of 3 foot wide low mounds in a section of my garden.  I plant a circle of corn and then interplant a few pole beans and a winter squash plant in the middle.  The corn should go in a bit earlier than the beans, as you want it to be taller so the beans can grow up it.  This is the traditional way many indigenous people in America grow these crops. 

 You can have salad all summer from your garden if you start planting heat tolerant varieties of lettuce now.  Some I like are Jericho, a romaine, Red Fire, Deer Tongue, and Buttercrunch . Otherwise that first real hot spell will send all your lettuces bolting.  Some other things to think about while you are planting summer crops: cucumbers like lots of water to keep them from going bitter (unless you grow a non bitter type).  I always plant my cucumbers where I can give them some extra water easily.  Remember summer squash is prolific, one family really only needs one plant.  Also beans, summer squash, basil, and cucumbers can be planted again in mid June for a longer season of production.

Hope you are eating your fava beans and peas as they come on in abundance right now.