After a very dry spring through May, June is turning out to be a wet month thus far. So far we've received 4.5 inches of rain in June. Additional rain at this point may start to do more harm to the garden than good.
A few weeks ago I planted cucumbers and squash. In years past I almost always started these from seed. This year in an effort to enjoy yields sooner, I purchased plants. One disadvantage of purchasing plants is that you may not be able to find the exact varieties you prefer. For example, I purchased picking and burpless cucumbers, but they were not labelled as to the specific variety.
In addition to the pickling and burpless varieties mentioned above , I also purchased Marketmore, which is a well known slicing variety. I planted both the cucumbers and squash in hills of composted manure.
Regarding squash, I planted yellow, zucchini, and "Eight Ball" round green squash. The Eight Ball squash can be used for stuffing, baking, etc. In addition, I also planted butternut squash in my "auxiliary" garden down behind the pond. This is a small garden I use an an overflow to add a few items that won't fit in the main gardens.
I plant pumpkins using the same technique. I will show the progress of the pumpkins and gourds in future posts. They were also planted about 2 weeks ago and are growing nicely.
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| Mixing in Composted Manure With Squash Plants |
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| Cucumbers and Squash |
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| Butternut Squash in the Auxiliary Garden |
In my post on May 21, 2015 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2015/05/planting-potatoes.html), I discussed planting potatoes. In addition to the varieties listed in that post, I also recently planted a few hills of red potatoes. Reds are always good in the fall to use in soups and stews as they are a good boiling variety.
The potatoes are growing quite nicely thus far this season, with one slight problem common to most gardeners. Weeds. For some reason the weeds sprouted quickly in the potato patch and had to be controlled. My solution is two step process.
First of all, potatoes need to be "hilled" once they are established and are about 4 to 6 inches high. Hilling is simply the process of "piling" up dirt around the the vines to give the potatoes plenty of cultivated soil to develop without being exposed to sunlight. Potatoes need to stay underground, otherwise they will turn green.
The second step is to add mulch to prevent weeds from re-growing, and also to help keep the moisture in during the entire season. I normally use either chopped hay or grass clippings.
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| Hilling Potatoes |
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| Grass Clippings For Mulching |
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| Mulching the Potato Plants |
Stay tuned for more garden updates. With this warm weather and plenty of moisture, all the plants are growing quickly. I will try to keep up to dates with my posts.
Thanks for reading and happy gardening.
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