Welcome July! By now, home gardens are in full swing. If you aren’t harvesting yet- worry not- your time is coming! Here are a few things to be on the lookout for this month:
Irrigation
- Now that your plants are more established, consider changing up irrigation to watering for longer stretches of time and letting the soil dry out between waterings to encourage roots to grow deeper.
- Make sure your irrigation is working! When things are on timers it’s easy to forget about checking if it’s actually working. Depending on where your water is coming from, you may need to be cleaning out an irrigation filter weekly (or even daily)!
- Want more info? Check out our detailed guide on the subject.
Trellising
- Trellising at its most basic is making sure there’s something to keep your plants from flopping over. Those seedlings you started with back in the spring can become a jungle very quickly and having something to help them stand up really helps. You’re better able to see the harvest and access it, and your pathways aren’t covered with plants.
- Check out this guide to trellising for more about specific techniques and inspirational ideas.
Weeding
- Now is the time that weeds can really get away from us! If you haven’t taken a hard pass to weed through your garden, the time is now. Every little bit counts! A single weed can make thousands of seeds, so taking some time to get them out of there before they drop a bunch of seed for next year is important!
- After weeding, you can mulch with some rice straw to keep weeds down. Consider putting down some cardboard on your paths after weeding.
- Feeling like a forager? Eat your weeds! Many summer weeds such as purslane, amaranth and lamb’s quarters are incredibly nutritious. Add tender small ones to a salad or smoothie for a nutrient boost. I like to infuse apple cider vinegar with weeds like dandelion and amaranth (along with culinary herbs and seasonal fruit). If that sounds exciting to you, check out The Herbal Kitchen by Kami McBride for more inspiration on incorporating herbs and wild plants into your kitchen.
Looking ahead to the Fall Garden…
- I know it’s sort of crazy, but now is the time to think about what you want for your fall garden! You can direct seed lettuces, spinach, beets, carrots, cilantro, radishes and turnips starting now.
- For a more compete overview of fall/winter garden planning, check out this guide.