garlic braids, pests, blossom end rot, rain barrels, first potatoes and more | June garden update
Summer has brought the heat and pest pressure to the gardening process. It’s been hot, sooner than usual, and very dry these past few weeks.
I've been facing new issues, trying new things, and enjoying organic food and beauty everyday this past month. In this vlog update, I share some of these in a keep-it-real fashion from my imperfect but generous June garden.
In this post I’ll also share some additional photos, links and highlights.
Braiding Garlic
I promised myself I would give this traditional way of storing and curing homegrown garlic a try if my garlic harvest was good enough this year. And it was! Out of 30 cloves planted, I harvested 26 nice size bulbs, and was able to braid most of them.
garlic harvest, 30 cloves became 26 bulbs
I found a very helpful tutorial for the braiding part - I’ll link it below.
our first garlic braids hanging in the kitchen to finish curing
First Potatoes (despite rotting stems)
In the spring we had a lot of rain, and three of my potato growbags had stems that rotted to black with the moisture, so all of the green died a bit quick.
When my niece visited, I decided we’d see if any potatoes had formed in there anyway - and they had, albeit a bit small - but still so much tastier than grocery store potatoes. She had a blast digging around for the tubers with me.
my niece with our early ‘fingerling’ potato harvest
Blossom End Rot
It was sad to walk into the garden one morning to discover that the majority of the tomato fruit that had set on my indeterminate varieties was suffering from blossom end rot.
blossom end rot on tomato
I have actually had this happen before in my garden, years ago on peppers, not knowing what it was or how to handle it, and too busy working as a nurse to pursue solutions. I think I assumed it was a disease. It’s not.
It has to do with inconsistent moisture and the ability of the plant to uptake the calcium it needs. So after some research, I have pulled the affected tomatoes, started paying more attention to consistent watering in this strange dry heat we’re having, and applied a couple of tactics I’ve learned about.
The first likely won’t do much, but it won’t hurt anything and I had everything on hand that first day I noticed the trouble. I crushed up some tums (which has easily available calcium and magnesium), dissolved it in water and applied a foliar spray to my plants. I shared this in the video. Some folks swear by it, others say it won’t help at all because the leaves can’t transfer the spray to the fruit, it has to come up from the roots. So, I also pushed a tums down in the soil near the base of each plant as recommended by some gardeners.
Next, I applied garden lime and watered well. Then a few days later, I went ahead and applied a tomato specific food with the next watering.
I’m hopeful - the plants are strong, our growing season is long, and there will be plenty of time for more flowers and fruit.
Scientists and experienced gardeners, do feel free to share your take and tips on this issue and possible remedies.
delicious fresh sungold cherry tomatoes and dehydrated cherry tomatoes
In the meantime, we’re still enjoying preserved tomatoes from last year’s harvest (dried, canned and frozen), while this year’s fresh cherry tomatoes are starting to come in.
Pest Pressure - it’s part of the process
The pests are here enjoying the garden, too, of course. Aphids, caterpillars, earwigs, cucumber beetles, squash vine borers and more….
I generally leave them alone if they’re not totally destroying things, because the beneficial bugs and birds are here to help as well. Plus, I’m learning a lot by observing and sticking with more organic control measures… like manual removal, neem from time to time, diatomaceous earth, BT if necessary. I try to be conscious of things that can harm pollinators, though, since I want to attract and keep them around.
pollinators love this wild flower patch
The creative process really prepared me for the ups and downs of gardening, and gardening is truly a grounding, rich creative process in its own right.
There is no final destination or outcome with gardening, just rhythmic cycles and dynamics that overlap and weave together in the ecosystem, based on the environmental variables.
There is something new to explore, learn and care for every day.
after pruning the bottom foot of my indeterminate tomatoes for better air circulation near the soil
There is a refreshing finitude and uncertainty to the efforts - and fruits - of one’s labor, as well. A dance with creation that is not all up to us. Nothing lasts forever, and nothing is wasted. A cycle of abundance that most of us have lost touch with.
basket of garden veggies
I garden for food and herbs, and for my relationship with how nature nurtures this body.
salad and pickled beets from the garden
imperfect and delicious garden leeks, cabbage and potatoes for colcannon
And in that process, I feel ever-more-sure that some of the creation myths have it right… we were made for the garden.
oh, sweet poppies, how you enchant me…
If you have tips, comments or stories to share from your experience, please do! You can comment below or over on the video at youtube.
LINKS:
The garlic braiding tutorial I found most helpful - great pics for each braiding step
The simple colcannon recipe I made and we loved!
