To Do in the Zone 7 Garden in June

It's the last month of Spring...how is your garden growing? Here's a photo I took after this morning's coffee walk...peas and carrots...and one ginormous onion! The "English" peas are winding down, the carrots are finally ready, and the onions just might take over our world...wow!

By now in Zone 7, you should be well into your planting of warm season vegetables: tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, melons, cucumbers, okra, and Southern peas are all in the ground here in The Way Back Kitchen Garden. I chose to forgo eggplants this year since we are neither big fans.

And, like us, you are probably pulling up many of the cool season crops as they begin to bolt and go to seed. I made a contribution to the compost bin this weekend as I replaced the broccoli, cabbage, spinach, and bolting lettuce plants (all in the raised beds in the Box Garden) with plantings of a variety of bush beans and some Salad Bowl lettuce that is supposed to withstand the coming Summer heat "better." I'm giving it a good chance by planting it against the west-side boards on the raised beds (which will provide shade from the harsh setting sun) and under the cucumber trellis frame, over in the Row Garden...again for added protection.

I also decided to devote one box (L-shaped, with the equivalent of 3 3x3 squares...or 27 square feet, if you do the math) to a tomato trial. Last year, you may recall I put three Sun Gold tomato suckers I'd rooted in this box...one in each 3x3 square. And they thrived, to put it mildly. 

When our first frost threatened last Fall, I harvested all the remaining tomatoes, green and gold ones, and turned them into Green Tomato Relish (great on hot dogs...and black-eyed peas, by the way!). But I didn't pull the plants. Well, they survived that first frost. We had another warm spell, as we often do...and the plants flowered again...and more Sun Golds arrived. But many of these fell into the box when I did finally pull the plants. I tried to remove as many as I could, but apparently missed as many as I got. 

I didn't plant this box with cool season veggies, as I was going to let it rest. Nature had other plans! Before I knew it, I had worlds of tiny Sun Gold tomato plants. Good grief! Knowing that SG is a hybrid tomato, I "knew" that I couldn't count on any of these reseeded babies to produce fruit like the 3 parent SG plants. But, what would the fruit look like? And would there be any fruit at all? Sounds like an experiment to me!

I pulled all except three "baby" plants...the ones that had seeded themselves in the center of their respective squares, more or less. I wanted to see what I will get from the seedlings of hybrid plants. Well, one question is answered: will they fruit? Yes! The three remaining (and many of the ones I removed) have all flowered and are developing tomatoes...and they look just like the tiny bunches of Sun Golds that the parent plants produced last year. I'll report back on how the reseeded plants' fruit tastes soon. Very soon!

Additionally, I seeded my garden borders with marigolds and zinnias, using the seed-heads we save every year after frost kills off our favorite annuals. The seeds we harvested last Fall are descendants of flowers we had around our garden in O'Fallon, MO...over 5 years ago. The originals were hybrids, so the first generation of plants from the saved seeds weren't "true," but subsequent flowers are pretty reliable. And the whole point is to get lots of flowers to attract pollinators...without spending a fortune. Check!

Speaking of pollinators...

Mr. T cleaned and cultivated the Pollinator Garden, which starts its second full year in the Orchard. The pineapple lilies we purchased at the Daylily farm in Garner last year have all survived this past Winter (how, I will never know!) and are sending up reddish-purple leaves. I set out tiny transplants of zinnias and marigolds (started from purchased seeds), plus some Root-tone-dipped cuttings of the Moonlight mums and Shasta daisies, which are thriving elsewhere on our property. I also planted a few sunflower seeds, but I think the crows were observing me from their high perch on the transmission line tower...and will probably make a meal out of my efforts before I can say "shoo!"

So what else is on this month's checklist? Here goes:

Checklist for Zone 7 Gardens:

• Mulch container gardens to help retain moisture in the coming hot weather, using a top-dressing of compost
• Remove Spring annuals as the weather heats up
• Set out seedlings of warm-weather annuals; direct-sow seeds of annuals like nasturtiums. 
• Prune and fertilize spring-blooming vines such as clematis and wisteria after they bloom
• Fertilize and prune spring-blooming shrubs such as azaleas and rhododendrons after they bloom
• As vegetable plants start to flower, begin regular feeding with diluted fish emulsion
• To direct growth of new canes, pinch tips off of blackberries and young grapevines
• Keep blueberry bushes well-weeded and well-watered as their fruit ripens; wait until after the harvest to prune and fertilize
• Weed strawberry beds and add a mulch of compost topped with a layer of straw
• Prune indeterminate tomatoes by removing suckers and topping off the main vine as it reaches the height of its cage and/or stake; try rooting a couple of the hardy suckers to have more plants.
• Sow seeds of heat-loving vegetables (squash, pumpkins, melons) directly into the ground
• Continue to feed roses monthly and treat with a 3-in-1 systemic per label instructions; deadhead as they finish their first round of blooming
• Prune once-blooming roses after they've flowered this month
• Check the undersides of leaves of warm season veggie plants like squash, tomatoes, cukes, and melons for the eggs of pests such as the potato beetle, squash bugs, etc. Squish ALL eggs...or if that doesn't sound like fun, remove the egg-infested leaf and put it in a container (I use a 3-lb coffee canister) half-filled with soapy water; ditto with any adult pests you see. Don't just leave the eggs! The goal is to keep the next generation of pests from hatching. The more pests, the less produce. Simple math.

June is a busy month in the Way Back gardens, as we transition from one season to another. Happy hoeing!