This heat has been great for plant growth, but terrible for fruit setting. The plant stems, especially tomatoes, beans, potatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, and cantaloupes (as well as the spices like dill, basil, mint, cilantro, rosemary, and sage), have shot up and out like weeds with the heat. Most of my current garden time is propping things up, pushing growing stems back into cages, or guiding the beans up their frames. While the heat has done well for the stem growth, the vegetable flowers have had a different story. They often wither in the heat before getting the chance to be pollinated. Plus, the number of pollinating insects seems to be less in the heat. Those flowers that got pollinated about three weeks ago, or before then, have had fruits and vegetables coming ripe and will continue over the next few weeks (tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant), but any flower that has come out since the major heat and lack of rain has either withered away, or has had significantly lower pollination rates. Similarly, the yellow squash and zucchini seem to switch to predominantly male flower production once the major heat hits. I have learned that by planting the cucumbers underneath tomato and eggplant plants, they will be shaded a little and won't have the same problem and won't be as bitter tasting later in the season, although keeping the cucumbers from growing up and all over the other plants does take some effort. All of these heat related issues happen every summer when a heat wave hits, but generally hasn't happened this early in the summer. It always seems that the heat doesn't reduce immediate harvest, but rather you feel the effects of it two to three weeks down the line when those vegetables would have been coming ripe. We planted a little earlier this year (end of March) compared to other years (middle of April) because we saw that the threat of frost was gone/low. This is leading to earlier harvest than previous years. Hopefully the garden continues producing late into the the year like last year. Incredible how us and some neighbors had tomatoes, peppers, and beans all the way into the first week of December when the first frost hit, providing for fresh vegetables at Thanksgiving. We put down some free mulch in our garden this year after the plants had established themselves, but before the weeds popped up. The mulch has done wonders to increase soil moisture retention and has entirely eliminated weeds, which were problematic in previous years. However, the mulch has contributed to a huge increase in insects, particularly pill bugs (rolly pollies, sow bugs, or whatever you may call them), because of all of the moist interstitial spaces between and under the mulch pieces. The pill bugs mostly eat rotting or decaying material, but sometimes decide to chow down on something living, and there is hardly anything you can do to kill them besides chemicals, so I have just accepted their presence. We also already had two tobacco horn worms devour a pepper plant as well as some dill. We normally don't see them until much later in the summer, and they normally stick to the tomato plants. I got sick of watching the small green caterpillars devour our cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, and brussel sprouts every year. Since these plants don't need to be pollinated like the other things in our garden, I built a giant "tent" made out of window screen and flexible water line piping to cover that section of the garden. This has worked wonders at keeping the pests out, and has provided some shading, allowing these "colder weather" plants to weather the heat. We continue to harvest broccoli, lettuce, and cabbage, and hope they continue into the summer. We plant in the ground and over the years have done our best to improve the soil with compost, leaf material, and lime. This past year I took some soil samples to the Agriculture Extension Unit and had them tested for free (it is on Reedy Creek Road kind of near the RBC center), and followed some of the steps they recommended. I am fortunate to have a friend with a tiller, making the initial gardening stages in the spring a little easier. Of course, clay and MILLIONS of small rocks dominate the soil in our area, and I have piles of golf ball size rocks removed from the garden area along my back fence. I try to "rotate" where I plant the different types of vegetables to prevent pest problems, but in the end there is only so much space, and you have to account for those plants that get tall and block light to others. We have run into some problems this year with our bell pepper plants. I planted some in the ground and some in pots with potting soil. Those in the pots are doing well, whereas those in the ground have curled leaves that wilt and fall off quickly. I wonder if it is something that is in the soil from previous years since other plants in the garden are not showing signs of problems and the ones in pots look fine. It seems like every year I have one type of plant that decides not to cooperate. Last year it was powdery mildew on some squash plants. Looks like this year it will be the pepper plants. Some neighbors have raised beds, and with the optimal soil they had delivered combined with their soaker hose irrigation, their plants are very robust and grow very fast every year. It is tempting every year to go for raised beds because of the multiple advantages, but when I think of the expense, I quickly shy away. Is there anybody who has switched to raised beds and seen a dramatic change in production and success? We have good success now, but as always, I could easily be convinced to take on a new project in the garden. By the way, excellent idea for a mailing list. I look forward to hearing the successes, as well as the trials and tribulations, of others and their gardens. Patrick Cooney Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2011 13:41:46 -0400 From: kennethryanparker(a)gmail.com To: gardening(a)eastraleigh.org Subject: [Gardening] How's Your Garden? Now that we are into the dog days of early June(?), I was wondering how everyone's plants are holding up. I harvested my first cucumber (burpless) yesterday and quickly made it an addition to my salad. Bush beans are ready for picking. Tomatoes are surprisingly slow to produce but the basil is looking good. Cantaloupe vines with flowers are reaching out of the beds and I am probably going to have more than enough for ten families this summer. Will trade for yellow squash when they are ready. Sweet banana peppers are starting to show and Jalapeno are close behind. I am only watering every other day for 3-5 minutes from the sprinklers. Hope yours is hanging in the heat. Thanks. Ryan Drew St. _______________________________________________ Gardening mailing list Gardening(a)eastraleigh.org http://www.eastraleigh.org/mailman/listinfo/gardening _______________________________________________ Gardening mailing list Gardening(a)eastraleigh.org http://www.eastraleigh.org/mailman/listinfo/gardening

Now that we are into the dog days of early June(?), I was wondering how everyone's plants are holding up.