Hi it’s Samantha with Planter! Welcome to my second journal entry. I’m talking about how my summer in my Pacific Northwest garden has been going. Our spring seemed a little drier, and parts of it were definitely hotter. So some of my cool-weather crops, like lettuce, didn’t do the best. In the beginning, I had nice and steady growth of my lettuce and peas. Then we got a random heat wave in May, and it caused some problems like bolting and wilting. “No big deal,” I thought. “At least prime time gardening is here”.
Tiny Tomatoes
I planted my tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and more. Things were going well. Then we got another unseasonable blast of heat, and some of the flowers got shriveled. That has impacted my production. Usually by the end of July, my tomato plants are loaded with ripening fruit. This year, not so much. It’s August, and I do not have the amount I expected. I do admit, I could have kept a better feeding schedule. But most years, I have volunteer tomato plants that I never pay attention to, and they do awesome. I do not have any volunteer plants at all this year!
Calendula Tries to Takeover
Calendula flowers continue to pop up everywhere, and I continue to pull them out. I have let a dozen or more survive because I like to have a lot of dried flowers for the winter.
Horseradish
One plant doing good this summer is horseradish. It’s supposed to be easy to take care of and often spreads vigorously, but I’ve never actually successfully grown it for some reason. So I’m happy to see it’s still alive. It looks a little rough and I think some bugs have gotten to it, but it’s still growing. I can’t wait to harvest some! I planted it in a raised garden bed so it can’t get too out of control.
Beginner Beekeeper
For some reason, I added to my list of things to take care of and decided to try my hand at beekeeping! I got two colonies this spring, and they have grown very fast. They have been hard at work pollinating, and they especially loved my lavender! I don’t think I’ll get any honey this season as they are growing their colony and need to keep their honey for themselves this winter. It also seems everything has bloomed early this season due to the hot weather, and the bees have been trying hard to find available nectar sources this late in the summer.
Speaking of Wildlife
I’ve been actively trying to invite more wildlife into my garden lately by doing some of the things mentioned in this post that I put together. I have a lot of birds that help keep the bug population down. Ladybugs are all over my dill plants this summer, helping to control the aphids. My birdhouses have been at full capacity with the next generation hatching along. One animal I’m not too thrilled to welcome is a gopher. It’s been pushing around some of my plants. I haven’t done anything to control it because it hasn’t been too bothersome. But I’m hoping he packs up and moves along soon. I am guessing that won’t be the case though. I was delighted to see a family of skunks in my field but then remembered that skunks love honey and will break into hives. Luckily, it seems they were just passing through and they haven’t caused any trouble.
Looking Forward
Going into fall, I’ve been clearing out some old spring plants and planting a few fall crops like carrots and lettuce. My fall crops never tend to do that well; they tend to be small plants by the time the frost arrives. Some things I overwinter, like carrots and kale.
I can’t believe summer is almost over, and I’m trying to savor every day. I’m already thinking about next gardening season and what I can do to improve my garden. My family and I have been travelling a lot this summer, and my garden has suffered a bit. I will work on ways to make my garden more self-sufficient for next year, like adding a lot more mulch this fall. It won’t be long before I’m harvesting some herbal roots here. I’ll share how you harvest roots from the garden this fall!
Thanks for following along with my garden journal.