Spring in the home vegetable garden, continued
I n our southern Sierra and southern Central Valley, we never know exactly when spring will end and summer begins. Usually, our summer has arrived well before the June 21 solstice. The day with the most hours of sunlight during the whole year is a celebration in cold climates. Here, we are already at the coast or mountains, or at least (hopefully) harvesting tomatoes and zucchini.
Late spring is very active; it really is an exciting time to be a home gardener. We are harvesting, transplanting and direct-seeding all at the same time. We are keeping up with the weeds (hopefully), and getting our irrigation systems ready for summer.
Last night, I harvested onions, turnips, a variety of greens and carrots from the garden for dinner. I also pulled some weeds, of course. I checked on the progress of the newly transplanted tomatoes (growing rapidly), melons, cucumber, summer squash (fruits a few inches long), fava beans (slow... still in flower, which may mean small pods or a fast short harvest season, as they don’t care for hot weather), and newly seeded green beans (not up yet). Garlic is still growing well, which is excellent. We like garlic to stay in the ground at least until June to develop nice-sized cloves and flavor. Gophers can be a problem, but so far we’re OK.
If you did not have a winter or cool-season garden, you are perhaps just planting tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, melon and cucumber. We have a long warm season, so if you’re still in the “breaking ground” phase, don’t be discouraged. Many old-timers didn’t plant tomatoes until July fourth! Warm-season crops like warm soil, so they grow extra quickly if you hold off and plant later. The faster we can grow and harvest, the less time insect pests from other gardens can locate your garden and move in. Also, pollinator activity is at a peak during warm weather. Plant too early, and you just won’t get the resulting fruits you want for anything that requires insects to pollinate, which is the majority of our crops. These breezy days the last few weeks, with cool night temperatures, are perfect for tomatoes, eggplant and peppers. They also are perfect for migrating flying insects like white fly and aphids, so be on the lookout during the next month and ready to take action.
Action against pest insects can be as simple as hand removal or hosing plants off. Try to use least toxic methods first. This prevents killing and discouraging beneficial insects, both as predators and pollinators, from living in your garden. Carbaryl should never be used in the home garden. It’s not selective, so it will wipe out your pollinating bees, as well as lace wings, assassin bugs and lady bugs along with the pests.
As your stone fruits begin to grow, it is time to thin. A rule of thumb for larger fruits — peaches, plums, apricots — is to allow three inches or so between all fruits, and only one fruit to a cluster. You will have plenty of fruit, and in this way growth and sugar are concentrated in the remaining fruits. Trees younger than 5 years old should only have a few fruits on them. Remove some clusters of fruit on cherry trees and grape vines to increase the size and sugar in the remaining fruit. From now until about a week or so before harvest, make sure your fruit trees and vines are receiving adequate water. A mature fruit tree may require several inches of applied water during the summer months. Always water away from the trunk, out on the edge or the canopy. The historic drought that ended this year taught us new ways to use drip and micro-irrigation to efficiently water our trees and vegetables. Efficiency is not out of style just because water security is less of an immediate concern, so continue to use best practices.
What about fertilizer? If we practice good soil management, we rarely need to use fertilizer in our home vegetable gardens. Plan for cover crops, rotating crops, fallow areas if practical, and utilizing balanced ammendments like compost. Our vegetable and fruit crops require nitrogen, but they also require calcium, zinc, magnesium, chloride, boron, sulfur and many other nutrients, as well as soil organisms, many of which we can not see. A good soil has visible earth worms and other decomposer bugs. You could say that soil is our yearround crop that requires tending. Fruit trees may require added nutrients on some soils. A soil test is the only definitive way to know what to add, or you can use a balanced fertilizer with both macro (NP-K) and micro nutrients once or twice per season. Follow the directions on the package, and if anything use less than the package recommends.
Enjoy the rest of spring! Tomato season is just around the corner.
Peyton Ellas lives in Springville and is the owner of Quercus Landscape Design, specializing in California native and low-water-use plant-based design and service. Read her blog and contact her at: www.quercuslandscapedesign.com or at https://www.facebook.com/