As soon as your leafy greens are big enough to your taste, you should start harvesting the outer leaves. Simply step outside with your salad bowl and pick a couple of leaves from each plant for a continual harvest. Radishes are ready to harvest around 25 days after planting. To check if they are ready, investigate the size of the root with your finger.
It’s time to order your Trichogramma (parasitic wasps) to control Cabbage Moths and Nematodes to control Japanese Beetle and White Grub. Please respond to this email to order. We’ve started to see a lot of flea beetle damage in some gardens. These are small black jumping beetles that leave small holes in plant leaves. They really enjoy hot dry weather. Diatomaceous earth and Yellow sticky traps can help control this pest.
When we plant our tomato plants, we take advantage of a super tomato trick. Tomatoes can grow roots all along the stem. We remove the bottom couple of leaves (so they don’t rot underground) and plant the tomato super deep so that only 5 or 6 inches are sticking out the top. This will give the tomato plant a much bigger root structure and make for a more vigorous and productive plant.
Over the next few weeks, we will also plant other warm weather vegetables like peppers, eggplants, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, squash. Anything that needs warm weather to grow. We will be back soon to replant your summer seedlings. We will let you know at least three days before our visit.
It seems to be a very hot dry summer so far. This means that it is important to water often and deeply. A simple irrigation system on a timer can help.
Make sure to thin your carrots and beets. This means enough space around each plant for it to grow well. Carrots need 2 inches (5cm), beets need 3 inches (7cm). Choose the best seedling and remove the rest. It is possible to transplant if they are still small. Just make sure to do it quickly and carefully. For more details check out my video below: