End of May Garden Catch Up

On this last day of May, when the crisis of surgery is over, and we are both recovering our equilibrium, I want to take time to catch up a bit in the garden. We've had a wet spell, but the trend is warmer this week. I need to push to get the last summer crops planted.

Agenda:

1. May garden tasks

2. Planting

3. Squash bug watch

4. Wildlife garden plans

1. May garden tasks:

I use the Second Breakfast Garden monthly guides, because they are in zone 8b.

1. Harvesting: I'm harvesting rhubarb, lettuce, and boy choy. (The spinach bolted while we were in the hospital.) 
2. Thinning- Carrots: Use scissors to snip to the soil line. Remove all but one within a two inch radius. Beets: Each beet seed contains three or more plants. Gently pull or snip the extras so they each have about three inches of space. Lettuces: Gently pull extras so each has about a six inch radius.
3. Pruning: It is bird nesting season so hold off on any further tree pruning until late summer. Hummingbird nests are so tiny that you may not notice them. If you’re lucky, you will hear tiny peeps and busy bird parents shuttling food to their nests.
4. Slug and snail proaction: Here in my valley you have to have a plan or you will loose everything. I remember the goal is to bring snail numbers down, not total eradication: I collect all of the leftover mulch and put it into the compost, and then sprinkle Sluggo sparingly, about 1 pellet every six or so inches.

Pest Control Philosophy at SBG: "My first step, is invariably to wait and see. Many pest species are a primary food source for other wildlife. They just need a minute to move in and solve my problems for me. If I must intervene, hygiene, flinging, and spraying with water is about as aggressive as my pest control measures get. If that fails and a chemical control (the synthetic and toxic kind) is necessary, then I shrug it off and leave it to fend for itself. I don’t see the logic in spending money to risk my health, and the health of the ecosystem to grow something I can do without."

2. Planting:

My cukes, leeks, and zinnias are hardened off and ready to plant. My cukes were started late, but should still be fine. 

Leeks (Allium porrum) are a cultivar of the broadleaf wild leek, a cousin of the onion, and a member of the lily family. Leeks originated in Central Asia, and were on the menu of the ancient Egyptians. I started these leeks in clump at the end of my planting box, way back in February. Today I will plant them into the bottom of a 5‐7” deep and wide trench, 4‐5” apart, along the front of the sunflowers. Leave the trench open (don't fill it in), and begin blanching as plants grow and thicken by piling soil or straw around the leeks inside the trench. This practice keeps the bottom of the leeks white and tender.

Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) probably originated in India at least 3000 years ago, and are usually classified as either pickling or slicing varieties, but many varieties can be used as both. I'm going to plant these at the back of my pea and pumpkin bed, with a lattice. 

• Plant cucumbers in hills, four plants to a hill, with hills 4-6 feet apart. They can be grown on a trellis.
• Don’t break up pot bound roots. Ever so gently place them in the soil and water them in well with lukewarm water. These plants have many delicate root hairs and rarely recover from root disturbance. 
• This family is oh so delicate. They need rich soil that is then fertilized when the plants are still young and upright. They want morning sun, plenty of heat, but protection from the intense afternoon sun. 
• Cucumbers require lots of water, but are very susceptible to root rot when young; water in the morning. They are attractive to pests, and susceptible to powdery mildew.
• Once vines have reached 4 feet, the size of the vine can be controlled and fruiting encouraged by pinching off the fuzzy growing tip. 
• Cucumbers should be harvested as soon as they reach the recommended size - the sweet taste of cucumbers occurs only when they have just ripened, and they will soon get bitter.

Excellent cucumber companion plants include: Legumes; root vegetables, including onions; radishes (help repel cucumber beetles, as do marigolds and nasturtiums), sunflowers (can be natural trellises for climbing cucumber vines, plus sunflowers are pollinator superheroes, and can increase cucumber yields, dill (many enthusiasts swear by dill for improving the flavor of cucumbers), and garlic (can promote cucumber growth and decrease the chances of plants developing fusarium wilt by affecting the soil microbiome structure.

Do not plant cucumbers near to potatoes, sage, mint, melons or fennel.

3. Squash bug watch:

This is the time of year that squash bugs start to show up on my pumpkins and squashes. I never had these until recently, so I'm blaming them on climate change.

I need to be aggressive and diligent now to keep them in check - Tips:

• Remove mulch because it offers shelter for squash bugs.
• Monitor the squash plants most mornings. Pick the bugs and nymphs off and throw them into a bucket of water with a little detergent mixed in. Gently rub off or squish the eggs on the underside of leaves.
• Set traps by laying boards around the squashes. On your morning rounds, lift the boards. Clustered squash bugs can be crushed, vacuumed up or tossed into the water/detergent bucket.
• Pumpkins, hubbard, yellow straight neck and crook neck squashes are particularly susceptible to squash bug infestation. Consider growing more resistant squash such as zucchini, acorn, spaghetti, and butternut. Sweet Cheese, Royal Acorn, green striped Cushaw, Pink Banada, and Black Zucchini have been shown to be among the least susceptible.
• Try trellising vining types of squash - it might make them less susceptible to squash bug infestations.
• Parasitic wasps and the parasitic tachinid fly attack squash bugs. While these natural enemies can help suppress squash bug numbers, they cannot eliminate these prolific pests.
• Sanitation at the end of the growing season is the most important step gardener's can take to prevent problems in next year's garden. Deprive squash bugs of their food source by destroying all vines and remaining fruit soon after harvest. Tilling vines into the soil will destroy the vines and bury some squash bugs at the same time. Alternatively, vines can be composted. Clean up any other debris around the garden that can serve as overwintering sites. These steps reduce the numbers of overwintering adult squash bugs.

3. Wildlife garden plans:

I've got a few spots to work on in the next months, little by little: 

1. A nice caterpillar haven under my service berry (low, sunny): I'm going to dig out all the buttercup, mulch it thickly, and then look for some native sedums - 

Oregon Stonecrop (Sedum oreganum): The most common native stonecrop, featuring shiny, fleshy green to reddish leaves and star-shaped yellow flowers.

Pacific Aster 

Dwarf Goldenrod (Solidago simplex)

 

2. A wetlands bed near the drain field (tall, sunny): I've got a checkermellow that needs a home, and perhaps...

Fireweed

Cascade Penstemon

 

3. Under the hawthorns, removing more iris and filling in (dry, shady).

Foothill Sedge (Carex tumilicola): Highly recommended for dry upland gardens, forming dense, fine-textured clumps that work well as a lawn alternative.