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Greetings, and welcome to the new subscribers!
I read the last newsletter after a week and realized how pathetically short it was! I guess I was still decompressing from starts season and not all there in the head yet.
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It was a challenging season with more disasters than I'd anticipated. It was going along smoothly, then WHAM! Failure after failure happened. It all worked out fine, but when you're in the middle of a crisis with live plants, you have no idea how or if it'll get resolved. I took a hit, but here we are in a robust part of the growing season, and starts season is long behind me.
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Thanks to everyone for making it a fun season! I love hearing your gardening stories. I learn from you as much as you learn from me.
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Yellow day lilies make me forget about starts season.
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July Tasks
With all your watering and the bit of rain we've seen, weeds will run rampant. They come out easily when the soil is damp. I go out to the garden every morning to check on everything and pull a few weeds at the same time. Weeding is important to give your plants a good start. Larger plants like squash and broccoli will eventually shade out the weeds.
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Keep up with watering and weeding this month. June sometimes seems like a lazy month with tending to plants, then the real work of harvesting, cooking, and sharing starts in July. My pole beans are twining, so I know to get ready to freeze them. I steam them, eat a bunch, then freeze the rest in quart yogurt containers. In the winter, I thaw them out, and use them in soup or just heat them up and eat them plain!
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I planted a lot of jalapeños for pickling, and they're starting to flower. I'd better get ready to process them. They're great on pizza with <gasp> pineapple. Yum!!! There are so many flowers, I'm sure I'll be giving them away as gifts, too.
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Get ready to deal with lots of produce at the end of the month! No matter if you freeze, can, or dry, be sure to be prepared. You want to put up the freshest vegetables.
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Watch for pests! The grasshoppers are out of control. I've given up battling them. I catch 40, and there are 400 jumping at my feet. They've decimated my green leaf lettuce and a lot of aromatic plants, like yarrow, marigolds, hyssop, and basil. I thought those things were supposed to deter pests! There seem to be fewer hoppers since I stopped fighting them, as though they're saying, if you don't bother us, we won't bother you! But a few weeks ago, my songbirds finally returned after winter. They were very late, but they're dining on the grasshoppers now. We saw one enjoying a meaty specimen yesterday! My neighbor's cat eats them, too, but only one at a time. That's not much help.
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The average lifespan of an incredibly destructive hopper is a mere 51 days, according to the USDA! Their eggs hatch, they grow through several instars, become adults, and ruin your garden in that short period of time! Maybe the female of the species of grasshoppers I have dies off after laying eggs. That would also explain the drop in numbers, since they are mating now. I see them coupled and accidentally hopping into my water buckets. Hehehe (I'm so mean.) They don't swim, so they eventually drown. So sorry. Not. But like I said, I've given up fighting them, so they can eat whatever they want. Hopefully, next winter is cold enough to keep them at bay. Here's a less technical article about grasshoppers.
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Squash bugs and cabbage loopers are coming around now, too. I do a lot of hand squishing. It's not hard. Be sure to put leaves with squash bug eggs on them in the trash. Don't compost them. July is the month to pay attention to pests and take care of them to let your plants thrive!
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Prune your spring-flowering shrubs after they flower and before putting on much new growth, where next year's flowers will be. Deadhead flower stalks to halt seed production and encourage new growth, remove dead and diseased wood, and remove extra branches to allow for good air circulation and sunlight to the center of the plant.
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I drastically cut back my butterfly bush (Buddleia alternifolia), but much of the lower branches were dead, and it had started taking over the walkway. If you want a hardy, beautiful, low-maintenance, pollinator-attracting shrub, get one of these! Mine gets no supplemental water or fertilizer, and it obviously can take up a large amount of space!
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Butterfly bush before pruning
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After... Now Miss Hen needs an umbrella!
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That's a Wrap
I'm 'retiring', whatever that means anymore. My dad cut back his work schedule when he was about 63. At 65, he retired - got his Social Security, and stopped working. I don't know many people who can do that anymore. Most of us keep working, not to stay busy, but out of necessity. So, if you think in old school terms, I retired 9 years ago when I got my SS. But I never stopped working. It's time.
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I won't be growing at the scale I have been. There won't be CSA Shares next year. I'm tired of the stress. Yes, I've had great help with the workload, but most of the work isn't something others can do. Paperwork, watch and fret about the weather, deal with crop failures, field questions, do customer service, more paperwork, get up in the middle of the night to check hoses, and so on.
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I've also been missing the best season! Spring isn't too hot or too cold. It's the perfect time for hiking and biking all day, and I can't even squeeze in a morning walk. It's the time to get garden beds ready, but I can't see beyond the nursery to get ahead of weeds and grasses in the ornamental beds and put amendments in the vegetable beds. I'm always behind on those things and spend the summer playing catch-up.
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I grow flowers for a friend and myself that I don't have available to everyone. A crop failure? No problem. Leggy seedlings? No problem. Only 5 in a 6-pack? No problem. When these things happened to our flowers this spring, I was like, Who cares? It was so relaxing not to worry about things being perfect. I knew I needed more of that, more recreational gardening.
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I'm not saying I won't grow anything, but CSA Shares are off the menu. This spring, many of you said, 'See you next year!' and I was like, Ummmmmm... I didn't say anything, but I'd already made the decision after bouncing the idea off several people.
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Stay tuned for what lies ahead. I don't even know! Next spring is so far off, I can't even imagine what direction I might take. I am going to focus on artwork and start writing again. Things are moving slowly here, but it will all have a botanical slant.
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Thank you for 13 years of gardening stories, brainstorming, laughter, frustration, food-sharing, and for keeping me in business. Mwah!
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I simplified my garden and am growing only ONE tomato plant, a Moskvich, instead of six or eight. This is a symptom of wanting to retire. lol
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Sponsored content from a trusted local resource. I use these products myself!
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THE NEW BOOK!
The 2nd edition of The Book is available from UNM Press! You can also get a copy at Earthgoods, Gutiz, Petree's, op.cit. Books, and always from me. If you see it somewhere else, let me know!
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If you're a retailer and would like to carry The New Book, please call Longleaf Services to open a tax-exempt account at 1-800-848-6224, then press 1 for customer service. They'll set you right up! Thanks!
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If you'd like to see The New Book in a certain store, please share the above info with them. Thank you!
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Merch
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The Write Shit Down Garden Journal at 4" x 5.5" is a handy size to take out to the garden. They're also available at Earthgoods and Moxie. Moxie also has bumper stickers and my paper weavings and greeting cards.
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Ranchitos Keychains were made by my older daughter and inspired by the turquoise truck full of sunflowers on Lower Ranchitos.
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E-gift cards for $25-100, mailed to the recipient on a day of your choosing.
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Renee's Garden Seeds Scatter Cans are at Earthgoods. Supplies are limited.
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I have a random selection of colorful T-shirts on sale for $20. They're 100% cotton in L and XL in women's and men's.
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Please forward this email in its entirety. All rights reserved.
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If you received this newsletter from a gardening friend who loves you, you can subscribe here to get your own copy!
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Ads are $25/mo with a 6-month commitment. One-time placement is $30. The newsletter goes out on the first weekend of the month. You provide artwork, and I link to your website or event page. Contact me for more information. Thanks!
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