Weekend of June 22, 1996
This column is about your garden.
The writer—professional gardening editor/writer Dorinda Beaumont—
lives smack in the middle of our region—Rosendale.
So it’s about your zone, your soil, your plants.
Once a week Dorinda will chastise you, commiserate with you,
tell you what you absolutely can’t leave for another week,
all the while drawing inspiration from the daily journals she’s been
keeping for several years about her gardening experiences here in the Hudson Valley.
It is now officially summer, astronomically speaking, but those of us who garden stay in touch with the seasons by following events that take place closer to earth. We're too involved with keeping tabs on our neighbors-furred, feathered, winged, flowering, fruiting, or just running around with chain saws-to give undue importance to heavenly bodies. And the closer attention I pay to details, the less the larger seasonal labels seem to apply. For instance, it's already fall in my arugula patch and, despite constant topping, the plants insist on flowering, setting seeds, and getting too bitter to eat. On the other hand, it won't be spring for the katydids for another month, when their mating song will fill the air. Joseph Wood Krutch wrote a wonderful book, The Twelve Seasons, in which every month was treated as a season unto itself, but I begin to think the man lacked ambition. Each week is a season unto itself, even for we humans with little sensitivity to the minute constant changes that make the very idea of seasons pointless from either a gardener's or a naturalist's point of view.
My friend Susan, Pea Queen of Ulster County, tells me that pea season has begun. Between the depredatations of the voles and, lately, the rabbit, I wouldn't personally know; for the first time in five years, we shall have no peas. My experience this year proves a basic rule in vegetable gardening that I ignored: Plant more than you can possibly use. That leaves some for you after the rest of the interested parties have taken their share. It also demonstrates the anthropocentric nature of our concept of season. The voles' pea season begins on St. Patrick's Day, traditional pea-planting time around here, and continues until the remaining seeds are well-sprouted. For rabbits, pea season peaks when the vines begin to flower, lasting until pods form and the stems become too woody for gourmet rabbits. As far as I know, deer don't celebrate pea season, but I could be mistaken.
VEGETABLES AND SMALL FRUITS
We've had plenty of rain the past week, giving us some respite from watering.
Tomato plants are big enough to begin training, whether you pinch out suckers and stake them, or cage them, or use some other method to keep them manageable and off the ground.
Begin seeding fall crops of the cabbage family, including brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and kale. Sow summer lettuces to replace the bolting spring crop; cos or romaine varieties are especially good at standing up to summer heat.
Keep an eye on squash vines for the next two weeks; this is when squash borers arrive. Handpick them, and use a sharp point to winkle them out of their holes in the stems.
TREES, SHRUBS AND VINES
This is the last week you should fertilize trees and shrubs. If you can't get to it now, wait until late fall after the leaves have dropped. Prune and fertilize once-blooming roses, including ramblers, after the flowers fade. They'll bloom next year on the growth they make during the rest of this summer.
FLOWERS AND HERBS
Aside from deadheading and some propping up and staking, this is a slow time for jobs in the flower garden. Peonies are especially in need of fertilizer after blooming, so this is a good time to topdress them with compost. Anything just coming into bud or bloom that looks floppy now will only get worse, so provide some support before the next good rain flattens it.
Fertilize annuals with water-soluble 20-20-20 or, if you're going organic, fish emulsion. Once a month is usually enough to produce the best flowering. On too rich a diet, they may flower poorly.
Harvest herbs regularly to promote compact growth and store a supply for next winter. Thyme, oregano, marjoram, savory, and sage all dry well, and retain much of their flavor. Basil, parsley, chervil, tarragon, dill, fennel, cilantro, and chives lose their flavor when dried and are better frozen; while they'll be fine for cooking, they all turn limp and dark, so enjoy them fresh now.
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