June's Garden (2020)

June's garden is too much food!  In my panic after seeing the grocery shelves empty, I overcompensated and planted too much.  Now that it is beginning to produce, we are swimming in food.  Bill says it is "better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

The short fence around the back half of the garden has worked to deter the armadillo.  It worked so well, we haven't seen it this month and are hoping it is gone forever. We are wise enough to realize another one will probably move in.

To the right of the fence in the last few inches of soil is a row of shelly beans.  The grass will invade and the lawnmower will throw grass over them but it won't matter.  It is a way of squeezing a little more out of the garden.

In a previous post, I declared there would be no experimenting this year. Only tried and true vegetables would be raised; well, as always, I changed my mind.  There are two yellow squash plants thriving.  Even though I have never ever been able to grow them because of squash vine borers, once again (for the millionth time) I will try again.  It is too early to know if my experiment will be successful.

Hanging on the tomato fence closeby is a Viva Trap that attracts and catches borers in a sticky residue.  These pictures were made the day it was hung up on June 4th so nothing is in the trap.  It is disgusting now (no up-close picture) and it is difficult to distinguish which parts belong to which bug.  There may be some squash vine borers stuck there or maybe not - can't tell.  Each trap will last 45 days and it cost $15.00 for two.  Borers can hatch twice each season so I am not sure two will last long enough. The questions I am asking are:  Will I get $15.00 worth of squash from my garden? Will it be necessary to buy more for the latter part of the season? It is still too early to know if they are effective and worth it.

The center of the garden is still not full because it has been difficult getting seeds to sprout.  They were purchased this spring from three different companies and were saved from last year.  I don't know what happened. There are so many different variables and it has been such a strange year that I don't have any theories.  Since it is too much stuff anyway, this isn't a problem.

The potatoes have stopped blooming and are beginning to turn yellow.  That is what it is supposed to do, but it makes me want to water and fertilize.  

The two rows of assorted greens are still producing enough for us.  Nothing else will be planted until it is time to start the winter garden in late August...which is a little over a month away!  Gosh.  Where did the time go this year?

At the far end of the garden beside the field is the row of tomatoes that were surrounded by lettuce.  All the lettuce has been eaten except for a few that are going to seed.  No red tomatoes yet but any day now the first one will be ready.

There is a Sugar Baby Watermelon rooted in the small empty spot at the beginning of the row.  It is spreading up the fence into the open spaces between the tomatoes and is already forming one melon.  Soon it will need a sling to hold it. 

Squeezed in on the backside of the tomatoes are a few Purple Hull Peas which will be ready this month.

In the back of the garden in the shade are three fence rows of tomatoes.  The shade doesn't seem to be bothering them as much as I expected.  The beans on the back rows and back corners have been replanted twice with different seeds because they wouldn't come up.  

The front rows have a single cucumber planted on each end.  They will spread out into the walkway and have just started producing this week.

It took a while to get enough things germinated to fill up the back of the garden, but it is finally all planted.

A feast is better than a famine.  I am not complaining. 

Last Month's May Garden (2020)

Last Year's June Garden (2019)

Through the Garden Gate