Our continuing cool July weather provides more opportunities for gardening than is usual for mid-July.  Whereas the “normal” hot summer gardening activities usually concentrate on watering and harvesting, this year we can continue seeding and transplanting more heat-loving vegetables and flowers and vines, as long as the air temperature falls within the range of 65 to 95. 
 
Here are some tips when seeding in soil or a container:

• Best to use for vegetables like beans, cucumbers, and squash.  They will germinate quickly and grow strongly, whereas vegetable transplants will struggle reacclimating after being pampered in a greenhouse.  The exception is tomatoes, which will do fine.
• Incorporate compost into soil to a depth of about six inches and one foot in diameter to aid in absorbing and draining irrigation water.  This benefits all kinds of soils, from sandy (it helps absorption) to clay (it helps drainage).
• Create a planting hole about four inches deep and wide.
• Fill basin with water several times to thoroughly wet soil.
• Tuck seeds about an inch deep around the edges of the hole.
• Water in three times to assure that the entire area of loosened soil is saturated.
• Water every other day for a week, and then once a week while air temperatures are above 80 degrees.
• Place cage or trellis to enable vines to climb and keep their fruit off of the soil.

 
Here are some tips when transplanting into soil or container:

• Best to use for flowers, not vegetables (see above).
• Incorporate compost into soil to a depth of about six inches and one foot in diameter to aid in absorbing and draining irrigation water.  This benefits all kinds of soils, from sandy (it helps absorption) to clay (it helps drainage).
• Create a planting hole about four inches deep and wide.
• Massage the plant’s rootball, loosening established roots so they can easily spread out into the new soil mix.  Cut off any circling roots.  If this is not done, the existing roots may continue circling and ultimately girdle the plant, killing it.
• Place plant into the bottom of the hole and press soil gently around rootball.
• Water in three times to assure that the entire area of loosened soil is saturated.
• Water every other day for a week, and then once a week while air temperatures are above 80 degrees.
• Place cage or trellis to enable vines to climb and keep their fruit off of the soil.

 

​I remember that last Spring’s weather was coolish for a long time, but it seems that this year’s coolness has lasted longer, now that it’s already June. Daytime temperatures are up into the mid 80s, but with night-time temperatures still down in the low 60s, summer veggies like tomatoes and squash have thrived. 

​Dare I suggest that another planting of tomato and pepper transplants and bean, cucumber and squash seeds might be a good idea, betting on the possibility of this coolness extending another couple of weeks or even a month so they can get established before the “real” heat of summer arrives?
 
I’ve enjoyed my first crookneck squash and am waiting for my first ripe Sungold cherry tomato. Been through the peas and continuing to enjoy the lettuce.  Two purple chard plants in day-long sunny spaces sent up their seed stalks to 10 feet before I saved some mature seed and moved the bushes to the compost pile in one-foot chunks.  The other chard, green and white, in a somewhat shady area, is still producing huge but tender leaves.
 
What Tomatoes Need Now

• Tomato plant blossoms are pollinated by breeze, so jostle the foliage every day or so to enable the pollen to transfer thoroughly.  It’s easy to do when you’re tucking new growth back into their cages – you’re doing the moving just like the breeze.
• When blossoming starts, provide plants with another batch of soluble fertilizer.  The amount you provided when first transplanting enabled the plant to establish extensive root systems and upper-plant foliage.  Now that the next stage of production has begun with the blossoms, give plants another feeding that will enable fruit to form and enlarge and ripen.
• Continue watering deeply to enable roots to continue “chasing” the water downward to keep the plant well-supplied even through the very hot weather to come.  Watering shallowly (to only about 4 inches) may have seemed sufficient until this point, but once the heat comes, those shallow roots will bake and be unable to support the plant and its fruit.
• Don’t prune or remove tomato plant foliage.  Our area has dry air and breezes that provide good air circulation to keep diseases from settling on the plants, and our bright sun requires the foliage to protect tomato fruits from sunburn. 

​     After the mildest winter I can remember, and with considerably less rain than we’d like or are used to, we and our gardens are enjoying the lengthening amount of mild spring weather and looking very lush from that last big rain months ago.  Of course, the weeds are thriving as well, but mostly only in the pathways. 
 
Mulching My Pathways
     Last fall, I had had the advantage of helpful neighbors transferring their trees’ leaves to my pathways, so weeds came up earlier this spring only in the places where no leaves had settled.  Now that I’d pulled up those few weeds, I also pulled some too-vigorous one-foot-tall nasturtiums also in the pathways and placed them into the remaining open spaces in the pathways.  This mulching of my pathways will deter further germination of more weeds in coming seasons.  
 
Sowing Old Seeds
     I decided to grow cucumbers again this year, which I hadn’t done for several years because I had another source.  Consequently, my seed packets of some 10 varieties were 5 and more years old.  Because it was mid-March, I figured I’d get some minimal germination so it’d be worth the effort if I sowed seeds very thickly – about 12 seeds in each cage.  Now, a month later, I observed only 2 shoots, so tossed the remaining packets, purchased new seed and sowed about 6 seeds per cage.  With this 80-degree warmth, I expect more success!
     Same situation with my crookneck squash – tried the old seed but switched to new seed with several resulting plants.  I’ll sow more seeds in a month to have continuous harvests of a few squashes every week.  Don’t be disappointed if your first squash blooms shrivel and drop off – they’re probably the male flowers, which appear first.  The female flowers will appear a bit later and get pollinated then, forming their delicious fruits.  Be sure to pick them when they’re immature for best flavor.
 
Sowing Lettuce and Carrots
     With temperatures in the mid-70s to 80s, I’ve sowed what may be my last lettuce seeds and carrot seeds for this spring.  Unless the weather heats up suddenly, I should get a couple of months of salads and carrots before the plants bolt – go to seed.
 
Tomatoes Are Thriving
     Tomatoes are happily putting out foliage and blossoms.  But I’m removing every blossom until the plants reach the second rung of their cages, about 2 feet.  This is to force the plants to continue establishing their strong root systems instead of diverting their energy into making fruits. 
     I’m also making sure to water plants only once a week, both filling the planting holes and the buckets between each plant.  This forces the developing roots to reach down into the soil to follow the cool water, resulting in a deep root system that’ll support the plant when the hot weather comes.  If you water more frequently and shallowly now, the root systems will remain in the upper area of the soil which will get hot when the hot weather comes, and you’ll have to water every other day or so just to keep them alive.
 

      The University of California Master Gardener Program in Los Angeles County provides these resources following the horrendous fires.

I've also posted it under News.

For future reference, go to Web Links under "University of California Resources"


Backyard Produce

Guidance from UCCE’s North Bay Foods System Advisor: 
Is It Safe to Eat Backyard Produce in LA? 

Below are also some helpful handouts and a recording from the UC Master Gardener Program in Sonoma County that will answer questions surrounding backyard produce.  

• Produce Safety after a Fire
• Safety Tips for Local Food Growers During a Wildfire 
• Produce Safety after Urban Wildfire: Final Report

• Post Fire Food Safety Webinar
• Wildfire Impacts on Orchards

 
Soil/Soil Testing

UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles County does not perform soil testing, but the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has included a list of companies who perform soil testing on page 15 - 16 of their publication, Soil and Water Testing Guidelines for Home and Community Gardens.
 
Be sure to contact the soil testing company first, prior to visiting or shipping a soil sample, since you need to be sure that they test for the items you are concerned about. Also, your soil samples need to be taken according to their specifications to get the most accurate results.

• Safe Soils After Fires

• Contaminants in Soil After Fire
• Hold Your Ground: Mitigating the Effects of Fire on Your Soil

Other Topics

• Safety of Backyard Chicken Eggs Post Urban Wildfire
• Wildfires and Backyard Poultry Safety
• Sonoma County Fires Site Clearance & Testing
•  Human-Wildlife Interactions Post Fire

​

     Great Winds followed by Great Fires.  What a tragic start to the new year!  Friends have lost their homes and are feeling estranged from all they'd considered to be their regular everyday life.  Even those of us who didn't have to evacuate are permanently anxious and alarmed at the merest mention of Red Flag Alert and lack of rain.  Folks in "Impacted Areas" must rely on bottled water for all uses.  Gardeners are wondering whether they can eat the produce in their gardens, washed with bottled water or not.  We used to think of ash as somewhat of a fertilizer -- as in that third number on the fertilizer packages which indicated "potash".  Now our cars, inside and outside, are sprinkled with the white-and-black flecks.  And walking outdoors anywhere stirs up clouds of the lightweight stuff.  Wear N-95 masks, and don't even think of sweeping it up!  Even picking up branches stirs it up. 

     What to do?  How to deal with the garden?

     The University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program in Los Angeles County has provided an article, "Produce Safety After A Fire",  that has some suggestions.  It was produced by the  Sonoma County Master Gardener Program as a result of that county's own past mega fires.  I've posted it on the "News" page of my website =                    www.gardeninginla.net/news.html .

     As more information becomes available, I'll post it on my website's "News" page.

     In the meantime, do please enjoy the blooming and colorful plant that you observe, but don't breathe too deeply through your mask!

​

Happy, successful gardening is more likely when some major tenets are followed.  Here are some for you to apply.
 
Feed the Soil, not the plant
Create a broad soil base so plant roots can access rich soil wherever they choose to grow. Amend whole areas or containers.
 
Right plant, right place
Match plant needs with your garden spaces that will enable them to thrive.  Struggling plants are susceptible to pests and diseases.
 
Keep sowing and transplanting
With attention to differing variety choices, our mild weather throughout the year affords us to repeat sowing and transplanting for consecutive harvesting of edibles and ornamentals.
 
Space plants closely
Be aware of each plant’s mature spread, and plant so individual plant’s foliage will barely touch.  This enables shading of the soil to discourage sprouting weeds.
 
Choose appropriate watering tools
Match watering devices and plants so soil areas are moistened so plant roots can be satiated wherever they grow.
 
Water deeply
Be aware of differing plants’ root depths and water as deeply as each plant roots will grow.  Water only as frequently as needed to keep soil barely moist. 
 
Visit plants frequently
Monitoring how your garden grows enables you to catch and treat problems early, and to harvest at many stages to determine which timings you like the best.
 
 

NOTE:  My newsletter of individual-subject emails highlighting new postings on my website is on hiatus.  However, I'm continuing to update postings on the website, especially on the Events, Jobs, and News pages. So please do check in perhaps weekly for the newest items on those pages.  Refer to the Monthly Tips for what tasks and opportunities to explore in the garden.  See Major-Topic Blog Articles links in the column to the right.  And see the Archives on the Blog page for all past garden musings.  



I hope you enjoy these timely photos!

                              HAPPY HOLIDAYS!



​

​     NOTE:  My email newsletter of individual-subject emails highlighting new postings on my website is on hiatus.  However, I'm continuing to update postings on the website, especially on the Events, Jobs, and News pages. So please do check in perhaps weekly for the newest items on those pages.  Refer to the Monthly Tips for what tasks and opportunities to explore in the garden.  See Major-Topic Blog Articles links in the column to the right.  And see the Archives on the Blog page for all past garden musings.



For great ideas on decorating your holidays, see 

• Holiday Decor From Your Garden - 11/19/19

For more past blog discussions for Fall gardening, see the Archive listings on the Blog page.

For other topics that I've discussed over the years, use the Search Bar on the Blog page.

​NOTE:  My newsletter of individual-subject emails highlighting new postings on my website is on hiatus.  However, I'm continuing to update postings on the website, especially on the Events, Jobs, and News pages. So please do check in perhaps weekly for the newest items on those pages.  Refer to the Monthly Tips for what tasks and opportunities to explore in the garden.  See Major-Topic Blog Articles links on the homepage.  And see the Archives on this Blog page to the right for all past garden musings.

      Ack!  What a flip in weather - from mild-enough to resume seeding and transplanting in my previous blog on 8/28/24, to this 4-day burst of 105+ heat that's done its worst on my first-planted tomatoes which were barely hanging on from with only a few fruits from the July heat spell.  And the beans, fully leafed-out and 2 feet tall before the heat, were truly fried.
     This morning, the forecast for 2 more days of 105+ heat before a reprieve of "only" 93 degrees and then a true blessing of 85 and 80 degrees got me into the garden to check on the newest-planted tomatoes.  Thankfully, they're still green and perky.  I gave them another watering and look forward to their recouperating by this time next week.
     Ah, well.  As much energy and water as we expend in our lovely gardens, sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't.  Definitely time to move on to the cool-season garden.

Some thoughts on our perhaps-continuing heat, and what to do - and not do - from my Stressing Out In This Heat? - 7/24/23 blog:
 
If the heat spell continues

• Keep the soil moist but not wet throughout the entire root zone so that both moisture and air will always be sufficiently available when the plant roots need them.
• Keep shading devices installed.
• Don’t plant or transplant.  These activities are stressful enough for plants, without the additional heat stress issues.
• Don’t apply any chemicals for plant disease and insect issues, even soap or neem oil, when air temperatures are above 80 degrees.
• Do get rid of weeds, many of which do well during temperature extremes  and certainly do compete with garden plants for water and nutrients.

 
After the heat spell retreats

• Don’t prune or fertilize, as these activities stress the plant even more.
• Instead, allow plants to rebalance themselves in relief from the intense heat for several weeks.
• After a month or so, when you see that new growth has emerged and perhaps blossoming has resumed (once the air temperature is again consistently below about 85 degrees), then you can gently trim dead foliage without fear that you’ll stress the plant even more.
• Resume planting and transplanting.