Grower’s Checklist: July

It’s July when there’s often more to eat than we can keep up with harvesting.

It’s also troubleshooting time when stressors in the garden are reaching their peak. Heat stress, water stress, weed pressure, pests, disease, distraction. This is when you will see preparation work you’ve done (like building healthy soil, timing seasonal planting appropriately, or setting up a watering system that fits your schedule) pay off in more resilient plants.

July is a season for editing in the garden. I am planting new things all the time as gaps open up. Constantly pruning, deadheading, thinning, and removing plants that are in the way of others or simply done growing. Being mindful of what to do with all the compost coming out of each client’s garden: whether it stays on site, goes to my chickens, or even into a burn pile or landfill if it’s a problematic ingredient (like an invasive species gone to seed or diseased plant material) that might come back to haunt us in the compost.

Not sure how to tell when a crop is ready? Go harvest some to find out! Yank a few garlic bulbs to see what condition they’re in underground. Dig up a potato plant. Taste a tiny carrot. Try zucchini at a few different sizes. Cook the whole onion, leaves and all. Test what pepper color you like best. Better to try one too soon than wait in fear and miss them at their best.

• Who has time or energy for preparation work in July? Give yourself a break.

• Make space to cure garlic inside. Same for any other crops you plan to store in your pantry or freezer.

• Get materials together for fall succession planting:

  • Compost to amend beds.

  • Source seeds and plants.

  • Any row covers you plan to use (e.g. for managing brassica pests)

• Direct sow:

  • Succession plant beans, cucumbers, summer squash and zucchini.

  • Carrots, beets, radishes, dill, cilantro, baby lettuce, arugula (in small frequent batches for a continuous supply of these crops that prefer cool weather).

    • Many of these can be interplanted anywhere you have an opening in the garden.

• Transplant:

  • Head lettuces. Ideally heat tolerant varieties.

  • Another succession of basil so you have plenty when your tomatoes come in. Also for pesto when your garlic is cured a few weeks from now!

• Keep labeling what you plant.

• Wait to plant fall crops that won’t tolerate mid-summer heat:

  • Spinach

  • Chicories (radicchio, endive, escarole, dandelion greens)

  • Brassicas-unless you select heat-tolerant varieties, or your garden gets some shade.

• Water daily (unless there’s rain) and give your plants a nice deep soak once a week, especially fruiting crops. Try to water in the early morning to avoid fungal disease and set your plants up for a productive day of photosynthesis.

  • An exception: avoid watering garlic in the final weeks before harvest to prevent rot, help the layers of papery bulb wrapping dry intact, and concentrate flavor. A dry garlic bed makes harvesting and cleaning easer, and can help improve shelf life if you’re storing your harvest.

    • And if your irrigation system isn’t set up to water garlic separately, don’t worry about it! Just keep an eye on your plants and perhaps harvest them on the earlier side.

• Keep up with weeding, always trying to get weeds before they go to seed.

• Watch for signs of bolting in arugula, spinach, lettuce, cilantro, and dill. Take them out when they’re done and don’t taste good anymore. You can put something else there and sow more anytime, anywhere during planting season.

  • Leaving some plants to flower for pollinators is an option when you have space.

• Prune and trellis tomatoes and cucumbers often, aiming for at least once a week.

• Fertilize heavy feeders like brassicas, squash, and tomatoes if you notice slow growth or pale foliage.

• Hill potatoes.

• Maintain basil by clipping often to avoid flowering. Cutting right above a pair of leaf nodes encourages new growth

• Monitor for pests and disease and intervene carefully.

• Remove diseased or damaged leaves.

• Deadhead your flowers.

Looking for help in your garden? Find out more about services and request a consultation on our website.

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• Basil

• Beans

• Beets

• Carrots

• Chicories

• Cucumbers

• Eggplant

• Kale

• Kohlrabi

• Leeks

• Melons

• Mustard greens

• Onions

• Peppers

• Potatoes

• Radishes

• Rhubarb

• Salad greens

• Scallions

• Summer squash and zucchini

• Swiss chard

• Herbs. Cut often to prevent flowering (for best flavor and texture) and encourage new growth.

• Peaches

• Blueberries

• Raspberries

• Garlic - harvest when 30-50% of the leaves are brown. Hang stalks in a cool dry place to cure at least 2 weeks for storage. Softneck garlic can be braided.

• Pick the last spring peas as plants stop flowering in summer heat.

• First tomatoes

Hooray for summer!

Faren