How Does Your Garden Grow?

What a difference a year makes! Last year we had a very early spring with warm (much warmer than normal) temperatures, followed by two nasty freezing cold weeks which adversely affected cool weather plants such as Rhubarb, followed by a lot of rain, followed by even higher temperatures (as in hot) and then no rain from July on. The summer was hot and dry.

And this year? We had a cold, very wet April and May. The weather forced many of us to delay soil preparation and planting. June did not start out with any banner days either. Are we getting warmer weather this week?

This year was especially cool and wet. We’ve had too much rain, too soon. The cooler than normal temperatures have caused problems and perhaps a lot of frustration. I think we are still almost a month behind. Our June weather (so far), is more like May; our May weather was more like April. If I am right, I am hereby going out on the limb and say that the summer will turn hotter (perhaps drier, but not as dry as last year), and that you will be harvesting some of your veggies in late September and perhaps as late as mid-October. Stay tuned.

I had problems with several vegetables and other plants this year. Did you? For example, I lost a Hosta variety (Spilt Milk). This is the first time I lost any Hosta. I had a very poor harvest from my Asparagus this year. My garlic plants are not as terrific as they have been in past years. It could be variety specific. For example, my Georgian Crystal variety is doing great; the other varieties not so much. My tried and true Music is poor; my Sicilian, German-X, Krasnador Red, and Armenian are fair to poor. My corn (popcorn) is up, but not doing much.

My tomatoes and peppers are doing reasonably well. However, though I planted them during the Memorial Day weekend, I had to use low tunnels and floating row covers to keep them warm and toasty. I plan to remove my row covers this week. The tomatoes in my containers are doing great. Containers and raised beds tend to warm up faster than a “regular” garden.

So what plants tend to benefit when it is cooler and wetter than normal? Cool and wet are relative, but generally I am having great success with a wide range of vegetables. My cool weather plants are doing well this year— Beets, Broccoli, Broccoli Raab, Cauliflower, Choy Sam, Kailan, Kale, Kohlrabi, Lettuces, Onions (both the sets and plants), Peas, Potatoes, Radicchio, Radishes, Spinach, Swiss Chard, and Turnips. Next year, consider some of these cool weather plants for your own garden.

My Rhubarb is growing like crazy. I did not eat any Rhubarb last year because the very cold weather allowed the oxalic acid in the leaves, which is poisonous and why you never eat Rhubarb leaves, to migrate into the stems. The stems had blotchy dark, black areas which are sure signs of this problem. This year? I have had several good cuttings with more to come.

Last year was a bit of a challenge. This year seems even more frustrating, especially if you are a beginning gardener, someone who has rented a plot in a community garden, and even a seasoned gardener who is used to starting your garden the first part of May and having it all in on or about June 1st. And if you think you are being overly challenged this year, think what the farm folks are going through. Same issues, only greatly magnified.

Be patient (what else can you do?). Finish your planting. You may be eating the fruits of your labor well into the fall. And when you look back on these past months you may even think that things were not so bad after all (well, perhaps you will think that).