Whew….did you New Englander's survive last week's heat wave? My hat is off to our Southern friends who live in this weather more often than not. I can deal with the heat, but the humidity makes me feel like the Wicked Witch of the West….cranky and melting!
Since I have shown that I am not good with a regular Friday post, the garden reports will happen sometime on the weekend. 🙂
I LOVE garden greens but unfortunately they do not always like the heat, so I try to help them along. Because I had already spent a lot of money on tomato cages and soil prep this year, I didn't have extra money for hoops and covers. Being the good innovative Yankees that we are, Ken and I rigged up the tarp that you see above.
Putting the tarp up like this is giving the lettuce enough shade during the heat of the day and enough indirect sun for growing. If I know rain is coming or I am watering, I just peel it back and let it rest on the fence.
So far the lettuce crop has been wonderful and with the hot weather the aphids and slugs have stayed away for the most part…Yay! This batch of cut and come again lettuce unfortunately has seen it's last hurrah though. After I snapped this picture I cut them back hard. I will get one more small harvest and then I will pull out the plants.
Last week all of the butter crunch heads were harvested and I planted the new heat hardy Red Sails lettuce seedlings that I started in the house in their place. With tarp shading the hot midday sun they should do ok and start giving us more lettuce in a few weeks. I think that I will put some broccoli seeds in place of the lettuce that I will pull the middle of next week for a fall harvest. 🙂
Tomato plants thrive in this hot humid weather, but they also become very thirsty, so one of the things that I am trying this year is using soda bottles to water them a bit more evenly….kind of like drip irrigation.
It's so easy peasy! To do this just collect a few empty 2 liter bottles of water or soda, cut off the bottom third and then drill a few small holes in the cap. (Few and Small……ask me how I know…LOL)
I fill them up in the morning and then again later in the day if they are dry. In between I do use the overhead sprinkler late in the afternoon if the entire garden is looking a bit thirsty.
Another thing I have started doing is covering some of the plants with straw to help retain some of the moisture in the soil. I don't put a lot down because I don't want to encourage any fungus growth, but just enough to protect the roots of tomato and pepper plants from drying out too much…..
So far it seems to be paying off. I will admit though after loosing my entire crop of tomatoes last summer, I still worry daily about these babies, but at least for today they are looking healthy and happy.
One of the rewards of this week's heat and humidity in the garden was the blooming and aromas of this beautiful Stargazer. Such amazing beauty in this incredible Lily……
Until next weekend………….stay cool and stay green!
The Woolen Rabbit 
We should all don hats when the sun is hot why not the veggie garden. I use a couple of market umbrellas with posts I placed in the earth before it was planted. Works great too.
I’d say it is that Yankee ingenuity but being slightly north of you in Ontario it must come from my Massachusetts and New York ancestral roots.
Susan
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That tarp is very creative. You are doing far more work than I. But then your yields are better.
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Looks like a lot of work in the hot sun to me. You sound like you are enjoying it, though.
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I watered like mad- dragged the hose 100 yds to the raised beds and soaked them with regularity. My wand attachment is a godsend. Discovered a mole determined to dig in veggie garden boxes. One of my potato plants is yellowing…. I wonder if said mole has destroyed its roots or whether it’s an early variety and the plant is appropriately dying from the top. /Sigh.
Love your creativity with the tarp. I’ve done that with a hinged garden ladder and draped a bed sheet over it.
Beautiful stargazer!
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We’re used to the heat down here and we’re equipped to deal with it–everyone has air conditioning. Of course, we would not survive your winters, so that makes us even.
The garden is looking great! You’re on top of things with the tomatoes so I’m sure you’ll get a crop this year.
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Smith will love the idea of using soda bottles to water! We harvested the last of our lettuce and will plant again in a couple of weeks to take advantage of the cooler August nights.
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You have the most elegant looking garden! I live in an apt currently, so only pots of tomatoes and herbs on the balcony for now. However I hope to someday have a garden 1/2 as nice as yours!
BTW.. the plastic water bottles for irrigation is ingenious! I might try with smaller bottles for my potted plants.
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I also put a shade cover over my lettuce, and I’m trying to keep more planted throughout the year. This is the first year I’ve tried doing that.
I thought about planting broccoli seeds, but I don’t think I have enough time for harvest.
Just planted some bush beans yesterday where the peas were, though.
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Great garden update! The bottle-watering is a great idea. 🙂
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I love the soda bottle idea too! I will definitely try that out on my tomato plant (which is cursing the fact that I am gone at work through the midday sun and cannot top up its water). Your plants are so far along, too? When did you first plant them?
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After the last two cold wet summers, who’d have thought we’d ever be fighting off the sun? Love the parasol for the garden!
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Your garden looks like it’s doing very well. I love the tarp idea. I have even seen some gardeners that buy cheap umbrellas and put them in the garden. Crazy but it looks kind of cute. My lettuces bit the dust a while ago. The tomatoes are all trying to turn red at once to I have two things that I am doing with thme. I have been oven drying them with olive oil, garlic,and Italian seasonings. I am going to can the rest so I have tomtatoes during the winter months. I am going to plant green beans again here shortly. The heat finally got to them after 18 pounds of beans.
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I have a little garden place in my house. I planted plants and some vegetables. But it seems that it is not working well. I was thinking if I am going to do what you did in your garden will make my plants grows well.
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