June was very fickle, extremely hot (30 C is hot for us!), followed by storms (including one with golfball sized hail, that did considerable damage) and then clouds. Aside from the hail damage, which mostly affected the curcubits, the weather caused the fennel to prematurely bolt. I harvested it as soon as I noticed and salvaged some small still edible bulbs. The lettuce also had enough of the heat and sadly bolted before i could save it, so it all got composted. The new seedlings are still small, but will get planted soon. The peas that got pulled (they were mostly on the ground after the storm) will be replaced by bush beans.
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| bolting fennel |
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| bolting onions |
The celery hasn't put on much growth either and i wonder if it will be ready by fall at all. I can always make stock with the greens, and next year i think i need to fertilize more.
The kohlrabi was planted too close and is taking forever to size up.
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| currants ripening |
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| view from walkway: brassica and pea beds |
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| view from top of curcubits and nightshades |
Harvests:
Broccoli- main heads and side shoots, although i was really disappointed in one variety (calabrese- small heads and shoots, tendency to flower very soon). It will get one more shot in the fall before i pass final judgement on it's performance. Premium crop put out good main heads but the side shoots were small. Still on the lookout for the perfect broccoli, or perhaps they just need more space/fertilizer. The plants had worms at the end of the month, as i never covered them, so they got pulled and will be replaced by a fall crop in 2-3 weeks.
Cauliflower- one of the more exciting harvests! all 6 plants headed up, and would have been perfect had we not gone on vacation. The first 2 I managed to harvest at the perfect stage. the next 2 were on their way to bolting but still edible and the last 2 were sadly worm infested and had to be composted (wormy cauliflower smells awful!) note to self, skipping row cover on brasicas is not an option! i saw no noticeable difference in the 2 varieties planted, and i'll do another test with the fall crop.
savoy cabbage- had started to head up nicely with the worms hit. I quickly harvested and removed the outer damage portions, which left very very small heads. Also the plant was huge, compared to the size of the head. Many of our neighbors seem to have a variety with large heads and small surrounding foilage (which is better suited to a small garden) I wonder if they are removing outer leaves or it has something to do with nutrients. I'll have to ask
Beets- had only planted 12 and they were delicious. Such a satisfying crop to grow and i will definitely have to grow more next year. the direct seeded varieties were a bust, so transplanting it is next year
Fennel- bolted, but still was eaten. I will only plant after the summer solstice next year (or really early under cover)
Peas- both snap and shelling. The amount of shelling peas was perfect, and planting 3 varieties really extended the harvest for us. we had enough for a serving for 2 each week for about 5 weeks. The snap peas were also great, but i think we should plant fewer next year or pickle the excess because were pretty sick of them at the end of the month. Won't be growing the purple flowering Gigante again, becasue like the name says it grows tall and unwieldy and makes finding the pods difficult.
Lettuce- salads galore, can't complain at all. would love to have more varities to spice up our salad bowl next year and have to keep in mind to plant replacements sooner, because even the cut and come again varities bolted sooner than anticipated.
Currants- We harvest over 4 kilos of currants and the were eaten fresh, in cake and mousse and the rest were processed into syrup to add to drinks. The processing was a pain, but I am sure we will enjoy the bounty in the winter months.
I don't think I will ever buy mixed bulbs again. I previously stated that all the daffodils ended up being standard yellow and the Asiatic lilies turned out to be all yellow too. The gladiolus ended up being pink and yellow. I mean I like yellow, but i was hoping for more of a cheerful colorful mix and not a monotone view.
there were also all kinds of beetles eating away and procreating on the flowers. I let them be.
marigolds are lovely and carefree....need many more next year.
Plenty of self seeded weeds/flowers. (love the sunflowers and poppy, the others not so much)
Diseases/pests:
tiny strange beetles on brassicas. Bit annoying to wash off but not particularly damaging. spider web like residue on kohlrabi. black aphids on fava beans. Cabbage worms
Thankfully not too much slug or vole damage (knock on wood) Although the wild foxes seem to like using and freshly dug beds as toilets...
