Weather — Sunny, low 78 and high 95.
The same old dog‑days heat dome where I am being very mindful of the heat advisories. Since I didn’t have any early‑morning spraying today, I was able to start a high‑intensity chore while it was still “coolish.”
I try to balance easy chores with hard ones, doing the energy‑zappers first, like today’s weeding with the weed whacker and loppers. My focus was the first row of tomatillos, the flower border along Rudy’s Radish Ranch (RRR), and the cage‑reduction area.
After I harvested in late June, they started to wilt, and that’s when I began neglecting that row. They never seemed to recover, and some are only barely alive. I’m giving them attention now, hoping that when the cooler weather arrives—maybe a month from now—they’ll perk up again. At least I got one harvest from them, though I wish it had been more.
Next year if I plant tomatillos, they really need to be planted where they get some shade. Knowing their behavior of wilting at heat, maybe next year I can do something different.
I still have a lot to do, like pulling the weeds around the tomatillos. On the flower row that borders RRR, where the Bocking 14 and shasta daisies are, I plan to plant four packets of calendula, since they handle cool weather and should bloom in fall, reseed in spring, and establish themselves as I add more seed packets in the spring to those areas.
The cage‑reduction area is coming along, and I’ll need to pull up the landscape fabric. I’m still deciding what to place the cages on so weeds won’t grow. When it’s finished, the area will include a new 3′ x 6′ dill bed next to the asparagus. I plan to wrap it up tomorrow and will need my step stool, since the new poles that will hold the cages are eight feet tall.
During my garden time, I set a timer for a 30‑minute hydration and snack break so I don’t overdo it. After I finished the weeding, I focused on laying cardboard boxes in the Back 40 wherever planting rows were exposed. I don’t want weeds overtaking the beds again as I get ready to plant cover crops — daikon radish, white mustard, and crimson clover.
With all the big chores out of the way that left watering the two Blue Lake pole bean raised beds and all the cucumbers. Last of course was picking the okra. As I left for home I stopped at the Learning Plot to check for the stink bugs and any eggs on the leaves.
Wouldn’t you know it — I saw Luanna at her plot and tried to show her the bugs and eggs, since she wanted to know if that’s what was on her squash plants too. I didn’t have any clusters of bronze eggs on the leaves, and the stink bugs were little stinkers playing hide and seek today. Go figure. I did have my bucket and soap in case I found any. This is the only way to deal with stink bugs.
Tomorrow I need to spray my copper fungicide and BT preventative. I apply them every 5–7 days at a light dose — 1 tablespoon of copper fungicide per gallon of water and 2 teaspoons of BT per gallon. After that, I’ll work on the cage‑reduction area, and if time allows, I’ll tackle the weeds in the tomatillo row.
Happy Gardening!