Late summer brings an early harvest. Suddenly our little garden is growing out of control, giving us small, daily gifts of salad and berries.
August Garden Protecting the Harvest
I’m not the only one who notices raspberries in my garden. The robins seem to find one in ten berries, and I’m fine with that ratio.
I’m not, however, fine with the snails eating my lettuce and kale. Most of my time this past month has been spent on snail patrol.
Because I really am not much of a cultivator, I assumed my garden would go wild. This month is the proof that neglect can still result in an explosion of green. This is why I am convinced that you can grow a garden, too. Other than putting a couple of plants and seeds into the ground, I haven’t done much. Nevertheless, look what abundant my garden brings.
I love the architectural feel of our garden. The hops are the pillars; the grapes and berries are the canopy; and the tomatoes are the overwhelmingly dominant presence at ground level. They all frame the lettuce and kale, which we are eating regularly.
Harvest so far has given:
- about 2 dozen raspberries
- kale for dinner twice
- 4 big salads
Coming up I see:
- more raspberries
- many blackberries starting to develop
- grape leaves for dolmathes (though, sadly, no grapes again this year)
- more kale
- more lettuce, if I can fight off the snails
- a few dozen tomatoes
- possibly a few chili peppers
Out of the photo in another very small patch we also have cucumbers, zucchini, and summer squash that are all growing well.
Tomatoes are taking over. They are so heavy that they are pulling down their wire frames. If I were a better gardener, I would probably be keeping them under control, but I’m curious to see what they do on their own. Under that mass of tomato growth I am finally seeing fruit. Tomatoes won’t grow in extreme heat, and much of the past month has been over 100 degree Fahrenheit for us. Our recent cooler weather (80s and 90s) gives the tomatoes the signal to set fruit.
Most important, since this garden is supposed to be about hops, we have little hop flowers. It does look like my husband will have hops this year.
Supports. If you built physical supports for the heaviest of your plants, they may still need more support this month. We’ve continued to guide grapes and hops along the wires we set up for structure.
Goal: adjust to the changing needs of your plants
Pests. Check for pests. I have snails. Rather than leaving snail traps (beer in lids works well, but I don’t want to deal with a beer swimming pool full of dead snails), I just pick them off and toss them far away. Depending on what you find, you can probably find a non-chemical way to either rid your garden of pests or share your garden with them (as I’ve decided to do with the robins).
Goal: find your own balance in sharing the garden space
Total Cost So Far
- String – $0 (on hand)
- Tomato cages – $3 for 2
- Total for August – $0 (nada!)
- Total for July – $3.00 (supports)
- Total for June – $16.50 (plants)
- Total for May – $34.00 (manure, top soil, peat moss)
- Total for April – $18.00 (hops)
- Total for the year – $71.50
Total Time So Far
Obviously, gardening takes a lot more time up front than it does during the height of the summer. Right now, the plants are doing all of the work
- Pest patrol – 20 minutes
- Building supports – 10 minutes
- Shopping – 1 hour
- Digging & planting – 30 minutes
- Previous time spent (research, prep, building raised bed, digging) – 9 hours
- Total so far = 11 hours
I cruise my garden daily, but it doesn’t need me much at this point. Most of my garden time is spent on pest control, but your garden may need different care—water, stronger supports, more vigorous pest control. You can probably still get away with a lot less than 30 minutes in the garden this month.
- Pest control – 20 minutes
- Harvest – 5 minutes
- Gaze – 5 minutes
The Tomato Takeover
This is meant to be a hop garden, but the tomatoes are asserting themselves. The tomatoes were added at the last-minute when one of the hops didn’t grow this year. Next year we will have a third hop plant where the tomatoes are now.
