July in the Garden

Photo by Tenley Nelson

“The Weeds have Won, But Who Cares?”

By Tenley Nelson- Wood Frog Farm

July was a really good month. The best of the year so far, perhaps. The weather has been warm and after our cold spring and cool and rainy June, there really is nothing better than feeling the warm air surround you when you step outside.

I was in Maine visiting family at the beginning of the month for a few days and Fairbanks at the end for five. Add a Mat-Su Valley town trip in the middle, time spent around the fire with friends, and a family wedding and that is a lot of time away from the homestead chores mid- summer.

The weeds took advantage and now I have been pulling copious amounts of shepherd’s purse, willows herb, and strawberry spinach as well as cutting down lambs quarter that is over two feet tall and more tree like than annual at this point. And of course, digging out the foxtail barley plants that seem to grow everywhere no matter how often I dig them up and haul them away.

There were so many aphids on everything and especially the lettuce in the first half of this summer and by the beginning of July the baby slugs were emerging. It can feel disheartening when pests find your garden habitat so enticing. The slugs are still here wreaking havoc, but the aphids have moved on.

Lately, I have noticed a huge amount of syrphid flies and lady beetles in the garden. Syrphid fly larvae eat aphids and so do the larvae and adult lady beetles. I am glad to see that nature provided the pest control.

If only something local would step up and start consuming these pesky nonnative, invasive slugs.

The wild raspberries and fireweed are thick in the honey berry perennial bed and yet that ended up being to my advantage. Last year nesting robins ate almost all the fruit before it was ripe. This year, perhaps due to the extra rain in June, I have had my best harvest.

The bushes are just coming into maturity (takes about 5 years of growth) and they are thick with berries this year. But they were not eaten by birds, and I think it was in part due to the “weeds” hiding them.

Honey berries can be quite tart if you pick them too early. They turn blue early, but it is the ones that look like a big lumpy potato that are completely ripe and the sweetest. I froze two gallons and we have eaten and shared far more. More are ripening now though the bulk of the harvest has passed.

I am very pleased with these bushes especially since they do not require attempts to acidify the soil like one has to for blueberries and they are hardy to zone 1. I have yet to see any winterkill on these bushes even on years of low snow cover.

The green beans have also been surprisingly prolific in my low tunnel. The plants are extra-large and covered in beans, and I have harvested 35 ½ pounds so far. If you had asked me in June, I would have said it would not be a bean year. I am happy to be wrong there!

The greenhouse has been pumping out cucumbers and the tomatoes and peppers are starting to ripen. Other successes in the outside garden have been garlic scapes, beets, summer squash, scallions, and a continuous supply of gorgeous lettuces.

I am thankful for these especially because I have also had many failures.

Usually, I can count on my brassica crops to pull through whether they have attention or not but this year one thing after another has thwarted their ability to thrive. I planted them at the bottom of the sloped garden where it is usually cool and shady on a “normal” summer. But it was waterlogged in June.

The horsetail I have been attempting to discourage on the west side of the garden grew back thick as ever, carpeting the beds. The slugs have been eating holes in the leaves. The plants went from healthy vigorous starts to yellowing, holey, sickly looking mid- season plants. Not much can be done except to learn from this year and hope not to repeat the same circumstances.

My strawberry plants that I ordered from Common Ground Farm in Big Lake, AK have been my other garden surprise success this year. While I picked up the plants in mid-May, they did not make it into the ground until mid-June. But I picked over a pound and a half of delicious ripe berries in the final days of July.

It has been a few years since I have had strawberries growing here, and nothing quite tastes like a freshly picked ripe berry warmed by the hotsummer sun. I hope these Honeoye will make it through our winter!

I have not been processing in earnest yet as I have sold (or eaten) most of what the garden has been producing but need to get going as this good weather will not last forever! The freezer will be a little empty this year without all the broccoli and cauliflower I usually put in there, but I am sure the harvest will even out in other ways.

In August, I am hoping to finally accomplish some of the projects I had planned for early summer dry weather, and I have plenty more weeding to do!

From my garden to yours I wish you a happy harvest season!

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