By Andrew Harris
Please excuse the tardiness this week as I was forced to
retreat into the waters of Cuba Lake to avoid the wretched heat. While doing a little farm-chef work in
Buffalo on Thursday it was 101 on the city streets!!
The heat wave marks a shift into what I call the ‘second
season’ within the summer growing: Many of the crops we planted in May are
maturing and being harvested, more importantly, this is the time to PLANT
MORE!! The remainder of summer and
autumn provide lots of time grow a second crop of the appropriate vegetables or
flowers.
When I say a ‘appropriate’, that is in relation to sunlight
and the sad fact that our days will very soon start becoming shorter. The second planting is most successful with
crops that will be harvested in October.
Greens like spinach, kale, arugala, lettuces are some of the most
logical but don’t forget about late root crops.
Putting carrots, beets, turnips, squash, radishes, or kohlrabi in the
garden now can provide some great Thanksgiving dinner turnouts. If you visit garden centers now you will find
started plants at discounts…. Just don’t waste your time and water on the
sub-tropicals like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, or any fruit crops for that
matter.
The vegetable garden at The Fassett Greenspace has a load of
stuff ready for harvest and everything is now labeled with these fancy plant
signs!!
Peas: please peas please go pick these today!! This crop will start to ‘turn’ quickly if
they are not harvested.
Swiss Chard: you will
find some picture perfect chard in the garden, it keeps growing if you cut off
the larger leaves.
Celery: a massive
stand of celery is ready for you to harvest liberally. Its so much better than
the store-bought cardboard variety….
Take extra, share with a friend as this crop will start to bolt shortly.
Zucchini: These
plants are massive and loaded with baby ‘zukes’, which is the only way to eat
them. The more that are harvested, the
more the plant produces….
Beans: Near the
zucchini, within the “3 Sisters” plantings you will find plenty of green bush
beans.
Peppers: Some of the
first hot peppers are ready to be picked…. I noticed banana, jalapeno, and
cubanelle that were ready to pick.
Onions: This stand of
mixed onions are going to flower now so they must be harvested. Remember you can eat the flowers/bulbs!!!
Herbs: I just can’t stress enough how amazing this herb
garden is! In a very small space, that
inner circle is packed with so much flavor.
Just go walk around it and sample the flavors…lemongrass, mints, basils,
rosemary, sage…. Much more. Bring your
scissors and get some extra to dry out and preserve.
If you can’t make it down to the community garden on Main
Street tell a friend about it. Anyone
can enjoy the garden and harvest the crops in a gentle and sensible
manner.
