Hardening Off and Digging In: A Joyful June Garden
June is upon us and the plant growth is almost exponential! This is the time of year when there aren’t enough hours in the day to garden even when the days are long. Don’t worry, my gardening friends! A little work in the garden in June goes a long way later in summer.
Once you narrow down what you would like to plant, make sure you have enough sunlight. Leaf lettuce and spinach can get by with as little as 4 hours of direct light a day. Most veggie crops like a good 6 hours of sunlight. Tomatoes and peppers need 8 hours to be at their best. I have a friend with a shady backyard. He uses containers on his sunny, warm driveway to grow his tomatoes and peppers. They thrive!
Hardening off plants that have been grown in a greenhouse is essential so that the plants adapt to being outside gradually. This process takes about a week. Expose your plants to an hour of direct sunlight the first day and gradually increase this time until they are used to direct sunlight for a whole day. Make sure you water them. They can be left outside at night if the temperatures are in the 50s or above, otherwise bring them in at night. This acclimation of direct sunlight and cooler night time temperatures is necessary for plant success. Try not to back them over with your car, forget about them, or let critters have their way with them. Yes, I have done all these things! Life is not a perfect science.
Providing adequate moisture is essential. Let those plant roots grow long and deep by watering, or getting rainfall, equivalent to about an inch per week. Daily watering is only necessary for transplants for the first week or two. Less frequent, deep watering allows the plants to develop a robust root system so that the plants can withstand summer drought. On a recent trip to France, we were told that it is illegal to water grape vines. By not watering, the roots grow deep within the limestone substrate. Your plants will appreciate less frequent, deep watering. When planting in pots, make sure you have good drainage. Can you plant in 5 gallon buckets? Sure! Just get out the drill and make a bunch of holes in the bottom.
What about soil? Adding compost and/or aged manure to garden beds will make for happy plants. Adding leaves to the garden is mimicking the process of soil building in a forest. Leaves also help with weed control between plants. In the fall, you can save bagged leaves and use them at this time of year. Some municipalities will deliver bagged leaves by the truckload to you if you don’t have enough of your own leaves. An ambitious gardener can turn these leaves into compost by adding water occasionally to the pile and turning them. The pile will heat up nicely and voila! You have your own leaf compost. And maybe you don’t have to go to the gym as often because it’s great exercise.
