The Modern Victory Garden

It’s not exactly “hot” with high temperatures of mid to upper 70’s, but it is warm and dry and I’ll take it!   The forecast for the next many days is for more of the same.   The change in the garden that has resulted from this modest warm up is rather impressive.   It’s truly amazing what just a little heat can do for the summer garden.   It’s hard to realize how important it is until you go for long periods of time at record setting cool temperatures and see first hand how plants generally just stop growing.   Luckily, we are catching a break and the zucchini, cucumbers, and pumpkins are finally putting some growth on.   The melons and the butternut squash are too, but I fear they are just too little and this recent growth is too late to have any hope of producing anything before the cold rains of fall arrive.   The pumpkins are questionable but possible since they are running well and setting fruit.   The zucchini and cucumbers are not a problem as they will start producing and just keep going for weeks to come.   The zucchini plants in particular have really woken up over the past few days.   There are a couple of squash forming on the plants and I should be able to pick the first ones of the season in just a day or so.   Here is one of the zucchini plants.                            

Reaching out to it from the front right is some of the sugar pie pumpkin vines.                       

While the warm and dry spell is appreciated, it does mean I have to work harder at keeping the garden beds and container grown plants all properly hydrated.   Since returning from my trip to Pennsylvania, I have been cycling through the garden zones on a daily basis - watering.   I use a variety of watering methods in my garden.   Some areas are hand watered using a water wand connected to a garden hose or a large watering can that has been filled from our rain barrels.   I use the hand watering method for all the container grown plants, newly planted seed beds, and small bed areas where any other form of irrigation would just be overkill.   I use soaker hoses for the tomato patch and for several of the planting areas that have bush fruits and berries.   The last method I employ is to use overhead sprinklers.   I am careful not to use overhead sprinkling on plants that are best not wetted (like tomatoes).   My personal preference is for spray style sprinklers that provide a more thorough soaking.   I have a very nice copper and brass sprinkler mounted on a tall post that places the spray head well above the plant foliage and covers a rather substantial amount of area.   In addition, I have assembled my own spray style sprinkler for use in my narrow garden beds (2 feet wide).   I found that the rectangular sprinklers available for sale just covered too broad of an area rather than a narrow strip of garden.   I built this from a few purchased parts several years ago and it has given me great utility.                           

The sprinkler itself is just a hand watering sprayer attachment that I affixed to a “push in” base for sprinklers.   If I cannot find something that does the job I need doing, I will create what I need using items that are readily available.   This particular configuration provides a narrow and long spray pattern which is perfect for my long and narrow vertical grow beds.                        

About a month ago, my husband moved two half-whiskey barrels planted up with strawberries from a shady area in our front landscaping area to the garden.   They were not thriving in their old location and these container-grown strawberries have really perked up with the good sun exposure they now enjoy and the warm up in temperatures.    We have been picking a few odds and ends berries from these plants for about a week now.   They never make it into the harvest totals because they get eaten before we ever reach the house.                               

This little warm up in the garden is much-needed this year even though it means more work for me ultimately – both in watering chores, and in increased harvesting demands.   Bring it on!                              

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener