Square Foot Gardening Tips: June

In May we told you about vertical gardening and in June you can already witness it in action right before your very eyes. Tomatoes are the teenagers of the garden and they need guidance. Mel and I suggest that you check on them weekly and sometimes you may have to move them and encourage them to grow up and intertwine them in the vertical support.

You may also see your peppers and eggplants, which are already growing to be substantial. You must be mindful of them since when the subtle wind and light rain of June can come and potentially knock the whole bush down.

The way to support these vegetables without old-fashioned staking is to use the same nylon netting that you already used and set it up horizontally. You can still pull the fruit through with ease. You would set this horizontal netting about 12” off the ground. As they grow go up another12” until your whole plant is supported; just in time for them to start fruiting.

The other thing that I wanted to share with you is that in June, your Basil plants are already thriving. And once you clip off some, two little new leaves will appear. Basil is a very prolific herb.  I do want to warn you about one thing…The day I asked my daughter to bring in some Basil from the garden, instead of clipping off some leaves, she brought me the whole plant. Remember, Basil continues to grow even when some leaves are removed! Harvest your basil often, but don’t pull out the whole plant.  Continue to let them grow through out the summer and harvest again and again.

Here’s a great June party idea:

Next time you have some friends over. Let each of them grab a salad bowl and let them pick their own individual salads out of your garden. It’s fun and a really good way to teach your friends and neighbors how to get around a garden.  If Mel and I have anything to do with it, someday, everyone will have their own garden. And it would have all started with you.

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