A Walk Through Our Mid-Summer Garden

Here in Indiana, we’ve had one of the hottest, driest summers I can remember. I probably say that every year come August, but it truly feels that way this season! Weeks on top of weeks of temperatures in the high 80s and 90s with little rain or relief. I can’t even begin to explain how excited I was late last week, when we finally got a downpour that lasted more than five minutes. And in more recent days, we’ve gotten even more rain and a break from the high temperatures and I can tell it’s been just as beneficial for our plants as it has for us!

The heat has certainly done a number on our garden—in some ways beneficial, in others, not so much.

Most of my herbs have been suffering, aside from a few like the basil, rosemary, and mint. I’ve been trying to perfect the amount of watering I do, and moving them back and forth between full sun and shade, but nothing seems to make them happy this year. They either flourish or bolt and then immediately dry up and die. There is no in between!

Our bell peppers and eggplant were a little slow to take off, but have just started producing over the last week or two. We’ve been harvesting loads of cucumber, tomatoes, and zucchini for the past month, and I’ve been trying to find the motivation to start preserving all the excess. I see a few weekends of canning in my immediate future!

We’ve also got lots of green beans, kale, cauliflower, and potatoes. This is my first successful attempt at growing potatoes, believe it or not! As easy as they are, I just never had them in the right spot in our garden beds, I guess. I tried them in a container this year and they took off right away.

Jeremy’s hops are finally starting to take off and have been a lot of fun to watch and help trail. As we were putting up a trellis of sorts, we accidentally stepped on one so much that it completely crumpled and wilted, but thankfully it’s come back stronger than before! The more we read about growing hops, the more we’re learning that they’ll likely flourish more as the years go on.

I also decided to fill our main back bed with cutting flowers, most of which are also edible! Those have been thriving and I love that from one week to the next, the variety is a bit different than the last as some have been cut and new ones take their place.

We’re also going to have some massive sunflowers! I used a mixed variety and thought they were going to be mostly mid-sized but must have misread the packet somehow because they’re easily ten feet tall already and are only just now starting to form the blooms on top!

I’ve also noticed more weeds this year than I’ve ever dealt with before, including many varieties that have never popped up in the past. I’m not sure if it’s the heat, the soil I used, something creeping in from outside the fence line or what, but they’ve been just awful and I’m pulling nearly everyday rather than once a week like in summers past. I even got an ugly case of poison ivy a few weeks ago which I haven’t dealt with since I was a teenager! Anyone else noticing far more weeds cropping up in your yards or gardens this year?

We’re definitely at the point in the year when I’m feeling a bit over watering and tending to the garden sometimes twice a day, and nearing the point of letting it get to be a real jungle, but I’ve promised myself to not give into that urge—for a few more weeks, at least!

I always look forward to August, when I’m able to start replacing some plants that are on their way out with a second round of seeds that will be ready to harvest in the autumn! I’m still deciding what I want to try this year, but am thinking another round of potatoes, some Brussels sprouts, turnips, broccoli, and carrots. We’ll see!