An uncharacteristically cool May has faded into a suspiciously pleasant June here in the Sacramento Valley. While we have had a handful days with high temperatures in 90s, the weather has mostly been sunshine and temps in the 70s and 80s. These unusual conditions have been perfect for the garden and with few exceptions, all plants are thriving. Here’s a few highlights of what’s going on in the garden as of late June 2023.
Tomatoes
Most of our tomato plants are currently loaded with fruits that are just beginning to ripen. Our San Marzanos, Cherokee purples and Rio Grandes are currently heavily laden and I expect to have a steady supply of ripe tomatoes within the next few weeks.
The big surprise in terms of tomatoes is the three Oroma plants that survived to transplant. I honestly did not expect these plants to make it as throughout their lifespan they have looked, for lack of a better term, weepy and unhealthy. Somehow, these plants became absolutely loaded with tomatoes. Plant per plant, they are vastly out-producing our other determinate sauce tomato variety, Rio Grande, and the Rio Grandes are no slouches in terms of production.
Unfortunately, one of the Oroma plants is suffering from blossom end rot and It’s looking like approximately a third of the fruit on that particular plant will have to be discarded. I’m pulling the affected fruits as soon as I see them so resources aren’t allocated to ultimately inedible fruits.
Our two black cherry tomato plants were unfortunately affected by an as of yet unidentified malady. Starting from the bottom up, the leaves began developing a wilt that began with a purplish colored pattern along the central veins of the leaf, eventually resulting in the loss of an the branch.
In spite of extensive internet research, I was unable to identify the root cause of the affliction. As a precaution, I dosed the plants with a copper fungicide and stripped most of the branches off each plant save for a tuft of unaffected foliage at the very top of each vine. The plants are still alive and whatever affected the leaves is not affecting fruit or stems. Several healthy fruit clusters are ripening as I type this.
I do think I made the wrong call by pruning our indeterminate cherry tomatoes down to two stems. While the extreme pruning makes for a more manageable plant, I think production will be significantly reduced. One of the appeals of a cherry tomato plant is having a steady supply of tomatoes for salads etc. that lasts the entire season. I don’t foresee this happening for my pruned cherries. This is definitely a live and learn scenario.
Peppers
In spite of looking absolutely awful (yellow and sickly) at the time of transplant in mid-April, our bell and hot peppers are all doing great. The bell, Serrano, cayenne, and jalapeño plants are all forming healthy fruits while the Thai chili and ghost pepper plants have formed an abundance of blossoms.
Cucumbers
Since the last update, the Armenian cucumber bed really took off with vines already growing taller than their trellis. We have already harvested 2.5 pounds of mature fruits which were made into dill pickles and salads. Many more healthy fruits are still developing on the vine.
The Boston pickling cucumbers are a little slower growing, but have so far produced three textbook perfect fruits that were quickly processed into dill pickles.
Winter squash
Our three golden nugget squash plants are well underway with 10-12 baseball to softball sized squash currently maturing between them. Interestingly, while golden nugget squash are advertised as a bush variety, each plant has sprouted one long vine that necessitated the addition of a stake and rope for additional support. Male and female flowers are forming along these vines which has my hopes up for additional production. These little squash are some of my favorites in terms of flavor and texture and are perfect for roasting and stuffing with Italian sausage and Parmesan cheese.
Our Seminole pumpkin plants have begun to overgrow the corral I made for them and I’ve been regularly “training” the vines to grow along their trellis instead to spilling out into the rest of the garden and overtaking everything else. This is just a matter of gently weaving the vines among the ropes and at times tying them directly to the structure.
I am somewhat concerned the Seminole pumpkin plants might be receiving too much nitrogen and not enough phosphorus and potassium. The foliage is impressive but no blossoms have yet emerged. In response, I’ve begun a fertilization regimen involving Alaska Moorbloom 0-10-10 liquid fertilizer. This fertilizer has no nitrogen and relatively high phosphorus and potassium numbers. Hopefully this will give the plants the jolt they need to blossom and set fruit.
Potatoes
Of all the crops mentioned in this article, I’m currently most excited about our potatoes. During most years, there have been enough long stretches with high temperatures in the 90s and 100s to halt the tuber production of most potato plants. Any potatoes that survive into mid to late June are usually on death’s door.
This year, however, our cool spring has helped keep our potato plants alive and healthy. Most of our varieties (Bellantina, Red Lasoda, and Sifra) were planted in March and will hopefully get another month or so to grow nice big tubers before the vines die. One planter of Yukon gold potatoes (which was started in January) has already been harvested, yielding more than 11 pounds of some of the best tasting potatoes I’ve ever eaten. I’m not usually one to count my chickens before they hatch, but it’s currently looking like our best ever potato harvest will occur this year.
While our cool, wet spring delayed planting by about two weeks, the pleasant, mild, and sunny conditions that held throughout May and June seem to have given all plants a chance to mature and grow strong ahead of any hot temperatures that are bound to occur later this summer.