The Summer Garden Diary
An examination of a late
planting
July 20, 2009
A week by week
look at a late
planting
The planting came late this year - who knows why, for the
reason why does not matter - suffice it to say it was the
first week of June that I planted four small tomato plants,
three squash plants and watermelon and corn seeds.







The corn did not sprout (it was two year old seed, and not a
single one came up), so it was resowed about three weeks
later, in the last week of June.

Below you can see the corn as of 7-20-09; it sprouted about
two weeks ago and is now about 8" high.
The watermelon (on the left below) was planted from
seed - all the pictures here were taken on the 20th except
for the small tomato (at the top of page) - that is the size
it was the first week of June. The squash, peppers and
Roma tomatoes were in four inch pots. The squash had 4
- 5 leaves per plant and were about four inches high at
planting. The tomatoes, bell peppers, squash and
watermelon seeds were all planted the same day in June.
As you can see, the squash and the watermelon have
made excellent progress, and are both forming nice
amounts of product!
I am going to have a lot of watermelon and squash - out of
three plants I already have more than a dozen squash
forming with more flowers in the early budding stage, and
so many watermelons I shall have to thin them out for
proper growth, probably to four per vine. I am directing
the vines along a strong east and west axis, and directing
some of the vines between the squash and pepper plants.
Roma at 7-20,
planted 6-7

Lastly, I planted seeds for cucumbers (below left), garden (or green)
beans (below right), as well as spinach, thyme and a basil. As you
can see, as of the 20th the cucumbers and green beans are sprouting
nicely - as I type this in the spices and spinach are still not
sprouting, but I expect to see them both in the next few days. I
know the basil is iffy, I have had marginal luck with that plant
outside


The Summer Garden Diary

I got to wondering this year, for some reason, what happened to people who depended on early
crops if something happened to keep them from planting as early as they usually do - the list of
possible reasons is as large as your own imagination, from a natural disaster to incursions by
unfriendly peoples to personal tragedies.

So how would they have fared? I planted late this year, in the early parts of June  - long after
growing season would normally begin. But I have the luxury of grocery stores, and people in the
past would only have the luxury of what was left over from last year in the barn before it went bad.

A lot of the plants are doing well; the squash, the watermelon and the tomatoes are all taking good
root now after having been planted in early June instead of 2 months previous.

But while the tomatoes are not as big as they should be they are at least growing the fruits of their
branches - the other plants are all a ways off. What would people in the past be living on? They
would have always hunted, of course - they would also be looking at such plants as the wild leek or
the cattail, the ostrich fern or the juneberry.

All these plants will be added to the database in the next week, and the plants which I have placed
in the ground will be tracked. You can see the squash and the watermelon above; I have also
planted corn in the first week of July, which is now poking its head from the ground, and beans,
spinach and cucumbers which have not yet germinated. I will track all of them in the coming weeks
and months, and we shall see what a late planting can accomplish.

Think for a moment, though, what it would actually be like to have to live off of your garden -how
big it would have to be, how much you would have to have stored from the previous year even if
there wasn't an emergency that necessitated late planting.

Even now, in the depths of July it is not to late, especially in the southern lands where the sun is
long and the cold nights far off - plant flowers or a veggie in a pot, and think with wonder about the
world which gives us all life.