Summer fun is in full swing, but the spring-like conditions continue giving us lots of rainy days. The moist soil is attracting the slugs as they have invaded our garden.

While weeding this month, I uncovered the top layer of soil to find a pile of white slugs. Ugh! Using the spade, I removed them from the garden and dug around looking for more to which I found none.

Finding it difficult to put out our slug repellant, as it needs a dry surface, I am ridding these pests one by one with the help of my daughter. In the June edition, I shared how she picks them up. So funny to me that my girly girl is not scared of bugs or creepy crawlies. 😉

With more growth happening during June, our garden changed in the following ways:

Strawberries

Much slower growth this month as our patch produced 4 strawberries. From last year’s garden, the strawberries mostly produced in May and again in September. I am waiting for our next burst in a few months.

Bell Peppers

Last year, our peppers took a long time to grow. This year, the plants already have buds, but the peppers will take weeks to grow.

Blackberries

Our plants are getting huge, so we added stakes to wrap the stalks around. One cluster of blackberries started out green and has turned to red. We are waiting for the fruit to turn black before picking them.

Blueberries

One of our plants had a small cluster of blueberries. We harvested the one that turned blue, but the two red ones were stolen by the birds before they fully ripened.

Cucumbers

My favorite plants are starting to sprout cucumbers. They are tiny, but we found out last year how quickly they can grow.

The other plants within our garden are growing with the green leaves healthy. In going on vacation in July, I’m a little nervous about the condition I’ll find the garden when we return. Last year, we lost a few plants, so we’ll see about this year.

In using time wisely, I love checking on our garden. We haven’t needed to water it much this summer, but the weeds are growing quickly.

Our garden is off to a great start. I am enjoying watching the progress each month as we grow our own fruits, herbs, and vegetables. Wishing you success in your garden this summer. Happy gardening!

Question: Have you lost any plants due to the rain this summer?