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?   

Thinking we should have planted watermelon as our garden is drowning with the abundance of water this summer. We took a 2-week vacation to Florida and returned to a water-logged garden that seems to have kept our neighborhood Peter Rabbit safe.

I had seen this rabbit in our backyard, but the garden had been tightly wrapped to keep him out. Apparently, he found out we were out of town and chewed or ripped the netting to get into the garden. He then dug himself a hole and found safety.

When we returned, our oregano plant had been uprooted to make room for the hole, and many of the plants had died – either from the water or from the rabbit’s activities. I spent some time clearing out the debris and fixing the hole.

After the July incidents, our garden has evolved into mini-wetlands with the following changes:

Strawberries

We harvested 9 strawberries before leaving on our trip. These strawberry plants are surviving the moist conditions. I cut off the damaged leaves and the remaining stubs from the rabbit’s meals.

Bell Peppers

One pepper is developing well. The rest of the pepper plants have buds all over them ready to sprout.

Eggplant

The purple flowers have bloomed. Waiting to see how the vegetable grows as this is our first year planting eggplant.

Blackberries

The little clusters were still red when we left. Paul checked them when he got back, and they were almost black. The next day, he went to check, and they had been eaten. So, no more blackberries on the vine.

Squash

The bright yellow flowers have grown with the squash in the middle. Waiting to see how this plant grows as well. We are down to one squash plant from the 8 we planted.

Tomatoes

Growth has begun, and a few green tomatoes are on the vine.

Cucumbers

These plants are down to one remaining. The stalk looked weak, so I planted it deeper into the garden and am watching it closely. The little cucumbers are still on the branches.

Oregano

Mostly dead with a little green. We’ll see if it revives or dies. (See bottom right corner of garden. The rabbit’s hole was directly behind the oregano.)

Though our garden is less full than our June increase, we have some growth. The parsley (bottom left corner) is doing well and the zucchini plant (right side behind the oregano) is hanging in there. I’m thankful that at least one of each kind of plant survived the time we were away.

Our garden is an experiment. We usually don’t get it right the first time, but the process is teaching us about nature. In using time wisely, we are harvesting a few items and sharing others with sneaky rabbits. I have since mended the garden hole to keep hungry animals out. Happy learning!

Question: What are you growing that loves the extra water this summer?