June 24th Garden Tour: Summer Raised Beds Update

Welcome back to my second raised bed vegetable garden tour of the season! It's June 24th, and today I'll be walking you through the latest updates in my summer raised bed garden. Let's dive into what's happening this week:
00:01 Welcome to the Garden
00:15 Harvesting beautiful big slicers and cherry tomatoes
00:28 Eggplant starting to flower and fruit
00:33 Updates on the winter squash trellis and its rapid growth
00:53 Borage feeding the pollinators
01:02 The importance of water in the garden during hot and dry conditions
01:44 Tips on managing indeterminate tomato vines and using rubber-coated wire for support
02:45 How to handle and identify bacterial wilt in tomatoes
03:07 Using dedicated red tub trugs for diseased foliage to keep things organized.
04:38 Late season peas
04:55 Training winter squash with velcro ties.
05:51 Flower and pollination activity in the garden.
05:54 Removing diseased foliage and maintaining plant health.
08:08 How to ensure your plants stay hydrated even during dry spells.
08:17 The importance of good soil, compost additions, and mulching with semi-composted shredded leaves.
Join me as I share valuable tips, lessons, and insights to help you navigate the summer gardening season.
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Thank you for watching, and happy gardening! 🌿
Products Seen in This Video:
Red Tub Trugs for collection of diseased foliage: amzn.to/3VFszoc
Rubber-coated Soft Ties wire for managing unruly tomatoes: amzn.to/3XJADa2
Velcro ties for training squash vines: amzn.to/4ckwDBG
Find more of my favorite gardening products in my Amazon shop at www.joegardener.com/Amazon
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[@NicoleSmithGardening]

Love these tours! 💚

[@joegardenerTV]

So glad! Thanks.

[@PennyFarmer-w8g]

I finally get time to trim my tomatoes early in the morning. I will watch for my tomatoes to get any fungus. Thank you for showing the one you are going to take out.

[@joegardenerTV]

You’re welcome. Good luck with your pruning. 👍

[@SallysBackyard]

Love the tours! Thanks for showing the good and bad. Very helpful. 😊

[@joegardenerTV]

Absolutely. Mother Nature always has the upper hand. I just try to give her a run for her money. 👍

[@NicoleSmithGardening]

Love the idea of the Velcro ties! Thanks for that tip. Great tour 😊

[@joegardenerTV]

Glad it was helpful!

[@helenmcclellan452]

Thank you for the great tips (red containers, water for the birds, velcro ties, etc.). The garden looks great!!!

[@joegardenerTV]

You’re welcome. Thanks for the good words. 🙌

[@thedivide3688]

Garlic finished a month early for us here in the PNW. It's been cooler this year...Tomatoes are limping along waiting for warmer days.

[@joegardenerTV]

And that’s what keeps us on our toes and gardening always stays interesting…as we go a little crazier from it all every year! 🤪😂

[@bettyjorodgers8552]

Thank you.

[@joegardenerTV]

You're welcome!

[@EirlysMcLachlan]

Those velcro ties are one of my favorite things! And it's great that they're reusable too. I'm just north of you with heat and no rain as well, and I'm doing my best to keep water out for the birds and deer, etc, every day.

[@joegardenerTV]

Yes!! I’ve been using those same strips for years!! Love them. And you’re right about the heat and water. It’s been years since it was this bad! 😠

[@bethlindauer7109]

Your garden is thriving despite the heat and no rain, we are having the same heat with humidity here in southern Indiana, which is a challenge. I will use your method to help control diseases, thanks for all the tips!

[@joegardenerTV]

You are very welcome. What I’m doing anyone can do to help grow a thriving garden to weather the heat and lack of rain. Healthy soil, mulch, and deep but infrequent watering are three of the main things I know make a big difference, especially during times like this! 👍

[@JanieH10]

I never thought about having extra water in my garden so the birds may be less likely to peck at my fruits/veggies. Great tip! Thank you Joe!

[@joegardenerTV]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tammywithheld7480]

Always inspirational!

[@joegardenerTV]

Thank you!! 🙏

[@tonysmith7632]

Your garden and cat look happy. Thank you for the inspirational content!

[@joegardenerTV]

Thanks. I think they are indeed.

[@gmansecond4103]

I cut out the disease foilage every time we go out in the garden. It might only be a few leaves at the bottom. But, believe it or not, it really helps keep the blight down.

[@joegardenerTV]

Oh I believe it. I do the same but usually just make it my morning routine and get it all at once every day. But yes, it makes a huge difference. 🙌

[@jacklawver4403]

Looks good!

[@joegardenerTV]

Thanks. 👍

[@ninastone9054]

I have a bird bath that I worry is shaded or shielded by some bee balm and I don't know if the birds like all that cover. I assume they want to be able see around them for safety reasons but I still keep Qatar there

[@joegardenerTV]

That is definitely a logical question. Too bad we can’t just ask. 🤷‍♂️

[@kellylynnstudios2185]

Bery interesting on the bacterial wilt. I’ve got some tomatoes looking just like that but I thought maybe I had over watered. But it’s only a couple of plants.

[@joegardenerTV]

They look similar. Ironic isn’t it? Hope yours is fixable. 👍

[@laurarowland7926]

I would.fry up green tomatoes..also you can put them in a sunny window and they will.ripen..everything looks great..

[@joegardenerTV]

Thanks!

[@janetporto6917]

Took out 2 wilted tomatoes yesterday. Can I plant something in that space or will the soil disease go on to that plant too.

[@joegardenerTV]

I would not plant more plants of the same family there. Best to vacate that area for about 4 years from any plants in same family. Crop rotation is a key practice in organic disease management.

[@steveandrews2039]

Do you remove the soil or do anything else besides remove the diseased tomato where the tomato had bacterial wilt? Does the bacteria remain in the soil? --- I'm so jealous, your garden looks so fantastic!

[@joegardenerTV]

Thanks. You could remove the soil and that would be the fastest way to deal with this. I don’t as it is a bigger job than I want to do. So I rotate out of these beds for 4 years before planting tomatoes back in them and that helps starve out the pathogens. 🦠👍

[@andreahorsch286]

You can tie a strip of t-shirt to the vine and tie off the other end to the cage

[@joegardenerTV]

That’s an option.

[@joycearthur5244]

So will you not be able to use that bed for tomatoes again? Assuming that will stay in the soil.

[@joegardenerTV]

Not until the 4th or 5th year when I can plant them back in the same bed. Each season I will move them to a new bed until then. If you’re short on space you can plant in grow bags or containers. Not quite as good as raised beds but at least you eliminate the soil diseases.

[@michaelmosley254]

Them are some nice looking beds are they made from 4 by 4 s

[@joegardenerTV]

Thank you. Those are 6x6 untreated cedar timbers.

[@DeniseStein-p8u]

Do you put anything in the water that you leave out to kill off mosquitos?

[@joegardenerTV]

Not for this one because it empties every day. But for other water features I use the mosquito dunks. They are safe for everything but mosquito larvae! That could not be a better solution. 👍

[@WilliamMarshall-xn3tj]

Do you put the diseased plants into your compost pile? Does the compost pile produce enough heat to get rid of the pathogens?

[@joegardenerTV]

Even though my compost bins do get hot enough to kill the pathogens, I play it extra safe and put diseased material in the trash and off the property. That’s my advise to all non-commercial composters. 👍

[@aks20002]

you mentioned - no fertilizer. Did you get this kind of growth without any fertilizer ? What about using compost etc ?

[@joegardenerTV]

Yes. It’s all from compost. I topdress twice each year with about an inch or two of compost. My focus each year is to maintain excellent soil quality and my compost added each year helps to maintain a great growing environment for my plants. 👍

[@heathera.goesch5333]

Is dried pine straw a viable mulching option?

[@joegardenerTV]

Absolutely!

[@heathera.goesch5333]

@@joegardenerTV Perfect. Thank you!

[@ninastone9054]

From my experience is usually does.. pass to the next plant

[@joegardenerTV]

Probably just a matter of time depending on space between plants/roots.

[@robinjaros957]

Do you fight squash bugs?

[@joegardenerTV]

Yes! Some years are better than others. But they are not the easiest to manage. Especially when organic and avoiding non-selective insecticides. And I don’t grow squash routinely in my summer garden for several reasons, this being one of them.

[@robinjaros957]

Do you grow them in the winter garden when do you put them outside. I’m in the ATL as well