Vegetable Garden Tour #2: The Big Reveal!

[@fraukeg.facchini2691]

I love the way you have set up your garden. It is so well planned and productive.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Thank you.

[@joycedagostino8869]

Hi Susan, same here with the crazy weather! We went from cooler, winds and overcast almost every day to now very hot, winds and dry. Lost some of my seedlings that I set out, they just couldn't keep going with the heat and no rain despite watering and some shading. So starting over with some direct sowing, hoping that works. That Bauer lettuce is very pretty. Produce in the grocery store is very disappointing so growing something is very gratifying! Thanks for that tip about the pole beans.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi, Joyce. Yes, this is a very challenging grow season and it's only June. We love the 'Bauer' lettuce! I've been making salads with it and the 'Red Russian' kale, along with radishes and it's such a treat.

[@sheilasaunders3338]

In southern Ontario Canada we have also had hot cold weather. All my vegetable crops are very slow this season. With all the rain and cool my flowers and bulbs have never looked better. Funny how it’s weird.

[@georgebrowne9421]

Love your channel and I'm also frustrated with this Spokane weather. All of my garden are struggling except for my peas and cabbage.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

I understand how you feel. This has been a really tough garden season so far.

[@takeitslowhomestead5218]

Thank you for the inspiring garden tour, as always!

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Thanks so much. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@annmoy8932]

I always love watching your videos. Your garden looks great! ❤

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Thank you so much, Ann!

[@trishsmith2811]

Hi Susan, Loved your garden tour. Everything looks wonderful. Here on the other side of the Cascades it’s still windy and chilly. My cantaloupe plants are dying so I started new ones in the greenhouse. So are my pepper plants. My corn looks good but my cucumbers are stunted or dead. It’s been a roller coaster spring weather wise. I thought the weather was going to stay warm so I put them out. Nope. I’m hoping the weather settles down and the low pressure center that’s parked off the coast for weeks will move on soon. Really loved seeing your lettuce! So healthy and green. I just picked a big bowl of mixed greens that we’ll have for dinner. Don’t you love the little chickadees? So sweet.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi, Trish. It's nice to meet you. This has been an extremely frustrating spring. We heard that there's the potential for a frost tonight, which is really annoying. So we have covered all of the tender plants and are hoping for the best. I sure hope the weather settles down for all of us soon! Take care.

[@MomPuff-b9w]

Beautiful garden!! Extremely productive 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Can you please tell us about your watering system, maybe in the next video? Thank you!! Blessings 🙌🏻🦋🙏🏻

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi there. That is a great idea. I'll see what I can do!

[@WhatWeDoChannel]

I enjoyed this! I cooked scapes coated in EVO and salt on the BBQ last night, yum!

[@SusansInTheGarden]

That sounds delicious! We're going to pick ours in the next day or so.

[@Micah6-8walk]

Beautiful! Thank you. We have only been hot 🔥 here in NoCo 5b. My young plants are struggling.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

That is so frustrating. I'd recommend putting a layer of mulch on the soil surface to help the soil retain moisture. We use grass clippings (although I haven't put them on yet, this year) because we don't use herbicides on our lawn. It really helps.

[@terrinegron]

Thanks so much for the tips!

[@SusansInTheGarden]

My pleasure!

[@joycesmith1270]

THANKS

[@folklover-405]

Crazy weather in Wenatchee too! I notice some of your beds have both drip tape and a spray emitter. A tutorial on the purpose would be great for inquiring minds! Thanks, Susan

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hello! Yes, I guess I'm so used to seeing them that I didn't think to cover that. Some plants need a little more moisture than the drip tape provides. So we've got it in the lettuce and Swiss chard/beet beds, also where Bill's grow the pak choi, etc. Also, we'll often just use it to get some types of seedlings off to good start and then turn off that part of the drip system to a bed.

[@marilynm8812]

My peas were very late also with the crazy weather on the east coast. Ipulled my snap peas out because I got two servings of pods and the rest were cut off. The only culprit I actually saw was a Cardinal landing on them and pecking, even after I partially covered them with tulle. It was time to plant yard long string beans in that spot anyway.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Oh my! Well, that's not very nice. I've never heard of birds pecking at pea pods but I guess that can happen. That's really frustrating.

[@gail7998]

Hi Susan, thank you so much for the tour and teaching us. I now live in similar zone and can learn so much from you!

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Thank you, Gail. I'm glad the videos are helpful.

[@barbkenas5663]

Looking great, always enjoy your garden!

[@ys10173]

Love your vegetable garden tour video! Could you do a tour of your orchard please? 🌳 It would be so cool and I would love to know the varieties of the fruit trees you’re growing! It’s so shocking that no edamame came up! I’m using soybeans that are meant to be used for making soy milk and even they came up. Wishing you better luck next year!❤

[@SusansInTheGarden]

I'm mystified about the edamame seeds because I've never had something like that happen before. And they were covered to prevent the quail from nibbling on them but they just didn't come up. I'm glad you enjoyed the veggie tour and will see what I can do about the fruit trees.

[@Birdhouselady]

Your garden looks great. This video was very relaxing to watch

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Thank you!

[@dianepuskas6362]

Hello, the garden looks great! Do you still grow artichokes? I am wondering when you know when to harvest them.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi, Diane. We're not growing them this ear. But you want to harvest them when they're full size but the individual "scales" are still tight rather than starting to separate. I hope that helps.

[@trudyschaffer8016]

Your videos are so informative and encouraging! And yes, I am now getting broccoli!!🥦👍

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi, Trudy. Thanks so much. I think our broccoli plants are just about ready to start producing.

[@hdavis587]

Beautiful! And what an inspiration!

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Thank you so much!

[@annamaria54321]

Loving it! So good to see how you do things. That lettuce really looks good!!

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi, Anna Maria. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. And yes, the 'Bauer' lettuce is amazing!

[@dustyflats3832]

We had very cool weather recently also and now switching to 90s in WI, Z5a. I started Bak Choi very early 4/15 under low tunnel. It was a bit of work switching covers, ect,, but I had State Fair quality, until that first heat wave and one day is all it took to start them bolting. I harvest the rest immediately. Because of short window it would be difficult to succession sow them and will try again and my thought is to try baby Bak Choi as they would reach maturity sooner. And I think the size is better for us. We have harvested broccoli already from same plant date-had Sun King seeds to use up. Not sure if a bird ate the green arrow peas, but they aren’t as many as I planted. Better are the sugar snaps. They start slow and then take off. The sweet pea flowers seem to be struggling and never grew them before. Late Seed Germination-my experience with calendula Zeolites was Very delayed. Started them inside and had only 3 pop then it was several weeks of being outside and one day over a dozen popped up 🤷‍♀️. Pole beans are easier to harvest, but I found one huge difference-the Japanese beetles don’t bother bush beans. Trying a new variety of celery that is self blanching-Giant Golden Pascal. We support our tomatoes the same way and found it to be easy to maintain. And we are trying your Supremo variety as well. I got new local seed potatoes this year and the plants are huge. Seen a few small beetles and then none. Same with cabbage moths-must not have liked the bug netting 😅. It’s been a really great spring so far and the drought is gone. Now it seems every time I water it rains 😂. We tried an Italian oregano this year that is Very much improved flavor over Greek. However, we dried them on high and wonder if that is better than low temp because last year the Greek were not palatable. Yes, the winds were very strong here also. Mother Nature is being nice with 5” of rain in 2 weeks but knocking the plants a good one. First year for foxgloves and they are still standing and the asparagus almost were screwed out of the ground with that wind. Thx for the tour and better luck with your watermelon this year.

[@Andrea-si2vs]

My Jade bush beans produced all season last year! I still have a couple bags in the freezer we need to get through, as this year's crop is flowering now.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Well, that's good to know! Thank you.

[@emkn1479]

Great DIY tip on the copper rings. How long would you say they’d last? Sorry your edamame didn’t work out…we love that crop. So tasty.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Let's see, I'd say they are about 4 years old at this point. Not sure what was up with the edamame seeds because they came from a really reliable source. Oh well!

[@ClickinChicken]

Enjoyed. Thanks.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Glad to hear it!

[@kathleenbrowning7089]

Hi Susan, I really enjoy watching your videos. Thanks so much for sharing with us. Can you tell me when you actually videoed your garden tour this year? And if you have had any pest problems aphids whiteflies etc. We are having a big problem with aphids and white flies already.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi, Kathleen. I'm so glad you've been enjoying my videos. That's nice to hear. I shot the video last week, I think on Sunday. I'm not sure where you live but the aphids have been atrocious here in Spokane this year. I haven't noticed any whiteflies, though. If you are here in Spokane, the theory is that the late cold snap we had during the winter (when there wasn't any snow on the ground) probably killed off a large percentage of beneficial insects that were overwintering in leaf litter, etc. So that's why the aphids were able to get out of hand so quickly. For aphids, I would recommend spraying them off the plants with water from your hose. Hang in there!

[@vmcshannon]

Ugh. Mine is still not planted. My tomato starts are getting so big. But I still need to clean out the beds before I can plant. The weather has been no help.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

That's for sure. I hope you can make some progress soon.

[@FaithyKresha]

Your garden is beautiful! I have two beds with leaf miners this year - I plan on building a row cover next year, but I read that sometimes they will live through the winter! Ugh. Do you have advice about how to rid your beds of leaf miners? Thanks Susan! :)

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi there. Leafminers are an issue for beet family crops (beets, spinach an Swiss chard). If you are able to rotate where in your garden you grow them each year, that will help. However, another thing you can try is to add beneficial nematodes to the soil. They are microscopic roundworms that will target the soil-dwelling stage of leafminers and other damaging insects. Arbico Organics is an online supply for them (www.arbico-organics.com/product/nemattack-beneficial-nematodes-sc-steinernema-carpocapsae/leafminer-control). Don't be alarmed at the prices because you would probably just need the cheapest package they sell!

[@FaithyKresha]

@@SusansInTheGarden Thank you so much!

[@caroleferreira2846]

Another amazing video. I am growing bush butternut for the first time too. My seeds finally germinated. I purchased a green stalk planter today. I am in zone 6b, Taunton Mass. Is it too late to plant? If not what can I plant this late?

[@SusansInTheGarden]

I would say you should be able to do it, although it depends on how long your frost-free growing season is. The bush butternut needs about 75 days to reach maturity. You could also plant some peppers, bush beans, and various veggie varieties that are ideal for growing in containers.

[@dustyflats3832]

You must get up really early to post vids😂 as I was up with brief storm at 4:30 central time and not long after there you were.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

I am an early riser but I scheduled the post to accommodate folks in other time zones. Have a great day!

[@immitzime]

Morning Susan. I'm in NC 7b. I planted spring garlic. How much fertilizer should garlic get, and do you back off as it gets closer to harvest tome?

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi there. Yes. We give the garlic some fertilizer about 3 times while it's growing and then that's it.

[@kathysmith9888]

Great update, Garden looks great 👍

[@joycearthur5244]

Everything looks good. I harvested my first heads of Belstar broccoli and a couple cabbages. I put the copper rings around my cabbages and guess what - cabbage worms! I even have the netting over them. 😡. I’ll be happy to trade my chipmunks for your quail, they have been very destructive this year in the landscape. They keep digging up newly planted annuals and even some small shrubs. I’ve declared war on them.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi, Joyce. The copper rings are for slugs, not the cabbage worms. Did you put the netting over them as soon as you planted them, and are the bottom edges weighed down to protect the plants? Boy, you have my sympathies about the chipmunks. I know they can really be destructive.

[@joycearthur5244]

@@SusansInTheGarden Sorry I meant slugs. No cabbage worms. Where do the slugs come from? Are they in the soil?

[@SusansInTheGarden]

@@joycearthur5244 Yes, and that's the problem because they're already in the soil or perhaps along the edge of the bed.

[@cbak1819]

I completely covered my collards with insect netting and they were pain and stunted help.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi there. What do you mean by "pain?" Did you use hoops over the plants to support the netting? And did they get the normal amount of water? I can understand your frustration!

[@lalamanfortheone1]

✨🙌✨

[@maleiamatt9836]

Is that a wolf or coyote decoy in your garden?

[@SusansInTheGarden]

That is a coyote decoy that we originally bought in an effort to keep the California quail from coming into our vegetable garden. That's because they like to nibble on young seedlings, which is quite annoying! Unfortunately, even though we moved it around a lot to different areas of the garden, they grew accustomed to seeing it and lost their fear of it. Darn! So now "Wily Coyote" is our garden mascot, LOL.