By Denise Levine, U. C. Master Gardener
Summer is in full swing in the Napa Valley. Keep tender seedlings
well watered and fed.
Tomatoes, eggplant, corn, cucumbers and the ubiquitous zucchini
are growing by leaps and bounds if you got them in during our soggy but mild
May. There is still time to plant. Selections in local nurseries are good,
and with our warm Napa Valley weather, you'll have zucchini to give away in
no time.
Sow seeds of snap beans, but don't plant the whole packet at
once. Plant a small bed every couple of weeks and you'll have beans all summer.
Many varieties, such as Blue Lake and Romano, come in both bush and pole varieties.
Generally, bush varieties tend to mature earlier and all at once, while pole
beans produce over a longer period of time. Both will produce longest if you
keep the beans picked. Don't forget a few seeds of your favorite melons, pumpkins
and winter squash.
Even if you think you have no room for a spooky white 'Lumina'
pumpkin or 'Small Sugar' pumpkin, a favorite for pies, try planting
them in a large bag of potting soil, the kind that comes enriched with exotic
bat guano and worm castings.
Bring a bag home from your local nursery, find a sunny spot
with a hose nearby, poke a few holes on one side for drainage and slash an
"X" on the front of the bag. Plant three or four seeds of squash,
pumpkin, gourds or cucumbers, then thin to one or two plants. Set up a drip
emitter or water as needed, and watch them grow.
Last year, the staff at Whiting Nursery in St. Helena planted
bags upright with tomatoes, one plant to a bag. They strapped them to posts
and grew some of the biggest, happiest tomatoes I've ever seen.
In your regular garden, you can still plant corn, cauliflower,
broccoli and lettuces. Although lettuce is usually a cool-weather plant, a
few varieties do well even in our valley heat. Keep them well watered, and
keep the roots cool. They appreciate a cool sprinkling whenever you pass.
You'll be rewarded for your efforts.
Heat-resistant lettuces I especially like are Vulcan, a beautiful
red-tipped and lime-green lettuce; and Nevada, an upright, crisp Iceberg type
with a satisfying crunch. Harvest in the cool of the morning, wash carefully,
wrap in a towel and chill until supper. Great on a burger or under cool prawns
or grilled chicken.
Record-breaking rains left us with more fuel for summer wildfires.
Make time soon to mow the weeds and grasses around your property. If your
trees are too big to trim safely yourself, have an arborist or tree service
trim limbs hanging over your house.
Stack firewood away from your house. Not only is it a fire hazard,
but the beetles and termites that often live in dried wood think your house
is fair game.
Rural property owners, remember that the rule of 30 feet of
clearance around your house protects the forest from house fires, not the
other way around. If you live in a forested area, clear as much underbrush
around your home as you can. Call the Master Gardener office for a list of
fire-resistant plants.
To protect landscape trees (except oaks) and fruit trees from
the ravages of wood- boring beetles, deep water as needed. When temperatures
hit 100ºF, wood-boring beetles hatch. If your tree is hydrated, beetles are
pushed out of the tree by the sap when the beetle pierces the bark. If your
tree is stressed and dehydrated, beetles bore into your tree. Then they summon
their friends with pheromones, and your tree will probably not survive long.
Prevention is best.
Spend time in your garden just paying attention to how your
plants look at different times of the day. Sometimes a little afternoon wilt
is normal and a conservation trick your plant has evolved; sometimes it is
a signal of disaster. If you have questions about how to grow specific flowers
or vegetables, the Master Gardener Office can send you up-to-date handouts
describing cultural practices and recommended varieties for our part of the
world.
Now that the work is done, figure out where the hammock goes
and take a break.