I bet you’re harvesting a lot from your garden here in midsummer. Let’s celebrate that, and let’s remember how we got here.
Midsummer harvest
First, what to celebrate? Here are some items we are harvesting in early August from our yard. For vegetables, there are tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, butternut squash, basil, kale and chard, lettuce, potatoes, and peppers.
For fruit, we’ve got Valencia oranges, Reed avocados, and pluots.
And there are grapes too, which get eaten fast once the kids get their hands on some.
I know that some of you are eating lots of additional types of fruits and vegetables from your garden these days because you’ve shown me photos or even shared the treasures: green beans, tomatillos, zucchini, corn, dragon fruit, bananas, and watermelon. What am I forgetting? What a blessing! We can grow so much in Southern California.
Sowing and planting dates for a midsummer harvest
What if we want to have abundant midsummer harvests in the future? For vegetables, it’s about sowing or planting at the right time next winter or spring. Here are the dates on which I sowed the seeds or planted the seedlings that we are now harvesting:
Basil- sown May 22, planted June 19
Butternut squash- planted April 30
Carrots- sown in ground March 11
Cucumber- sown March 3, planted April 26
Kale and chard- sown June 4, planted July 2
Lettuce- sown June 4, planted July 2
Peppers- planted May 9
Tomatoes- planted February 29; others sown January 31, planted April 30
When did you sow or plant the vegetables that have grown well and that you are now harvesting? Calendar those successful dates. It’s likely that they’ll work again for a future midsummer garden’s harvest.
Looking ahead
I’m feeling grateful that I put in the work of sowing and planting back in winter and spring (or years ago, in the case of fruit trees) so that I can now reap these rewards here in midsummer. Nevertheless, you know that there is no rest for a gardener, who can never stop sowing and planting if he is to continue the harvest.
(For a fall and winter harvest, what should we plant now? For vegetables, see my posts on August and September. For fruit, see what can be harvested in October, November, and December. And for the whole year, see my gardening calendar.)
All of my Yard Posts can be found HERE
I planted seedling full-sized tomatoes on April 15 and sowed cherry tomato seeds a week later. Needless to say, the full-sized tomatoes have given us many tomatoes; we’ll probably have 10-15 more in the next day or three. The cherry tomatoes — who had a much later start — are just starting to bear fruit; we’ve had about a dozen or so of these.
That said, the full-sized tomatoes appear to have run out of gas of late. Maybe it was the couple of 100+ degree days we had last month. Maybe I should have covered them when the weather got hot. Maybe I should have given them more water. I don’t know.
I also planted a few corns from seed in a container on May 10. The package says that 88 days later — that was yesterday — they should reach maturity. I’m guessing in about 10-14 days, I should have fully sized ears of corn. First time I tried growing corn. While I’m happy with the results, as you’ve mentioned in the past, they use a lot of water and planting them in the ground would necessitate a lot of land.
Mentally prepping my winter garden. Sowing starts next month.
David
Hi David,
This is exactly when my early tomatoes start to get worn out too although I have to say that this year they’re acting less tired than in most years. Only one plant looks truly sad. I have watered them a bit more and added a bit more compost than usual. But this summer hasn’t seemed so hot either. Who knows?
Thank you very much for your posts. This year I have a great crop of tomato’s but unfortunately before I get to enjoy them & before they get fully ripped they get half eaten by some animals/rodents I don’t know which. Any ideas?
We had the same problem. We put bird netting on our tomato plants, thinking it was birds that were eating them, but whatever it was, got in under the net. We were thinking a rat or maybe Japanese Beatles?
Hi Zahra,
You’re very welcome. Any idea if it’s happening during the day or at night?
When I encounter this kind of “competition” I start harvesting the tomatoes as soon as they turn color. You can pick them as soon as they get some yellow/orange but aren’t fully red and then let them turn red and ripe in the kitchen, safely — and the great flavor will still be there.
Hi Greg,
Thanks for the tip. They come at night. I think the best reward for a home Gardner is to harvest vine/tree ripened fruits & vegetables. Unfortunately for me, because I am living in an open area I have to constantly compete with all kinds of animals, especially squirrels, raccoons, & rats.
I have had some relief from rats devastating my tomatoes by sprinkling cayenne pepper on the tomatoes that are starting to show red ripening. This does seem to put them off however you need to find a cheap bulk source of cayenne for starters. Then you have to get it onto the tomatoes so it stays. The best I managed was on the top area of the fruit. Possibly misting with water first to get it to stick more uniformly. However after a couple of days the cayenne seems to have been reduced in potency so need to do it again.
Obviously this is not a quick or total fix.
One other thing I did was to make little wire cages for clusters of tomatoes, this would work better if my cages were better and fully close able.
I had a six foot CaraCara orange last winter that was loaded with fruit. I was really aftraid I would lose them so I wrapped the entire tree in 1/2inch mesh wire that I happened to have.
and would undo some of the twist ties every week or so for harvesting. Actually I dont think the rats were here then but they sure are now.
For me, Vegetable wise, It’s tomatoes, critters got some but I got most. For Fruit, I’ve got a mature White Sapote that is loaded to the hilt and fruit is steadily being supplied, Passion Fruit is ripening regularly, and knock on wood, I beat the Japanese fig Beetles, squirrels and humming birds finally and am harvesting a ton of Figs from a mature tree, I lost for the last 2 years, and am marking the first week of August as the “Start harvesting now or forever lose the crop” I am dehydrating most of the figs, but am sharing and eating a steady amount of fresh ones. Also have some Chile de Arbol I am harvesting along with several herbs and some purslane. Red Malabar spinach was kicking but too until I transplanted it into the ground. (Tomorrow’s a big day as I head to Louie’s nursery in Riverside to pick up a Ross Sapote tree, Queen Avocado tree and a Don Gillogly Avocado tree, just have one Jan Boyce to procure and I am set!! On a hillside in Whittier
James, I was at Louie’s in Riverside about 6-7 weeks ago and they were out of Jan Boyce. I talked to several guys there and they had no clue when they might be getting more. LaVerne nursery in Piru is the primary source for Jan Boyce and they were out as well 6-7 weeks ago. BTW, Jan Boyce has done well so far in my yard in the SFV/Northridge. Fuerte, Zutano, Lamb, Reed, Hass, Sir Prize (nice growth no production so far), Ettinger have all weathered the heat. Sharwill and Gwen not so much.
Hi James,
How did you get rid of the squirrels attacking your fruits?
Are your Flavor Grenade pluots ready to eat yet? I only had 2 set fruit on my tree.
Hi Jerry,
Yes, we’ve been eating our Flavor Grenade pluots for the past couple weeks. They’re a little earlier than normal this year. The Flavor Grenades from my mom’s tree in L.A. County are also ready now, and the other day I ate some from the Central Valley that tasted great.
Hi Greg!
I live deep in the mountains of central Japan and discovered you a few months ago when I did a search about wood chips. Thanks for sharing your gardening experiences and wisdom and cheers to a good harvest!
I’ve dabbled in herbs and potatoes for a couple years but this year I’ve fully immersed! Enjoying it immensely, making sweet connections with other gardeners in the neighborhood and appreciating every fruit and vegetable I harvest. It’s inspiring in the kitchen too.
Currently it’s a cucumber and butternut bonanza in my garden. Okra harvest is getting started and the taros, ginger and peanuts are looking good. Extreme heat is here, preceded by an unusually long and heavy rainy season.
Thanks again for doing what you do!
Hi Tanya,
What a fun comment to read! I am imagining what your garden looks like deep in the mountains of Japan. Wish I could take a stroll through it.
Zahra: I used to have trouble with a family of raccoons coming through and digging up my garden in the middle of the night, They were eating my veggies and digging for grubs under the mulch, I think.
I solved the problem by laying down some 4 ft. sections of hog fencing I bought at Tractor Supply Company. Take bolt cutters because the ( 4 ” x 4″ square ) fencing comes in 16 ft.
long sections. Elevate the fencing off the ground a few inches by laying it on bricks. No more digging.
Hi Dal. Thank you for your comment. I also think it might be raccoons. It is funny that if they eat half of the tomato one night they would not let the rest go to waste. They will finish it up the next night
Nice! I can’t believe you’ve got butternut squash already. My winter squashes are just starting to blossom. I have been getting a lot of tomatoes this year though.
Nice trees Kevin, good mix. I plan on putting my name on the list at Louies if they have one. I was excited to go to Green Scene this year to get a Daily 11 and a Jan Boyce, obviously didn’t happen. I am going for the Queen and will graft a Daily 11
on it one day if I can find scions, at this point I’ll probably graft Jan Boyce on to one of my trees if I can’t find a tree in the next year. On a hillside in Whittier
Hi Jessie,
These are our first butternuts of the year. What’s convenient is that we are about to eat our final butternut from last year. I’m always a bit surprised that they keep so well for so long just sitting on a shelf in the garage.
I would appreciate any comments on watering and care of butternut squash.
My one circle of three plants has been struggling since they were transplanted into garden at the end of June. Repeating cycle of yellowing and dropping leaves and blossoms, and very slow overall spread. Currently has two blossoms that may make it. Just can never tell if it thirsty or drowning. The surface soil in my garden seems to be a combination of very quickly draining and also crusting up from repeated irrigation. So the top 3 -4 inches dry very quickly but below that it seems to hold more water.
Hi Steve,
Your description makes me want to check the roots for nematodes: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/what-are-root-knot-nematodes/
Let’s rule that out first.
Hi Greg,
I just want to say thank you for your blog! Just last week I started my first ever kitchen garden in SoCal and have found your blog to be invaluable in my preparations. Keep it up and know you’ve earned one more loyal reader!
Thank you very much for taking the time to share that, Brendan. I hope your kitchen garden jams this year!
I sowed regular and cherry tomatoes as well as jalapeño peppers early February. Transplanting to soil April 1. Harvesting began mid June and continues. True to other gardeners’ experiences above, my second harvest of full size tomatoes are all smaller in size, with one exception. I do raised beds because of the terrible soil. I added a second bed for tomatoes this spring with all fresh soil. This is the bed with larger and healthier tomatoes and jalapeños . The other tomato bed was made autumn 2019 and had a winter crop. My best guess is, plants thrive more the fresher the amended soil is. Another possibility is the 2nd bed gets more sun.
I canned 4 pints of salsa on July 20 from our garden tomatoes, jalapeños and granex onions (from the autumn planting). Then 7 pints on August 12.
Cucumbers have been a flop-yellow leaves turning brown and yellow cakes.
Pulled them and bought some seedlings and covered with a garden cloth. Now veggies yet but leaves look greener than last variety.
Peas planted Feb and finished in early May. Abundant and sweet. I will try staggering the planting next spring. They came and went too quickly.
Watermelon (planted late April) growing but only 2 on the vine so far.
For those with animal invasions, I had rabbits, rats and mice and my solution was raised beds(4ft x 8ft) with 1/4″ wire mesh on the bottom(yes, rodents will burrow up from the underneath) and same mesh wrapped around all 4 sides to about 18″ above the top of the frame (for the rabbits). Now the only invaders are the birds. Someone mentioned strips of aluminum foil and it is working so far three weeks along.
Thanks so much for all of this, Bill. Love the details and guesses about the causes of the results, which are very thought provoking.
I’m going to try some strips of aluminum foil this week on a fruit tree.