Ready, Set - PLANT!

Your seedlings are started, the temperatures are slowly warming, the days are getting longer....is it time to hit the dirt?

Officially, the last frost date of the winter in Central Oregon is May 31, next Sunday.  But I've been religiously watching the weather reports for night-time lows and it seems as if we've reached the beginning of growing season. Hooray!

As I promised 'way back on April 5th when I started the first batch of veggie seeds, it's usually June when we plant out, but I'm jumping the gun and hoping for steady warm night-time temps. So my lettuce and broccoli have been in the ground for a week and I may need to improvise a shade if the temps go above 80. I like the simple (read: CHEAP) approach like this one I found in Mother Earth News

Mother Earth News photo

It's really ironic that I've been waiting and waiting for the warm temperatures to arrive so I can plant out the luscious tomatoes, squashes and melons I started last month.  And now that it's here, I'm worrying about the delicate cool season plants getting fried and bolting (setting their seeds and stopping any tasty  leaf growth). Central Oregon weather is a steady duel between too much cool and too much heat.

But the fledgling tomato plants will love the heat predicted for this coming week - daytime temps in upper 70s/low 80s and nights above 45. They'll begin to set some fruit as long as I maintain consistent watering. The same is true for the summer squash and cantaloupe.  When you think about your crop, consider the final product: tomatoes, zucchini, melon and corn all are juicy when you slice them open -  that's the water you've faithfully provided. Corn is an especially thirsty, greedy plant.  In addition to lots of water, the corn plant needs a very good soil, amended with compost and aged manure.  You can understand why so many gardeners balance the effort and expense of home grown corn (it tastes sooooo yummy) against the convenience of the farmer's market variety. After all, one stalk yields just 2 ears - JUST TWO!

But my intention this week and next is to add some organic amendments to the veggie beds, water deeply and set out the tomatoes, squashes and melons. I'll plant some carrot seeds in the tomato containers on my deck and plant the green beans beside my simple trellis to get the most produce from my limited space. The hollyhocks are getting ready to push up their tall stalks of flowers and the nasturtiums will soon be growing amongst the melons and beans to deter bugs. Once the marigolds have their true leaves, I'll be planting them randomly in the garden since they seem to help most plants - and they're cute!

Lots of work to do but it'll be very satisfying since summer seems to (finally!) be here.

If you're looking for some shade solutions for your cool season crops, this is the link I found:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/keeping-crops-cool-during-hot-weather-zmaz08aszgoe.aspx