Summer is finally here. It means something else here on the north coast of California, though. While the inland areas are heating up and experiencing sunny weather, we have fog. Lots of fog. It’s not just sweater weather, it’s down jacket weather. What does that mean in the garden? It means that I can’t grow tomatoes or cucumbers without a greenhouse. Last autumn, I made green tomato chutney; it wasn’t a complete loss, although it was disappointing. This spring, we decided to invest in an inexpensive fabric greenhouse to see if it’s possible to get tomatoes to ripen.

Stay tuned.

My vegetable garden has expanded to 11 raised beds. You may remember, if you are a regular reader, the battle I had with invasive redwood roots. When my beds were in the ground, the surrounding redwood trees would come through the weedcloth into the bottom of the beds. It was backbreaking work to dig them out a couple of times a year. We ended up putting the beds up on legs (stumps), they really are raised beds.

Because I was away most of May, I missed the rhododendron show. A few were still blooming but most were finished by early June.

What’s growing in my garden this month? Here is a quick peek.

We are lucky to increasingly be able to eat out of the garden as summer progresses.

We’ve had a few already…

I grew leeks for the first time, sowing them from purchased transplants last fall. It wasn’t a win. They never grew very large in diameter and were somewhat tough. I need to do more research. Have any of you grown them successfully? Tips would be appreciated.

Apparently, in many places, leeks are grown as a perennial in a single bed/area. The leeks will form the “bud” on top, which then flowers (the flowers look like alliums and can range from white to lavender, and from what I have read, they are EXTREMELY good at attracting bees and butterflies). Once they have flowered, they form seed heads, with hundreds of little black seeds (a lot like chives) that self-sow very easily. Within a few weeks, you’ll have lots of little seedlings shooting up in and around the original leek. Where gardeners are growing them in this way, they thin out the seedlings so that they have space to grow to a good size and let them grow on.

Meanwhile, the original leek will die back for a couple of months. The bulb will split, much like a garlic bulb splitting into cloves, and from this, new leeks will shoot up. This is where the perennial bit comes in. The new shoots can be allowed to grow before being harvested as several leeks, or you can pull them up whilst young, separate them, and replant them in rows.

I’m loving this idea, and I think I might give it a go this fall to see how successful it is.

From: Rocket Gardens, a U.K. web site.

 

And, there are flowers…

Here is a picture of one of the island beds. The others just remind me that it’s time to go outside for early summer chores. It’s time to prune the early spring perennials, and weed. There is always lots of weeding. The spring annuals should also be pulled out, but I like them to sow their seeds throughout the garden. It’s such a lovely surprise to see where things want to grow.

That’s it for my garden this month. Thank you for visiting and please leave a comment.