The Heat Goes On

The tomatoes should ripen in this heat even though the nights are cool now. I bought two plants, the variety called Early Girl, a lucky variety for me. But the rainy June and July held the plants back and the tomatoes are not even setting red yet. The rain did not harm the zucchini however. I was wise to just plant one plant. The corn (variety Northern X Sweet, from T&T seed of Winnipeg) is the best I have ever grown. I have been eating the cobs for two weeks now. The kernels are pale, straight and delicious. The cucumber is delicious too. For years I have grown the old fashioned eating type called Straight 8. The acorn squash is very small but I’m hoping it will plump up before a hard frost kills the leaves.

I am planning to raise my small veggie bed next year. I have plenty of compost to fill up a small area bordered by 2X6 planks. Even an inch or two of height gives protection from the frost.

I never liked the yellow potentilla bush but a few years ago I planted the white flowering variety and later the pale pink, each placed in the centre of a perennial bed and both blooming their hearts out now. Potentilla is as tough as an old boot and a lot prettier. It is one of the few plants that will winter over in a raised bed. Also deer do not eat them. Banff, a city plagued by elk, is awash in potentilla, the one garden item those huge pests do not eat. (And we think squirrels are a problem!).

The Lasagna Method is used to carve new garden spaces from the lawn without removing sod. The web provides everal recipes but the simplest is to put down several layers of newspaper and cover with compost and leave for a long time. The grass dies and you plant right through the paper which composts under the soil. I intend to try this out this fall and leave all in place over the winter. My front grass covers a impenetrable tangle of maple tree roots but maybe lasagna can give me some usable garden space. I am hoping the newspaper will stop the tree roots from taking over the compost as well as kill the grass. A small patch first, I think.

Tip. If you worry the shasta daisies will spread throughout your garden, be sure to pull off the flower heads before they set seed.