1. As the summer heat kicks in it is important to keep your garden soil moist. Moisture is key to keep the beneficial microbes, fungi and organisms such as worms alive happy and working for you while your plants produce. You don’t want to over water as that can cause some issues for your plants such as root rot and deplete the soil of its much needed oxygen and other gasses. What I recommend is to wait until the first few centimeters or inches are nearly dry and then a slow deep watering. Avoid getting the leafs of the plants wet to reduce the chances of diseases attacking your plants.
2. Keep those weeds in check. It is much easier to keep the weeks in check if you catch them early. What I like to do is walk about the garden once a day and spend a minute or two checking plants and pulling weeds. It is much harder to control a weed problem if they have had time to establish or seed. Weeds can be used for our next tip as well
3. Mulch mulch is a wonderful way to both control weeds and help retain moisture. In your gardens context Mulch is defined as any organic material placed on the soil. In this case we are using both grass clippings leafs and coffee grounds. you can use weeds as mulch as long as they have not flowered. If they have this may spread the seeds making it just a bit harder on you. Mulch prevents evaporation of water directly from your soil by creating a protective layer. That protective layer also stifles the growth of weed seeds in the garden soil, making it easier to pull the weed of preventing it from making it in the first place. If your mulch as matted it is a good idea to lightly break it up so the water and air can get down a little further to help our beneficial soil friends.
4. Compost Teas or Plant Extractions: both provide the easily accessible organic material plants need while producing crops for you but the beneficial bacteria that help break down and make other nutrition available to the plants. The simplest version is simply take degrading plant material soak it in water for 24 hours and use that to water the garden. The best material for this is vermicompost however most organic material as long as it is slightly decaying will work. If you leave city water out for 24 hours it will allow the chlorine to evaporate and the bacteria will have an easier time surviving and helping. Another great thing about compost teas and extractions is you can then take the material you used to make it and use it as a mulch.
5. Nutrition. your soil and plants need nutrition both easily available and long term to produce your food for you. This is especially important in the summer as this is when most of our plants are spending a lot of its energy making the food while fighting the heat. Mulch, coffee grounds and compost teas or extractions provide organic material that feed the plants and soil microbes whom then feed your plants. Fertilizers can be used for this however with a healthy mulch and compost teas or plant extractions you can save your hard earned pennies with these free and simple resources.
Finally enjoy your garden. This is what you have been working hard for months to plan, plant and grow. take the time to enjoy your coffee or a cold on in the garden and soak up all the hard work and beauty. Thank you very much for spending time with me today. I appreciate it very much! have a fantastic day!