For the second week now, we’re experiencing a terrific (for us!) heat wave with steady temperatures in the nineties every day. What makes it so hard for us is that we’re in our frantic planting mode in order to ensure we get mature seeds, come fall. Luckily, we have had some friends pop in and help from time to time. Today, our friends, Mike and Dara, stopped by in the morning and helped mulch tomatoes and squash, drive stakes to support tomatoes, and plant beans after setting up stock panel trellises for them. We worked from 7 this morning until noon when the temperatures, along with the humidity, drove us into the house.

We are making good progress; the tomatoes are all in and most are mulched, staked, and caged.
This morning, with the help of our new apprentice, Ashley, and friends, Mike and Dara, we got a whole lot of tomatoes planted, mulched, staked, and caged as well as many beans planted.

Will and I needed to buy more steel T-posts which support the tomato cages, tomatoes, and various trellises for pole beans of all sorts. Last night, our new apprentice, Ashley, drove in and we had an enjoyable visit before bedtime. Today she helped mulch tomatoes and went for a nice nature walk, gathering up an assortment of plants for me to identify. Such fun!

I’m so happy with our Mother’s Day hanging baskets from Byrn’s Greenhouse we picked up during our annual family get-together.

I’m done planting tomatoes — finally! I finished up early this morning, before it got so darned hot. We’re amazed at how wonderful the first tomatoes we set in are looking. Most are doubled in size already! This afternoon, we’re taking a break from the heat but around 7 this evening, we’ll be back out, planting beans and Will is going to till the North garden for a third time, as that’s where we’ll be planting next. Whew! The first corn, planted from seed, Seneca Sunrise, is up. Last night we got a little heavy rain so we have hopes the veggies will spring up in their rows very soon. — Jackie

17 COMMENTS

  1. These temps are crazy for northern MN. We don’t have AC, and by late afternoon, its pretty miserable, especially if any physical labor is involved.

    I have two hoop house style greenhouses with all my plants in raised beds, but every thing in them needs to be watered every day, whereas the in ground garden lasts longer between watering. I bought two irrigation systems from Amazon. They are inexpensive and come with more bits and pieces than I needed. Works great, and in half an hour, everything is watered.

    I used some of the left over misters and a 15 foot section of left over tubing, and made a misting system to use in the screen tent. Wide open, the misters put out a lot of water, but when almost closed, you just get a fine mist. It’s a great way to cool off. I’m going to make another one for the dogs’ kennel so they have a place to cool off when we aren’t in the screen tent with them.

    The kits were less than $25 each, and I may get one just to do our covered, wrap around porch once its built. With the way I’m using them, it’s about 5 gallons of water per hour.

  2. We too are suffering from extremely dry conditions and 90 degree heat. I’ve used up the 250 gallons of rain water we’d caught earlier, and so now am watering with sprinkler and ‘town water’.
    I planted 10 Chocolate Stripes and 6 Long Tom tomatoes that I’ve grown from your seeds. The Chocolate Stripes are doing well, at 2.5 feet tall and setting.
    My question for you is about the Long Tom’s; is it normal for them to have a shorter stature and curled leaves? The entire plant seems to want to hug itself…is that their normal appearance? If there is some thing I need to do to treat them differently I surely will. They seem healthy, just growing in an unusual pattern.
    The Seneca Sunrise corn is a foot tall and seems to be ok with the heat.
    I just ate some green onions: Dakota Tears and Clear Dawn, that I’d raised from your seeds. Both are good. I’d send hugs from Iowa but it’s too dang hot.

    • Many of the paste tomatoes have a “wilted, curled-leaf look” while growing. They still have it when big but you don’t notice it as much. Hopefully this is what yours look like, kind of wispy.
      I’m having to re-plant a garden of Seneca Sunrise as it was do dry and I didn’t water so it came up poorly so today I soaked the seed and am watering the patch and will set it in this evening. Hey, stuff happens~!

  3. Pretty petunias! I’ve never seen speckled ones like that. I love spring with all the new growth and pretty flowers.
    I have teeny weensy baby bunnies feasting on my veggies so I put bird netting over everything and will see if that deters them. I noticed the birds are using this netting to hang off of to pull the tender snow pea tips through! I hope it works better against bunnies.

  4. Your flower basket is gorgeous!

    Glad yall are getting ahead with your gardening. I tied up probably half of our tomatoes late yesterday evening and it was still hot as blazes. They are not doing as well as usual–think it’s all the rain. Their roots are always pretty wet but next week is supposed to be dry. I have to wait till late afternoon to stand the heat.

    Our peppers are strangely just booming. Usually it’s fall before they really begin to produce and last year we had very few. I was shocked to see bell peppers on several plants. My husband grinds up the really hot peppers with garlic and puts it around our fruit trees. It worked!! Actually harvested apples last year and the trees are loaded again.Squirrels don’t like hot stuff!

  5. We’ve had mid seventies the last few days which is as bad as ninety for us Alaskans! We did have thirty one for a low three days ago. Finished planting potatoes today we have about six hundred feet of row in. Tomatoes have been in the greenhouse since mid May, with a few set already. Beans, transplanted, are about a foot high.

  6. Once the storm blows by then we are in the 90’s all next week. Boy am l glad l save rainwater for times like this. My garden loves it.

  7. Could be worse, 90’s plus in Oklahoma City with high humidity. Ugh. and staying near 80’s low 70’s at night. Guess summer is already here this year. At least it didn’t in May, which it has done at times. And a big storm blowing in from Kansas! Our weather has been a little weirder than usual this year.

    • Once the storm blows by then we are in the 90’s all next week. Boy am l glad l save rainwater for times like this. My garden loves it.

  8. Beautiful hanging basket, are they petunias? Would love to have seed from them. In WV we finally cooled down a little and got much needed rain. Your tomatoes look great!

    • They are beautiful but unfortunately, are a hybrid so saving seeds will have to wait to see if someone can de-hybridize them! They are “Night Sky” one of our favorite colors.

  9. I’m so glad I’m not the only one still planting! We are southeast of Rochester ( near Chatfield) and it looks like we are going to get some rain this afternoon.

  10. We had 100 at our place by Bemidji earlier. Definitely do not like this weather. Just planted our peppers and tomatoes this morning. Almost afraid the plants were going to burn up. Have been doing a lot of watering. Praying for better temps and rain. Good luck with the rest of your gardens.?

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