July ’s to - do list always starts with scouting for squash pests for me . Both squelch bug and crush vine borers ordinarily show up right around the commencement of the month . Squash bugs lie coppery metal eggs on the undersides of leaf - they’re leisurely to remove with epithelial duct tape . Then I put the canal mag tape in a bucket of soapy water supply for a few day before disposing of them . The immature insects are flyspeck and grey and then get braggy as they grow . The grownup , typically a ½ ” long , can be quick and fly but are typically easy to catch up with and summate to the bucket of soapy water .
Squash vine rock drill are much tricky to catch . you could trypheromone trap , but I find that reconnoiter and get rid of the eggs and even using a roadblock like parafilm around the theme of the plants is the better way to protect your plants . woodborer usually lay their tawny brown , table mustard - seed - shaped eggs flop at the home of the plants , but there areways to hold them .
As summer squash and courgette start to raise yield , stick around on top of harvest home , ideally mark every daylight or two . When ardent weather hits , they can get openhanded fast . If you end up with zucchini baseball bats , try removing the seeds , grating them and freezing for gem , breads andcakesall winter long .
Japanese beetlesalso go showing up in July . They are notoriously hard to get disembarrass of as they spend twelvemonth in the soil feed on turf grass roots only to pupate and come forth as flying adults . Even if you treat your lawn , you would have to treat all the lawns for international nautical mile to make a dent in the universe . Instead , I urge going out with a pail of soapy H2O in the morning and at dusk when they are the least active and toss away them in .
I ’m also usingmaggot barriersto protect my peaches from insect like Japanese mallet this summer . They are ball of nylon fabric that you wrap around the yield to protect them as they grow . I have produce Contender Peaches for years with great achiever . Reliance is another good variety for northerly climates . They produce bountifully most twelvemonth - although smaller , they smack as good as any Michigan , Georgia or Colorado peach when ripe . I ordinarily polish off ripen them on the counter for the last week just to beat the squirrels to them .
Now is the clip to harvest basil by pinching the top four leaves back to the spot on the stem where more shoots are amount . This will make your plants grownup and bushier . harvest home shoots from herbs will reduce flowering and keep them productive . Drying them for later use is a great idea , too . Here are someways to utilize herbs from your garden .
Now is also a good time to removetomatosuckers from the bottom metrical foot of the plant . This helps make good air circulation and can forestall diseases from spreading .
You may also want to take some prison term this month to reconnoiter for signs ofaster yellow and/or eriophyid mite plague . By now , the variety of tiny pests you ca n’t always blemish have in all likelihood taken hold in your coneflowers , marigold or tomatoes , and it ’s best to take these industrial plant ( do n’t compost ! ) altogether to keep these critters from spreading .
There is still time to establish more beans , summer squash vine , carrots , cabbage , turnips , scratch , kohlrabi , beetroot , dill and cilantro in spots where you ’ve already reap early planting of peas , radishes , prickly-seeded spinach and moolah . Be sure to water new plantings in well as they are getting build . Often by this meter of the class the bound plant crop are getting enough water from hebdomadary rainwater , but containers will need more so do n’t forget to water those regularly .
Courtney Tchida has a degree in Environmental Horticulture , a master ’s in Agricultural Education and a credentials in Permaculture Design . For 16 twelvemonth , she managed Cornercopia , the University of Minnesota ’s pupil - scarper organic farm .
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