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The Constant Gardner Blog Index
July 25, 2007
Sudden spurt

Taking a few days away from the garden can give you a new perspective. I was away fishing over the weekend – two smallish rainbows, caught and released, from the upper Androscoggin – and the soggy Monday and Tuesday morning meant I was out of the garden for almost five days.

But the tomatoes now look a decent size, if still green, and we have some actual peppers beginning to form.

The earliest blueberry bush had blue berries, but granddaughter Maeve, age 7, tells me they still are sour.

We could get useable onions out of the garden, but they still will grow some more. so I will harvest on an as-needed basis.

And I probably would be able to get some new potatoes over the weekend.

The summer bounty is heading our way.

Posted at 01:17 PM

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Comments

hello tom,
im growing a small garden.that dang pumkin and zucchini grew so big. it's about two feet tall and the leafs are about two feet diameter.should i thin it out to let in the sunshine for flowers ? flowers are unbelievably huge. i need some answer quick.
thanks.
harold in the land of green giant.

Posted by
July 26, 2007 06:32 AM

Don't trim back the leaves. The flower does not need to receive sun. It is those huge leaves that are taking in the sun's energy. You may have planted the zucchini and squash too close together, but I always let my leaves have the run of the garden.

tom

Posted by Tom Atwell
July 26, 2007 12:39 PM

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Tom Atwell has written the Maine Gardener column in the Maine Sunday Telegram since the spring of 2004. He has worked at the Press Herald/Sunday Telegram since 1974, about the same time he started gardening with any seriousness.

He gardens with his wife, Nancy. She not only is the better gardener of the pair, but also knows the botanical names of plants. They have two grown children and three grandchildren.

Tom was born in Skowhegan, grew up in Farmington and graduated from the University of Maine with a BA in journalism. His goal each year is to have continuous compost from his three compost bins, continuous bloom in his low-maintenance garden and more fruits and vegetables on his family table than the garden pests eat in the field.



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