June Garden Vegetables 2018
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A strawberry harvest so good it fed a visit from California cousins, a new set of steps finally built after a year on the back burner, and the usual battle to keep the neighborhood horses away from the sweet corn.
There’s been a lot going on in the garden lately. This post covers most of this year’s June garden vegetables. After the summer storms, which the garden escaped without too much damage, things have settled back into a normal period of growth.
A set of new steps went in too, built from the other side of the road up to the property — a project that had been sitting on the back burner for about a year. They look good, and get used regularly now. It took a full day of work to finish, but the result was worth it. After a few days of editing, the June 2018 garden tour video finally went up too.
Table of Contents
Strawberry Harvest
Tasty strawberries came in for almost 3 weeks straight, with about 500g harvested daily at the peak of the season. Cousins visiting from California got to try them fresh, and a batch of strawberry ice cream turned out so much tastier than anything store-bought — fresh from the garden to plate really does open up a whole new world of taste.
Zucchini and Rhubarb
Zucchini and rhubarb both came in this round too, alongside fresh plantings of lettuce, green chilies, and fennel. A neighbor, with more chili plants than needed, kindly shared a whole bunch — a welcome gift, since not enough had been planted this year. The extra usually gets frozen to last until the next season.
Our Creeper Vegetables
Only a few of the Indian vegetables made it — okra, snake gourd, and bitter melon among them. The seeds were started indoors in the guest bathroom under special plant lights, and once the saplings reached a certain height, they moved outside.
Red Currants
A good redcurrant yield went into jam this year — one way of keeping a bit of the garden in a jar for longer. Peas and tomatoes are doing well too, with one bunch of peas already harvested and more ready to pick soon.
What’s Growing This June
Supplies List
- Strawberries (500g daily at peak)
- Zucchini, rhubarb
- Lettuce, green chilies, fennel
- Okra, snake gourd, bitter melon
- Redcurrants
- Peas, tomatoes, sweet corn
Instructions
Planting for Privacy:
Sweet corn went in along the crossroads on the slope, mainly to add some privacy to that spot.
The Horse Problem:
The hope is that the horses that pass by won’t devour the corn. Last year, one particular horse stopped to eat the grass and bushes along that slope — handy, since it saved some trimming, but this year calls for a different approach, keeping the horses away from that area altogether.
Preserving the Harvest
Videos on preserving the summer garden for winter — including that redcurrant jam — are coming up on the channel soon.
A Few Lessons from This Season
Start delicate seeds indoors: okra, snake gourd, and bitter melon did best started indoors under plant lights before moving outside once established.
Accept help from neighbors: a neighbor’s extra chili plants filled a gap left by under-planting this year.
Freeze the surplus: extra chilies get frozen to stretch the harvest into the next season.
Sweet Corn on the Slope
While jalapeños are the most commonly used pepper for hot pepper jelly, you can experiment with other types to customize the flavor and heat level:
Jalapeños: Mild to medium heat, widely available.
Serranos: Slightly hotter than jalapeños, with a bright, fresh flavor.
Habaneros: Very hot, with a fruity undertone.
Bell Peppers: No heat, but adds color and sweetness. Mixing different peppers can create a unique balance of flavors and colors.
Watch the Video
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