Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series. Each Monday we will look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

Sorry for the intermittent posting. We just returned last night from vacation and wifi was, shall we say... spotty.

What a difference a week makes! We returned to full grown cucumbers, 10 foot long and flowering pole bean vines, baby watermelons, spaghetti squash running wild, tomato plants twice as tall, and Bermuda grass... ahh the Bermuda grass. It is a truly obnoxious weed. The only problem that we really had with the garden while we were gone is that most of the broccoli (pictured above) flowered. We got a little bit, but it was a shame most of it went for naught.

young spaghetti squash  

young watermelon

Things to be on the lookout for:

Japanese beetles have arrived. They are on our apple trees, but have not eaten any plants in our beds. It seems the onions are doing their job.

The Japanese beetle's defense mechanism when disturbed is to let go of the plant and fall into the grass. We use that to our advantage by keeping a jar of soapy water in the garden and when we see the beetles, we hold the jar under them. Then we brush a hand over them and they fall right in and die. They tend to cluster up, so it doesn't take much time and if done every day will keep them from causing serious damage.

We advise not putting those pheromone traps (the kind with the bag) in your garden because they will actually attract beetles to your garden. If you have a large piece of property, place these traps in remote areas away from your garden.

Weather outlook:
-Warm, lower 90's
-Chance of rain Wednesday; dry later in the week
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:

-Cucumbers

-Kohlrabi
-Broccoli
-Squash and zucchini
-Squash blossoms
-Celeriac leaves
-Basil, mint, and other herbs
-Radishes
-Strawberries

What's coming soon:
-Green tomatoes
-Peppers