Weekly Gardening Outlook (Rain!!!)

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

There's rain in that barrel!

Someone out there has been working on their rain dance technique!  We haven't had rain in 6 weeks and have seen temperatures over 100 degrees during that time.  Last night a solitary thunderstorm cell dropped the wet stuff on us for 20 minutes.  Not enough to do much more than knock the dust down, but with the weatherpersons calling for a 40-50% chance of rain each of the next 3 days, we are hopeful for more.  Our rain barrel gathered about 15 gallons during that shower.

Spaghetti Squash / Squash Vine Borer Update:

Alas, we hardly knew ye.  The barrage of insect activity noted last week did the squash vines in.  They made it almost 8 weeks.  Next season, we will more vigilant and ready with BT for the borers and pyrethrin/neem oil for everything else.  If that doesn't work... the farmer's market is open 3 days a week.  Wish us luck!

Things to be on the lookout for:

Young strawberry plants for next season

Continuing with the theme, keep tabs on soil moisture.  As hot and dry as it has been, these late summer crops are already stressed.  Forget about them for a few days and you could lose them, missing out on the late season harvest.  Contrasted in the picture above are young daughter strawberry plants thriving in this dry spell surrounded by leaves from a nearby sycamore tree.  Those leaves are there because the tree is experiencing drought stress and is prematurely dropping its leaves. Our water bill has crept into three digits for the first time ever, but most of our crops are doing okay.  Don't be afraid to get your fingers dirty.  A finger in the dirt is the best way to estimate soil moisture.  A crust on the soil surface is okay, but try to keep the soil a few inches down as damp as a well wrung out sponge.

Weather outlook:
-80s all week.  Nighttime lows into the low 50s late in the week.  Fall is in the air!  A good chance of rain Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Peppers

-Chard 

-Tomatoes
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs

-Apples