July greetings fellow gardeners and nature enthusiasts,

For me this month has come and almost gone in a flash. Already the days are shortening; always expected after all these years, yet still depressing to this gardener.

With debilitating knees I have struggled to keep up. A large indoor project together with unbearable heat and humidity kept me too long away from the gardens. Tell me, how is it that weeds proliferate, ensuring another generation plagues me this season, while the main crops suffer from heat stress and drought?

At least the tomatoes look good so far, as I’ve kept them well pruned, watered and fertilized. Disease problems have been minimal to date- very unusual given the humidity.

Today, the 21st of the month, I will finish harvesting all the garlic. I noticed with the past heat wave, the plants started to senesce. With high temps and humidity on the way again, I know there would be no further increase in bulb size. Best to yank them and take advantage of a few dry days to cure them. The onions, on the other hand, are still green and putting on size. Keeping them watered until they brown and flop over is the name of the game for now.

This is the month when evil bugs rear their ugly heads in force. Colorado potato beetles, squash bugs, squash vine borers, Mexican bean beetles, Asiatic garden beetles, to name a few. Watch out for tomato hornworms; they can devastate a plant overnight.

I do love my basil and use it profusely. However, Asiatic garden beetles relentlessly devour leaves. Most of my insect woes are dealt with physically, and this pest is no exception. I build a well around each plant, and when I see destruction mounting, I flood the wells with water, let it drain, repeat, and watch for the buggers to surface. With vengeful delight, I squish them in my bare hands! I’ll do this for several consecutive days until I see no more evidence. This solves the problem exceedingly well.

For now, I’ll stay in maintenance mode in all the gardens and hope for good returns as the season rolls along. Next month should find Gene and me in the kitchen putting food by.

We watch the second, and I believe third broods for some birds, take flight, learn about the free food at feeders, and linger in birdbaths. We sense the urge for going in many. We are surprised that our orioles are still hanging out, as we hear they usually head out right around the 15th. They continue to alight right up to our kitchen window feeder. The adult male often likes to face west, exposing his backside to me. It is more orange than the orangiest orange I have ever seen. That color against raven black accouterments is unbelievably striking to me. We will soon miss them. We’ll then enjoy the hummers for a while longer. When the swifts leave next month, we become very aware of that changing bite in the air…

That’s it for now.

Judy

July 2025 Musings

Nashua Farmers’ Exchange