July greetings, fellow gardeners and nature enthusiasts,

In my last few blogs, I found myself referring back to a happening or thought from the previous month, and now I find myself wanting to do just that again. Bear with me; this event is always significant (and a bit emotional) for me.

While doing dishes on June 22nd, the day after the solstice, I glanced out the window as the sun was lowering in the west. I raced out to the porch to catch this sunset, because it was too cloudy yesterday. This is the time of year when the sun appears furthest to the north from my viewpoint. I grab a porch seat, as the glowing sun sets the treetops to gold in the east. I’m peering through fairly open woods, so it’s not blinding. I watch this bright circle blur into a sun puddle. Shortly, it dims and sinks below the horizon. I imagine yin and yang now having touched for that cosmic nanosecond, as the sun begins its inexorable march south toward its winter solstice. As much as I truly love summer, this day is always a bit sad for me. I hesitantly reckon with what’s coming.

Now let’s get to July. A couple of funny (probably more odd) things happened in the last week of June, but that reveal shall come later. I still lament that strawberry season came and went far too quickly. It was all over by the 6th here on the Knoll. The crop looked to be promising and bountiful early on but petered out with lots of help from the chipmunks that had a field day despite Fort Knox fortification. I did manage to eke out 2 batches of jam and a bare minimum of fresh use. Getting ready for next year now requires renovation- cutting back old foliage, fertilizing, and placing new runners where they need to be for proper spacing. I’m not done yet, and the late-bearing raspberries are already budding up. I’ve given up on my six blueberry bushes for the year. No matter what I do, the birds win. On to pick-your-own as if I have time.

By the 12th of the month, I had yanked all the pea plants, a crop disaster since the April freeze. This mainstay usually carries us through the winter, so disappointment still abounds. I’m counting on a second seeding of cucumbers to take over those pea trellises so I won’t be reminded. Also, pole beans were directly seeded into our “lower 40” garden on the 16th, but germination was spotty. I have poked a few more seeds in and am hoping for the best.

*Taking advantage of the superb drying weather.*

On the 18th, rain was in the forecast, and my focus turned entirely to garlic. More than half the foliage had browned, and I didn’t want any more moisture to settle into the necks. As the skies darkened (and it wasn’t all smoke), I frantically went to work. Once dug, I placed the whole plants atop inverted crates that I labeled by variety. Each plant was evenly spaced for adequate air circulation. Aha! My race against time paid off; the first plop plop of raindrops was descending. I hurriedly double-stacked the crates and whisked them into the cellar for now.

The following next two days were superb drying weather, and I took full advantage. This was a big boost to the curing process. They’re now in a shed to finish up that process. (*Please see garlic culture on our website should you need a refresher as to this procedure).

It appears potatoes are having a fine season. We are rather amazed at the lack of insect and disease issues, relatively speaking, that is. Though not ready to dig just yet, the 20th found us poking around for new potatoes, a favorite treat of ours. Boiled up and slathered with butter and fresh parsley just can’t be beat. And no more store-bought potatoes, yay!

We’re keeping an eagle eye on squash. Earlier, there were signs of angular leaf spot, but that was quickly stopped dead in its tracks with a copper spray. So far we’re keeping up with squash bugs, but I worry more about the devastating vine borer. They seem to go for acorn squash before butternut, so I set up an experiment with the 3 acorn. I left one as my control, and on the other two (don’t laugh), I dressed the first 6-8” of the stems with cut-up T-shirt rags. Looking quite stylish, I might add. To date, I see no telltale wilting or “sawdust” at the crowns, so I now await August to tell the rest of the story.

To back up just a little, who can forget the epic heat we’ve been experiencing most of the month? Not only beastly hot and humid on the 15th, but the skies were eerily brownish yellow. The sun was blocked by Canadian wildfires. So hard to even catch a breath. What could possibly be an upside to this? It’s peak DAYLILY time! That yellow cast to the air has set them all beyond aglow. I especially love looking out over my old breeding beds from a distance, weeds and all. It’s an extensive “Monet” sea of color.

We’re in a drought situation, but the gardens aren’t suffering as expected. I admit we have timed watering to just before predicted “showers”, so that supplementary rainfall would seep as deep as possible. Even the lawn hasn’t browned yet, and that has never been watered. My Walla Walla onions are still green and growing. Plain odd for this time of year. And I do believe these and other signs to be deceptive. The sassafras leaves are barely half the size of other years. The leaves in the upper half of my old Kousa dogwoods are very small, and it seemed I could count the number of blooms it produced. My hydrangea burst forth the center of its blossoms, but the beautiful blue petals around that center were few and far between. Why are the pine trees dropping green cones?

Did you think I forgot about those odd animal antics mentioned earlier? Here’s one for you. It was the 23rd, and I couldn’t believe what was happening. A pair of young-of-the-year chipmunks were having a jolly time chasing one another when one of them caught wind of the Sluggo Plus bait I had just applied around my cannas. He started gobbling up these granules to beat the guns. Hardly believing my eyes, I ran out to chase him away. Lo and behold, this guy kept challenging me, coming within a foot of my boot. Tell me, what’s in this repellent that makes this guy want it so badly? Anyway, Gene took care of that one, only to find the other one emerging from the stone wall trying to do the same thing. Really?

On the 17th, Gene and I were enjoying breakfast on the porch when a hummingbird latched onto the screen. Apparently she saw the ruby red jar of strawberry jam and wanted dibs. So funny.

The orioles disappeared about the 15th. A week or so later, a few showed up sporadically. We wonder if they were just passing through on their migratory path. Now the hummingbirds have free rein and don’t have to worry about nectar thievery. They buzz and whir by constantly.

That’s it for now. Another long one–sorry.

Judy the plucky farmer

P.S. Don’t forget that we will be closed for inventory on Monday, August 3rd! We will be back on Wednesday, August 5th at 9 AM.

July Musings 2026

Nashua Farmers’ Exchange