Backyard Garden Update: Spring into Summer
Wow, we are almost to the end of May! Here in the south the transition from spring to summer gardening is occurring. I thought I would show you what is growing in our backyard garden, and perhaps this will give you some inspiration as you think about what you will be planting soon!
Be sure to see the full tour on my YouTube post here.
So for the moment I have everything planted in 5 raised beds, as well as hanging pots on the fence. The hanging pots on the fence hold my herbs and grow all year round. I will take you through each bed and tell you what I have going on right now and what will be happening (or not!) over the next several months. Summer in south Texas is HOT and HUMID, so everything we grow here has to be able to withstand 110 degrees and 100% humidity if it wants to survive through August. We understand that not everything will make it to August, and that is ok. It is all a matter of what you are trying to accomplish!
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Garden Bed 1
So Bed 1 from the beginning of my garden here two years ago has been the strawberry bed. This is my 2nd full year growing strawberries and they have done SO well! I have a mix of Chandler and Sweet Charlie, which are both June-bearing. June-bearing are really the best type of strawberries to grow in our southern heat. Here in Zone 9a, they start to fruit in March and typically last until middle of May. As I type this, there are only a few plants still trying to put out flowers; the rest have stopped and are starting to send out runners.
My plan for the strawberries is always to propagate the runners into new plants. I prefer to cut off the runners from the mother plants for 3 reasons:
- This saves energy for both plants to continue to produce fruit.
- I can then place the new plants wherever I want.
- It prevents overcrowding in the bed.
Last summer my runners really suffered in the heat, so this year I plan to protect them better. I will bring them inside under grow lights or put them outside under some shade to keep them alive. If they can make it to late fall, they will be transplanted back into a bed.
If you want to see a video on how I propagate the strawberries, check out my YouTube video here.
I also have a huge yarrow plant on the left side that is doing well; I have to cut it back pretty frequently but it is a great attracting for my pollinators. On the right side of the bed I have planted two types of basil. Basil makes a great companion plant for strawberries and should do fine over the summer here.
Garden Bed 2
So this bed has housed the wildflowers, giant milkweed and the green beans. The wildflowers are getting to the end of their lifespan, and I am letting a lot of them go to seed so I can harvest the seeds and save them for next year. These have been SUCH a hit here in the garden; I highly recommend planting wildflowers if you love beautiful colors and attracting tons of bees and butterflies.
I plan on moving the milkweed to another location since it has gotten very large, and the green beans will stay where they are at. Green beans, in this case bush beans, don’t need a ton of care or fertilizer as they are light feeders, but I will hit them up with some Microlife Ocean Harvest foliar feed a few times.
In the space where the flowers are being removed I will be planting zucchini. This will grow over the summer and makes a great companion plant for the bush beans since they are more heavy feeders. I will amend the soil with some compost and a little extra fertilizer and then plant the zucchini by seed.
Garden Bed 3
Bed 3 has housed the okra, bluebonnets and gayfeather. The okra is doing so well; I will fertilize it once a month while growing with MicroLife Ocean Harvest, and it will continue to grow over the summer into the fall. The gayfeather hasn’t bloomed yet so I am yanking it. And the bluebonnets have gone to seed, so I am letting them all finish this process so I can harvest the seeds and save them for the fall to plant in the front beds!
Garden Bed 4
This bed is my favorite because it is the pollinator bed! It houses some strawberries as well as loads of flowers and plants that are beneficial for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Most of these plants should be just fine over the summer, but you never know with our heat and humidity here in Zone 9a!
The strawberries will start to send out runners are soon as they are done producing fruit, and I will be harvesting those runners to make new plants for next season. The momma strawberry plants will probably not do well over the summer, but one of my goals with interplanting them in this bed was to provide some shade, so we shall see! I also try to feed all my flowers with Scott’s Super Bloom every other week.
Garden Bed 5
And the last bed here is where the tomatoes, peppers and nasturtium will grow over the summer! They are all doing SO well, and I can’t wait to see what produce I get. All three of these plants do well together, and the nasturtium should help provide ground cover to the bed to maintain moisture and keep the soil cool. In this picture you can see I still need to mulch; I will do so with a straw cover.
Tomatoes and peppers are heavy feeders, so I will fertilizer them with Jobe’s Organics Tomato/Vegetable fertilizer once they are flowering and then every other week with Microlife Ocean Harvest. I don’t foliar feed this bed since the extra moisture can produce fungal growth. I have the tomatoes supported by teepees; you can watch my video or read my blog post to learn about how to make these and why I like them so much.
Well that is about it! I hope you enjoyed the tour. Comment below if you have any questions about specific plants or let me know what you are all growing! Happy gardening!