It’s been a while since you’ve heard from us, and no doubt you can understand that in this heat, everything slows down – including us. But now we’re back, with a few reminders, announcements, suggestions and reports.
BOULDER GOLD in the Daily Camera:
First, a reminder that we’d love to have you vote us #1 in the Daily Camera’s ‘Boulder Gold’ competition. Voting ends on July 30th, so please go right away to: http://www.futureofnews.com/AdEverywhere/SI/PR/RC/?S=dailycamera&B=1040 and cast your ballots for us in the BEST GARDEN CENTER and BEST PLANT NURSERY categories, and a third category of your choice (may we suggest Best Locally-Owned Store, Best Shopping Destination, Best Company that Gives Back to the Community, or Best Tree Nursery). THE RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1) You MUST vote in at least 10 categories, 2) You can vote for the same business in up to 3 categories, but no more, and 3) You MUST fill out the required fields at the end of the ballot and submit your vote, and 4) You must get your ballot in by the end of the day Saturday July 30. Thank you for your support!
IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN (and the kitchen):
We have been checking the vegetable garden, harvesting lettuce, rustic arugula (very heat-tolerant), radicchio, spring onions, zucchini, swiss chard, kale, broccoli side-shoots, cauliflower, upland cress, fava beans, leaf broccoli (aka Minestra Nera or Spigariello), strawberries, basil, parsley, mint (the latter two for making quinoa tabbouli). Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatillos, green beans and cucumbers will be ready very soon. You are welcome to visit the vegetable garden at Harlequin’s and see how we support our tomato plants. Just ask someone on our staff to show you.
Eve has been making lots of pesto, not only with basil, but she’s also pestifying with parsley, cilantro, arugula and tarragon. Parsley Pesto (made with pecans, garlic, parsley, olive oil, salt and lemon juice) is fabulous on pasta or potatoes, bruschetta, grilled meat, chicken or fish. Arugula pesto is made with walnuts, garlic, arugula, olive oil, salt and lemon juice, and is great for all the same uses. Tarragon Pesto, made with brazil nuts or pignoli, tarragon and olive oil, is particularly good spread on crackers or bruschetta with some soft goat cheese, or on chicken. Eve’s cilantro pesto is made with walnuts, cumin seeds, garlic, cilantro, virgin coconut oil, olive oil, salt and lime juice. It’s a daily staple in our home, used on avocado, grilled chicken or fish, sweet potato, black beans or bean soup, or anything that’s handy. Did you know that cilantro is known to draw out and cleanse the body of toxic heavy metals, especially mercury?
PESTS and DISEASES:
We have received reports from a few of you that Early Blight is affecting some of your tomato plants. Early Blight is a fungal disease, and can be organically controlled by spraying with Green Cure, which we have in stock.
This summer also seems to be particularly buggy, and we are well-stocked with effective, non-toxic, organic pest management supplies.
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU LIKE:
We would love to get your feed-back on which vegetable and herb varieties you liked and didn’t like. Your feedback helps us enormously when it comes time to choose which varieties we should grow for the coming year (we make those selections in December). The best way to let us know what you think is to go to our website and click on PLANTS, then EDIBLES, then VEGETABLES, then SPEAKING OF VEGETABLES. Or save this link to go directly to it: https://www.harlequinsgardens.com/plants/edibles/vegetables/the-veggie-report/
FRUIT TREES:
Mikl has just brought out a new crop of fruit trees, including Apples (Cortland, Sweet Sixteen, Honeycrisp), Plums (Stanley), Peaches (Red Haven, Reliance) and Apricots (Moorpark).
SEASON EXTENDING in the VEGETABLE GARDEN:
In the midst of the midsummer heat it may be hard to imagine that we really will be seeing cool, short days again in the not-so-distant future. But it is true, and NOW is the time to plan and plant cool-season crops for fall and winter harvests.
With this in mind, we have just re-stocked our supply of seeds from Botanical Interests with many great varieties of Carrots, Beets, Radishes, Kale, Lettuce, Mesclun, Bok Choy, Tat Soi, Arugula, Kohlrabi, Spinach, Cilantro, Swiss Chard, Green Onion, Collards, and more. We also have lots of Abbondanza Lettuce, Chard, Kale and Tatsoi seeds.
Eve has been planting and potting starts for Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Leaf Broccoli, Kale, Chard, Lettuce, Arugula, etc., and these will soon be ready for sale. We have SeedGuard row-cover to protect your seed beds and new crops. And for those of you who are new to season-extending, we have Eliot Coleman’s essential books ‘The Four-Season Harvest’ and Winter Harvest Handbook’.
Rhubarb and Sea-Kale plants in one-gallon pots are still available.
IN THE ORNAMENTAL GARDEN:
We still have lots of wonderful perennials, vines, grasses, groundcovers, roses, shrubs and trees to choose from. New selections continue to come out of our growing houses and ‘fields’ daily. We have mulches, row-cover fabric, mycorrhizae, compost tea and ‘Super-Thrive’ in stock to help your new plants get established in spite of the heat.
In July, gardens require TWICE AS MUCH WATER than any other month to support them in the stresses of heat, flowering and making seed. You can also help them through the heat by adding mulch, and by dead-heading (removing) half or more of the spent blooms before a plant has made seed.
LOOKING AHEAD:
This fall, starting in early September, we will again offer a delightful, hand-picked selection of bulbs for spring blooms, with an emphasis on jewel-like beauty, easy naturalizing, drought-resistance and deer-resistance. We will also offer an expanded selection of organic Garlic and Shallot bulbs.
Stay tuned for details about our TOMATO TASTING event, coming up on September 10th.
We hope you are having a splendid summer and that we will see you soon!
All the best,
Eve & Mikl Brawner and the Staff at Harlequin’s Gardens