The summer growing season is here and it feels like it. We are in the midst of a stretch of heat with continued highs in the 90s. We overall have had modest humidity and a breeze most days which makes it tolerable for us, but plants are really showing stress. There is some soil moisture (far more than this time last year), but there is not a lot. So far we have only had 1.64 inches of rain in June with limited chances for more for the next week and only a trace in the last 10 days. In the last few days crops are starting to show stress and the grass is not growing as quickly.
Out in the field we are seeing early plantings of summer vegetables starting to yield, including zucchini, green beans, cucumbers, and potatoes. Tomatoes and peppers are coming along and a few cherry/grape tomatoes are starting to ripen. High tunnel tomatoes have been coming in for a few weeks now. Garlic and onions are starting harvest as well. I haven’t heard of any sweet corn harvest quite yet but early plantings are pollinating now and are on target for a before July 4th first harvest for most.
We are in the midst of blueberry harvest in the midseason varieties like ‘Bluecrop’ & ‘Bluegold’. Apples are sizing nicely. Early peach harvest has started. Raspberries are starting to come to an end especially with the heat, but blackberries are in full swing. Some rainfall would be appreciated to keep the berries going especially. Don't forget to keep good mulch and water on blueberries to keep them healthy and growing through the heat.
We are now reflecting on the cicada damage from May and early June. Locally they were very intense and we are now seeing a lot of dead branches on their favorite trees. So far my apples that were covered have lots of slots from eggs but the actual branch death and loss as not been quite as bad as I feared. Aside from apples, I also had some branch snap from cicadas on blueberries. Not extreme but it wasn’t hard to find a few branches here and there affected. I know from last time I will probably be pruning off cicada damage on the apples for at least the next few years.
Pumpkin planting is underway. We are again, in places, approaching some heat and dry that can slow emergence and put stress on them. We transplanted our pumpkins for the variety trial for Pumpkin Field Day on June 14. Transplants always have some shock but with the heat, wind and no rain that is even worse. Transplants just look rough. This commonly happens and I have experienced it enough to not get quite as worried as I once did. Even with the stress the key thing to look for is a heathy growing point. The original first and second true leaves from transplanting will often wilt badly and without close inspection you can think the whole field is done. If they were planted and covered well the plants will generally handle this stress just fine.
For now focus on keeping all your crops watered and mulched as much as you can to preserve the moisture to push growth through these hot temperatures and dry conditions.
