Chores for the first week in July

Our seeds have really taken off! We have cucumbers, zucchini, beans, corn, melons, salad mix, borage, basil, parsley and loads of flowers all growing and recognizable which means weeding shouldn't be a daunting task. The inside perimeter beds have corn growing and we just planted corn's sisters; beans and squash to make the three sisters of the Iroquois tradition. The beans will grow up along the corn fixing nitrogen into the soil and making the corn stronger and the squash will grow in between the corn mounds keeping off critters with its spiky foliage. We also sowed more beans (which have not sprouted yet) in the zucchini and bean bed.

We tied up the tomatoes to the stakes and pruned them. If they need to be tied again at a higher level the string and scissors are in the shed. Please prune the developing suckers from the tomato plants, refer to this great article for details http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/pruning-tomatoes.aspx. We do not have pruning shears yet so please use your hands to pull off the suckers.

Thanks to our amazing volunteer contractor Bryant Tent our gutters are hooked up to our rain barrels and the rain barrels are already full of water. The garden needs one inch rain per week so if it has not rained in a couple of days please take the watering cans in the shed and fill them up and go to town watering (this is an excellent kid job).

The bed closest to the the garden gate needs to have another sowing of carrots, beets and swiss chard. The seeds will be in the shed. Please make a straight indentation with a ruler, also found in the shed just behind the plant marker and sow the seeds according to the directions on the packet, just the length of one ruler. Then move the plant marker behind your new sowing. Be sure to water your new seeds thoroughly.