HOW’S YOUR GARDEN BY L OIS T R IG G C H A P L I N
Dill: Always Good to Have
lettuce in the heat. Lettuce seeds do not germinate in hot weather, so it’s easier to start them indoors. Transplants don’t like the heat either. Whether grown indoors or purchased, transplants will bolt easily in the heat, thus developing a flower stalk instead of a rosette of leaves. A sign that transplants are bolting is leaves spaced along an elongated central stem instead of a low, compact plant forming a rosette of ground-hugging leaves. If your transplants start to bolt, cut off the top but leave a node or two so that new leaves might sprout from there. Repeat as necessary. I have luck planting lettuce as late as October and then covering the plants with a low tunnel of frost cloth which can be removed during a winter warm spell.
SIMPLE TIMES
THE CO-OP PANTRY There is time to get in a fall crop of dill.
Gardeners who like fresh dill weed can sow dill seeds again to enjoy the green foliage until a hard freeze. As a bonus, if it grows inside a cold frame, the plant will yield all winter by adding new growth on mild, sunny days. I am working to create a permanent patch of dill by leaving the seeds to drop on the ground after they mature in late summer. Then in fall I put a small cold frame in the patch to cover and protect seedlings that come up. To start seeds from a packet now press them into the bare ground and keep moist until they develop a good tap root. Dill seed needs cool soil, so cover the spot with a board checking daily to remove it as soon as the seeds sprout. Although dill doesn’t transplant well because of the tap root, the only alternative in extreme heat is to start seeds indoors and transplant into the garden while still very young.
Starting Fall Lettuce Is Tricky Planting guides suggest sowing seeds for a fall crop of lettuce about this time, but it’s really tricky to grow
When lettuce is bolting, the central stem lengthens like this.
Squash Blossom Delicacy I was struck by the care that it must have taken to pick and transport these fragile squash blossoms to the farmers market in San Diego’s Little Italy one Saturday morning. The blooms of squash plants are September 2021
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