Late June - July GMG Garden
6/25/25: This blog post will get updated throughout July. Keep checking back!
First—a giant, rattling THANK YOU to everyone for holding the garden together while I was out for my wedding and the whirlwind leading up to it. Nancy—that dress wouldn’t have happened without you! Shawna—you either! Your cutting supplies are top-notch. Thank you again for all your help with the dress, the flowers, the vases, and everything else. And to everyone who came to my bridal shower—that was rad. I was so glad that Kayla, Megan, and their husbands made it to the reception. My heart is just bursting. 💚
The updated trellis system this season is also spectacular! Thanks everyone!
🔧 General To-Dos
Mowing & Weed Eating: Shawna and Greg have handled the bulk of it this season. MK is back at it, got most of the garden mowed on June 25, and will handle the remaining weed-eating on Wednesday, July 2. Focus areas are the southeast and southwest corners.
Watering: MK will adjust the timer to earlier hours. Inline fertigation (fertilizing through the drip system) will happen on Wednesdays when we’re there.
Bindweed Patrol: This is a garden-wide effort. Keep pulling it, especially at the base of key plants, to keep it from overtaking anything.
Earwig Traps: Earwig pressure is up. We’ll set out soy sauce traps, just like slug traps. (Great tip from Kayla.)
⚠️ We agreed to NOT spray the hollyhocks. We’ve decided to use them as a trap crop for earwigs, and we don’t want to harm the pollinators visiting them. Hopefully, we’ll take out the earwigs in time to enjoy and save the hollyhocks.Compost:
Can someone connect with a local restaurant to collect a couple of 5-gallon buckets of food scraps?
Coffee grounds are great too—keep an eye on local coffee shops.
MK is heading to Caldwell soon to pick up mushroom substrate.
Let’s turn the compost once before using it later this season. Got other compost ideas? Bring ’em!
City Compost: We’re ready to order a load for the Healing Garden patch. Anyone want to take the lead? (MK might need to help with delivery logistics.)
Cardboard: MK will pick up more large sheets from Bob’s Bicycles to help prep the Healing Garden patch.
Pollinator Note: Be mindful of any sprays—keep them away from flowers like hollyhocks that pollinators are using.
🌱 Row by Row Updates
Note: The row-by-row planting guide hasn’t been updated based on what’s survived. But, it’s all noted here for reference.
If anyone would like to update it, the link is here.
Hugel Row 1
Harvest lettuce, collards, and thin golden beets if needed.
Hugel Row 2
Peas are going to seed—let’s save that seed!
Continue harvesting lettuce and collards.
Hugel Row 3
Cucumber trellis plans are in motion.
Hugel Row 4 (Michael’s old row)
Beets and chard are ready.
Egyptian walking onions are thriving—harvest if needed.
Hugel Row 5 (Shawna & Megan)
Megan relocated the lovage from the end of this row.
Everything else is looking fantastic—keep it up!
Hugel Row 6 (Kayla)
Kayla has decided to leave the flowering cover crop for the pollinators—while standing there we spotted 4–6 types of bees loving it.
Bindweed patrol continues, especially pulling at the base.
Hugel Row 7 (Pepper Row)
Peppers are coming on strong!
Banner year for daisies and goldenrod.
Hugel Row 8 (Berry & Rhubarb)
The raspberries could use some tightened trellis lines.
Consider spraying them with rhubarb ferment or something else gentle, since they aren’t flowering right now. Just rinse before eating—clearly something’s been snacking on them.
Hugel Row 9 (Nancy’s Row)
Let’s help with weeding while Nancy is away caring for her brother.
Lemon basil is ready to harvest—trim it before it bolts but leave some to go to seed if you’d like. It’s doing way better than the Genovese basil this year.
Hugel Row 10 (Tomatoes & Garlic)
Kayla is working on trellising the south side tomatoes.
Megan added some lovage.
Considering adding more flowers to the end of this row for pollinators.
Hugel Row 11
Keep harvesting lettuce while it lasts.
We could let some go to seed for saving.
Hugel Row 12
Tomatoes are coming along.
Found a couple of beets ready as well.
Hugel Row 13
Chives are ready for use.
Leeks are going to seed—leave them for the pollinators.
Save some chive seed for fall planting or next spring.
Hugel Row 14 (Fairmont/Student Row)
Fairmont row looks great.
Comfrey can be harvested again for mulch.
Lettuce is almost ready to bolt—letting it go to seed might be a good idea.
Trellising the melon here might help, just because of how abundant everything is in that row.
🧄 Garlic
When garlic falls over, it’s ready. You can also check if the bottom 2–3 leaves are brown or about 40–60% of the leaves are brown. Any of those are good indicators!
Let’s plan a garlic braiding day at the garden. As always, we’ll save the best bulbs for seed and braid the rest to take home.
🍅 Coming Soon…
The tomatoes are coming!
The potatoes are coming!
Peas are ready to eat.
Garlic harvest is around the corner.
🔥 A Note on Watering
Looking over to the other side of the garden, it’s clear—their plants are exploding. A big difference seems to be more water. While we’ve been mindful of conservation, it’s worth discussing whether we want to increase watering as the summer heat kicks in.
🌿 Idea for July: Kitchen & Herb Day!
Let’s do a little community gathering at the garden—everyone brings their favorite recipe for herbs, summer crops, or whatever we’ve got in abundance. Could be a great excuse to share, snack, and swap ideas. Maybe even some impromptu preserving or recipe testing!
🌟 Bonus Garden Notes
The smaller radish pods are tender, tasty, and have a reputation for being excellent pickled.
💚 Thank You All
This garden and this community wouldn’t be what it is without each of you. Let’s keep growing—together.
