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The cantaloupes in my garden have spent most of the month of August thinking that it was September. They generally don’t like September.  Research, and my experience, suggests that cantaloupes usually begin to falter when night temperatures begin to dip under 60 degrees. That has happened frequently this August. You get vine decline often from mildew, delayed ripening and loss of flavor.

Interestingly, I maintain three vegetable gardens, two of which had multiple plantings of cantaloupes. Melons in the garden facing north seem to have fared worse than those in the garden facing south. Could that siteing have made a difference of a few critical degrees? I always try to get cantaloupes into early September but this year the late plantings may have been a mistake.

On the flip side, I try to get a head start on the fall cole crop season by violating the rule that says you never plant cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli or brussel sprouts before July 1. My mid June planting has supplied cabbage and broccoli and has cauliflower heads forming. Brussel sprouts are of course a long season fall crop and need to be planted normally in early July.Unfortunately, a groundhog learned to climb a not too sturdy fence at one of the gardens and proceeded to eliminate the cauliflower, then the broccoli and finally the brussel sprouts while sparing maturing cabbage. I wish his taste buds were the opposite.

Some of the other warm season vegetables, like tomatoes and peppers, also seem to be showing delayed fruit development. Perhaps it is the weather or maybe I got a little aggressive with fertilizer which fostered growth while delaying fruiting. The potatoes sure liked the fertilizer and maybe the weather, too.

On the flower side, the cooler temperatures extended the life of most blooms on both perennials and annuals. Often flower beds, both annual and perennial, look about petered out by August. This year most remain quite respectable.

Several days ago I was making a dash from the dam at Conowingo to the farm when I spied a yard side fence under planted with some of the showiest petunias I have ever seen. Usually I only brake for people or birds but I slowed abruptly to savior the moment.

On travels to New England, Alaska and maritime Canada we have often marveled at the beauty of their annual flowers. The reasons are cooler temperatures, lower humidity and longer days. This year the north sent us two of the three and we should celebrate and not complain, even when occasionally one of the cantaloupes has little taste.

“Can you plant in summer?” That is a question I get asked a lot. “It depends” is the answer I give most often.

I would have no qualms about planting fall vegetables, annuals, perennials or small shrubs. Moving large trees could be done, but might want to wait until fall unless you are really faithful about watering.

All plants go through what is known as “transplant shock”. When we move plants from one location in our gardens to another or from a pot to the ground this disturbs the roots. Taking steps to minimize transplant shock will help them to recover and succeed more quickly.

This summer we have been blessed with cooler than average temperatures. At the farm we took advantage of those and planted a steep bank with groundcover and flowering perennials. We picked two days after a series of rains. The soil was cool and moist, but not wet. We watered all plants thoroughly before planting. Step one in avoiding transplant shock is keeping the roots moist.

We trimmed all large perennials, and removed the flowers from several. This help the plant focus on growing roots instead of making seeds. It’s hard to do, but it helps. Pots that were root-bound, or had circling roots, we cut open with a sharp knife or clippers. Opening up the roots so they are going in the right direction in the ground gives them a better chance of grabbing quickly. Step two in reducing transplant shock. Reducing the plant height in relation to the size of the roots also will help the plant keep a healthy moisture balance, as most water is lost through tiny holes in the leaves called stomata.

Next came mulch to cool the soil and hold moisture.

Now comes patience. The third step to reducing transplant shock is just waiting patiently. In a year or so, it will be beautiful.

Most people plant in the spring when the soil is still cold, but is warming. Water is usually adequate from rainfall. Planting in the fall: August-early October, is also a great time as soil is warm, and the fall rains will help heal plants into the ground before winter.

Last fall, some transplants didn’t take before the harsh winter we had, and didn’t make it. Planting in summer will work as long as plants receive at least an inch a week from rainfall or your watering can. I have now watered my bank 3 times since planting it 10 days ago and God watered it once.

It is July; otherwise known as All Zucchini, All The Time. We modestly planted three zucchini seedlings in the garden, two greens and one yellow zucchini. I don’t care for yellow squash, but love yellow zucchini. About 3 weeks ago they started producing. Since then we’ve picked about three a day. Some days more, if we miss a day we have baseball bats, super for zucchini bread.

I have two elementary age children. Their favorite method of zucchini consumption is warm zucchini bread straight from the oven. When my sweet tooth starts to hurt we try other methods. A few days ago baked zucchini stuffed with bacon, chopped and sautéed mushrooms, breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese was on the menu. I loved it. My husband ate it…my kids not so much.

Grated zucchini pancakes made with Bisquick, onion and cheddar cheese sautéed in a little oil are also delicious. My mom makes a tasty stir fry with sliced zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and yellow squash. Fresh oregano and basil round it out and it’s a great side dish or chunky sauce over pasta.

I have stooped to throwing half a zucchini into the blender and “hiding “ it in spaghetti sauce. Pretty soon I’m going to start to hit up cooking blogs for zucchini recipes I haven’t tried yet.

Last year I froze about 20 loaves of zucchini bread. It made a great treat over the winter- especially after coming in from sledding. My kids love it coated in egg and lightly fried for zucchini bread French Toast. A light dusting with powdered sugar is a nice reminder of summer on a cold day. One year I tried to take the easy route and freeze the shredded zucchini. That didn’t work. I ended up with a bag of soggy mush.

Our three plants are more than enough for my family, my parents and whoever else I can pawn them off on. A customer this spring tried to buy about 20- I sent him back to the greenhouse to put 18 of them back. His wife would have killed him.

There are few things in the garden more bounteous or more complained about than the zucchini. It suffers from few diseases, most notably powdery mildew- identified by a white powder on the surface of the leaves. Insects pests include aphids and most problematic- squash vine weevils. A good bath in soapy water will treat aphids, and spraying the base of the vine with Bt bacteria about once a week will prevent the weevils.

Zucchini are easily pollinated by bees, but if you don’t see much fruit setting on your plants, you can give the bees a hand. Zucchini have separate male and female flowers. Remove the male flowers ( you will see lots of powdery pollen) and GENTLY rub the pollen on the center of the female flower. Not surprisingly there are a ton of YouTube videos on this subject.

There goes the oven timer, 3 more loaves of zucchini bread are ready!

Gardening is a learning experience. Sometimes we pick up new information and other times we are jolted to remember things that we should not have forgotten. What follows are my year to date adventures with the learning curve.

Let’s start with black raspberries, a new addition to my gardens a few years ago. I’ll admit that black raspberry production is more challenging than many gardening projects because of disease. Beyond that I am discovering that I have been too timid with the pruning shears. Fruiting canes only last one season and are replaced with new growth from the roots. These canes can be quite vigorous and need to be cut back in the fall to prevent plants from over fruiting, resulting in poor quality. Last year I took them back to about 30 to 36 inches. This fall it will be 24 to 30 inches.

After two lackluster years with potatoes, my first attempts since the early 1970ies, I remembered the magic word fertilizer. I used about 20 pounds of 10-20-20 on a row utilizing 10 pounds of seed potatoes. Until recently, one couldhide and nap in potato shade. Now they are starting to flop and the ridged ground is starting to crack open.The two previous years I had a constant war with potato beetles. This year I got there early with diamateous earth. Two applications, none in the last month, and it is hard to find many beetles. Maybe it’s timeliness.

On the subject of timelines, last year my daughter’s chickens gave me cold feet with the largest of my three vegetable gardens. Neglect left several weeds, namely red roots, go to seed. My reward is a circle, maybe ten feet across, of weed seedlings thicker than my hair. You will never have a chance in the weed battle if you let even a few go to seed.

Breaking with my tradition of seeking other sources than commercial fertilizer I purchased four 50 pound bags. As previously stated half a bag went to the potatoes, one bag is still in the garage and the other two and a half bags were scattered in two vegetable gardens and three large flower beds.If you are reading closely that means that one vegetable garden was skipped. That one is the smallest and is at my new address. It was created by dumping and leveling two loads of purchased top soil into the area where I think they buried the stumps when they built the house several decades ago.

My brain suggested that purchased topsoil wouldn’t need fertilizer. Comparing that garden and the two that were fertilized, the difference is stark. The two short rows that I have remaining there for cabbage and friends will get a little fertilizer. In a few months I can compare results with the same crops in the same garden with last year.

I could ramble on but there will be another week. My hope is that my brain will never get full and my garden knowledge and that of my other interests will continue to grow.

Like the cobbler’s shoeless children, I never get to my flower beds until June. We have now lived in the house my parents built 20-odd years ago for two summers. Their gardening efforts created two huge beds on slopes too steep to mow; one with large shrubs, the other with daffodils and daylilies. They also have a semicircular courtyard garden surrounding the front of the house. These areas are relatively established and require little more than weeding, pruning, and the additional annual or 10 for color.

The back of the house, however has little landscaping around it as they didn’t use the backyard much. My children’s playset is out there and we swing. A lot. Last weekend I finally got tired of looking at the 40-ft expanse of weeds along the back of the house.

When laying out a new bed several things are important to keep in mind; shape, slope, and sun.

First decide on shape. Lay an old garden hose in the shape of the bed you are creating. Usually rounded, oval or kidney shaped beds look best in the middle of a lawn, rectangular or rounded semicircular beds around the side of a house.

We decided on two roughly rectangular beds along the back of the house. Dad weed-whacked it for me, then weed sprayed it to kill the surface weeds. If you are planting where grass currently resides, consider renting a sod cutter to lift the grass.

Next is slope. Will your bed be on flat, level ground, or will it drain to one side? Will you be looking from the front to the back or around all sides? Tallest to shortest plants are best if you will only be looking from one angle. Tallest in the middle is best stepping down in height to the edges if the bed will be viewed from all angles. Space plants closer together on steep slopes to prevent erosion.

Finally sun. Look at the bed at different times of day. When is it shaded, or is it in sun most of the day? Are parts more protected than others? My beds are in full sun most of the afternoon. Choose your plants accordingly.

After shape and ground preparation came the fun part. I decided on two different color schemes. The first bed I used orange and blue complementary colors. Firecracker vine in the back climbs the trellis of the deck, with a new orange digiplexis and black-and-blue salvia in the middle. Orange and blue trailing verbena edge the front. The other bed has the analogous colors of pink and purple. Verbena bonariensis, ‘Firecracker’ gomphrena and Mexican bush sage in the middle edged with the silver salvia and pink trailing verbena. To tie the two beds together I used dark foliaged hibiscus and red fountain grass in both areas.

A top coat of mulch to hold the moisture and deter weeds, and I’m pleased with this project. Now if I can just keep the chickens out.