It’s a Cooker! What To Do and What Not To Do on this Hot Weekend

The forecast on this Mother’s Day Weekend has temperatures soaring up into the nineties. We can expect this to continue through Monday.

Sun Protection for Cool Season Crops

Water and shade is in order for any cool season crops in direct sun. I’m watering deeply in the morning and shallow in the afternoon. To keep shallow roots hydrates and to cool the soil and the plant. I just put up a shade cloth on my carrot bed to protect the babies beneath. However, lettuce greens, beets, broccoli, peas, would also appreciate shade if you can rig it up.

Warm Season Transplanting and Sowing

Normally, I would finish transplanting and sowing my warm season crops (squash, melons, cucumbers, beans, etc) this weekend. But, I’m going to play it safe and only plant half of them. That way I have back-ups if they get scorched. They have been hardened off, (spending more and more time outside), which should give them decent odds of survival. If you are in the process of hardening off, make sure they stay moist, and watch for sun scorching, which blanches the leaves white.

It should be safe to sow beans this weekend. Soaking them in water overnight will jump-start the germination process. Keep the soil moist. Plant pole beans about one handspan apart (across the knuckles) and bush beans about the length of your index finger to your wrist apart. When they start to emerge make sure to include some slug traps or Sluggo. They love felling young beans like tiny, mucous-ey, loggers.

What tips do you have to share for helping your garden deal with the heat?