I have been waiting for June since, well, last July. This is the first month that I get any substantial harvests, AND still get to put lots of stuff in the dirt. My garden boxes are in. The fence is up. Life is good.
Seeds to Start Indoors in June
Nada. Zip. Zilch. Everything is headed outdoors this month. Late next month I’ll start a couple of cooler weather crops indoors for the next fall.
What I Plan to Plant Outside This Month
What am I planting? EVERYTHING!!! And then some. No really, I have most of my garden beds planted with the usual suspects: tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, carrots, beans, turnips, cabbage, beets and winter squash…just to name a few.
Now that my garden boxes are up in place, my main goal this summer is to get my garden beds carved out. It’s going to take some work, but I know it will be worth it in the end.
I plan to snag some Hydrangeas, Rose of Sharon, and Purple Cone Flowers {all perennials} this summer, and will be planting them in different spots throughout the yard.
I’m getting close to maxing out my $1,200 garden budge for the year {I think I only have around $425 left}, so I need to be choosy–which is hard because I want to plant everything.
Vegetables to Harvest This Month
There’s plenty of lettuce and spinach for salads still. I planted enough Kale for The Girl to get her smoothie fix. I also expect to have sugar snap peas any day now. If YOU have established strawberries, I expect you would see those this month.
Houseplants and Bulbs
Except for watering, the houseplants are on their own this month, I’ll be outdoors enjoying the dirt and sunshine. There are plenty of summer bulbs you could plant outdoors still. Gladiolas and Dahlias would still have plenty of time for a summer bloom {depending on your area, you will need to pull those bulbs up and store them over the winter}.
Basic Yard Maintenance
Lucky for me, I have Monkey Boy to do the mowing. Yard work will be in full swing this month. Mowing, watering, and weeding will be a daily chore around here. If it really starts to heat up in your neck of the woods by the end of the month, make sure to really drench your flower pots daily.
Home Maintenance Inside
I won’t really be spending much time inside this month–so most of those chores will have to wait. I do plan on using the weather to my advantage, though, by opening the windows in the early morning and late evening hours and then pulling the curtains/shades/blind in the daytime to keep my cooling costs under control.
Summer. It’s finally here! Wahoooo.
~Mavis
Starbeamer says
You spend $1200 on a garden!! I spend more than $100 and I scold myself, lol. You do such a great job with your garden though and get so much more out of yours than I do. Congrats!
Tracie says
Wow. 1200$ please tell me that’s building your beds and dirt. I plant cheap and get seeds from plant a row. I worked for the city on a cg project and get free compost. Manage a cg get free space and water. I donated 1500 pounds of food last year. 1200$. If i had that I can only imagine the garden is have. Amazing. I love your blog. And I like the tips. A pull a lot if my garden info from you. Thank you.
Ps hope the HOA is in the past. We just got chickens. Totally against the hoa. But I figure they are more like pets and ready for that challenge. I might need some flamingos. Haha hoa is ahead of me. No figurine type stuff in the front yard. :-/
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes. $1,200 for everything garden related. Wood for the beds, soil, compost, grass seed and fertilizer, seeds, garden tools you name it.
Monica says
I think people would be very surprised how much they actually spend on gardening supplies if they added everything up as you do. I know I am very good at picking things up here and there!
Susan says
I love, love, love your new raised beds. What type of soil are you using in them? Are you using Mel’s recipe from the Square Foot Garden?
Mavis Butterfield says
Half Me’s recipe half Tagro. 🙂