06/27/2021
🔥Let's talk heat waves🌡, and key actions to prepare for garden (and gardener) survival in extreme and unseasonably hot weather:
🌱 Throw some shade! If you care about it, cover it up. Check out our comparison pics below, with and without floating row cover, at 10am and 3pm. You can use row cover, burlap, formal shade cloth, bedsheets, whatever you have. Unless you have specific heat-set crops such as spicy hot peppers, tropical fruits, or tomatoes designed for truly hot zones, your crops are at risk. If you don't use a cover, prepare for sun scald on leaves, fruit ripening to a different color or size than expected, you may see flowers drop, fruit fail to set, or worse.
💧 Get wet! Water beds deeply in the early morning, or at night if you can't do early watering. Water needs to get at roots and a reservoir of moisture in the soil will help plants thrive through the heat. Be ready to add some compost at the base of each plant to mitigate nutrients being washed out by the heavy watering. If using pots or containers, water 2x-3x the frequency of raised beds.
🌱 Mucho mulch! Spreading thick layers of mulch is an incredible tool for retaining moisture near the ground where plants need it, and for w**d suppression all season long. It's also a great insulator for winter crops, but let's take one growing season at a time.
💧Water yo' self! Dehydration doesn't look good on plants or gardeners. When you water the garden early, start drinking water yourself to easily reach a reasonable daily hydration goal - be ready to drink even more when you sweat or are out in the sun & heat of the day.
