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...because all the best garden advice is local

August 9, 2012
Goodbye July--Good Riddance! 

Greetings!Veronica with a tomato harvest

   

We've just finished up a brutal July--one for the record books. Last month was the second-hottest, second-driest July in Iowa history.

   It's too late for the corn crop, but the recent series of rains have been kind to my Ames garden. One inch a little over a week ago, 1 � inches a few days ago, and then a little over a half inch yesterday. And more rain predicted for today!

   The grass is greening up again and the drought-stressed perennials and annuals looking more lush and shiny green.

   Mother Nature right now is feeling like an unpredictable friend, who after being distant and nasty for a while, realizes the error of her ways. To make up for it, she's now lavishing attention and gifts.

   Granted, even these gifts are not enough. As of Tuesday, the entire state was classified as being in either severe or extreme drought by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

   But me, for now, I'm glad Mother Nature is feeling generous again. I just hope her good mood keeps up and she shares it with the rest of the Midwest!

 

Happy Gardening, 

 

Veronica Lorson Fowler  

 
Your Virtual Rain Gauge

 

I have a rain gauge in my garden, but sometimes I forget to check. Or I'm away for a day or two and can't. 

    Problem solved with the discovery of a nifty bit of on-line information shared with me by Ben Allen, co-publisher of The Iowa Gardener.

   Just go to http://www.wunderground.com/history and type in your zip code. 

garden rain gauge   Then scroll down to the "History and Almanac" section and fill in the day for which ou want to see data. Yesterday, for example, I can see that I got .67 inches.

   Or, at the top, click on the "Monthly" tab and see a summary of rain for the month or "Weekly" for a summary of the past few days. It tells me, sadly, that I got .99 inches in July and 2.44 is the average.

Tomato-O-Rama 

 

tomatoes, basil and pasta... mmmm... Yay! It's finally homegrown tomato time in Iowa. I always struggle to keep up with the glut. No problem getting five servings of fruits and veggies this time of year! But there are only so many BLTs a girl can eat.
   So I also make a fresh, raw tomato sauce. It takes just minutes and is utterly delicious on hot pasta. Click here for my recipe.

   Otherwise, my new fav way to deal with tomatoes is to roast them. Easy, lazy, and it truly brings out their rich, sweet flavor. Just heat the oven to 300 degrees. Wash, core, and cut the tomatoes into chunks about 2 inches big. (No need to seed or peel.) Spread them out on an oiled cookie sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil, some diced garlic, salt, and pepper.

   Let them slowly roast for two to four hours or so, until they are nicely roasted-looking and starting to turn slightly caramelized brown on the edges.

   Use them in the next day or two, warmed up and dumped over on pasta. No harm in throwing in some slivered hard salami or chunks of fully cooked Italian sausage, if you like, is there? Or use in any way you would use canned tomatoes-in soups, sauces, casseroles, or other recipes. If you have lots, put into ziploc bags and freeze for later use.

 
Dreadful Daylilies thinning daylillies of dried leaves  

 

The perennial that has suffered most in this drought is my daylilies. Most of the leaves have turned brown and I find myself with the odd, new chore of raking my hands through the foliage to remove as much of it as I can.  

   We've got a good discussion going about how to cope with the damage on our The Iowa Gardener Facebook page.

   If you're already logged onto Facebook, just click on the logo below. Otherwise, go to Facebook, friend The Iowa Gardener, and join in.

     If you have garden questions, I'm happy to answer them if you can post
them on this page. I know Facebook can be a privacy-invading, time-sucking pain, but it's also wonderful, in its way. By posting the questions on Facebook, we can share answers with the group-which is really helpful.  
Issue: 70 

Garden To-Do List

 

 Don't let hot weather get you discouraged. Extended heat and drought can make a garden start to get ratty-looking and fewer things are in flower. But even 15 or 20 minutes of weeding, cutting back, deadheading, mulching, and watering can make a huge difference.

 

 Harvest early and often for the most tender, sweetest produce and to keep plants producing well. Tip: You can harvest tomatoes when they're about halfway red. Bring them indoors (away from insects) to finish ripening indoors on a countertop. They'll still have that great, full home-grown tomato flavor! Click here for a plant-by-plant breakdown on how to tell when produce is ready to harvest.

 

 Annual flowers are vulnerable to hot, dry weather.  Keep them well watered, deadheaded, and well fertilized (apply a granular or liquid all-purpose fertilizer according to package directions).

   

 Deadhead flowers

 on annuals, perennials, and some shrubs. It keeps your garden more attractive and in many cases, it will encourage more flowers. Check out our videos on deadheading flowers by clicking here.

 

 Avoid planting, transplanting, or dividing anything other than a tree or shrub right now. It's so hot that smaller plants will struggle. It's best to wait for cooler weather. 

 

 

Editor's Choice
Garden Events

Wednesday, Sept. 19 
Northern Iowa Garden Group Tour
Des Moines, Madrid
Sponsored by the Iowa Arboretum, this fun day trip leaves from two locations to visit Mason City's renovated Frank Lloyd Wright hotel and Gardens of Northern Iowa, among other destinations. $85 per person. 
 
Click here to see more upcoming Iowa garden events.

Click here to let us know about your garden event!
 

Garden Quote  

  

"Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to earth; without rain, there would be no life."

 

--American novelist John Updike 

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