Welcome to Summer! June is the month where sunshine starts to stick around consistently. Plus, the longest day of the year is this month, and who really ever gets sick of those 9pm sunsets? By now, your weather should be comfortably warm, and sometimes even too hot!

SPRING HARVESTS

Spring harvests will be coming in heavy now, and you can expect to be enjoying the fruits of your labor the past couple of months. If your greens and radishes have bolted and gone to flower, you can pull them up to give more space for next sowings, or summer veggies. I recommend leaving a few of them flowering all season long. One radish in bloom produces TONS of flowers and bushes out. The bees go nuts for it. I let one go to flower as an experiment last year, and it bloomed until the freezes in late October, and at any one time it had at least 10 bees on it. and many different varieties showed up. They loved the radish flowers and as a result I was able to save lots of seeds for the next season.

Berries may be in production mode right now, as well. If you have them in your garden, be sure to check your berry plants often and don't forget to pick them regularly. Ripe berries can go bad very quickly if left for too long on the plant. Some fruiting berries that are great right now are early raspberries and strawberries.  

SUMMER PLANTING

All summer veggies should be planted early this month, if they weren't already planted in late May. Plant more carrots, beets, and beans a few weeks apart to stagger your harvests throughout the summer season.

GARDEN MAINTENANCE

With everything finally in the ground, focus on keeping weeds under control, keeping your veggies watered well, and fertilizing as needed to give your crops a boost. Water veggies in the early morning to allow the water to soak in before the heat of day comes in and evaporates it. You can also water in the evening to let it soak in over night, but a lot of plants can become diseased if they sit wet for too long. The same method of watering is great for lawns as well. Mow your lawn regularly, and keep it a little longer to avoid shocking it in the heat. Deadhead any flowering plants to keep them in bloom longer. If you have irises, you can divide them now and replant them, since they should be done blooming.

HAVE FUN

Since the weather is great and your garden is finally all planted, have a backyard barbecue, or a picnic, and enjoy the great weather and beautiful garden you've created! Or, grab a book and a blanket or lawn chair, and head outside for a relaxing time.

I love how this month's wallpapers turned out. I used pretty pink and purple flowers from my garden. Pop these on to your screen and it will be like you're there in my garden!

To download wallpaper to your desktop:

+ Click the image to open a larger version (depending on your browser, you may need to click again to make it go full-sized)
+ Save the image to your desktop
+ Select 'System Preferences' and then Desktop/Screensaver.
+ Or right click image and set as wallpaper