Somehow, it’s already early July. How is your garden doing?
We’re in Zone 4B, and in late May I shared what we planted in our garden this year. In this post, I’m expanding on that first update and sharing how things are going now. How much work have we done so far? What veggies have we harvested already (spoiler: not too many yet, but that’s changing fast!)?
It’s been a fairly wet season so far (with plenty of tornado warnings), which has meant we haven’t had to start watering yet. I expect that to change as July continues and we slide into our usual hotter, drier stretch.
Think of this as a walk-through of our garden rows, plus a few notes on what’s working, what isn’t, and what we’ve noticed already this year.
Strawberries: The Semi-Permanent Front Row
The first two rows of our garden are dedicated to strawberries. This is a semi-permanent location for them. Back in April, we transplanted the plants, and since then we’ve pinched off the blossoms and weeded the rows.
We’ve been pinching blossoms to allow the plants to focus more on strong root and leaf growth, but have recently stopped. We’ve harvested a grand total of two berries so far (and they’re delicious!). Besides the berries, the plants themselves have sent off large shoots that re‑root themselves. We’ve been working to direct those so they don’t take over the middle of the row.
Root Vegetables: Fresh Salads Now, Storage Roots Later
The next rows are dedicated to root vegetables and salad greens. These rows have shown a rapid return, with us harvesting many salads’ worth of lettuce and spinach (my salad spinner is working overtime!), and we’ve finished harvesting radishes.
Other veggie updates:
- Parsnips: They didn’t come up well, so we replanted a couple of weeks ago.
- Carrots: They’re coming up great, and we hope to harvest our first fresh carrots (nature’s candy) within the next couple of weeks. My son cannot wait.
- Beets: We hope to harvest these soon too.
Red and Yellow Onions
After the root bed come two full rows of onions—both red and yellow.
Our transplanted yellow onions have been growing vigorously; they are now about the size of baseballs. Our red onions are a little further behind, but are still quite healthy.
We’ve started harvesting some of the larger yellow onions. Fresh onions from the garden are divine!
Peas: Kid-Favorite Garden Candy
Our peas are starting to blossom, which means any week now they’ll begin producing. The kids think of them as garden candy, and eat them straight from the vine.
Cucumbers in the Middle (On Purpose) + Tomatoes and Peppers
The cucumbers are coming up well and are starting to blossom. We’ll start getting cucumbers in just a couple of weeks. We planted them in the middle of the garden on purpose, where they’re easy to water and can climb on a trellis without taking over the edges.
I did see my first cucumber beetles this week. Right now I’m just keeping a close eye on them; if anyone has favorite ways to manage cucumber beetles organically, I’d love to hear your advice.
We’ve actually started harvesting some peppers already—delicious!
We have tiny Roma tomatoes on the vine that are steadily getting bigger, and some Early Girls. I expect to get a couple of Early Girls in a couple of weeks, then the Romas and Mortgage Lifters by the end of July into early August.
Cruciferous Row: Cauliflower, Kale, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts
I’ve harvested my first kale and made my first batch of Zuppa Toscana. It was lovely—though maybe not the best meal to eat on a 90‑degree day, haha.
Cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts haven’t produced yet. I expect the broccoli to start producing within the next couple of weeks. The Brussels sprouts will likely be ready in about 2–3 months (they have a long growing period).
Cabbage, Bok Choy, and Kohlrabi
The next row is a mix of:
- Cabbage: Destined for sauerkraut, boiled cabbage, and coleslaw. Not ready yet, but I expect smaller heads to be ready in about a month.
- Bok choy: We harvested our first head, and it was delicious in our beef stir fry.
- Kohlrabi: The “heads” are starting to form (they look like a little bulb with leafy hair coming out).
Summer Squash, Rutabagas, and a Few Flowers
In the back corner of the garden, we planted summer squash—three hills of it.
In my unsolicited opinion, three hills is about two hills too many. If you’ve ever been buried in zucchini or summer squash, you know exactly what I mean. We also have several volunteer squash plants coming up in random spots throughout the garden. If a volunteer squash plant pops up in a really inconvenient spot (where it will interfere with my favorite veggies), I pull it out.
The rest of that row holds garlic and rutabagas:
- We plan to harvest the four bulbs of garlic within the next couple of weeks.
- The interplanted rutabagas will begin to be harvested in about a week or two.
We’ve also tucked marigolds into the garden, which I love both for their pest‑control benefits and because they’re simply beautiful. On top of that, we have a lot of volunteer sunflowers coming up throughout the garden—they add a bit of cheer and should make the bees happy later in the season.
Sweet Corn and Cantaloupe at the Front
The front of the garden holds our sweet corn patch. It’s doing well so far. They always say corn is doing well if it’s “knee high by the Fourth of July,” and this year it’s about waist high (I’m writing this on the Fourth). I suspect we will be battling the raccoons and possums for the crop later in the season, and I hope we win at least some this time!
The cantaloupe patch is on the other side. So far, so good—the plants are still small, but they grow fast this time of year. I expect to harvest our first cantaloupes in about a month.
How Much Weeding We’ve Done (So Far)
We weed the garden the most at the beginning of the garden season. My dad has always said, “You win or lose the battle with weeds in the month of June,” and I wholeheartedly agree.
If you catch them early and don’t let them go to seed, there are fewer by the end of the year (although you still have to do maintenance weeding after that). In June, my husband and I have spent an average of 3–4 hours per week on weeding. As the weather gets drier and the plants start to shade out more of the garden, I expect that time to be drastically reduced, down to about an hour per week.
I’ll shift that “extra” time to harvesting and preservation as the season continues. Stay tuned for all the ways I like to preserve garden‑fresh veggies!
Potatoes, Pumpkins, and Future Plans
Beyond the main garden rows, we have two additional patches:
- The potato patch has been hilled, and we’re starting to find the dastardly potato bugs (both the babies and the adults). For now we’re picking them off by hand and doing our best to stay ahead of them.
- Behind our barn, we have established a pumpkin patch, and I’m already picturing fall—whether that means jack‑o’‑lanterns, pies, or both.
So far, I don’t have big “lessons learned” to share this season. I’m sure they’re coming as the summer unfolds, but right now we’re mostly observing, adjusting as needed, and enjoying the early harvests.
That’s where things stand in our Zone 4B garden this early July.
If you’re gardening in a similar climate, I’d love to hear: what’s thriving for you right now, what pests you’re seeing, and what’s been your biggest surprise so far this season?
If this garden tour was helpful or encouraging, would you share it with another gardener—especially someone in a colder zone? Your shares and comments help these updates reach more folks who are growing right alongside us.
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