By Jannie Vaught

Here we go: Cantaloup, Warm Greens, Okra, Peas Southern, Pumpkin, also if the vine borers got your squash, re-plant at the end of June first of July. Things to transplant Sweet potato slips. Flowers for this month. Mexican heather, Marigold, Flowering balsam, Lantana. Impatience, Nicotina, Periwinkle, Verbina, Hamelia, Begonia, Salvia, Purslane, Zinnias, Petunias, Pentas, Gomphrena, Cosmos, Cleome, Coreopsis, Dusty Miller, Coleus, Aster, Jacobina. Time to spray some liquid seaweed or, liquid compost tea. Spray after sundown so as not to burn the leaves. Watch out for Cinch bugs, and grasshoppers.

According to the Farmers Almanac 2021. Zone 5 Southern Central States. date 8-11, Scattered thunderstorms and warmer! Seems they are very correct this time. According to the Luna Moon Calendar, the new moon begins June 10. On June 8, 9, 10 times to dig and cultivate Prepare for fertile time on the 10,11 12th. On the 13 Most prolific for sowing and planting all that produce above ground. Root crops best on the 27,28, 29. Sew grass seed also. Now that we are caught up on the calendars I would like to look at the edible flower that is easy to grow and abundant in our Grow Zone 8a. The Nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus. This spicy edible is a cool-season plant, but with our cooler wet weather, the plants I have planted are abundant and flowering heavily. They do not transplant easily so I plant them directly in pots or in the raised beds.

The seeds can be pickled or eaten fresh the flowers and leaves are also edible. These are the bright yellow-orange flowers you might find in the grocery store with herbs and edible flowers. They have a distinctive seed and come in a bush or even vining variety. These are a big splash of happy bright color that also brightens that salad or a garnish for a special dinner plate. And if there is a silver lining to the deep freeze we endured it is that the fruit trees are abundant. I have canned 18 quarts of plumbs and jelly, plus the Apricots are now ripe and abundant also. Late prune plumbs are beginning to ripen and the Peaches are starting to put some size on. Early tomatoes that were set out after that freeze are now ripening and the later planted ones are heavy and beginning to ripen. The Pecan trees are also setting fruit and this is the silver lining, those that survived had a long chill time resulting in an abundant harvest.

I wasn’t certain if I would get any fruit, but a happy realization is it is a very full garden season.

Growing Green With Jannie