Editor’s Note: This is part 4 of our weekly gardening series, in which Ian will share tips and his experiences throughout the growing season. Days are starting to get too warm for lettuce, so I harvested my mustard greens, black and red lettuces, and arugula, and I ended up with 3 1-gallon bags of mixed greens! I also pulled my last batch of radishes, and the combined harvest opened space in my raised beds for warmer weather crops. I encourage gardeners to take advantage of New England’s extended spring and fall growing seasons. My summer garden includes carrots, herbs, marigolds, and tomatoes that I recently trellised to grow upward to take advantage of vertical light. Marigolds deter beetles so they are a good companion plant. This past weekend, I attended the Southside Community Land Trust Rare & Unusual Plant Sale. SCLT is an awesome resource. Their sale is affordable and features all kinds of herbs and vegetables. To round out my summer garden, I purchased banana peppers, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, nasturtium and zinnias. Let me explain my choices:
- Banana peppers grow in partial shade, which characterizes my urban garden.
- Zucchini, summer squash, and eggplant are very rewarding vegetables when grown properly, and they are planted in the sunniest areas of my garden. They need some space to grow, so don’t overcrowd them or they will produce undersized fruit.
- Nasturtium is an interesting plant and an important addition to any garden. The entire plant -- flowers, stems and leaves -- is edible and tastes peppery like arugula, and it acts as a deterrent to many pests including black flies, squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and caterpillars. Nasturtium is also a successful companion plant to broccoli and cauliflower.
- Zinnias produce lovely flowers and are a good companion plant since they deter whitefly. Mint is also a deterrent to whitefly but plant it in a pot because of its rapid spreading growth, which can overwhelm a garden.
