I’m writing this post at the end of another withering Alabama July. And of course the garden is showing all the stress of the southern heat and humidity, along with the attendant pests and disease. How can that not be the case? Over my years of tending these beds, I’m learning that during this part of the season, the goal is more about helping these plants endure the harsh environment and survive as best they can rather than trying to avoid or overcome the environmental factors altogether.
The other thing I’m learning is that “tending the garden” isn’t just a metaphor for life. It’s actual work, getting your hands dirty and showing up on a regular basis. This morning I went outside, coffee in hand, to water the beds since we haven’t had rain in a few days. That’s when I noticed these guys on my asian eggplants:
Turns out that they’re Colorado Potato Beetles, and while they love all nightshades, asian eggplants are a particular favorite! At the rate they’ve been chomping through the leaves of my three plants, had I not been out there this morning, they could have wiped them out. Which would be a bummer since I’ve only harvested one eggplant so far, but it was delicious!
I’ve found it’s also helpful to have a container of soapy water handy in the garden, so that when I find a pest like them, I can deal with it immediately without having to walk back inside and figure out what to do (and then get distracted with something else!). With these guys, they’re not going anywhere, but with other critters like leaf-footed bugs that like to chomp on my tomatoes and fly away, being able to quickly respond is critical.
Colorado potato beetles aren’t the only pests I’ve been dealing with his July. In general, my tomato plants are doing much better this year than last, but I’ve been dealing with a couple issues. I noticed spots several of my San Marzano tomatoes, along with more intense pest damage on some other ones.
ChatGPT suspected that the spots were from leaf-footed bugs and that the other damage was from tomato fruitworms. After some reconnaissance over the next couple days, I was eventually able to confirm both.
I’ll be trying out some Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki) to try and get rid of the caterpillars and will also be picking my tomatoes when they’re just starting to ripen and let them finish ripening indoors. Apparently these guys prefer to go after the ripe ones if they can.
Even with disease pressure and insect damage, July has probably been my most productive harvest month so far. We’ve enjoyed fresh tomatoes almost daily, cucumbers faster than we can eat them, okra every few days, herbs in nearly every meal, and even my first Asian eggplants.
And as if pests weren’t enough of a problem, the dense humidity and frequent rain, combined with my lack of pruning the indeterminate heirloom tomato vines, made conditions ripe for fungal disease. Once again using ChatGPT to identify and diagnose the problem, I believe I’m mainly dealing with early blight.
I spend a good bit of time last weekend pruning and removing all the affected foliage, doing some intense trimming, and treating all four plants with Captain Jack’s Copper Fungicide. My Cherokee Purple was hit the hardest, Brandywine is a close second, and the Pineapple and San Marzano still have a decent bit of healthy foliage, so I’m hoping for some recovery and a bit more fruit, but we’ll see.
One lesson July reinforced is that daily observation matters more than perfection. Walking through the garden every morning has allowed me to catch problems before they became disasters.
Despite the challenges, the garden is still producing far more than we can eat, and my focus is already beginning to shift toward the fall garden. Here’s how each bed is looking as July comes to a close.
Bed #1
Tomatoes are struggling, but the herbs are thriving and the bed still has plenty of life left.
While the future of the tomatoes is up in the air, the companion basil varieties along with the parsley have been thriving.
Fall plans for bed 1
Once the tomatoes are done for the season, my plan is to plant lettuces, spinach, cilantro, and arugula as my fall crop in this bed. I’ll direct sow most of that sometime in late August or early September and hopefull take advantage of some shade provided by the tomatoes, assuming they survive my pruning!
Bed #2
This bed has become my transition bed as spring crops give way to fall vegetables.
The Swiss chard which I had planted in spring with my early peas and lettuces are continuing to grow. We haven’t been using it as much as we should (this recipe is excellent!). I’ve harvested one crop of bush beans and succession planted another which are just starting to emerge. The Adam cucumbers that I had hoped to grow up the arbor trellis didn’t amount to much of anything. You can see one pitiful anemic cucumber growing in the back.
At least the nasturtiums are still pretty healthy!
Fall plans for bed 2
For the fall, this bed will become brassicas and roots. I’m preparing for that now, starting broccoli, cabbage, and collards indoors, with plans to transplant them in September.
Bed #3
The workhorse of the garden this month.
This is my most productive bed currently with okra (both candle fire and Clemson varieties), the eggplants that are currently under siege by the Colorado potato beetles, diva cucumbers which are producing more than we can eat (though we’re trying!), and lots and lots of sage and dill.
Fall plan for bed 3
The okra and eggplant should produce well into the fall season as warm as it is here in zone 8a. Once the cucumbers stop producing, I’ll replace them with a fall planting of sugar snap peas and Oregon giant snow peas, which all did pretty well for me early in the spring. I’ll be looking forward to them again!
Bed #4
Nearly finished for summer and ready for its second season.
This bed has largely finished its summer season. We got lots of Detroit red and golden beets from this bed in spring, and also did well with several varieties of carrots, with a few remaining to be harvested. And we’ve got still more Swiss chard and a lone oregano plant holding on!
Fall plan for bed 4
This bed will become my Chef’s Salad Garden this fall. I’ve ordered some specialty lettuces – Little Gem, Cimmaron, and Speckled Butterhead lettuces, which I’ll plant along with spinach and arugula, and likely some more herbs. I’ll be starting the lettuces inside since I’ve struggled in particular to get the Little Gems to grow when direct sown. I was talking with a local farmer at the Pepper Place Farmer’s Market earlier this spring and he told me they grow all their little gems in a greenhouse and suggested I’d have better luck if I at least got them established inside. I’ll also be replanting beets and carrots.
Wrap up
July reminded me that gardening isn’t about achieving perfection, it’s about paying attention. Some plants exceeded every expectation, others struggled, and a few taught me lessons I’ll carry into next season. Even with insects, disease, and Alabama’s relentless summer heat, the garden continued to provide an abundance of fresh food and countless reasons to step outside each morning.
As August begins, my attention is already turning toward the fall garden. Broccoli, cabbage, lettuces, peas, carrots, and herbs are waiting in the wings, and with a little luck the tomatoes will reward all that pruning with one last strong harvest before cooler weather arrives.
Thanks for following along. I’ll be back next month with another garden roundup and hopefully a few more recipes inspired by whatever the garden has in store!
What are you planting for your fall garden? I’d love to hear what’s growing where you live in the comments below.