July 17 – 21: Columbia County Fair.
August 1: Columbia County Beekeepers Monthly meeting. Thursday, August 1st, at 7 p.m. All are welcome to attend. The speaker will be Ryan Williamson of Sourwood Farms, gotakeawalk@yahoo.com. Contact Linda Zahl at ColumbiaCountyOregonBeekeepers@gmail.com for the Zoom link or you can attend in person at the OSU Extension Office in St. Helens.
August 8: Saving Vegetable Seeds program. Chip Bubl, St. Helens Library, 5:30 p.m. Free and open to all.
It has really been hot
There are all sorts of weather records being broken by this extended heat cycle. In south county, we have had no days where the daily high temperature was less than 80 degrees F or above. This isn’t the western Oregon I grew up in. For some vegetables like peppers and squash, it is just dandy. It’s a little marginal for tomatoes since they don’t set fruit well on days above the mid 90s.
Gardeners have been focused on watering. The “bank” of soil moisture from quite a wet winter and spring is rapidly being used up. Take a post-hole digger and dig a hole to how much moisture remains in the lower soil profiles.
Temperatures are getting hot and many plants are at crucial stages of growth. We get very little rain in August. New woody trees and shrubs planted this spring or last spring need close attention as they won’t have developed very extensive root systems yet. We used to have a planting “window” for trees into March. Now with the soil profiles drying out faster, the suggestion for trees is to have them planted by February. That would involve working the ground up where you plan to plant them in the fall. We are losing trees in both natural areas and home landscapes due to low soil moisture and I think, by the end of summer, we will see more.
Of course, most of our vegetables need very consistent watering. Blueberries need watering after harvest to produce a good crop next year. Same, to a lesser extent, do the cane berries like raspberries and Marion and Boysen berries need post-harvest watering through the summer.
Roses benefit greatly from deep watering this month. Apple trees will develop less bitter pit on the fruit (brown, sunken spots on the skin) if they are watered. Your attention will be rewarded.
And finally, some of our smaller oak trees scattered all over St. Helens on basalt will drop their leaves early and godormant until next year. Generally, these trees aren’t dead. But with this changing climate, who knows?
Radishes are hot
I used to get lots of questions about the various types of radishes. Europeans eat them sliced on buttered bread. Radishes are important bit players in summer salads. And the wonderful Vietnamese bahn mi sandwiches wouldn’t be nearly as interesting without pickled radishes.
There are lots of radish varieties ranging from the small quarter to fifty-cent piece sized “breakfast” radish to the 4-5 inches carrot shaped types and ultimately the large daikon varieties. All do well as the weather turns cooler. The largest types take the longest time to mature (50+ days). Radishes will store well (with their tops intact) in plastic bags if your refrigerator is set at 40 degrees or lower. They are fairly easy to grow and, because they mature quickly (30-50 days depending on type), should be sown in small patches every week or so. They need even moisture to make a good flavored and well-shaped root.
The two biggest problems with radishes are harvesting them too late (they get fibrous and lose flavor) and the larvae of the cabbage maggot, which burrow into the root and make at least parts of it less appetizing. The first problem is managed by pulling a few radishes as they are getting close and eating them to assess maturity. When ready, harvest them all and refrigerate or pickle them. The second problem is best managed by growing the radishes under a row cover. This excludes the fly and thus their maggoty offspring. Otherwise, cut around their feeding paths and eat the rest (of the radish, that is, not the tiny maggots).
Insect identification
This is the time for lots of insects (and spiders) to be wandering about though I am not sure how the heat will impact them. Most are harmless and many are quite interesting. Some common insects of this time of year are the ten-lined June beetle, banded alder borers, western tent caterpillars (no sign yet), the destructive carpenter ant queens, and moths of all shape and color. Of these, only the carpenter ant is a cause for serious concern. While tent caterpillars make a very visible protective web and often eat a lot of leaves, they rarely do any lasting damage.
Many Extension publications available online
Are you putting up salsa, saving seeds, or thinking about planting kiwis? OSU has a large number of its publications available for free download. Just go to https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/. Click on publications and start exploring.
Got food safety or food preservation questions?
Food Preservation recipes and fact sheets can be accessed online at: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/food/preservation.
The Oregon State University Food Preservation Hotline
(1-800-354-7319)
The hotline is now open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., through October 11th. Extension-certified Master Food Preserver volunteers from several counties take the calls.
Oregon State University Extension Service offers this food preservation and safety hotline every year during the peak canning season. Call the hotline for questions about proper canning techniques, safe recipes to follow, and the locations for pressure canner gauge testing in your area.
Important notes
• Donate extra garden produce and/or money to the food bank, senior centers, or community meals programs. It always is greatly appreciated.
• The Extension Service offers its programs and materials equally to all people.
• The OSU Extension Office is fully open from 8 a.m.- 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Resource information
Oregon State University Extension Service – Columbia County
505 N. Columbia River Highway
St. Helens, OR 97051
503-397-3462
Most Popular
Comments / 0