How a summer of rain is impacting gardens
Buckets of freshly washed zucchini at Guldan Family Farm in rural New Ulm are prepared for sale at the local area farmers markets on July 12.
Hannah Yang | MPR News
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For Minnesota’s gardeners, the middle of July means that the summer harvest is really getting underway. And we wanted to check back with our resident gardener, Meg Cowden, about what she’s seeing in her garden with this summer of rain and what you should buying this time of year at the farmers market.
Cowden is the author of the book “Plant Grow Harvest Repeat” and the founder of the website, Seed to Fork, and the advice group, Modern Garden Guild.
Cowden joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer during an exciting time of year for gardening.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: It is Minnesota Now here at 12:25 on a Monday. For Minnesota's gardeners, the middle of July means that the summer harvest is underway with tomatoes and lettuces, peppers, and all the great bounty of the garden. And we wanted to check back with our resident gardener, Meg Cowden, about what she's seeing in her garden and of course, her latest tips. Meg is the author of the book Plant Grow, Harvest Repeat, and the founder of the website Seed to Fork and the advice group Modern Garden Guild. Meg, how are you?
MEG COWDEN: Hi, Cathy. I'm pretty good. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: Well, I really can't let July go without talking to you. The rain-- I don't know how swamped you've been-- how swampy your garden is at this point, but oh, my goodness. I've been hearing from listeners who have fungi and slugs-- just their gardens are a mess. How does yours look?
MEG COWDEN: Yeah. I mean, here's the deal is with rain, it's a blessing. We don't have to water as much. Things are growing. The size of the plants in our prairie are at least twice as tall as they were a year ago after three years of no rain.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, wow.
MEG COWDEN: And I don't water my Prairie. So my echinacea were, like, 18 inches tall last year. And this year they're three, four feet tall. So it's great. But yes, you're right. All the things you've named, I've got septoria leaf spot. And I think I've got bacterial spots on my tomatoes. Some of my potatoes are wilting and that could be blight. I'm not really sure.
But I don't have as many grasshoppers in my garden this summer, which was-- they were out of control in the actual garden, even snacking on plants, not to a completely damaging way, but they were a nuisance for three years. And they're not in the garden because the garden is so wet this year. So it's a trade off, right? Like, we're going to always have something eating our food, hopefully, because that means our food is healthy.
I'm kind of one of those-- I was watching my kid last night. He grabbed some arugula out of the garden to put on his sandwich. And I was like, look at all those holes in those greens. And he doesn't even blink an eye because he knows it's real food, you know?
CATHY WURZER: Right.
MEG COWDEN: So yeah, I mean, there's lots of insects out there. I can-- yeah. So--
CATHY WURZER: Have you noticed, unless I'm not paying attention, which is completely possible, Japanese beetles? Have you seen them yet?
MEG COWDEN: Yeah. Last year, they weren't so bad in our garden. And this year, they're there. I've collected a couple dozen here and there, but they're not in extraordinary numbers. I do see there is a tachinid fly, and I'm not sure if this tachinid fly was introduced, but tachinid flies are predatory flies. There's also a tachinid fly that will lay their eggs in a monarch caterpillar. So when I say that, a lot of people will get up in arms about them. But there is a specific species of tachinid fly that does attack Japanese beetles, and they are here in Minnesota. So if you see a white dot on the shoulder just behind the head of a Japanese beetle, that means a fly has laid its egg and that beetle will not make it.
It will help the fly population, basically. So I usually leave those. If I see those, I leave them. But I'll take the other beetles that haven't-- don't have a tachinid fly larva in them. So nature's doing its thing. If we sit back and watch, it takes a little more time. You might not see changes in one week or one month or one growing season, but I am seeing pests shift in our garden as the years have gone on.
CATHY WURZER: So how do you deal with things like, I don't know, mold and some of these diseases? Do you go right away and get a fungicide or do you try to do a DIY kind of a thing?
MEG COWDEN: Well, it was kind of just-- this was kind of a crazy spring for us. So in normal years, we like to do a prophylactic approach to even tomato diseases or cucurbits. Those are kind of two places where you can get a lot of fungal diseases. And so we spray something that's actually a bacteria. It's called bacillus subtilis. So for people who are listening, it also goes by the brand name Cease. And it puts a film on the leaves of plants, and it helps them build a healthy probiotic on their leaves. So it's sort of like the idea of gut health, but it's, like, foliar health.
And so that is really-- it's an organic method that orchardists use. My husband uses it to prevent things like cedar apple rust and things in our Orchard. And so we've also applied that to tomatoes and cucumbers and potatoes and things like that. But if you are reactive, the best thing to do is to trim out the foliage as soon as you start seeing it. It's a bit of a chasing our tail game because it's in the plant. It's in the stem. But if you can cut those leaves off, that prevents the spores from dropping into your soil or being blown on the wind.
I can actually see in my garden, Cathy. So I've got a lot of septoria leaf spot on all of my vining indeterminate slicers, and I have a lot of determinate tomatoes, which grow, 3, 4, 5 feet tall. Some of them are right next to my indeterminate tomatoes that are really diseased. And when I walk down that row, there's disease on all of those indeterminate tomatoes. The first two determinate tomatoes have the disease, but then as you get like 8 or 10 feet further, those plants are just aren't as diseased. And when I go to plants that are in other parts of my garden, they also aren't showing as dramatic signs of disease.
So disease spreads. It spreads by water, it spreads by wind. So the more you can be proactive about cutting leaves out is great. And if it's really bad, I mean, I know some people have already pulled their tomato plants out. And that might be a reality for people this year.
CATHY WURZER: I have a friend who pulled all of her spinach out. I don't know what-- she said. It was just disgusting. It just bolted all over the place, and it was really weird. So she pulled everything out, and she's wondering if she should replant. And I said, sure, why don't you do that?
MEG COWDEN: Yeah, yeah.
CATHY WURZER: It makes sense, right?
MEG COWDEN: Yeah. I think it's a little early to plant spinach again. I might not start sowing it until about the middle of August just because it's-- it actually might not even germinate right now. The soils might be too warm. Spinach really loves cold weather, so I grow spinach in early spring. And then I grow it again in the fall. I don't try to grow it all summer.
CATHY WURZER: OK.
MEG COWDEN: Arugula, though, grows very fast right now. And I like to position it-- I have it on the north side of some of my beds, so I have it on the same area where I just talked about my determinate tomatoes. I'm just doing tiny, little 12-inch strips of arugula and cilantro and they're good for-- you get like 2, 3 weeks. You can just run out and grab some, grab a handful. And then you replant it every couple of weeks, and then you have a nice little steady stream. And it's a small amount, so if it bolts, it's not that hard to deal with. But these are all plants that have a really short life cycle. 60 days. And then their job really is to produce seed.
CATHY WURZER: Say, what's your favorite-- you always have such great things to say every season when it comes to gardening because you're so soulful about it. What's your favorite part about this time of the year in terms of gardening?
MEG COWDEN: Well, for me, we are past fruit season a little bit. Our blueberry season was fantastic and we're waiting for-- so we're sort of in this-- I'm in a little bit of a liminal space right now. So I'm able to really enjoy the garden because I'm not doing really long canning days yet. So this is the time of year when I-- I saw my first couple of swallowtails.
So I've got these seasonal markers. Late July and early August is sort of swallowtail season in our garden. They just appear, and they come in numbers. So I'm really trying to just savor just the beauty of having a few slow days here and there right now before August gets just absolutely crazy for us in and out of the garden.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah.
MEG COWDEN: So yeah.
CATHY WURZER: And today's a day to be slow. With the kind of that sultry, muggy air, you just kind of want to sit back and just relax. So maybe today's your day.
MEG COWDEN: Yeah. Sit in the shade and finish my book I'm trying to finish. Yeah, that could be--
CATHY WURZER: There you go.
MEG COWDEN: That sounds like a good task.
CATHY WURZER: I like that. Meg, it's good to talk with you. Thank you so much.
MEG COWDEN: Thank you so much, Cathy. Take care.
CATHY WURZER: You, too. Meg Cowden is our gardening expert. She's the author of the book Plant Grow Harvest Repeat, founder of the website Seed to Fork and the advice group Modern Garden Guild. You can see photos of her garden, which is amazing by the way, MPRNews.org.
MEG COWDEN: Hi, Cathy. I'm pretty good. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: Well, I really can't let July go without talking to you. The rain-- I don't know how swamped you've been-- how swampy your garden is at this point, but oh, my goodness. I've been hearing from listeners who have fungi and slugs-- just their gardens are a mess. How does yours look?
MEG COWDEN: Yeah. I mean, here's the deal is with rain, it's a blessing. We don't have to water as much. Things are growing. The size of the plants in our prairie are at least twice as tall as they were a year ago after three years of no rain.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, wow.
MEG COWDEN: And I don't water my Prairie. So my echinacea were, like, 18 inches tall last year. And this year they're three, four feet tall. So it's great. But yes, you're right. All the things you've named, I've got septoria leaf spot. And I think I've got bacterial spots on my tomatoes. Some of my potatoes are wilting and that could be blight. I'm not really sure.
But I don't have as many grasshoppers in my garden this summer, which was-- they were out of control in the actual garden, even snacking on plants, not to a completely damaging way, but they were a nuisance for three years. And they're not in the garden because the garden is so wet this year. So it's a trade off, right? Like, we're going to always have something eating our food, hopefully, because that means our food is healthy.
I'm kind of one of those-- I was watching my kid last night. He grabbed some arugula out of the garden to put on his sandwich. And I was like, look at all those holes in those greens. And he doesn't even blink an eye because he knows it's real food, you know?
CATHY WURZER: Right.
MEG COWDEN: So yeah, I mean, there's lots of insects out there. I can-- yeah. So--
CATHY WURZER: Have you noticed, unless I'm not paying attention, which is completely possible, Japanese beetles? Have you seen them yet?
MEG COWDEN: Yeah. Last year, they weren't so bad in our garden. And this year, they're there. I've collected a couple dozen here and there, but they're not in extraordinary numbers. I do see there is a tachinid fly, and I'm not sure if this tachinid fly was introduced, but tachinid flies are predatory flies. There's also a tachinid fly that will lay their eggs in a monarch caterpillar. So when I say that, a lot of people will get up in arms about them. But there is a specific species of tachinid fly that does attack Japanese beetles, and they are here in Minnesota. So if you see a white dot on the shoulder just behind the head of a Japanese beetle, that means a fly has laid its egg and that beetle will not make it.
It will help the fly population, basically. So I usually leave those. If I see those, I leave them. But I'll take the other beetles that haven't-- don't have a tachinid fly larva in them. So nature's doing its thing. If we sit back and watch, it takes a little more time. You might not see changes in one week or one month or one growing season, but I am seeing pests shift in our garden as the years have gone on.
CATHY WURZER: So how do you deal with things like, I don't know, mold and some of these diseases? Do you go right away and get a fungicide or do you try to do a DIY kind of a thing?
MEG COWDEN: Well, it was kind of just-- this was kind of a crazy spring for us. So in normal years, we like to do a prophylactic approach to even tomato diseases or cucurbits. Those are kind of two places where you can get a lot of fungal diseases. And so we spray something that's actually a bacteria. It's called bacillus subtilis. So for people who are listening, it also goes by the brand name Cease. And it puts a film on the leaves of plants, and it helps them build a healthy probiotic on their leaves. So it's sort of like the idea of gut health, but it's, like, foliar health.
And so that is really-- it's an organic method that orchardists use. My husband uses it to prevent things like cedar apple rust and things in our Orchard. And so we've also applied that to tomatoes and cucumbers and potatoes and things like that. But if you are reactive, the best thing to do is to trim out the foliage as soon as you start seeing it. It's a bit of a chasing our tail game because it's in the plant. It's in the stem. But if you can cut those leaves off, that prevents the spores from dropping into your soil or being blown on the wind.
I can actually see in my garden, Cathy. So I've got a lot of septoria leaf spot on all of my vining indeterminate slicers, and I have a lot of determinate tomatoes, which grow, 3, 4, 5 feet tall. Some of them are right next to my indeterminate tomatoes that are really diseased. And when I walk down that row, there's disease on all of those indeterminate tomatoes. The first two determinate tomatoes have the disease, but then as you get like 8 or 10 feet further, those plants are just aren't as diseased. And when I go to plants that are in other parts of my garden, they also aren't showing as dramatic signs of disease.
So disease spreads. It spreads by water, it spreads by wind. So the more you can be proactive about cutting leaves out is great. And if it's really bad, I mean, I know some people have already pulled their tomato plants out. And that might be a reality for people this year.
CATHY WURZER: I have a friend who pulled all of her spinach out. I don't know what-- she said. It was just disgusting. It just bolted all over the place, and it was really weird. So she pulled everything out, and she's wondering if she should replant. And I said, sure, why don't you do that?
MEG COWDEN: Yeah, yeah.
CATHY WURZER: It makes sense, right?
MEG COWDEN: Yeah. I think it's a little early to plant spinach again. I might not start sowing it until about the middle of August just because it's-- it actually might not even germinate right now. The soils might be too warm. Spinach really loves cold weather, so I grow spinach in early spring. And then I grow it again in the fall. I don't try to grow it all summer.
CATHY WURZER: OK.
MEG COWDEN: Arugula, though, grows very fast right now. And I like to position it-- I have it on the north side of some of my beds, so I have it on the same area where I just talked about my determinate tomatoes. I'm just doing tiny, little 12-inch strips of arugula and cilantro and they're good for-- you get like 2, 3 weeks. You can just run out and grab some, grab a handful. And then you replant it every couple of weeks, and then you have a nice little steady stream. And it's a small amount, so if it bolts, it's not that hard to deal with. But these are all plants that have a really short life cycle. 60 days. And then their job really is to produce seed.
CATHY WURZER: Say, what's your favorite-- you always have such great things to say every season when it comes to gardening because you're so soulful about it. What's your favorite part about this time of the year in terms of gardening?
MEG COWDEN: Well, for me, we are past fruit season a little bit. Our blueberry season was fantastic and we're waiting for-- so we're sort of in this-- I'm in a little bit of a liminal space right now. So I'm able to really enjoy the garden because I'm not doing really long canning days yet. So this is the time of year when I-- I saw my first couple of swallowtails.
So I've got these seasonal markers. Late July and early August is sort of swallowtail season in our garden. They just appear, and they come in numbers. So I'm really trying to just savor just the beauty of having a few slow days here and there right now before August gets just absolutely crazy for us in and out of the garden.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah.
MEG COWDEN: So yeah.
CATHY WURZER: And today's a day to be slow. With the kind of that sultry, muggy air, you just kind of want to sit back and just relax. So maybe today's your day.
MEG COWDEN: Yeah. Sit in the shade and finish my book I'm trying to finish. Yeah, that could be--
CATHY WURZER: There you go.
MEG COWDEN: That sounds like a good task.
CATHY WURZER: I like that. Meg, it's good to talk with you. Thank you so much.
MEG COWDEN: Thank you so much, Cathy. Take care.
CATHY WURZER: You, too. Meg Cowden is our gardening expert. She's the author of the book Plant Grow Harvest Repeat, founder of the website Seed to Fork and the advice group Modern Garden Guild. You can see photos of her garden, which is amazing by the way, MPRNews.org.
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