July Planting Calendar

July is a busy month for us in the garden! We transplanted some of our grains into the bed – corn and sorghum – and they are both thriving. We interplanted beans between the corn and sorghum stalks to add nitrogen to the soil while providing ground cover, and the stalks will give the beans a pole to grow up. We’ve also transplanted basil, lettuce, and chard into some of our shadier beds. We’ve harvested some carrots, quinoa, and spring onions in the last couple of weeks. Our cherry tomato plants are finally producing sweet tomatoes since we’ve covered our plants with mesh to protect them from squirrels. Our strawberries are also producing some juicy red fruits, and the kids who come through the garden are loving them! Perhaps our least successful crop we harvested was spring broccoli; it seems that our Palo Alto climate is simply too warm for it. Here at Common Ground, we harvest and clear many beds in July. This gives us time to dig, amend, and prepare the beds for our winter and fall crops, which we will plant in the late summer. There is still much work to be done!