Summertime, and the living is easy ....

Well, not that easy in this corner of the world. Summer is a very specific time in the cycle of growing seasonal crops. Personally I think of 'autumn, winter and spring' as one season and 'summer' as the other. Many crops grow through autumn till spring and even early summer. Summer crops produce only during the hottest and driest months of the year, July, August and September.

At this moment the following vegetables are growing in the gardens of La Tierra Verde:

• Sugar maize
• Swiss Chard
• Tomato
• Cucumber
• Courgette
• Pumpkin
• Melon
• Egg plant
• Paprika
• Padron peppers
• Watermelon
• French beans
• Leek
• Beetroot

The leek and beetroot are almost ready to harvest. Although it should be possible to plant these two crops year round, in practice it is very difficult to establish when the weather is hot and the sun is blazing. The same goes for lettuce. Lettuce can be planted and cultivated all year round, but in my experience especially July is difficult. However, I have sown lettuce in a seed nursery, so lettuce could be added to the list.

Summer crops as those above, are planted from April till June. When the weather is kind and the temperature moderate, the first tomatoes, courgettes, beans and paprika can be harvested as early as late May. However, most years have cold spells, alternated with warmer or hot weather. This delays the flowering and thus the production. This year is again extreme, with cold spells well into June. Especially the night or minimum temperature has an influence. When the minimum temperature drops under 10°C, the flowering of many crops stop or the young fruits will drop off. The plants are also more sensitive to diseases and pests, because they are weaker in growth. Traditionally, people in this region planted tomato, pepper an watermelon after the first of June, to avoid the problems mentioned above. However, in some years the temperature is more uniform in the spring and planting in April will result in a early and long tomato season.

Courgettes are doing well this year. In general courgettes are sturdy plants with few problems. In the garden of La Tierra Verde the courgettes have been harvested sinds the second week of June. At this moment the prognosis is that the first tomatoes will be ready to harvest the second week of July. Egg plant and paprika will follow a week later, around the middle of July.

Summer is also the time for irrigation. I have installed drip irrigation. At the moment the drip is giving every other day. When the summer advances, this will increase to every day. In the garden of Martin Laguna, the well will provide water through the summer. The water of Martin Laguna is of a good quality, fed by a stream that is running throughout the year and by the aquifer. In the main garden, in Malvecino, the only water comes from a newly dug charco, which held approximately  35000 liters of water at the end of the rainy season. Due to evaporation, the amount of water available for irrigation is much smaller.  I estimate that the water will be enough for 8 to 9 weeks. I hope, however, that the bottom of the charco reaches the unconfined aquifer, filling up to a certain level due to the water table in the surrounding soil.