SC Fruit and Vegetable Field Report – June 3, 2024

There’s nothing nicer than being outside on a beautiful late spring day, especially if it means you get a whole day away from your desk. Danielle, Carol, and digital editor Christine Alexander recently played hooky from their editorial duties and went on a horticultural adventure at one of New England’s great public gardens. Located in Boylston, Massachusetts, Tower Hill is filled with fun places to explore, including formal gardens, woodland trails lined with native plantings, and two conservatories. After exploring the grounds and chatting about some of the great plants they came across, Danielle and Carol sat down for a chat with Tower Hill’s director of horticulture, Mark Richardson. We hope this episode inspires you to get out and enjoy a field trip to a public garden near you!  

There is a certain day in the calendar year, a date that marks the dividing line between its two halves, whose significance as an important horticultural turning point is not lost on experienced gardeners. Known as the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere it was yesterday, June 21st, the longest day and shortest night of the year, when the North Pole was at its greatest tilt towards the sun.

You walk through the produce section of your supermarket and everything looks so familiar. But the fruits and vegetables you see bear no resemblance to their ancestors from thousands of years ago. Most of them don't taste the same either.

More hot, dry weather is in store for this week. Disease and insect pressure continue to increase as watermelon, small fruit, tomato, and peach harvest continues. See details below.

If you don’t have a sunny spot in your garden, then don’t worry. You can still enjoy juicy fruits! How? Check out the list of Fruits in Shade!

Life, as I like to remind my sons, isn’t always fair. All things are not equal, no matter how much we’d like them to be and some are in fact far better than others, a truth brought home to all of us eventually. Hence the expression “garden-worthy”, that brilliantly concise description used to sum up a particular cultivar or variety’s outstanding qualities.

Today’s top garden ideas at this year’s BBC Gardeners World Live were logs, corten steel, ponds, coloured garden furniture and more mixing of veg and flowers.

Finally, a little rain fell around the state, though things remain fairly dry overall. Disease and insect pests are becoming more common as tomatoes, cucurbits, and sweet corn come to harvest. See details below.

Most fruits have seeds lodged deep within their fleshy innards. But Mother Nature loves her exceptions! Read on to learn about those peculiar fruits that appear to have seeds on the outside.

Butterflies are drawn to the scent of nectar, fragrant blossoms, and bright, bold colors. So, if you’re building a garden to tempt these stunning pollinators, it has to be one with extraordinary foliage and sweet fragrances, and these Climbers and Vines are exactly that.

Handy Vegetable Harvesting Guide Not sure when is the best time to harvest different vegetables? Check out our handy guide to learn about the signs of ripeness (and overripeness!) to pick vegetables at their peak. Tips for harvesting vegetables

How to Grow and Care for Fruiting Quince Cydonia oblonga