Gardening expert advises keeping expectations modest and enjoying the process
Estonian gardening expert Eva Luigas says her zucchini and outdoor cucumbers struggled this year, while her tomatoes thrived. She urges gardeners not to set overly high demands and to approach garden work with joy.
Eva Luigas, managing editor of the rural lifestyle journal Maakodu and a gardening expert, says this growing season has been uneven for her. Three varieties of zucchini in her garden produced only female flowers, leaving her without a harvest and forced to buy zucchini at the store for soup. Her outdoor cucumbers also had a difficult year.
Her tomatoes, however, performed exceptionally well. Luigas said she is especially pleased with the Estonian variety 'Siive' — she sowed the seed on April 11, planted it outdoors in June, and harvested her first outdoor tomatoes, grown without any covering, on August 5.
Don't put too much pressure on yourself
Luigas said the most important principle in gardening is not to place too much pressure on oneself, since it is impossible to accomplish everything. Expectations should not be set too high — garden work should be done with joy and curiosity.
August tasks
For August, Luigas recommends collecting your own seeds and observing which peas, cucumbers or tomatoes have grown well among neighbors or fellow gardeners. Perennial beds should be tidied, and garlic should be lifted from the soil so the cloves do not separate. She also plans to prune her apple trees slightly, noting that summer pruning is useful after a hard cutback done in spring.
Early August is a good time to begin applying fall fertilizer, and it is also favorable for planting and propagation, as well as sowing edible crops again such as lettuce, dill and radish. If garden space is limited, seeds can be started in pots for later transplanting into open spots.
Luigas also tidies her garden edges during August. She emphasized that knowing a plant variety provides useful information about its growth habits, height, fruit and flower color, and flowering and germination timing. Keeping seed packets and recording observations is simple, she noted, especially now that a quick phone photo can serve as a record.
