Expert urges people to keep expectations low in the garden
Eva Luigas says that she failed this year with growing zucchini and her outdoor cucumbers also struggled, but her tomatoes did very well.
Luigas said the most important thing in gardening is not putting too much pressure on yourself, because everything should be done with joy and curiosity.
"This year I failed at growing zucchini. I have three plant varieties that have produced only female flowers. So I have to go buy zucchini to make soup," said rural lifestyle journal Maakodu managing editor and gardening expert Eva Luigas. "My outdoor cucumbers also struggled this year."
Luigas said she took especially good care of her tomatoes. "I am very excited about the Estonian tomato variety 'Siive.' I sowed the seed on April 11, planted it outside in June, and on August 5 I got my first outdoor tomatoes without any covering," she said.
"The most important thing in gardening is not putting too much pressure on yourself. You cannot do everything anyway. Do not set demands too high. Everything should be done with joy and curiosity," the gardening expert said with a smirk.
In August, she said, you should collect your own seeds and look around to see who has good peas, cucumbers or tomatoes. Perennial beds should be tidied, and garlic should be lifted from the ground, otherwise the cloves will separate. "I even plan to prune apple trees a little," Luigas said. "Summer pruning is also done when you have made a hard cutback in spring."
Luigas also tidies garden edges in August. "At the beginning of August you start applying fall fertilizer. It is a very good time for planting and propagation, a good time to sow something edible again — lettuce, dill and radish. If you do not have free space, then sow for pre‑growing. Just put them in pots and later place them in free spots," Luigas advised.
Knowing a plant variety, she said, gives information about its different characteristics — growth, height, fruit and flower color, flowering and germination time. "It is not hard to keep the seed packets and write things down somewhere. Today you can take a picture with your phone right away," the expert said. "A gardener's life is full of excitement."
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Editor: Annika Remmel, Argo Ideon
Source: ERR interview by Krista Taim
