The Rambling Gardeners June 2026 Garden Newsletter
Howdy from the Homestead
June is when the Zone 8a garden really wakes up. The heat rolled in, the tomatoes shifted into overdrive, and the first real preserving of the year started stacking up on the counter. Here’s what happened around the homestead.
This Month in the Garden
Tomatoes Took Off
We fertilized, pruned, and weeded the tomato block to set it up for a big summer harvest.
Onion Experiment
Pulled and cured the onions after growing them three ways — seeds, sets, and bulbs — to see which method really won.
First Pickles
Ran a batch of garden-to-jar dill pickles through the water bath canner.
Tomatillos In
Learned the hard way that tomatillos need a friend — they don’t set fruit with just one plant.
What We’re Growing Now
Tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos are all in the ground and climbing. The onions are curing, the herbs are going strong, and we’re keeping the water consistent as the heat settles in for the season.
Tip of the Month
Early summer is the window to side-dress tomatoes and pull the low suckers. A little work now is the difference between a decent crop and a wall of fruit later.
From the Kitchen
Two from the kitchen this month: crisp garden dill pickles put up for the pantry, and a fresh mint cooler muddled up with the granite mortar and pestle — exactly what you want on a hot afternoon.
On the Channel This Month
- How to Grow Tomatoes Zone 8a: Do THIS Now for a Huge Harvest
- Seeds vs. Sets vs. Bulbs: We Grew Onions 3 Ways
- How to Season & Use a Granite Mortar and Pestle (+ Mint Cooler)
- Homemade Dill Pickles | Garden to Jar Water Bath Canning
- We Almost Ruined Our Tomatillo Harvest by Planting Just ONE Plant
Coming Up Next Month
July is peak season — salsa by the batch, the three sisters going in, and the first real push of summer harvests. Stick around.
