The corn was nearly knee-high for the Fourth of July, the broccoli is beginning to produce heads, the beans and elderberry bushes are blossoming, small cabbages are forming and we are enjoying some of the best beet greens and lettuce in years.

I hope I don’t jinx myself by saying this, but so far, this is the best garden we’ve had in more than a decade.

I’m not really sure why that is, but I do know that we didn’t have a wet June, which tends to mold seedlings and bring on the blight really early. So far this month, we’ve had lots of rain, but if the sun comes out for a couple of days between rain storms, it tends to dry out the tomatoes and other vegetables and prompt them to grow faster.

It is a joy to wander out to the garden to pick supper, which could include beet greens, tender spinach, lettuce for a salad, cilantro for a Mexican-styled dish, parsley that overwintered and, soon, tiny, tender green and yellow beans, crook-necked and zucchini squash, and a few green tomatoes for frying.

Mid-July is a good time to eat from your garden! And to also a good time to decide what short-term vegetables you’d like to grow for the remainder of the season.

A second crop of green or yellow beans can be planted now, as well as most of the leaf vegetables. I’ve had varying success with planting beets and carrots in July, but it’s worth a try. And with beets, if time does not allow for a full crop, at least there are greens.

When the weather turns dry, try to water the vegetables and flowers equivalent to one inch a week. Keeping a rain barrel handy is a good way to have plenty of water on hand while not depleting the water supply.

Other things to think about in mid-gardening season include:

* Side-dress fertilizer on the tomatoes, corn, onions, carrots and other crops, such as pumpkins and winter squash. Fertilize around the plants, then water to ensure that the fertilizer sinks to the roots.

* Keep onions, carrots and other root crops well-weeded to allow them plenty of room to grow, then thin so that those that grow can increase in size.

* Continue to keep watch for potato beetles, orange egg nests and larvae, and destroy them.

* Snip off the scapes from the tops of garlic plants. The pungent bulbs will likely be ready to harvest by the end of the month. Retaining the scapes robs nutrients from the bulbs, but don’t throw away the scapes. They can be sauteed and used for flavoring sauces.

* Hill the potatoes again, or add another layer of hay.

* Harvest the last of the rhubarb and freeze, or make another pie.

* Set up a Japanese beetle trap to destroy these damaging insects before they eat most of what has been growing. The trap kits can be found in hardware and gardening stores. They should be hung from a tree or post about 20 feet from the garden.

* Deadhead whatever flowers are blossoming and have died. This is particularly important for annuals, such as calendulas, pansies and marigolds. Removing the dead flowers prompts the growth of more blossoms.

* Make sure all daffodil and tulip leaves are removed, then plant annual seedlings. I try to start some annual flower seeds inside about two months before the tulips and daffodils will have gone by. Then, I plant the seedlings very close to the trimmed bulb plants. This makes for a better looking flower garden, I think.

Stepping away from the cultivated gardens is also a delight in July. It is at this time that the daisies, black-eyed susans, day lilies, yarrow, purple and white clover blossoms, Queen Anne’s lace, fragrant yellow and red hawkweed and other wild flowers appear.

One great way to decorate the home is with a spectacular bouquet of wild flowers placed right in the center of the kitchen table in the prettiest vase available.

Although I grow cultivated annuals and perennial flowers, I prefer the wild flowers growing on the edge of the fields or along a roadside.

They grew because Mother Nature made it so. Perhaps a bird that had eaten the seeds pooped them over a plot of earth and they grew. Maybe the wind picked up some seeds and whisked them to a backyard. Or maybe, they were just hiding in the soil and suddenly appeared when the daylight and temperature were right.

However they came to grow, they symbolize all that is special about our magical earth.

Eileen Adams has been growing vegetables and flowers for several decades. Each season offers something unique from the magical earth. She can be reached at [email protected]