After all these rains it’s a great feeling to see your garden in full maturity and producing an abundance of veggies, herbs, flowers, and soon to be harvested potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, turnips, and more.  It’s the reward that a hard-working gardener deserves and should enjoy this time of year.  Harvesting is key to good production, the more you pick the more you get!  Leaving fruits on plants to get over-ripe or go to seed tells the plants its job is done and to stop production.  Of course, abundance can become a (welcome?) burden too, unless we have some good ways to deal with it all.  Let’s look at some seasonal tasks, the possibilities for too many zucchinis, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., and get prepared for seasonal pests that are out there now.

August garden care can be pretty intense.  It’s no time for “fair weather gardening”!  Weeds (the right plant in the wrong place) are enjoying the growing season too.  While most garden plants are big enough to compete with weeds by now, there is one extremely important reason to control weeds:  Seeds!  Even if you decide to let some weeds have their way in your garden, do not allow them to flower and go to seed.  Those seeds will be next year’s weeds and you can eliminate them now.  In fact, most weed seeds can stay dormant in the soil for several years and accumulate for future growth.  Deadheading and discarding weed tops is a great investment in your future garden!

Tomatoes:  As you begin to harvest tomatoes, continue to prune off any yellowing lower branches to get rid of older leaves that are no longer feeding the plant and are prone to infection.  Keep your plants upright with supports.  Prune away side shoots (suckers) to open them up for ventilation and sunshine penetration.  Apply weekly preventative sprays through August to inhibit diseases from getting started.  Once infected, it isn’t possible to cure the disease, only to remove it by pruning off infected parts.  Weekly applications of compost tea, Serenade, fungicidal copper, or sulfur powder are all good organic practices to prevent diseases from getting started in these humid days of August. I prefer to alternate between spray applications using a different one each week.  I also include foliar fish fertilizer (liquid emulsion) as a supplemental foliar fertilizer to keep plants extra healthy so they can resist diseases.  Compost tea has become a popular practice based on numerous university studies that have confirmed its effectiveness.  Here’s a short DIY video to help you get started making your own tea.

Too many tomatoes?  After you’ve eaten, canned and given away much of your bounty what can you do with the rest?  Freeze them whole!  It’s very simple and works well for those winter sauces.  Simply put tomatoes, especially Roma/pasta types into freezer bags, no blanching is necessary.  When you defrost them in a colander the juice drains out (it’s tomato juice, drink it!) and the skins slip off.  I like simple.

Zucchini abundance should not be a problem.  Zucchini stuffed, fritters, in salads, and zucchini breads are great.  But wait there’s more… Zucchini soup!  We always make gallons of zucchini soup to freeze as an excellent vegetable base for all kinds of delicious winter soups.  Try this recipe, I’m sure you will like it:

Zucchini Soup

You can decrease or increase all the amounts (depending on the ingredients you have) just keep the ratios similar. The basic soup is delicious as is but even better when you add any leftovers, shredded cheese, ham, prosciutto, chicken, vegies…pretty much anything cooked you have handy. Be adventurous!

7 lbs (6-7 medium) zucchini trimmed, peeled and cut into chunks
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp butter
2 lbs onions, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
4 Tbsp flour
6 cups water or stock
2 Tbsp kosher salt (omit if using salted stock)

1. In a large stockpot (8 qt) heat oil and butter over medium heat.
2. Add onions and cook until golden brown. 
3. Add garlic and cook just until softened (about 1 minute)
4. Add the flour to make a thick, chunky paste.
5. Add the liquid to the paste in increments stirring constantly to achieve a smooth sauce.
6. Add the zucchini and cover the pot.
7. Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 1 hour or until zucchini is very tender.
8. Enjoy the soup as is or puree with a stick blender or food processor for a creamy, velvety texture.
9. Freeze in reusable juice bottles or milk jugs or chill. 
10. Before serving add your choice of herbs, meat, shredded cheese, cooked vegies, leftovers.
11. Heat in microwave or on a burner till piping hot.

Makes 1 gallon 

Too many Cucumbers?  Cukes are less versatile than zucchini or summer squash but still have possibilities.  Natural pickling with Kosher or sea salt is a great way to preserve them for tasty treats for months.  A very simple way to keep them for a few weeks, ready to eat, follows this easy recipe: 

                                    Refrigerator Cucumber Pickles

                        2 cups thinly sliced cucumbers (unpeeled or peeled)

                        1 cup water

                        1/3 cup white or apple cider vinegar

                        2 Tablespoons sugar

                        1 teaspoon kosher salt (optional)

            Dissolve the salt & sugar into the water-vinegar liquid.  Add the sliced cukes and refrigerate.  Eat immediately or let them develop more flavor overnight.  Dress them with yogurt or sour cream for some extra appeal.  Simple!

Garlic Harvest & Storage.  Some garlic has been harvested by now but just in case… Dig, don’t pull the whole plants out.  Brush off soil from top and around the roots and set out in the sun for a couple days to thoroughly dry the skins and roots (see photos above).  Next set them in a shaded, well-ventilated area to “cure” for several weeks, until the stems are completely dry.  Then you can cut off the stems about 1-2 inches above the head and store in a basket away from heat and humidity.  Most basements/cellars will do.  If you have some heads that have begun to open and spread the cloves, eat those first, they won’t store well.  Set the very largest heads aside for planting in mid-late October so you grow bigger garlic next year.

Pest Alerts. 

Japanese Beetles continue to emerge from the lawns and are moving onto beans, raspberries, roses, and whatever is available.  As I’ve said before, handpicking works, traps do not reduce their numbers.  Every adult that you remove from the garden is one less to reproduce for next year.  Mow your lawns tall (4 inches) to reduce their breeding for next year.  For area control you can apply Beneficial Nematodes to the lawn to reduce the larval (grub) population.  This is expensive but lasts for many years.

Cabbage moths (brown or white wings with a black spot) continue mating and laying eggs on cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, etc.  They will hatch into “cabbage worms” that can spoil a great harvest.  Snag the flying adults with a children’s’ butterfly net and apply weekly treatments of Bt or Dipel (caterpillar killer) to the plants when rain is not forecast.  Bt is a naturally occurring bacteria that will stop the caterpillars and are harmless to us.

Earwigs have been abundant this year.  They are beneficial predators of pest insects but also like to chew leaves and flowers.  If you find too many small holes or eaten leaves & blossoms (dahlias) apply some Diatomaceous Earth (DE) on plants showing damage after each rain.  DE is made from fossilized diatoms (no chemicals) that acts like microscopic broken glass to crawling pests such as slugs, snails, earwigs, and ants.

Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) is a serious new pest of soft fruits (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc.) that probably hasn’t appeared locally yet but it’s a good idea to keep watching.  I’ve made a simple trap to monitor their presence using a 32 oz. plastic yogurt container (anything similar would work).  I drilled about 15 3/16 inch diameter holes three quarters of the way around the upper third and punched 2 holes on opposite sides near the top rim for a loop of cord (or wire) to hang it up.  Add 1 inch of unflavored apple cider vinegar plus 1-2 drops of liquid dish soap.  Snap on the cover (to keep the rain out) and hang it up near your fruit bushes.  (see the photo below)  In a day or two you should have a good sampling of the small fruit flies in your area.  Examine the liquid inside the cup or pour it out onto a white porous cloth.  SWD are identified by the single dark spots on each wing (see images online).

Remember to compost your food and yard wastes for the best garden fertilizer and to make your compost tea.  Concerned about bears?  Here are some good tips from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.

What are you seeing on in your garden?  Got questions?  Suggestions? Leave a message in the Comments below.