Despite the lack of rain, it’s great to see your garden in full maturity and producing an abundance of veggies, herbs, flowers, and soon to be harvested potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, and more. It’s the reward that a hard-working gardener deserves and should enjoy this time of year. Proper 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…
Rain or shine, our gardens are now heading into the home stretch with tomatoes leading the way! Tomatoes are actually sub-tropical plants and don’t know that winter is coming so they are still growing and producing as though they have many months ahead. We know better and there are several things we can do right now to get the most out of what’s left of this year’s growing season for tomatoes and our other gardening investments. Despite the calendar and…
It’s a great feeling to see your garden in full maturity and producing as much or more than you hoped for. That’s the reward that a hard-working gardener deserves and should enjoy this time of year. Harvesting is vital to good production, the more you pick the more you get! Leaving fruits on plants to get over-ripe signals the plants to slow or stop production. Of course, overabundance can become a burden too, unless we have some good ways to…
Heat & humidity are great for our gardens but can also trigger the appearance of numerous pests and diseases. Along with the great growth we’re seeing and early harvests of greens, peas, & summer squashes it’s time to keep a keen eye to detect and control any problems before they become serious issues. Healthy, well-watered plants can tolerate most pests and diseases, but plants may need our help when conditions in mid-summer are ideal for unwelcome insects or plant disease…
Gardens are in their peak growth phase and things are getting big fast. So are the weeds, bugs, and slugs. If you have already side-dressed with compost to feed and mulched to cover the soil you can now think about more specific tasks. It’s a great time to be gardening and may seem a challenge just to keep up. Let’s try to focus on a few priority things to do in early July so the garden does well without overwhelming…