Gardening Here and Now

By Joan Wilson VCE Southside Master Gardeners No doubt the temperatures will pop up into the 90s again, but this week’s dip into the 80s is welcome. Plus tomatoes, melons, squash, cucumbers, beans are all harvest-ready. Keeping favorite crops thriving can be a challenge in hot, dry weather. See below: Get up early and garden before the temperature gets to 80. Drink water before you leave the house and when you return. Wear a hat! Water- water the ground, not the leaves, to avoid molds and mildew and sun damage. Soaker hoses work well. Rain barrels can help save the downpour rain to use on the dry days in between storms. Soaking the soil every 3 days for established plants works well. Mulch- to keep weeds at bay, keep the soil temperature and moisture steady. If you have last fall’s leaves, they work well as mulch. Strips of newspaper or cardboard underneath a layer of old leaves helps smother weeds. Pest treatment or removal – when watering, check for bugs, leaf damage and treat promptly. Harvest- pick your fruits and vegetables just a little shy of fully ripe especially if you have enough to store. Have a plan for freezing or preserving. Many flowers will continue blooming if the flowers are picked or deadheaded. The above suggestions for water, mulch, pest control apply to them as well. I have had roses in early December here. When a garden plot or flower bed is finished for the season, clear the weeds and add compost or old leaves to improve the soil for the next crop. I have several raised beds that need to have more soil added each late fall. This year the strawberry plants will need to be lifted and replanted after new soil is added, then mulched for the winter. However, last year I did not clear my broccoli raised bed and had a surprise small head of broccoli in January! Along the same vein, check your asparagus bed regularly for new growth as the temperatures drop. Cool season crops such as leafy greens (lettuces, turnip salad, kale, collards, spinach, mustard greens) and root vegetables (carrots, beets radishes, turnips) can be sown directly. Children can enjoy this activity. Use row covers if below freezing temperatures are predicted. This year I am going to try placing a old screen across a raised bed, and maybe a old window. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Chinese cabbage and Brussels sprouts can be transplanted. Fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries will form more buds for next year if watered and fertilized. Pruning- Except for fruits, flowering shrubs can be pruned when they have finished flowering. Trees in general are best pruned before the sap starts rising in late February or March. You may want to use surveyor’s tape to mark what you plan to prune later. If you have soil areas you plan to use in the spring, consider overwintering them with clover, oats, rye, winter wheat then tilling the plants in as ‘green manure’ in early spring. This may save on fertilizer. Clean your garden tools and oil them. Spray with chlorine cleaner, rinse with water, then dry and spray with WD40 and store inside. The Southside Master Gardeners have tool sharpening on September 13 from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Halifax Farmer’s Market. Summer is winding down but it’s not over yet!