THINGS TO THINK ABOUT IN THE VEGGIE GARDEN:
Cure your garlic. By now you should have popped a good garlic crop out of the ground, and if you want it to last until next season the curing process really matters. A covered porch or breeze way is ideal for curing garlic, where they are out of the rain and too much direct sunlight but exposed to sufficient heat and air movement to dry down the skins. Turn them every few days for up to two weeks before you find a cool, dark, dry place to store them through the winter.
Keep the tomato harvest rolling, even if you can’t eat them all at once it’s just a shame to let them go to waste. Surprise a friend or neighbour with a sun-ripened harvest of tomatoes from the garden, drop them off at a food bank with a fresh-produce receiving policy, or process them in the kitchen to replace canned tomatoes from the store. Grab your carrots, beets, radishes and green beans/peas before they start losing their sweetness and go woody.
Remember to continue with your Bordo applications through the end of the season. As it was pointed out to us recently, Bordo is not “harmless” but it is considered safe for organic gardeners as its primary active ingredient is copper sulfate.
Summer squash are likely beyond control – keep picking! As for the ones that get away (ie, too big) carve a kid or grandkid’s name into the rind and let it grow on for another week. A personalized gift from the Zucchini Fairy.
Stay on those fruit trees with End All and Garden Sulphur. Important not to let this job get ahead of you on a wet year, especially so close to harvest. It was pointed out to us by a reader last month that it is perhaps unfair to brand these products “perfectly safe” – indeed, they are insecticides and fungicides after all – but they are acceptable to many organic growers and break down quickly in the environment so we would recommend them with caution.
