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We鈥檙e well in to the dog days of summer with steady heat, sun and stray storms. Bring on the tomato sandwiches and green-bean salad, and it won鈥檛 be long before we鈥檙e enjoying peach cobbler.

Vegetables/Fruit

• August is a good month to start planting shorter maturing leafy crops like lettuce, kale, Asian greens, spinach, plus the tasty regulars 鈥� radish, turnips, Swiss chard and beets. These veggies prefer cooler temperatures, so plant near or under the shade of warm season plants.
• Sow another crop of basil seeds in sunny, vacant areas of the garden or containers. Grow enough to harvest in early fall and process to freeze for winter use. Watch how here:
• Renew mulch around vegetables to maintain soil temperatures and keep down weeds. Chemical-free lawn clippings are an easy go-to mulch to use. Try not to pack the clippings so densely that air and moisture can鈥檛 penetrate.
• Pick up fallen tree fruit and compost if not diseased or infested with insects.
• Harvest crops often so they continue to produce. Use clean scissors or small shears to harvest instead of pulling on plants or stems.
• Peppers that mature to red, yellow, purple and brown can be harvested early when still green. Wear gloves when picking hot peppers.
• Harvest eggplant before their skin loses its gloss. Brown or hard seeds inside the fruit mean it was picked too late 鈥� try harvesting sooner. When cutting from the plant, leave a 1-inch piece of stem attached to the fruit and wear gloves for protection.
• Harvest okra when pods are 3聽inches long or smaller.
• Harvest corn just before cooking.
• Cucumbers taste best when small. If left too long on the vine, they turn yellow and the seeds mature inside, making the plant stop producing flowers and fruit. Pick off super-large cukes and compost or feed to the chickens.
• Place winter squash and pumpkins on a small piece of cardboard, a shingle or well-rinsed styrofoam meat tray from the grocery store to protect from moist soils.
• Go gourmet, add color and conversation by cooking with squash blossoms:.
• Grill your vegetables for natural sweetness and intensity. Grilling tips: 聽
• Herbs are plentiful, so harvest and process now for use in cooked dishes later in the fall through winter. Freeze herb leaves in ice-cubes or freeze small batches of chopped herb leaves with oil.聽Drying works well, too. Use this helpful preservation guide for herbs:
• Be sure to share extra produce with friends, neighbors, shelters and food pantries. Find a local place to give: .

Watering the Landscape

• Landscape plants can easily dry out in a short period of time without regular watering. Plants suffering from lack of water may have wilted leaves, branches and loss of vigor. New plantings will easily die without regular watering.
• Drip irrigation to plants is mostly worry free unless emitters get clogged, broken or there鈥檚 a split or fold in the irrigation hose.
• It抖阴ap tedious work, but during dry periods check the surrounding soil near each plant after watering to see if it is well watered. If not, make necessary sprinkler repairs and hand water to give plants relief.
• Consider saving water and dollars by switching older fine-mist sprinkler heads (nozzles) to ones that put out larger water droplets, which soak down into the soil more efficiently. Also install rain sensors so the system doesn鈥檛 operate during storms. Moisture sensors measure moisture in the soil and will automatically increase or decrease watering periods. These system improvements are quite affordable.
• Pay extra attention to watering trees 鈥� they are the most valuable landscape plants. Trees within lawns generally get enough moisture. Trees located near streets, in sidewalk plantings or dry parts of the landscape will need supplemental watering. Water until moisture soaks down 12聽inches.

Disease Watch

• Powdery mildew begins to appear on susceptible plants like bee balm, veronica, lilac, roses, squash and pumpkins. Despite being in a warm, dry climate, higher humidity levels allow the fungal spores to germinate.
• Remove and discard (don鈥檛 compost) severely infected leaves.
• Potassium bicarbonate, baking soda and neem oil are effective spray on controls. Be sure to test foliage if using homemade control recipes or read all package directions for proper timing and application rates of pre-mixed products. More about powdery mildew:

Smart Garden Tip: Enjoy regular strolls through the garden to cut off spent blooms, pull weeds (after an afternoon rain is easiest) and plan ahead. 鈥淎 garden is never so good as it will be next year,鈥� said Thomas Cooper, an American 19th century philosopher.

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