8.29.26 - Keep Harvesting

Transcript

[Intro music fades in]

Good morning, friends, and welcome to another episode of The Keep Growing Podcast from Bob’s Market and Greenhouses. I’m John Morgan, coming to you from right here in the Mid-Ohio Valley.

We’ve been growing flowers, friends, and family right here since 1970, and this podcast is one more way we share practical tips with our neighbors across Mason, Belpre, Gallipolis, and the rest of the region.

Let’s dig in.

This week runs from Saturday, August 29th through Friday, September 4th. We’re in that late-summer handoff: the garden is still producing, but it’s also time to keep picking what’s ready and start making room for fall.

Weather first.

A dome of high pressure is going to settle in and bring building heat through mid next week, with mainly dry weather. Highs in the upper 80s to low and mid 90s are expected across the lowlands beginning Sunday and holding through much of the work week.

That’s a stretch to respect. Harvest in the cooler parts of the day when you can—early morning is easier on you and on the fruit. Water deeply when plants need it instead of light, frequent sprinkles, and pay extra attention to containers, hanging baskets, and anything newly seeded. Dry heat will show up there first.

Save the heavier bed-clearing and soil work for the cooler ends of the day if that midweek heat is sitting on you.

Main garden focus this week: keep harvesting so plants stay productive.

Tomatoes, peppers, beans, and okra all share the same habit: if ripe fruit sits on the plant, production slows down. Keep picking, and they keep setting.

·       Tomatoes: pick when they’ve colored up and give slightly to a gentle squeeze. Don’t leave overripe fruit hanging—it invites pests and tells the plant the job is done. If a few are still green but full size, you can finish those indoors the same way we talked about earlier this month.

·       Peppers: harvest when they reach the size and color you want. Green peppers are fine to pick; leaving some on to color up is fine too, just don’t let them wrinkle and collapse on the plant.

·       Beans: pick often. Once pods get fat and seedy, the plant shifts from making more beans to finishing seed. Regular picking is the difference between a short flush and a long one.

·       Okra: same story, only faster. Those pods get tough if they sit. Check the plants every day or two and pick while they’re still tender.

Next up: clear finished summer beds for fall plantings.

If a crop is spent—cucumber vines that have given out, squash that’s done, beans that have gone woody—pull it. Don’t leave tired plants sitting in the row taking space and holding pests.

Healthy plant material can go on the compost pile. Anything diseased or heavily infested should leave the garden, not go back into the compost you plan to use this fall.

Once the bed is empty, pull weeds, especially anything starting to flower or set seed. Then loosen the soil and work in finished compost if you have it. You’re not starting from scratch. You’re just making a clean place for the next crop.

A little behind-the-scenes peek from my desk: I’m busy working on our online fall plant gallery right now. We’ve done one for spring the past few years, but this is the first time I’ve put one together for fall crops. It’s been good to look at the season from that side—what we’re growing, what belongs in a Mid-Ohio Valley fall garden or landscape, and how to help folks plan the next wave. When it’s ready, you’ll find it at your local Bob’s Market. I’ll share more as it comes together. … We have early mums arriving now if you’re really wanting a head start.

Friday, September 4th is the Last Quarter Moon.

In the old gardening traditions a lot of us still follow around here, last quarter is a barren time. That makes it a good day for the unglamorous jobs that keep us gardeners honest:

·       Weeding.
Turning the compost pile.
Working soil in those beds you just cleared.

Don’t let late weeds go to seed. One plant that slips through now is a hundred seedlings next spring. Pull them, bag the seed heads if they’re already forming, and get them out of the garden.

Turning the compost on a barren day is never wasted. It helps the pile finish and gives you material to work into those fall beds. If the heat is still scorching on Friday, do this in the morning or evening. The moon doesn’t mind what time you start.

To Recap:

·       Heat builds Sunday through much of the work week—upper 80s to low and mid 90s in the lowlands, mainly dry. Water deeply and harvest early.

·       Keep picking tomatoes, peppers, beans, and okra so those plants stay productive.

·       Clear finished summer beds. Compost the healthy stuff, get diseased material out, and make room for fall.

·       Friday the 4th: Last Quarter Moon—weed, turn compost, work soil. Don’t let late weeds go to seed.

·       And keep an eye on bobsmarket.com as that first online fall plant gallery comes together.

Check out our website at bobsmarket.com for show notes and more.

Until next time, get your hands dirty, stay curious, stay cool, and, of course, keep growing.

[Outro music]