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An early frost
is just as bad. Tomato plants are very frost-sensitive.
One cold night and they can be history. If you still have
unripe tomatoes in the garden and the temperatures are about to
take a dive, pull the plants and hang them upside down in a warm
dry place. The tomatoes will ripen on the vine.
Lettuce and
cabbage are a lot easier to rinse clean if they
don't get as dirty in the first place. Put a 1-2 inch layer
of grass clippings from an untreated lawn around each plant.
Spray with water to make it mat. This instant mulch will help
keep the weeds down and rain will soak into the clippings without
splashing soil onto your lettuce.
Picking your peas
often will encourage the plant to form more of them.
Overgrown zucchini
need not be a total loss. 1) Scrub them well
and grate them, peel and all. Freeze in 2-cup quantities and
use over the winter to make zucchini bread. 2) As hard
as it is to imagine, some folks don't want to make 500 loaves of
zucchini bread. Store the overgrown zukes in a cool dry place.
When the weather gets cold, slice them lengthwise and put them out
for the birds to enjoy.
Get
garlic off to a good start (Frank from PA) Garlic is
a 9 month crop that should be planted in October (it needs to rest
over the winter). You will have more success if you plant the cloves
not the seed. The seed needs 2 growing seasons. Make sure you don't
plant your rows to close(I make mine 36 inches apart).
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