Dig In: Garden Checklist for week of July 29

Time to break out the seeds for your fall vegetable garden. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Hot summer weather continues; make the most of cool mornings

By Debbie Arrington

July ends like it's been for most of this month: Hot.

According to Accuweather, only three days -- July 2, 3 and a very cool 77-degree Fourth -- were below 90 degrees. All but four days reached the monthly average of 92 degrees, with most well in excess.

That trend continues this week into August, which historically is slightly cooler and wetter than July. We can hope.

On the bright side, overnight lows are dipping into the low 60s, making mornings a very comfortable time to get outside -- and enjoy our gardens!

What's on this week's to-do list:

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, summer squash, pepper and eggplants. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week (preferably in the morning), more often if they're planted in containers.
* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.
* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Feed them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.
* Pinch off dead flowers from perennials and annuals to lengthen their summer bloom.
Plant and propagate:
* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.
* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.
* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips. Plant potatoes.