Erin Schanen

Summer is here and it’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy the garden, right? Not if you’re looking to maximize your vegetable harvest. July can be a busy time in the vegetable garden and presents a small window of opportunity to make the most of a gardening space. Some spring-planted crops are likely finishing up this month, so harvest them before they are past their prime. Use up lettuce while it’s still delicious.

How heartless do you have to be to cut flower buds off a plant? Actually, this seemingly appalling act of plant vandalism is really a demonstration of compassion, meant to help a plant through a tough time. Cutting off the flower buds never gets easier, but if you’re transplanting something during the hottest part of the year, it’s the one way to help the plant make the transition to its new location.

There was a time not long ago when very few people talked about pollinators. Sure, we noticed a bee or a hummingbird and recognized them as a positive things, but it was generally unremarkable. Times have changed, and for the better, because everyone is talking about pollinators. Not “bees” but “pollinators,” which is a sure sign that a push to recognize the wide range of creatures that pollinate was successful.