Handling the harvest
Tribune Chronicle photos / Kathleen Evanoff
There are several varieties of summer squash including green-skinned zucchini, yellow straight neck (shown), crook neck and patty pan. Summer squash, unlike their winter cousins, is a warm weather vegetable, growing only as long as the weather stays above freezing. Although the season is short for this vegetable, the plant reproduces so quickly it is difficult to keep up with the harvest.
In spite of cooler than normal temperatures that slowed down the growth of heat-loving crops, there is still plenty of harvest to enjoy and look forward to in the coming month. One cool weather plant growing well in this weather is Brussels sprouts. A member of the cabbage family, Brussels sprouts are nutritious and easy to grow. The vegetable resembles small cabbages growing along the sturdy trunk of the plant, each one above a leaf stem. Normally slow growing, the cooler temperatures have been excellent for this plant, which grows best below 75 degrees. Temperatures higher than this and the small sprouts, which are best when firm and tight, will begin to open up their leaves and soften. Brussels sprouts can be sown as seeds directly into the garden in late spring in an area where members of the Brassica family have not been planted the previous year.
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So you want to put a new garden, or a first garden, into your landscape, but the task seems too overwhelming to consider.
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It’s a vicious cycle.
Food that travels long distances to reach our plates uses up precious fuel. As fuel prices rise, so does the cost of those California strawberries and Central American asparagus.
Soil texture is important for healthy plants
Anyone who gardens in Ohio knows that soil textures can be different from one backyard to another.
Because of our numerous lakes and streams, soil textures where we live can range anywhere from coarse sand to heavy clay.
Gardening greats
For the second time, Frank and Joan Travers, of Bristol Champion Townline Road in Champion Township, have won first place in the Tribune Chronicle and Trumbull County Master Gardeners Amateur Garden contest. The Travers also won the contest in 200.
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Gardeners love to show off.
Meandering along winding paths filled with perennials of all shapes and sizes is most often what you will find when you visit the home of nearly any seasoned gardener.
