Here we are. The first of August greets us with Japanese beetles, grasshoppers, flea beetles, squirrels, rabbits…. What is a gardener to do?

• Harvest beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash and corn often so they continue to produce.

• At midmonth, direct seed fall season crops like spinach, radishes, Swiss chard and beets.

• Onions are ready to harvest when their green tops fall over. Lift the bulbs, brush off loose soil, and lay them out in a single layer in a protected area on a surface that permits ventilation top and bottom.

• Peppers can be harvested anytime they achieve the size you need or want.

• Water tomatoes regularly until late August. After that, fruit will ripen more quickly when water is withheld.

When garden beds become empty after harvesting, sow cover crops, often called green manure, like annual rye grass or buckwheat to build garden soil. You can plant green manure where vegetables were growing to keep the garden weed-free, prevent soil erosion and add organic matter to the soil. Sow the seed thickly to create a cover that will not allow weeds to compete. Chop the plants down if they flower, to prevent them from self-seeding and becoming weeds themselves. Later they can be turned under as a soil amendment.

One of the common diseases that may plague the vegetable crop this time of the year is powdery mildew. Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that can appear in your vegetable gardens as patches of white or gray powdery substance. It attacks where plants are crowded and kept damp. Susceptible plants are squash, pumpkins and cucumbers. There are several organic OMRI approved fungicides which may be found at local nurseries. For infected vegetables, remove as much of the plant and its debris in the fall as possible. This decreases the ability of the fungus to survive the winter. Do not compost infected plant debris. Put them in your trash. Temperatures often are not hot enough to kill the fungus.

In September we will look at the first frost date and how to close the garden.

Why supporting high quality child care and early education is an important action that we all can take to help eradicate systemic poverty. 

Week 6 of 6: Children who attend quality early child programs have greater access to health care and improved physical health, receive better dental care, and demonstrate improved nutritional status and better nutritional practices.

Week 5 of 6: Participation in high-quality early care can help children avoid special education, grade repetition, early parenthood, and incarceration – all outcomes that imply large costs for government and for society.

Week 4 of 6: Access to quality daycare may also open the door for parents to further their education in order to improve their career prospects.  Those individual benefits can be substantial, and life-changing.

Week 3 of 6: Much of the most critical brain development in children takes place before they even reach kindergarten. A widely-cited study tracked verbal interactions in the home involving children up to age 3 from 3 socio-economic groups. By age 3, children from the poorest families heard 30 million fewer words than those from more affluent families. Early childhood education can help mitigate these differences and help close the achievement gap.

Week 2 of 6: Research shows that high-quality child care can have long-term benefits for children, including increased cognitive abilities, improved language development, better relationships with peers, and less conflict with caregivers. However, these benefits may not be realized if the quality of care is low.

Week 1 of 6:  Reliable, high-quality child care and early education enables parents to work so they can support their families and lift them out of poverty and gives children the learning opportunities they need for a strong start.