What’s in the ground:

Now is the time to start seeding your fall crops if you don’t plan on buying or bartering for transplants. Hopefully you saved some of that seed from the broccoli that flowered in June. You may even want to let your current Kale and Collards bolt so you can harvest their seed. You basically just need to stop picking and let the plant flower. You can then get one last harvest, cut off the pods, dry and replant into small containers to get ready for the fall season.

What’s going on in sustainability:

The other day at a work day at Walnut Hill, my garden partner Erica said that if she got paid for every time she used the phrase, “It’s hard in July,” she’d be able to fund the garden herself. But it’s true, especially with this July and the month long heat wave we’ve endured. As I said last summer, everyone starts off with the best intentions in the spring and early summer planting those tomatoes so close that their vines start growing off into the paths of the garden. But then when the heat of the city drives us down the shore or up to the mountains, we just leave a lot of produce that’s going to rot on the vine.

I said this too late last year, so I’m going to get a jump on it this year. If you’re going away, or your garden plot neighbor is, then it’s your duty as the sustainably minded person to not let your produce rot on the vine, smelling up the garden and putting all of your fellow gardeners in that precarious position of to pick or not to pick.

Set up a garden gleaning program. This can be as simple as a garden email, where you tell all of your gardeners what will be ready to harvest and how much they can take. To feel even better, you can even set up a donation at a food shelter or to a community center.

I know this advice may seem easy enough, but I’m always surprised by how people overlook this when they set up a watering schedule, if they even think to do that. Now, I’m not some garden elitist who thinks all gardeners should be putting in a full season at 20 hours per week. I’m happy if people just put one veggie in the ground. But this lifestyle is a bit of a commitment.  It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your summer, that’s the point of gardening. So keep those veggies growing and feed a few friends when you’re on vacation in August. Because as even Erica will admit, August is harder than July.

So enjoy. Until August, this is the note from the urban homestead.