Patrice Gros

As the heat mounts, gardeners retreat indoors and the bounties of summer slowly regress to leave fields of roasting plants gasping for moisture. NOT! Late summer gardening can be as lively as early spring, albeit requiring more energy and technical prowess. A visit to any of our farmers' markets (Tuesday and Thursday from 7 a.m. to noon at Pine Mountain Village) will prove my point as our growers spread a lavish multitude of vegetables and flowers.

  Let's review the main aspects of high-heat gardening. Watch your pet for advice. I'll bet your dog is most active during early mornings and late evenings and drinks a whole bunch. Even at my farm where commercial requirements dictate long harvesting hours, our workload is strictly limited to three mornings a week and we try to stop by noon and relax in the shed with a freshly made salad.

  Plants need special attention with extra water and even shade. There are some plants which are especially ready for dry weather. They include: field peas; corn; tomatoes; beans; okra; millet/sorghum; and peppers. But it's best to keep them on a regular watering program. Drip-irrigation is the way to go as water is deposited at the base of each plant without evaporative loss and watering deeply once a week invites the plant to develop a drought-resistant root system.

  A second indispensable technique is mulching, which maximizes moisture retention while keeping weeds down and feeding your soil. For shade, I use trees, companion plants and shading cloth for more sensitive crops like lettuce and chard.

  Lettuce in summer? Indeed a bit of a challenge but so rewarding when you toss those crisp leaves in with your tomatoes and cukes.

  Pampering your summer plants is only half of the August garden picture. Just as critical is the preparation of fall gardens. Time windows for fall crops are rigorous and not everyone is cut to charge on for a third season in 90-degree weather. For those who do, I predict delights in late September as plants gather speed in the cooling of mid-fall. Mid-August is best for the direct sowing of carrots, beets, kohl-rabi, daikon radish, bok-choi, turnips, arugula and more. It is already too late for pumpkins and winter squashes (which should be seeded by mid-July). Go ahead and try some carrots, they are delicious as they sweeten in cold weather and can be kept under mulch for winter picking.

  Let me finish by stressing how important it is for all us to maintain a link of to nature and to produce some of our own food. Doing it means we are a little less fragile as a society as we face a future which some paint as very unsettling. Self-sufficiency in food and energy should be promoted at a personal level as well as at the level of our community.

  Do you remember how exposed and powerless you felt during the last power outage? What if not just spinach but other industrial food items became tainted, would it feel better to get it safely from your neighbor, the farmer next-door? We can sit and wait for the next scare or we can start building a strong local economy where we depend on ourselves and each other for more stuff.

  There is a big, counter-economics movement gathering strength based on "Buying Local," in part because it ties into the threat of global warming. We have a table set-up at market on Thursdays to help you rethink those issues. Please come by and say "hi."