Home & Garden

Protect lettuces and greens with shade cloth to stop the plants from bolting.

Tips for Warm Weather Gardening

By Vicki Matsumonji, WMCG

It is not unusual for high temps to continue on throughout the month of September so do yourself and your garden a favor by working early enough in the morning to avoid working in the heat of the day. The favor: water in hoses is cool in the morning and becomes hot, hot, hot by noon or earlier (from the voice of experience). Always water plants from below if possible and keep the container plants watered every day. It’s better not to water plants near nightfall. The moisture plus warm soil plus darkness invites molds and fungi to grow. It’s the perfect environment for plant diseases to develop and flourish.

Warm weather gardening tips: • Ensure that your automatic irrigation system is working properly for consistent daily watering. • Container plants should have a dish or pan to hold water in order to feed plants through the roots’ capillary system. • Continue weeding because weeds rob your plants of water and nutrients. Use a serrated knife to slip into the soil under the weed to cut the roots. • Insect pests become insanely multitudinous in August. They can drive you insane as they reproduce while the young ravage your plants and start reproducing as well. Hunt down the eggs of squash bugs and Mexican bean beetles which are easy to identify and find. Crush the eggs or drown them in soapy water. Either way, insect pest eggs must be destroyed. • Keep spraying aphids with blasts of water to dislocate and disorient them. If you have aphids, you have ants and vice versa. Ants farm aphids and transport them to healthy plants where they multiply and suck the juices from the plants. Drive ants away from your garden beds with Diatomaceous Earth on the mound or lure them into sugar mixed with 20 Mule Team Borax. The sugar attracts ants and they track the borax (boron) into the colony where it kills the ants and eventually the queen. • Provide shade for lettuces and greens to stop them from bolting into flowers and seeds. • Prune tomato plants and squash plants for air circulation. Keep the cutting edge of scissors and clippers sanitized with a mixture of alcohol and water to stop the spread of diseases and viruses between plants. Hydrogen peroxide mixed with water is a good sanitizer too.

The White Mountains' Premiere Secret Bakery Wedding Cakes, Custom Cakes, Dessert Bars, Pies (928) 242-7224

The White Mountain Community Garden rests in the heart of Show Low on acreage that is located next to the Navajo County Health Dept. building at 520 N. 9th Place on the North side of the Deuce of Clubs. Its central location makes it convenient with easy access and ample ares for growing, gathering and relaxation. It is a wonderful place for playing in the dirt, learning, and helping to promote environmental stewardship and healthy, sustainable living. For more info, visit www.wmcgarden.org.

Drop into the Show Low Senior Center for Food, Friendship and More

The Show Low Senior Center is a wonderfully inviting building in the heart of Show Low, which is a great place to have a nutritious lunch and socialize.

The center provides the meals that are delivered to the Meals on Wheels recipients. Members of the community, of any age, can have lunch in a warm and welcoming place to meet friends, or attend group activities. A complete lunch is offered for only $7.00 Monday through Thursdays from January to May. This year, we have a special $5 soup and sandwich lunch every Friday during the summer.

Many days are open to play cards or board games, which is a great way to keep your mind and body busy!

Volunteers are utilized in many ways, including meal delivery, teaching a class, or helping in any way. We are especially in need of a few new volunteers so we can creat a new route to reach isolated clients in the communith. If you are available for approximately 1 1/2 hours a week and want to help to bring not only a meal but a smile, please call us at (928) 532-0656 to make arrangements.

The Show Low Senior Center is located at 301 E. McNeil. For more information about Meals on Wheels, please visit www.showlowmealsonwheels.com.