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Summer vacation

Jim Boxberger Jr.
Posted 8/6/21

What a crazy summer we have had so far, it is either a cold summer or a beautiful fall. August ushers in back to school shopping. August is the last hurrah for a summer vacation or not with …

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Garden Guru

Summer vacation

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What a crazy summer we have had so far, it is either a cold summer or a beautiful fall. August ushers in back to school shopping. August is the last hurrah for a summer vacation or not with resurgence of covid.

Before you leave even for a long weekend make sure everything around your house is taken care of. If you have someone coming over to due daily chores around the house great, but chances are you don’t. So here are some things to think about before you go away.

Picking your garden - if you are going to be away for any length of time you may want to pick some veggies before you go or the critters will pick them for you. That nice eight inch zuchini will be a baseball bat by the time you get home and that almost ripe tomato will be rotting on the ground after a week at the shore.

Now that the days are warmer, kinda, vegetables ripen at a quickened pace. Also make sure you set up some water timers to water the garden while you are away. This time of the year, if we don’t get an afternoon thunderstorm, your plants can dry out very quickly and we just can’t rely on mother nature.

We have some pumpkins growing on our porch that need water twice a day as they are so thirsty when the sun comes out. We literally put our growing pot into another barrel with no holes so that we can keep at least two inches of water at the bottom of the pot for the plant to absorb while we are out.

Feeding plants in hot weather can also be a little tricky, use a fertilizer with a lower nitrogen number in the summer months to avoid burning your plants. During the heat of the season fertilizers with a higher potash number would be appreciated. These watering and feeding tips go for your flower beds as well.

Don’t worry about mowing the lawn if you don’t have time before you go. During August grass grows at a slower rate and if it gets taller it shades its own roots and is less likely to burn under the sun. Mowing your lawn short before you go on vacation is one of the worst things you can do to it.

Besides being more likely to burn under the sun, short grass also has a harder time keeping moisture in the soil as it can’t shade the ground, and it is easier for weeds to germinate when their seeds are hit with the hot sun.

Do you have a garden pond with Koi and goldfish in it? Worried about what they might eat? Simply put a spotlight out by the edge of the pond on a dusk to dawn sensor. At night the light will come on attracting countless insects that will inevitably fall into the water, thereby supplying a ready source of food while you are away on vacation.

Your pets in the house, well that’s another story. If you have pets you should have someone come by every day to take care of them or get a housesitter. Even a parakeet needs daily care. Cats are about the most self sufficient, but you still don’t want to leave them alone for more than a weekend, because once that litter box is full, any shoe will do.

If you are going to be away for more than a long weekend, tell your postmaster to hold your mail so that it won’t pile up in the mailbox.

And last, but not least, have a good time on vacation, come back refreshed, and bring us lots of pictures to rub it in.

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