Vacation

I was getting off my plane after a week long vacation when I overheard a women say her garden was probably ruined. I thought it doesn’t have to be that way. You can safely leave your garden for a week or two with a few simple precautions.

First, time your vacation. Don’t take off when you know your determinate tomatoes will be turning ripe. You’ll miss out on your harvest and be disappointed. I find the best time to go for me is late June and July. My spring vegetables are done and my summer vegetables aren’t ripe yet.

Second, adjust the planting of your garden. This year, everything was late getting in. My summer vegetables wouldn’t have even gotten in if my dad hadn’t done it for my on Memorial Day weekend. But in retrospect, that worked out well. I took a nice long vacation at the end of July and my tomatoes and peppers weren’t even close to being ready. I always put my beans in late after I’ve pulled out my spring crops, so they’re not ready until August either.

Third, harvest before you leave. If you’re going to be gone a week or so, pick all your beans, even the ones that are too small to use. Your beans stop producing when the beans are allowed to mature, so pick the ones that will mature when you’re gone. Do the same with eggplant. Tomatoes and peppers can generally either stay on the plant or fall onto the ground without harming the plants. Pick the female flowers off your summer squash plants. It’s amazing how fast a zucchini can grow to club size if you don’t pick them. I like to take any fresh veggies along with me, if I’m visiting friends or relatives. They usually appreciate it.

Fourth, weed. Pull any small weeds. They’ll be huge if allowed to grow while you’re gone.

Fifth, water, water, water. It didn’t rain the entire week I was gone. I had watered my cucumbers before I left, but the one I picked when I returned was still bitter. Even with as wet a summer as we’re having in the Mid Atlantic region, you still should give your plants a healthy watering before you leave. My plants went nine days without water. They all survived fine, and I’m sure the watering I applied before I left helped.

Sixth, mulch. Do this after you water and you might want to apply some compost under the mulch as an extra bonus for your plants. The mulch will conserve water and eliminate weeds while your gone.

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