Kerri Thoreson/OnLocation North Idaho Some of the ribbons that Alice won at the North Idaho Fair last week.
Can it really be true? It seems as though we were just talking about how to get our tomatoes to set fruit and now it is time to prevent the setting of any more fruit. You should do this because you want all the energy of your plant to go toward maturing those green tomatoes already set, before the first frost hits. You will need to be brave and pinch off any yellow blossoms you see from now on. It is difficult to take the steps to begin winding down this summer's garden, when it seems we are just getting started. But the feel of Fall is in the air. It will officially arrive on September 24, less than a month away. In my garden the first frost arrives usually around the first week in October. So I could have five or six weeks left to go. In other areas of North Idaho you don't get very much time after Labor Day to enjoy your garden. This has been such a weird weather year, who knows what is going to happen? -- Alice Rankin/Alice's Garden Spot.
D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.
setting of any more fruit. You should do this because you want all the energy of your plant to go toward maturing those green tomatoes already set, before the first frost hits. You will need to be brave and pinch off any yellow blossoms you see from now on. It is difficult to take the steps to begin winding down this summer's garden, when it seems we are just getting started. But the feel of Fall is in the air. It will officially arrive on September 24, less than a month away. In my garden the first frost arrives usually around the first week in October. So I could have five or six weeks left to go. In other areas of North Idaho you don't get very much time after Labor Day to enjoy your garden. This has been such a weird weather year, who knows what is going to happen? -- Alice Rankin/Alice's Garden Spot.
