There’s a peculiar quiet which comes in the early hours of a September morning. It is as though summer, tired from all the hustle and bustle of growing things, presents a final tableau; a still shot for us to sit back and admire…until the wind gets up at lunch time.  One has the urge to gather it all up, wishing there was a way to save it all for the rainy days ahead.  Labor Day has come and gone, and the bright yellow school buses trundle once e again down country lanes, like fat caterpillars, laden with their precious cargo.

                In the garden, the race is on.  To the victor go the spoils!  Will those fat green tomatoes ripen in the late weakening late summer sun?  Or, will late blight sneak into our gardens in the dampness of a cool autumn night?  At the very hint of those grey/black curling wilted leaves, pull up the plant, and inspect each tomato carefully, saving only the most perfect.  Wipe each with a dilute bleach mixture to kill bugs and other nasty things like eggs.  Carefully wrap each one half-way up in newspaper, packing them away in a shallow box or tray.    This allows you to quickly spot the ones that are ripening without taking them out of the box to unwrap each and every one.    I store these wrapped tomatoes in a cool place, making sure that no one tomato touches another.  This simple trick will extend your tomato harvest, and with any luck, despite the attack of the dreaded blight, you can still be eating fresh tomatoes at Christmas, as we have.  If you need ripened tomatoes in a hurry, place a few green tomatoes in a plastic container with a lid, along with a piece of apple, as this will speed things up tremendously.

                Ruthlessly top off your tomato plants in late summer.  I know it hurts to cut off all those flowers and itty bitty tomatoes, but by doing this; your plants will concentrate on ripening the larger tomatoes that you leave on the plant.  Cut away all the stems with flowers or tiny fruits that you know darn well stand little chance of ever producing ripe fruit.  At the first sign of fall storms, cover your tomatoes with plastic to protect them from rain, as this is a party invitation to blight.    Don’t forget to remove the plastic off the bulk of the plants as the sun comes back out next day, and as we move on into Indian summer which can last for quite a few weeks.    I grow my tomatoes within a framework of plastic PVC piping, not only to provide support as they grow, but this framework keeps the plastic off the bulk of the plants when fall rains begin.