Harvest to Table

Fruits are ripening by mid-summer. Keep fruit trees and vines thoroughly watered; avoid letting plants dry out, especially newly planted fruits and fruits growing in containers. Scavenging birds and insects will be looking for an opening as fruits ripen. Use bird netting or reflective tape to scare birds away; spray away insects with a strong [...]

Most soft fruits–strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and currants–are bearing or nearing maturity by early summer. Tree fruits–apples, pears, plums, peaches and nectarines–in early summer are developing fruit. Attention should be given to thinning, pruning, and watering. Here is a fruit-by-fruit growing guide for early summer: Support fruit trees. Support heavily laden branches with stout stakes [...]