Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Aug. 22

August often is the height of pepper season. Keep summer vegetables picked to encourage plants to produce more. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Hazy skies keep temperatures in check

One good thing about haze: It can keep temperatures down.

Acting like cloud cover, the wildfire smoke that has filled the skies of our part of the Central Valley has kept a cap on afternoon highs. Instead of triple digits, Sacramento will see a few days in the 80s with the lowest a forecast of 84 on Sunday.

According to the National Weather Service, breezy conditions will dissipate the haze, but also bring heightened fire danger again to foothill communities. Our cooldown will be brief; by next weekend, we’ll likely see another 100-degree day.

Make the most of fresher air and cooler temperatures this week with some quality garden time.

* Harvest tomatoes, peppers, squash and eggplant. Wash well to remove smoke residue.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias, annuals and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that's now forming.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Feed them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.