VEGETABLE PATCH : A fruit day in full swing — the waxing gibbous moon is building toward tomorrow’s Full Moon, making today a fine window for harvesting. Watermelon is worth checking with a knock — a hollow sound signals it’s ready. Pick squash before the skin hardens too much, and gather strawberries in the morning when they are firm and fragrant. Sweet pepper fruits can be twisted off cleanly once they reach full size.
ORCHARD : Raspberry canes loaded with fruit deserve daily attention — harvest when berries are firm and cool. Currant bushes and blackcurrant branches can be picked whole and stripped indoors. For apple trees and pear trees, remove any fruits showing signs of scab or codling moth damage now — drop them into a bag rather than the compost to break the pest cycle.
LANDSCAPING : Wisteria put on a great deal of growth since spring — shorten the long lateral shoots back to five or six leaves now to channel energy into next year’s flower buds. Lavender that has finished blooming can be lightly trimmed, cutting back into the green growth but never into old wood.