Gardentalk

Shallot and onion bulbs can be planted into cool, moist soil now. But other vegetables like tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli should be started indoors over the next few weeks before transplanting them outside.

Gardening season is here! Master Gardener Ed Buyarski encourages us to finish with the clean-up of messy greenhouses and garden beds that we started last fall.

Remove all dead and dying vegetation so that it doesn’t turn into prime slug habitat. And, don’t forget to bring in your begonias, dahlias and fuschias for the winter.

Softness, taste and sometimes color are the best ways to check the ripeness of kiwi, apples, pears and tomatoes.

Cool, dry weather will actually boost the sugar content of plants, especially root vegetables.

Plant the biggest cloves in rich, well-drained soil in a sunny location. They should be planted about 2 inches deep and 6 to 8 inches apart with each clove’s pointy end up.