​     How wonderful this mild weather’s become!  I’ve barely gotten used to low-80-degree days and low-60-degree evenings.  And the garden tells me it loves the change too – lusher foliage, blossoms setting, new shoots in branches burnt by that torrid heat.  Life begins again! 
 
Time to start trimming the dead stuff
   Now you can begin trimming away those fried leaves.  But, trim only the obviously-dead stuff. 
   Trim little by little down a branch until you see some green within the branch.  At that point, trim down only to just above the next node, leaving less than one-quarter of an inch of stub. 
   The node will be the place that regenerates new leaves or branches.
 
Sow another batch of squash, cucumbers, beans
   Prepare new spaces in your soil for another batch of veggies that’ll mature within 2 months to continue the fresh harvests through the beginning of cooler weather. 
   I’m eating my third batch of these veggies, and will plant another batch tonight.  By the time that the current plants finish bearing fruit, the newly-sown batch will begin setting theirs. 
  So, through this summer, I’ve kept harvesting tender veggies at just the perfect moment that I prefer, moving from one planting to the next without having to endure gaps in production, too-ripe ones, or too many at any one time. 
 
Tomatoes are beginning to set blossoms and fruit again
   Blossoming stops when air temperatures rise above 95 degrees, so of course we got no blooms or fruit-set during that early-July heat onslaught. 
   After air temperatures stayed below 85-90 for a couple of weeks, plants began setting blossoms again. 
   A couple of those fruits are ripening up now, with more coming throughout the next month.  Finally, fresh tomatoes again!
   Of course, that extensive heat was too much for some plants.  My two Paul Robesons, which had borne 42 huge, delicious, brownish-reddish-purplish fruits between June 28 and July 26, were completely done in.  Wonderfully flavorful and productive that I’ll grow again!
   My four Celebrities, which have borne 40 fruits between 6/28 and 8/21, now have another dozen or so green or ripening fruits on each plant.  Definitely a wonderful producer of tasty, mid-to-large-size fruits that I’ll continue on my “always plant” list.
   In total so far, I’ve harvested 148 fruits.  Surprisingly, both Sungold and Isis Candy haven’t been big producers this year.  Their plants have been sturdy, so maybe I gave them each a couple of handfuls too many of fertilizer, and the nitrogen created hefty plants but not enough of the phosphorus and potassium to result in fruits.
 
Saving seeds?
   Be sure to let seed stalks dry completely, until they’re crispy.  If they can bend at all, and don’t snap off immediately, they’re not dry enough. 
   You want to make sure that seeds are thoroughly mature so they’ll germinate well and produce strong new plants.
   If you’re concerned that seed pods will split open and scatter their seed before you harvest it, tie a paper – not plastic – bag over the seed head and then let the plant continue to dry out. 
   This can be tricky if the plant has a long blooming, reblooming, and setting-seed period, when there’s both blossoms, green seeds, and dry seeds on the plant.

   My Pasadena garden has been enduring 95-degree temperatures ever since that 113 monster pair of days at the beginning of July.  Talk about Spring morphing directly into Summer!  I really don’t want to even go out of doors, much less do any real work in the garden.  Since many of my plants and portions of fruit trees sustained foliage damage from that onslaught, I’ve been very careful to 1) cover tender plants, 2) not prune, 3) not fertilize, and 4) not overwater.
   Here’s why:

1. Cover tender plants with shadecloth or other protection, especially during the afternoon hours when the direct sun is at its most intense.  Give new growth a chance to emerge without being attacked by the sun/heat.
2. Don’t prune plants, even of the messy-looking burnt-to-a-crisp foliage because it will protect inner growth by shading it from more intense direct sun.  Besides, you won’t really know what’s truly killed for another month or so.
3. Don’t fertilize.  Let plants recuperate from the heat attack before forcing them to grow excessive new growth because you’ve fed the plants.  Let them grow as they can manage on their own.
4. Don’t overwater.  Plants will naturally droop at the end of the hot day, but they may not need more water in the soil and will perk up again overnight.

 
Check Soil Moisture Before Watering
   Despite how limp plants look at the end of the day, the foliage may just be suffering from the daily evaporation forced by the heat and sun.  Especially since the 113-days, I want to make sure that my established fruit trees and plants are sufficiently moist – or not – before I automatically pour on more water.  My discomfort in the heat makes me assume that the plants need water, but I may in fact be drowning them if I water more! 
   Every day after about 6pm, after the sun has gone behind the hill I live on – luckily I’m in the northeast-facing slope – I trek up to the garden and plunge my moisture meter ($10 at Orchard Supply Hardware) into the soil around each tree and plant just to make sure which needs water and which doesn’t. 
   As it turns out, because of all the organic matter I’ve laid on as mulch and has decomposed over all these years, even in this heat the plants need deep watering only about once a week.  Which is why it’s important for me to not give in to my anxiety and water too much!
   To get an accurate picture of how extensively each root system is satisfactorily moist – or not – I insert the 6-inch-long prong in 5 or 6 spots about 12-18 inches from the tree trunk or plant stem.  I push the meter down to its hilt so its sensitive point reaches 6 inches down into the soil. 
  The meter has 4 numbered gradients between number 1=dry and number 4=wet.  The desired reading is about number 2, which translates into what I call “damp” – that is, the soil particles are moist but the air pores between them are open so roots can absorb the amount of moisture and nutrition they need but can also “breathe” and grow between the soil particles.  Drier means some roots will die by dehydration, and wetter means that some roots will die by drowning.  Your soil and your specific plants will determine their own most-desired gradient.
 
Recuperation
   I’ve been relieved – truly thrilled – to see new foliage growing on fruit trees, tomatoes, roses and perennials; and new blossoms and fruit setting on tomatoes and squash, as well as resuming harvests of tomatoes and squash.
 
Which Repeat Crops I Don’t Grow During This Intense Heat
   Several years ago, maybe the third year of the drought, I quit growing my June successive plantings of tomatoes, cucumbers, and beans.  I just didn’t wat to spend the money for the water required to nurture those plants to grow, set flowers, and mature fruit during what was becoming long-lasting extreme heat.
   So, now I rely only on my tomatoes with a wide range of maturity dates planted in the Spring, and reseeding my yellow crookneck squash, since those just-picked freshness and flavors just can’t be found even at farmers’ markets. It feels very strange to buy cukes and beans instead of growing them through the Summer, but my experiences with few and bitter cukes and minimal bean harvests – all due to scant water – make my decision for me.  And, I probably end up spending less money purchasing them when I want them.
   But, I do want my tomatoes and yellow crookneck squash always available – and they produce so much – that they’re worth the watering investment. 
   While I just keep the tomatoes watered well, and fed them when they first set blossoms prior to the 113-days, I reseed the yellow crookneck squash every month or so.  When the first batch begins setting fruit, I seed the second batch.  This results in a continuous harvesting of tender, baby-sized squash because the second batch will begin setting when the first batch is finishing.  I’ll repeat this reseeding twice or three times more – until either the Fall cold will stop production or I’ll be thoroughly sick of squash!  And I’ll never have to deal with squash “logs” to make into ratatouille or bread to foist upon my neighbors!