Charlene left the following comment on a previous Veggie Gardening Tips Blog entry entitled Growing Shallots in which she inquired into curing shallots harvested from the backyard garden: “We live in the deep south part of Louisiana. Our shallots are ready for harvest now. You spoke of drying and curing… could you please elaborate?

Kim, who gardens in sunny Southern California just shared the following strange and puzzling experience that sounds like something right out of the X-Files: “I love your gardening newsletter. I find it very helpful and full of useful information. I have a question about pepper plants.”

I received an e-mail today from a gardener in North Carolina who shared some concerns that many of us may have regarding the cold weather that is forecast to strike our gardens over the next few days:

I received a question recently regarding using newspaper as a mulch to control weed growth in the garden. Diane made the following inquiry: “I was wondering what you think about using layers of newspaper covered with straw as weed control. We have such a prolific weed problem in our community garden that straw alone does not work and I refuse to resort to black plastic as many other garden members have done for understandable reasons.”

I received a recent comment from a gardener inquiring about harvesting ripe watermelons from plants that had volunteered in her home garden. There’s no guarantee that those rouge plants will produce mature fruits but if they do there are a number of techniques that can be employed to ensure that you harvest the mature watermelons at their peak.

Vegetable gardeners have been noticing the mysterious loss of flowers and immature fruits which have been shriveling and falling off of plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, beans, and squash. Losing a few vegetable blossoms or young fruits isn’t uncommon, especially early in the summer and shouldn’t be a cause for alarm.