When temperatures reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit each day, large tomatoes may develop very thick stems; in extreme conditions a sharp sliver of woody material projects down into the fruit and makes it hard to separate tomatoes by hand from the plant. Use scissors or clippers when gathering ripe tomatoes, otherwise you might damage the vines.

Also remember to water tomatoes deeply at least twice a week while the temperature is above 90 degrees. An additional daily brief spraying on vines in mid-afternoon cools the plant and the soil beneath while also washing off many spider mites in the process, yet there is still time for the moisture to evaporate before nightfall. The practice often encourages plants to set more fruit than they would have otherwise.

If you have run out of compost, Ellison Feed and Seed carries an alfalfa/manure soil conditioner and fertilizer that is great to spread around tomatoes, peppers and any other vegetable or ornamental in the garden and landscape. The alfalfa compost works slowly yet steadily to keep foliage growing and repairing damaged leaves and/or outgrowing insect damage. You will still need to lay a mulch layer over the compost otherwise the sun will burn out the organic material in short order.

Keep your vines healthy. Trim off dead and diseased leaves; usually problems develop from the bottom up and remove from the garden. The night temperatures lately are just right for blooms to set fruit again. The healthier the plant the more tomatoes the plant will produce. As long as the health of the tomato vines holds, you should still be gathering ripe fruit until frost with lots of green tomatoes left over to make relish or fried green tomatoes.

So far I've picked a basket of large beef-steak, medium sized Cherokee Purple and several varieties of cherry tomatoes including Sun Gold and Egg Yolk. Speaking of garden produce, my most favorite summertime lunch consists of fried okra and sliced Cherokee Purple tomatoes on an open-faced melted cheddar cheese sandwich -- sometimes I substitute cottage cheese for the cheese and whole wheat bread or wrap the ingredients in a tortilla.

I've just come back inside this Wednesday morning after gathering the okra with two bird stories to share. As I walked the path under the willow I saw the most brilliantly colored large blue jay sprawled out, wings spread their full length body pressed against the two-inch mulch of fresh grass clippings that I had spread on a fallow garden plot. The regal jay eyed me calmly making no move to fly away for a couple of minutes until I began walking further along the path.

Before I had gone two more steps, a tiny iridescent male ruby-throated hummingbird hovered in place a couple of feet away for an instant seeming to study me. He then turned tail within the blink of an eye, his forked tail where his beak had been. He sailed away while his incredibly rapid wings beat the air sounding a muted hum.um.um. What a double-dip thrill.

This next week I'll be planting a small fall garden, so this weekend I'll devise lean-to shelters to shade lettuces, kale, collards, chard, turnips and mustard from the hot south and western sun until they are well established. I plan to use tall t-posts placed in the ground at a 45 degree angle to tie on shade cloth. I'll want to be able to raise and lower the shade-cloth for purposes of weeding and thinning the crops. Yes, this is a lot of work, but the rewards are worth the effort. I plan to work early in the morning and after 7 p.m. to catch the cooler temperatures.

The first of the fall greens I'll pre-plant in individual pots to be set out after they fill their small containers with roots so that the root structure will hold the soil intact around the roots instead of falling off when I turn the pot upside down to release the lettuce, kale, etc. If you can keep root and soil as they grow in the pot the plant will experience less transplant shock. As soon as the plants are in the ground, I gently water around them making sure the soil settles around the roots eliminating air pockets.

Betty Culpepper may be reached at bculpepper3@cox.com for comments, questions or ideas for future columns.