by Ron Kujawski

* Examine house plants, potted herbs and other plants brought indoors earlier this month. After a few weeks indoors, plants that spent the summer outdoors often experience a serious infestation of aphids or mites. A forceful spray of water or a quick slosh in a bucket of soapy water - followed by a clean rinse - will rid the plants of these beasts.  

* Watch for uniform browning or yellowing of the inner needles on evergreen trees. This is most noticeable on white pines.  Before you hit the panic button, I should tell you that this is a natural occurrence on all evergreens and is in no way harmful to the trees.

* Don't prune back trees and shrubs planted this month. Just be sure they are adequately watered. The only pruning that should be done is to remove one of the branches where two are rubbing against one another.

* Pull or dig weeds from the lawn. Grass grows faster than weeds at this time of year and will quickly fill in spaces where weeds have been removed. 

* Rent an aerator if you want to improve areas of lawn where soils have become compacted from excessive foot traffic. Use the type that pulls up soil cores rather than punches holes in the ground. Drag the lawn with a piece of chain link fence or something similar to break up the soil cores.

*

Harvest all your tomatoes, including the green ones, when a hard freeze (temperatures below 28°F) is expected. Protective covers are not likely to prevent injury when air temperatures drop that low because tomatoes are very sensitive to the cold.

Sort through the green tomatoes. Separate the ones with softer skin and pale green color from the firm ones with glossy green color.  Those with the pale green color are probably mature except for color change. These can be ripened by placing them in a brown paper bag with a ripe banana or apple. The banana and apple give off a gas, ethylene, which promotes ripening of the tomatoes. If you're not in a rush to ripen the tomatoes, spread them out in a single layer on some newspaper in a corner of your basement. Just be sure to check on them every day if you don't want tomato mush. 

The glossy green tomatoes will not ripen further.  Pickle these or use them to make relishes.  Also, try frying some by dipping thick slices in egg wash, then in herbed breadcrumbs before browning in hot olive oil tinged with a pinch of cayenne pepper. Yummmy!

Ron Kujawski began gardening at an early age on his family's onion farm in upstate New York. Although now retired, he spent most of his career teaching at the UMass Extension Service. He serves on Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Horticulture Advisory Committee. His book, Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, is available here.