Hi, First thank you for your message and wishes.

Time of year when Harvest is in full swing. Apples Pears, Peaches, Raspberries, Strawberries, plus all the annual garden fruits; Tomato, Melon, Cucumber and Squash. Eating, Canning, Juicing and Sharing a wonderful time of year.

Soon the harvest from the container grown plants will start and continue through Winter. So be prepared to check and clean to make sure no uninvited guests travel with them into their winter quarters. Nature has been doing a good job all summer of balancing prey and predator, now you and the cooler weather will slant the balance towards the ‘prey’ [pest]. So start now to look over your plants and remove any issues that are hiding there. The best of us will not see every single issue with one quick ‘look’, so do this once week for at least the first 4 weeks after moving your source of fresh winter fruits inside. Then every two weeks after you have just ‘turned’ the plants to balance light, look for any sticky residue on leaves, then search above this area. A little bit of effort yes, but picking clean fresh fruit when the snow is outside makes it all worthwhile.