Almost the time to move transplants
Dear Helen: When is it safe to move tomato and pepper transplants into the open garden?
M.P.
Look for overnight temperatures routinely remaining above 10 C and weather that has settled into a pattern of daytime warmth. These conditions usually present themselves around mid-May or shortly after.
Acclimatize the transplants gradually by placing them outdoors in light shade for increasing lengths of time during the day. Leave them outdoors in a sheltered place for two or three nights before transplanting. Dear Helen: What is the best time for pruning grape vines? Can I do it now?
L.C. Like kiwi vines, grapes bleed badly when cut once the sap begins to rise in the plants in late winter. That is why a dry, above-freezing period in January is the preferred time for pruning.
Grape vines can be pruned again in early summer, once the fruit clusters have formed, to open windows of sunlight and enhance air circulation around the developing grapes.
If a January pruning has been missed, it’s best to wait until the vines have leafed out and the flow of sap through the plant will have slowed. Cut back the main arms of the vine to fit its support, and shorten shoots growing off the arms. These are the fruiting shoots. Cut them back to two or three leaves (or buds when pruning in January). Dear Helen: After dinner at a neighbour’s house recently, I was surprised to see the hostess refrigerating leftover salad. I did not think salad greens, once they were tossed with a dressing, could be kept over, though the idea of reducing food waste is appealing. I know from your columns that you grow lettuces and enjoy salads. Have you ever saved leftovers? S.N.
I routinely package leftover, dressed salad to eat the next day. The salad remains in good condition as long as the dressing is a light vinaigrette, without heavy ingredients such as mayonnaise. The sturdier greens, like romaine lettuce, keep over in the best state for eating the next day.
I first observed salad saving during one of my overseas jobs, cooking for a family in Beaulieu-sur-mer, a small seaside town between Nice and Monaco.
Whenever salad was on the menu, I was instructed to save any not eaten, for M. Jacob-Balestra to eat the next day. He savoured the leftover dish and called it “salade cuite” — cooked salad.