Earlier this week, during a blazing hot afternoon, I took a bite out of a Brandywine tomato I just picked. The fruit, warmed by the sun, was so luscious I nearly ran inside with an armful more to make a meal of them.

My lunch, dinner and sometimes breakfast have consisted of the crustiest loaf of bread I can find, layered with thick slices of tomato, slices of garden cucumbers, basil leaves, salt and fresh ground pepper with the whole thing drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

Now that's a pretty awesome combination, and the tomatoes just can't be beat for flavor. However, I know that I'm on borrowed time, because tomatoes that ripen in September just don't have that same earthy aroma and taste that August tomatoes have. The August harvest is a sharp reminder of what all the sweat and occasional backbreaking work have been about. Growing and nurturing the crops from seed, to plants, to harvest, is what makes up the majority of the "gardening experience," but after all, it's what ends up in the harvest basket and on the dinner table that really counts.

It's that time of year when refrigerators and kitchen counter space are lost to the piles of cucumbers, summer squash, eggplant, peppers, sweet corn, beans, chard and, of course, tomatoes. It's exhausting to pick all of these vegetables, and even more tiring to haul it all into the house. It might seem like a good time to sit down and have a cold glass of lemonade while admiring this first round of "heavy" harvesting,

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but sit too long and your vegetable garden might very well start getting rather sluggish, as well.

There is plenty of summer left and enough warm days in fall to warrant the extra effort that you should be putting into your vegetable plants now. Here is a checklist of chores that will keep your garden thriving right up to that first frost:

l Don't let weeds get the best of you. Weeds that are left unattended during August and September are in the race of their short life to set seeds. Allow these seeds to form and fall into your garden soil and you'll be facing that same weed, hundreds of times over next year. Pull weeds out and compost them weekly that sneak up through mulch layers and spend 15 minutes a week with a good sharp hoe in un-mulched areas.

l Keep the garden tidy. Don't lax on tying up the tomatoes and lending support to weak-limb crops like peppers and eggplant. Any foliage that has fallen off plants or become diseased should be promptly removed. Apply additional mulch in area's where it is thinning , especially in the walkways where weeds have a better chance of taking hold.

l Watch out for insects and disease. Since crops are being harvested everyday many gardeners refrain from spraying for insects and disease. Now however, is when insects are most active and when their destruction is most devastating. Use less potent organic sprays like insecticidal soaps or light summer horticultural sprays for insects and antitranspirants, streptomycin and sulfur and copper based sprays for keeping disease in check.

l Feed vegetables, but go easy on the dosage. During these months of harvesting, fertilizing tasks are more "maintenance-feedings" rather then the heavier growth feeding schedules used earlier in the season. Stick to a BI-weekly foliar spraying regime and root feedings of compost and/or manure "tea." Save the stronger granular fertilizer for leafy crops such as lettuce, chard, arugula, and spinach and for young fall harvest plants such as beets, broccoli, cabbage, pumpkins, and Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. l Daily harvesting is essential. It's not the worst job in the world, but someone has to do it. Your vegetable crops are looking for an excuse to slow down and stop sending out new growth and flowers from which fruit will be borne. Allowing vegetables to grow excessively large not only makes them inedible, but it sends out the signal to your plants that "we're done for the season!"

l Keep on planting. A surefire way to keep the garden going is to keep on planting. There is plenty of time left for a variety of crops, but you'd better get moving. Bush beans are great for empty garden spots and will make for a splendid crop in late September. It's time to bring out the seed box and use up the last of the leaf lettuce and mesclun seeds. Radishes, beets, carrots, and turnips are always better when they mature later in the season and the October spinach crop is always tops!

l Start thinking about extending the season. Is it time to build that extra large coldframe you've been thinking about all summer? A sturdy coldframe, as small as 4-by-8' feet, is well-insulated and smartly situated in the garden and can extend the harvest of hardy leafy crops right through the winter months. Plexiglas acrylic covers, rather than glass, provide added safety and better insulating values because the material is non-conductive. Also, order your polyester fabric "frost-blankets" now to prepare for an early frost. Sometimes just getting through that first cold night can lead into several more weeks of Indian summer weather.

YELLOW TOMATO LEAVES

Why does seemingly healthy tomato plant foliage start to turn yellow, then brown and eventually shed its lower leaves?

There are a number of answers to this dilemma, but let's start off with the most common reason why this occurs. Tomato plants in August can get quite large, and as new foliage starts to overlap older foliage, it eventually cuts off sunlight, causing the leaves to discolor. Providing adequate space in between plants and keeping them staked and firmly tied up helps minimize that occurrence.

The proliferation of "heirloom" tomatoes in recent years is introducing gardeners to a disease that has been all but "eradicated" since the development of hybrid seed tomatoes — verticillium and fusarium wilt. Heirlooms certainly taste better than most hybrid fruits, yet they are no match for these two soil-borne diseases. Obvious signs of the disease begin when the tomato plants gradually wilt, the leaves turn yellow, and the inside of the lower stems turns brown and yellow, eventually causing the plant to succumb. Surprisingly, many gardeners are finding out that their soil does contain the disease, and that there is little that can be done about it.

The most common ailment for causing tomato leaves to turn yellow and moldy is late blight. Here the disease causes the leaves to have yellowish to gray water-soaked patches. White mold also develops on the lower side of the spots during wet weather, but left unchecked the results are disastrous. My suggestion is to begin an immediate preventative spray regime of copper (bordeaux) mix sprayed (or lightly dusted) every 10 days from now until the end of the season. Why lose otherwise healthy tomato productive tomato plants to a disease that can be effectively controlled with a product like this?

FROM THE MAILBAG

Q: I've noticed that refrigerating tomatoes seems to change their texture. What causes this and what is the best way to store them? — S. Canter, Westport

A: Did you ever taste a tomato that is left on the vine in cold October weather? It has the same tasteless and mealy flavor that refrigerated tomatoes acquire. The reason is that cold air disrupts the cell membranes in the fruit and the physical damage this causes destroys what's left of the "ripening machinery" that continues after a tomato has been picked from the vine. A cool, dark pantry is the best place to store fresh-picked tomatoes though a kitchen counter will do (although the warmer and sunnier location may cause a few to over-ripen).

Q: What's the best way to add calcium to my soil? I've had a terrible time with blossom-end rot on many of my crops like tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. A soil test revealed low levels of calcium. I believe this might have contributed to the problems I'm experiencing now. — G. Katelong, Guilford

A: I think you're correct as well. Calcium deficient soils are partly to blame for blossom-end rot conditions so this fall you will need to correct the problem. A perfect and naturally effective product to use is gypsum. Applied in the fall, it will not only add vast amounts of calcium and some sulfate, but greatly helps loosen clay soils. Hold onto your soil test readings so you'll be able to calculate how much product you'll need to apply.