Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

I have the handout from a gardening class "8 Steps to Successful Gardening" and it states "apply weekly feed until 3 weeks from maturity". So many of my plants seem to mature at different rates, ie corn, tomatoes etc. how do I know when to stop fertilizing?
Thanks so much for your help. I have never had such a good garden as the last 2 years when I have followed your plan.  Nancy Hill in Phoenix, AZ

Nancy & Group:

Feeding is not an exact science, but we've managed to minimize waste and assure your plants are healthy by following the following guidelines:

Plants with very short growing times, such as spinach and leaf lettuce feed 3 times, and once more for each major cutting.

Single-crop varieties, such as cabbage, turnips, bush beans, potatoes, corn, etc. - feed until 3 weeks before the crop matures, typically 4-6 times. Another way of telling when to stop feeding beans, potatoes, corn, etc. is after they flower.

Ever-bearing crops, such as pole beans, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, melons, etc. should be fed until 8 weeks before frost kills the plant. If you do not have frost you can continue feeding until 8 weeks before you want to stop harvesting. At that time you should prune off the growing tips, so that the plants' energy is used to mature the existing crop. Fast growing crops like zucchini can be fed until 4 weeks before frost.

Jim Kennard

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