Gardener's Corner

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Comment by Chief Walks on August 3, 2015 at 7:58am

Its July and vacation time and the weather is perfect. The garden is planted and tended regularly and we snap our fingers and suddenly its January and we ask ourselves where summer and our garden went. Seed harvesting and saving has been occurring in agriculatural societies for thousands of years. For many, summer and their garden went inside with them for the winter. Those are the people that are seed savers. Like the fruits and veggies they grow and take from their garden every cycle, they also harvest their seeds.

The practice of saving seeds is actually very easy and rewarding but like many other things in life, timing is everything. The gardener must go to the seeds when the seeds are ready so attention must be paid to the life cycles of the different plants.

Whatever the seed that you’re saving, be sure its dried well before storing it. The seeds can be stored in sealed envelopes, plastic bags or jars. Beans and peas like a little air though. Be sure to label them immediately as you probably won’t remember what seed is in what envelope, bag or jar. Saved seeds can last for many years but fresher seeds are a preference, so along with labeling, you’ll want to write down the month and year that you saved them.

Beans, peas and carrot seeds can also be dried. Those should be allowed to dry as long as possible on the plant before harvesting. After taking the seeds, spread them in a dry and well-ventilated place. After a few days the chaff can be removed by hand. Much of it can be blown away first.

For melons, squash and cucumbers, scoop out the fruits and put the guts in a bucket of water or a large jar. If mold forms, don’t worry about it. Don’t worry if it gets a little stinky either. After 3-4 days, the good seeds sink to the bottom and everything else stays at the top. Pour the waste off and place the sunken seeds on a screen, aluminum foil or pie pan in a cool dry place to let them dry.

For tomatoes, don’t save seeds from tomatoes that you bought at the grocery store. Use seeds that you received from a fellow gardener or from plants that you grew youself. Genetics are important so only save those seeds from the best plants. If you’re new to gardening, tomato seeds can be found on the internet. Always use seeds from tomatoes that have ripened as much as possible on the vine. There’s a process and art to saving tomato seeds and there are many websites with photos that will walk you through the process.

Seeds should always be stored in cool, dry conditions but the drying conditions can be enhanced with some sun. During the drying process, they should be spread and turned. Seed harvesting can also be done with flowers.

There are nationwide seed saving and trading clubs along with periodicals and websites. Any local gardening clubs might also have information for you.

Comment by Chief Walks on June 8, 2015 at 7:14am

Pest Control: Do you handle it yourself or get a pest management professional? Misconceptions about pesticides may keep you from tackling the job.

Many people believe that pesticides are dangerous and cause a lot of poisonings, and that’s not necessarily true. Poison control center statistics show that the number one cause of poisoning is analgesics. Pesticides come in at number nine on their list. There are a lot of other things such as medicines, make up and cleaning products that poison more people every year.

A second myth is that over-the-counter pesticides are safer than ones used by pesticide operators. But, pest control operators use the same active ingredients that are sold in retail stores. The problem comes in when the homeowner wants to store leftover pesticide. Improper storage is really dangerous especially if it is just placed under the sink or on a shelf in the garage.

When a professional handles the treatment, he takes the leftover pesticide with him so the homeowner won’t have to store pesticide in the home, he said. While most pesticides will not poison a resident, improperly stored pesticide is dangerous for children who can accidentally eat or drink it.

What to do with old pesticide? The product will likely have a shelf life of more than two years. “It’s common for people to pour it on the ground, in the sink or in the toilet. That contaminates the water supply and hurts the environment,” We suggests taking pesticide to the county toxic waste disposal program, where professionals will properly discard the product.

Offered tips:

    Use baits or gels that come in syringes to exterminate pests like ants and cockroaches. The industry has moved to baits that can be put in corners, cracks and crevices where roaches and ants live. You don’t have to be worried about spraying a plate of food and contaminating it.
    Make sure you are using the right product for the right insect. Residents can take the pest to a county extension office where there is an insect identification lab. The key is to know the pest you are trying to control and use appropriate measures.
    Store pesticides in an area where children cannot reach it. And when ready to dispose of it, call your county toxic waste disposal program for location, days and times of collection.
    Educate yourself about pests and pest control.

Comment by Chief Walks on June 8, 2015 at 7:07am

Comment by Chief Walks on June 8, 2015 at 7:07am

Comment by Chief Walks on May 25, 2015 at 5:33am

How to Regrow Lettuce

If you are like me, you love nothing more than a delicious salad of fresh greens. However, organic lettuces can be expensive and highly perishable when purchased regularly. An easy and cost-effective way to enjoy the greens you crave is to regrow romaine lettuce indoors from its head after harvesting its leaves. Here's how:

To Re-Grow Lettuce:

1. Find a container narrow enough to hold the lettuce head upright, yet deep enough to support its growth. I picked up a narrow, long container from a craft store so that I could place a couple heads of lettuce in a row. For one head, a wide-mouth pint-size mason jar should work well.

2. Make sure your romaine head is cut down to its base, with only about three inches remaining.

3. Place your lettuce in its container with enough water so that only about an inch of the plant is uncovered.

4. Place plant near a sunny window.

5. Change out the water every couple of days or so, and the plant will be ready to harvest in about three weeks.

Several romaine heads can be re-grown at once. If you eat a lot of salad, having a collection of four-six romaine plants would be great. Enjoy the beauty of the plant as it grows, as well as the nutrition it promises.

Comment by Chief Walks on January 14, 2015 at 7:15am

Comment by Chief Walks on December 19, 2014 at 8:45am

Repurposing Your Live Christmas Tree After the Holiday

The disposable cut Christmas tree of yesteryear is today a valuable addition as organic material used for mulch, compost and soil improvement. Gone are the days when trees were simply tossed to the curb where it became a heterogeneous mixture when combined with all the other Christmas discards destined for the landfill. These days, most municipalities will pick up your tree for free where it’s separated from landfill trash. Trees are collected for composting or shredded into mulch with infinite uses and benefits. Even if no such service is available in your area, there are locations around every town that will accept your tree for free. Or consider organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America who will, for a nominal fee, pick up your tree and take it to the appropriate location for recycling.

Similarly, consider obtaining some of this shredded mulch for your own garden and landscape. The price is right and at this time of year, you should have no trouble sourcing the material.

In the event any of those options are more than you want to deal with, a discarded tree left to decompose on its own can provide important shelter for birds and wildlife as it breaks down. Keep in mind for any tree being recycled, it should be free of that silver tinsel stuff. It’s made of plastic, which never fully biodegrades. Bad stuff for the environment.

Comment by Chief Walks on December 11, 2014 at 1:04pm

Build a Wooden Tomato Cage

Follow these seven steps to building a cage that will support your tomatoes as they grow to be fat and juicy.

It's one thing to plant tomatoes and another to support them so that they grow to be a juicy addition to your summer meals. Follow these seven steps to building a wooden tomato cage that will keep your tomatoes healthy and happy.

materials needed:

4 1-inch x 2-inch pieces of wood, at least 48 inches long
4 (or more) 3/8-inch or ½-inch wooden dowels
Drill with ½-inch or 5/8-inch bit
Saw

building directions:

Cut 1x2s into 48 to 54-inch lengths. Cut points at one end of each length.
Cut dowels in half.
Drill 4 holes in the 2-inch side of each 1x2, starting 18 inches from the pointed end and spaced 6 to 10 inches apart.
Turn the pieces 90 degrees and drill 4 more holes, about 1 inch above each of the first set.
To use: Insert the posts in the ground around the tomato at least 8 inches deep, spacing them about 14 inches apart in either direction.
Thread one dowel through the first pair of holes. Thread the second dowel through the first pair on the adjoining side. Thread the remaining dowels opposite these.
As the plant grows, remove the lowest dowel and move it up to the next set of holes. You can also cut more dowels and insert them all when setting up the cage.

Comment by Chief Walks on November 15, 2014 at 6:05am

November is that time of the year when it is time to tidy things up… clean up used pots, get seed trays ready for the growing season. Sharpen gardening tools and continue to build the compost heap.

November is a great time to have a soil test done so you can add amendments to be ready for the spring.

Thompson & Morgan has a very good post on things to do for November. They should know they’ve been around since 1855!

The “To Do” list is broken down into these sections.

• In The Flower Garden
• In The Vegetable Garden
• In The Fruit Garden
• In The Greenhouse
• Looking After The Lawn
• Other Garden Jobs

Read the full article from Thompson & Morgan here.

Another to site to check is the blog on gardening at About.com.

For November, Organic Gardening has an excellent round up for the month. They have a to do list broken down by zones:

Zone 3
Zone 4
Zone 5
Zone 6
Zone 7
Zone 8
Zone 9
Zone 10

Comment by Chief Walks on November 10, 2014 at 2:50pm

Got Leaves? Put 'Em to Work

 
'Tis the season for harvesting leaves, the most abundant free source of organic matter available to most gardeners. Microorganisms in soil and compost transform leaves into bits of organic matter, which helps the soil retain nutrients and moisture.  By themselves, leaves contain small amounts of 16 plant nutrients.

You can stockpile leaves in a bin or pen to use later as compost or mulch, but you don't have to wait until leaves decompose to put them to work. With some shredding assistance from your lawn mower, you can give your leaves useful jobs right now.

1. Turn lawn into garden. Prepare sections of lawn you want to develop into garden beds by smothering them with leaves. First scalp the grass by mowing as close to the surface as possible. Then cover the space with several thicknesses of newspaper or cardboard, and cover the base layer with two inches (or more) or compost or manure. Top with 3 to 4 inches of shredded leaves. 

2. Winterize hardy vegetables. Use shredded leaves to limit winter injury to kale, leeks, carrots and other hardy vegetables. Surround the planting with a low fence or burlap enclosure and fill it with up to 12 inches of shredded leaves. Mulch garlic and perennial onions with up to 6 inches of shredded leaves mixed with the season's last grass clippings.

3. Bury them in a trench. Improve the drainage and organic matter content in garden beds by digging narrow trenches, filling them with shredded leaves, and then covering them up. By late spring, the leaves will be sufficiently decomposed to mix into the soil, or you can plant right into the enriched trenches.

4. Mulch-mow them into your grass. Research done at Michigan State University reveals that when rather thick layers of leaves (to 12 inches) are shredded with a mower and allowed to rot where they fall, the grass greens up faster in spring and grows better the following summer. Just don't expect the leaves to disappear from view until the grass starts growing next year.

5. Mulch your trees. Stockpile shredded leaves until early winter, and then tuck in trees, shrubs, and perennial beds with 3 to 4 inches of shredded leaf mulch. A thick leaf mulch helps moderate soil temperatures in winter, reducing cold-related injuries to shallow roots. Beneficial soil-dwelling fungi are also abundant beneath shredded leaf mulch – one reason why Colorado State University lists mulching among its Ten Commandments of Planting Trees.

There is one precaution: Be careful with black walnut leaves, which can cause reduced growth in many plants, including tomatoes. According to Iowa State University, the juglone in black walnut leaves is usually neutralized by 4 to 6 months of composting.

Do you have other leaf-handling methods that work great at your place? Be sure to share them here in the Comments section.

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