Gardener's Corner

Comment

Comment by Chief Walks on May 16, 2013 at 2:08pm

Mid to late summer is an ideal time to plant seeds for a second gardening season that can be as productive as your major early spring plantings.

For a delicious and very nutritious cornucopia of fall meals, late summer is the time to plant juicy lettuces, the cool -season aromatic herbs - dill, garlic chives, chervil, cilantro, arugula, and parsley; hearty greens like chard or kale; baby pak choi, and other Oriental greens; carrots, beets, leeks, peas, green onion, spinach, radishes, fennel and all the brassica family members.

Late planted crops have less competition from weeds and pests and grow beautifully with less garden work. In mild-winter areas of the country, you'll have great harvests in time for Thanksgiving and many crops will hold perfectly through the low light winter months without bolting to seed or becoming bitter tasting as they would in the heat of early summer.

It may seem odd to be starting new seeds when a lot of your summer produce like squash and tomatoes are still cranking, but it's well worth the effort. For reliable harvests in cooler weather, seedlings must have good initial growth and well-established root systems. The goal is to have fully grown, ready to pick plants that basically store themselves in the garden throughout the fall, so you can pick them as you need them over a long sustained harvest season.

Carrot and Potato Soup with Lemon Thyme
California Stuffed Swiss Chard
Green Tomato Apple Pie

Start seeds in containers or in a garden area with dappled sun or light shade -- wherever seeds can germinate comfortably out of the hot sun but still get plenty of light after seedlings are well-established. Plant in well-prepared moist soil and in the evening so they will have the advantage of cooler night temperatures to settle in and minimize shock. If daytime temperatures are still in the high 80's, shelter your newly transplanted seedlings with row covers or a shade cloths for a few days so they can adjust heat and sun.

Once the seedlings have acclimated, don't forget to supply adequate moisture to these young crops and fertilize them regularly in the early growing stages. In USDA zones 8, 9, and 10, some fall -planted crops may overwinter as small plants and wait for spring temperatures to rise and daytime hours to get longer before heading or leafing up.

Comment by Chief Walks on May 16, 2013 at 2:07pm

Comment by Chief Walks on May 16, 2013 at 2:06pm

Love to recycle and spring is here and I am ready to plant some seeds.

Comment by Chief Walks on May 16, 2013 at 2:04pm

Lighten up…clay soil
Take care of the Earth and she will take care of you.
Do you fight with heavy, clay soil? Well I have recently come across an organic, earth friendly way to help lighten up your soil.
One of the easiest ways to fix clay soil is to plant daikon radishes in it and leave them in the soil to grow to their maximum size. Don’t harvest at all but leave them to decompose. By the 3rd crop you can harvest if you want.
Cut the radishes off at the soil level and leave the tops laying on top of the soil where they grew. Plant inbetween with each successive crop. The third crop can be harvested, if you wish.
The radishes will break the soil a bit as they grow and with each successive crop the root does it deeper. As they decompose in the soil it becomes richer. The soil critters will mix all of that in with the existing soil giving you rich pliable soil to work with with not much work at all on your part. The hardest part is having patience to let nature work it’s magic.

Comment by Chief Walks on May 16, 2013 at 2:03pm

14 Gardening Tips

1.To remove the salt deposits that form on clay pots, combine equal parts white vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle. Apply the mixture to the pot and scrub with a plastic brush. Let the pot dry before you plant anything in it.

2. To prevent accumulating dirt under your fingernails while you work in the garden, draw your fingernails across a bar of soap and you'll effectively seal the undersides of your nails so dirt can't collect beneath them. Then, after you've finished in the garden, use a nailbrush to remove the soap and your nails will be sparkling clean.

3. To prevent the line on your string trimmer from jamming or breaking, treat with a spray vegetable oil before installing it in the trimmer.

4. Turn a long-handled tool into a measuring stick! Lay a long-handled garden tool on the ground, and next to it place a tape measure. Using a permanent marker, write inch and foot marks on the handle. When you need to space plants a certain distance apart (from just an inch to several feet) you'll already have a measuring device in your hand.

5. To have garden twine handy when you need it, just stick a ball of twine in a small clay pot, pull the end of the twine through the drainage hole, and set the pot upside down in the garden. Do that, and you'll never go looking for twine again.

6. Little clay pots make great cloches for protecting young plants from sudden, overnight frosts and freezes.

7. To turn a clay pot into a hose guide, just stab a roughly one-foot length of steel reinforcing bar into the ground at the corner of a bed and slip two clay pots over it: one facing down, the other facing up. The guides will prevent damage to your plants as you drag the hose along the bed.

8. To create perfectly natural markers, write the names of plants (using a permanent marker) on the flat faces of stones of various sizes and place them at or near the base of your plants.

9. Got aphids? You can control them with a strong blast of water from the hose or with insecticidal soap. But here's another suggestion, one that's a lot more fun; get some tape! Wrap a wide strip of tape around your hand, sticky side out, and pat the leaves of plants infested with aphids. Concentrate on the undersides of leaves, because that's where the little buggers like to hide.

10. The next time you boil or steam vegetables, don't pour the water down the drain, use it to water potted patio plants, and you'll be amazed at how the plants respond to the "vegetable soup."

11. Use leftover tea and coffee grounds to acidify the soil of acid-loving plants such as azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, gardenias and even blueberries. A light sprinkling of about one-quarter of an inch applied once a month will keep the pH of the soil on the acidic side.

12. Use chamomile tea to control damping-off fungus, which often attacks young seedlings quite suddenly. Just add a spot of tea to the soil around the base of seedlings once a week or use it as a foliar spray.

13. If you need an instant table for tea service, look no farther than your collection of clay pots and saucers. Just flip a good-sized pot over, and top it off with a large saucer. And when you've had your share of tea, fill the saucer with water, and your "table" is now a birdbath.

14. The quickest way in the world to dry herbs: just lay a sheet of newspaper on the seat of your car, arrange the herbs in a single layer, then roll up the windows and close the doors. Your herbs will be quickly dried to perfection. What's more, your car will smell great.

Comment by Chief Walks on May 16, 2013 at 2:01pm

1. Bamboo Palm: According to NASA, it removes formaldahyde and is also said to act as a natural humidifier.

2. Snake Plant: Found by NASA to absorb nitrogen oxides and formaldahyde.

3. Areca Palm: One of the best air purifying plants for general air cleanliness.

4. Spider Plant: Great indoor plant for removing carbon monoxide and other toxins or impurities. Spider plants are one of three plants NASA deems best at removing formaldahyde from the air.

5. Peace Lily: Peace lilies could be called the “clean-all.” They’re often placed in bathrooms or laundry rooms because they’re known for removing mold spores. Also know to remove formaldahyde and trichloroethylene.

6. Gerbera Daisy: Not only do these gorgeous flowers remove benzene from the air, they’re known to improve sleep by absorbing carbon dioxide and giving off more oxygen over night.

Comment by Chief Walks on May 16, 2013 at 1:59pm

Comment by Chief Walks on May 16, 2013 at 1:59pm

This is mainly just for your enjoyment.

Comment by Chief Walks on May 16, 2013 at 1:57pm

Comment by Chief Walks on May 16, 2013 at 1:55pm

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 29
• 30
• 31
• 32
• 33
• …
• 38
• Next ›
• Page