Spuds

While I realize that it might be somewhat late in the year to start with potatoes, I did recently have someone ask me to write something about how to grow them and some of the alternative methods of growing rather than in the ground.

The Inca Indians in Peru first cultivated potatoes, around 200 B.C. In 1537, the Spanish Conquistadors “discovered” the potato and brought them back to Europe on their return trip. The first potatoes arrived in North America around 1621. Today, potatoes are one of the largest food crops in the world, with the United States alone growing about 35 BILLION pounds of potatoes every year.

Potatoes are truly one of the easiest root crops to grow. Plus, they’re fun to grow and a small area can provide a nice yield of this tasty and popular vegetable. The low-carb diet craze has put the potato off of lots of people’s radar, but I say, “All Things In Moderation!” Have a potato from time to time; just don’t eat piles of fries every day. Choices. It’s all about choices…but I digress.

One of the bonuses of growing potatoes is that you can eat them at various stages of growth. The young “new” potatoes are often harvested and cooked with peas and gravy (Yum!) while most are allowed to reach maturity and are eaten or stored for use throughout the winter.

Potatoes require full sun to grow. Because they are aggressively rooting plants, they will produce the best crop when planted in a light, loose, well drained but moisture retentive loam. They like a slightly acid soil with a pH of about 5.8 to 6.5. Potatoes are very adaptable and will still produce a respectable crop even when soil conditions are less than perfect. Potatoes should be rotated on a 3-year schedule. This means you will need three suitable sites if you want to grow potatoes every year.

Potatoes may be planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the early spring, but you need to use good judgment. Potato plants will not begin to grow until the soil temperature has reached 45 degrees. The soil should be evenly moist, but not wet or soggy. If the soil is water logged, your potatoes could rot before they even start to grow. Potatoes can tolerate a light frost, but you should provide some frost-protection for the plants when they are young. This can be a loose covering of straw or a temporary plastic tent or – my personal favorite, a gallon milk jug with the bottom cut off. You can remove the lid for ventilation. If you plan on storing potatoes through the winter, you can plant a second crop at mid-summer.

Now, I have heard from a number of places that you should never, ever use anything but CERTIFIED seed potatoes. You can get these from nurseries, garden centers and the ever-popular mail order catalogs (and – of course – online). I have talked with probably twice as many senior gardeners who swear by purchasing the kind of potato they like to eat at the grocery store or saving potatoes from a successful crop the year before and cutting those up for their seed potatoes. Since I personally feel that our senior community is an absolute WEALTH of information, I would tend to trust that particular tidbit of information. Your mileage may vary.

About a week before your planned potato planting date, set your potatoes somewhere where they will be exposed to some warmth and lots of light – between 60 and 70 degrees is good. This will induce them to begin sprouting. A day or two before planting, use a sharp, clean knife to cut your seed potatoes into “seeds”. Each seed should be approximately 1-1/2” to 2” inches square and must contain AT LEAST 2 eyes or buds. Smaller potatoes may be planted whole. In the next day or so, your seed will form a callous over the cut areas, which will help to prevent it from rotting once planted.

Traditionally, potatoes are grown in rows in the ground. Potato seeds are planted every 15 inches with the rows spaced 2-1/2 to 3 feet apart. For our purposes, however, we are going to look at a couple of different methods of growing potatoes. Some people argue that these methods don’t produce the yields of the growing-in-the-ground methods.

Even if space is not an issue, you can grow a respectable crop of spuds and do a little recycling at the same time. Potatoes thrive in the warm environment of a soil filled tire!

Here’s the equation: Four Tires + Two Pounds Of Seed Potatoes + Good Soil = 20 – 30 Pounds Of Winter Potatoes!

Pick a spot where you can stack your tires which is out of the way and preferably out of sight. Loosen the surface of the soil just enough to allow for drainage and set your largest tire in place. Fill the inside of the tire casing loosely with good soil and then set 3 – 4 potato seeds into the soil. Use sticks to prop open the casing rings of the tires. Add enough soil to the tire hold to bring it to the same level as the soil inside the tire.

When the new plants are eight inches tall, add another tire and soil to the stack as in the first level. Repeat the process for your third and – if you wish – fourth tires. As you add tires and soil to the stack, a portion of the plant stalk is covered with soil. By doing this, the existing stalk essentially reverts to a root status and the plant is forced to upward to once again find the sunlight it needs. By raising the soil level in 8 to 10 inch increments, the plant is able to continue growing without suffocating and at the same time you are creating a 24 to 30 inch tap root from which many lateral roots can develop. Each lateral root has the potential to produce potatoes. When you water, be sure that the soil is thoroughly moistened all the way to the base of the pile. The tires act as an insulator and heat “sink” for your potatoes. This added warmth will cause the lateral roots to multiply more rapidly, thereby giving you more potatoes. Harvest by disassembling the tires, one by one, and collecting all the tasty spuds. When your plants start to wither and die back, it’s time to harvest. Let the tubers “mature” for a week or so without watering before harvesting.

This other low labor/no till method is very popular. Choose a flat area of your yard or garden. You don’t have to dig or till, unless you already have an area like this that you want to use. It can be a part of the yard, if you want, and it’s really OK if it already has grass on it. You don’t have to remove the turf, but you may want to mow it, if the turf is tall. You will need your seed potatoes, either certified seed potatoes or other seeds you’ve prepared yourself. Get three or four bales of straw. Grass hay will do if you can’t get straw. Make your rows on the ground about three feet apart. Use a piece of string to make your rows nice and straight. Walk the rows and set a potato seed about every 18 inches to two feet apart. Now take the straw and cover the rows over your potatoes heavily – at least one foot wide and at least 6 inches deep in the center. Water the straw so that it is quite moist but not water logged.

You’ve done your planting! Within a few days, the spuds will take root in the ground in the moist dark under the straw. After a couple of weeks, you’ll notice the leaves of the potato plant poking through the straw. When they do, add a few more inches of straw. As they keep growing, keep adding straw. After a few weeks, you’ll end up with rows of straw about two feet wide and about a foot deep. The plants will eventually grow too big to keep piling straw on them, but by that time it’s OK. You want to keep the lower part of the plant covered completely so the potatoes can grow in the dark. If you have weeds sprouting between the rows, throw more straw on them. Smother them with straw and kindness!

When it’s time to harvest (the plant will start to wither and die back after several weeks, just pull aside the straw. Magically, you’ll find bushels of CLEAN potatoes, right in the straw, not buried deep in the ground.

Using this method, if the ground is very dry or no rain is forecast when you first plant, you need to give the straw a good soaking to get them going. Generally, after that, they will pretty much take care of themselves. Usually, once the straw gets soaked for the first time, it will hold enough water to take care of your potato plants. In other words, you might not need to water them at all, unless it is thoroughly, utterly dry.

If potato bugs turn up in your garden – and you’ll know it if they do – you can spray for them. I recommend the tomato leaf spray, but you can use what you’re comfortable with. However, there is something quite therapeutic about doing away with them personally. Put on your garden gloves and squish them dead. After they’ve defoliated a good portion of your plants, you might find it quite satisfying about putting on your garden gloves and squishing them between your thumb and forefinger, once you get used to the idea. They are slow and easy to catch, but quite, quite ugly.

Potatoes are fun and tasty, so get on out there and plant some. There’s still time this year to get a crop started.

HOLY CANOLI, BAT MAN!

No tilling? No digging?
It must be a lasagna garden!

Lasagna gardening is a no-digging, no-tilling organic gardening method that results in rich soil with very little work on the part of the gardener. No, your garden will not be producing noodles with cheese and sauce. “Lasagna” – in this instance – refers to the method of building the garden, which is adding layers of organic material, which will “cook down” over time resulting in great soil which will help your plants thrive. Lasagna gardening – also called “sheet composting” – is great for the environment because you’re using your yard and kitchen waste and essentially composting it in place to make a new garden – or even improve an old one.

One of the best things about this style of gardening is how easy it is. You don’t have to remove anything – even the weeds. You don’t have to dig. In fact, you don’t have to work the soil at all. The first layer you put down is either corrugated cardboard or three layers of newspaper, laid directly on top of the grass or weeds in the area you’ve selected for your garden. Wet this layer down to keep everything in place and start the decomposition process. The grass and weeds will break down fairly quickly because they will be smothered by this first layer as well as the other materials you’re going to layer on top of them. This layer also provides a dark, moist area to attract earthworms that will loosen up the soil as they tunnel through.

Anything you can compost, you can use in a lasagna garden. Everything you put in breaks down, providing super rich soil in which to plant. All of these are perfect for lasagna gardening: grass clippings, leaves, fruit and veggie trimmings, coffee grounds, egg shells (crushed, of course), banana peels, tea leaves and tea bags, weeds (if they haven’t gone to seed), manure, compost, seaweed (there’s an excuse to take a trip to the coast!), shredded newspaper or junk mail, pine needles, spent blooms, garden trimmings and peat moss.

The method you use to build your lasagna garden is somewhat important. You’ll want to layer your “brown” ingredients (fall leaves, shredded newspaper, pine needles, etc.) about twice as deep as your “green” layers (veggie scraps, garden trimmings, grass clippings, etc.). Really, though, you needn’t be fussy about it; no matter how you do it, as long as you’re layering your “browns” and your “greens”, you’ll get lasagna. What you’re looking for – at the end of the process – is a two-foot tall layered bed. You’ll be amazed at how much – and how quickly – this will shrink down in a short period of time.

The real beauty of lasagna gardening is that you can do it anytime of the year. Obviously, if you’ve got a foot of snow in the yard, building a lasagna garden may present a bit of a challenge. Fall is an optimum time for most people because of the amount of organic materials you can get for free thanks to fallen leaves and yard clean up in preparation for winter. Then you can build and let your lasagna garden “cook” all winter. By the time spring gets around to rolling in, you will be ready to plant with very little effort.

You can still build a lasagna garden in the spring or summer; you will need to add more soil-like amendments to the area, such as peat moss, topsoil, composted manure or dirt, so that you can plant right away. If you make your bed in the spring, layer as many greens and browns as you can, with layers of finished compost or topsoil in between. Finish off the entire bed with three or four inches of finished compost or topsoil and plant. The bed will settle over the season as the layers underneath decompose.

When it’s time to plant, just dig down into the bed as you would any other garden. If you used newspaper as your first layer, the shovel will likely go right through. If you used cardboard, you might have to work a little harder and cut a hole wherever you want to plant something.

To take care of this garden, add mulch to the top of the bed in the form of straw, grass clipping, bark or chopped leaves. Once it’s established, care for your lasagna garden just as you would any other; weed it and water it and grown some killer tomatoes in it!

Benefits of a lasagna garden:
Fewer weeds
Better water retention
Less need for fertilizer
Fabulous soil – crumbly, loose, fluffy and rich

Lasagna gardening is fun and easy, good for the planet and allows you to make new gardens more quickly and easily than the old fashioned methods – with a lot less wear and tear on the body. Now – to find ALL THOSE PLANTS to fill up your new garden space!

Gardening Jobs For June

Thin fruit trees by leaving 1 fruit approximately every 6 to 12 inches along the branches or 1 fruit per cluster. The higher the leaf-to-fruit ratio, the sweeter the fruit. A standard apple tree should have about 40 leaves for each fruit. Dwarf apples, which usually produce a ration of 1 fruit to about 25 leaves, will yield better-quality fruit when thinned.

Stop cutting your asparagus when the yield decreases and the spears diminish in size. Top-dress the bed with compost or well-rotted manure.

Stake tomatoes or build cages around them.

Plant beets and carrots for a late fall crop.

As the days grow warmer, watch your lettuces for plants that begin to bolt and toss it on your compost pile (or into your lasagna garden). Plant another crop of beans in its place.

Thin crowded plantings of lettuce, carrots, beets and herbs. Give them a good watering when the job is complete to help the roots of the remaining plants get over any trauma your thinning may have caused.

Easy Gourmet Greens

There’s no need to spend the big bucks for the gourmet greens from the grocery store. You can grow your own with very little effort and avoid all the pesticides found on commercial – even prewashed – salad greens. A salad garden is so satisfying and simple to grow, whether it’s a large area or just a few containers. You can grow both leafy baby lettuces and full heads of lettuce. All lettuce grows best in cool weather, from spring through early summer, and in early fall in most places.

Here’s how to grow your own gourmet-quality greens:

The quick way to grow tender baby leaves of four or five different types of lettuces is to use a mesclun mixture. Mesclun is a term used to describe a seasonal mixture of greens that is sown, grown and cut together. I usually just purchase the seeds for the lettuces I like and mix them together in a small jar or baggy.

Start by preparing a 2- to 3-square foot area. Use a garden fork to turn the soil and break up any clumps, so the soil has an even, fine texture. You can also fill a container, such as a half-barrel or 15- to 18inch wide planter, with good quality potting soil. Next, water your soil.

Pour your seeds into your palm, close your hand and carefully shake out the seeds over the bed. Try to leave about a half-inch between the seeds. Not always easy to do. Practice sowing over paper towels to get the knack of even spacing. Sift fine soil or potting mix lightly over the seeds, covering them with a layer about a quarter of an inch deep. Then sprinkle the newly sown bed with water, wetting the soil thoroughly but gently.

Keep the seedbed evenly moist until germination occurs, in about one or two weeks. Some seedlings may come up at different rates.

When your baby lettuces are 4 to 5 inches tall (after 35 to 45 days), you can begin enjoying them in salads. Be sure not to let the plants get too large. Using sharp scissors, shear off the leaves at 1 to 2 inches above the soil level. Cut only as much as you need. Gently rinse and dry the leaves and make salad as soon as possible. Baby leaves do not keep long in the refrigerator.

After you harvest, water the bed well and feed lightly with a liquid fish fertilizer. Cut lettuce crowns will regrow for another harvest or two.

If you notice pests in your lettuces, a tablespoon of Ivory soap in a spray bottle with water topping it up or the tomato leaf spray should do the trick. For slugs, snails and earwigs, my old favorite of diatomaceous earth works well. If earwigs are not an issue, you can use a beer trap for the snails and slugs.

This is actually a great project to do with kids or grandkids. Safety scissors can be used to do the harvesting and – since most kids will eat stuff that they’ve had a hand in growing – a great way to get dark green, leafy veggies into your children.


GARDENING JOBS FOR JUNE
Any bedding plants you find for sale can safely be planted outdoors in beds, boxes, or containers.

The pros recommend treating tulips as annuals with the exception of species tulips. Painful as it may be, yank those tulips up, compost them and plan to plant the bed anew in the fall.

If you long for a hanging basket filled with blossoms, compare prices on different sized plants. It may be more economical to buy several smaller plants and combine them yourself rather than pay top-dollar for one large plant. Starting this month, keep hanging plants such as fuschias well watered and out of direct sun, or their leaves will burn.

Plants that bloom now include balloon flower, Canterbury bells, clematis, coreopsis, delphiniums, English, painted and Shasta daisies, foxglove, Oriental poppies and sweet William.

If you’re growing June-bearing strawberries, pinch off all the flowers that bloom the first spring after planting. It they are not allowed to bear fruit, they will spend their food reserves on developing healthy root systems.

Like of each thing that in season grows - The Daylily

Daylilies are one of the most excellent perennial plants you can have in your garden. If there was ever a sure thing in the world of perennials, it has to be daylilies. True to their botanical name – Hemerocallis – which means beauty for a day, most daylily flowers open in the morning, then close and die with nightfall. Each flower stalk, or scape, usually has more than a dozen flower buds; so one plant can literally bloom for weeks.

These rugged winter-hardy plants are great for borders, slopes or mass plantings. They are so adaptable that they will grow in almost any type of soil and in practically all light conditions. Plant daylilies just about anywhere. Any spot in your yard where you cannot get anything else to thrive could host daylilies. Try planting a few and watch the area quickly fill up with masses of green foliage. Avoid planting in wet or boggy soil as they may suffer from root rot.

There are literally thousands of types of daylilies and they can be grouped in a variety of ways. Some of the most common groupings are by bloom time (early, mid- and late-), flower color (every shade but blue), scape height or flower shape. By selecting your plants for bloom time, you can have daylilies blooming throughout most of the summer.

Daylilies are prolific and will grow quickly like a massive ground cover. You can divide them every three years by digging and separating in early spring or when they finish blooming. Cut the foliage back leaving about 5 inches and replant with the crown being one inch or so below the level of the soil. Freshly replanted divisions require some type of mulch, either leaves or straw, to protect them until they have re-established themselves. If you are not going to divide your plants, allow the foliage to die off on it’s own in the late fall. The bloom stems will resemble sticks as they die off and these can easily be broken off and discarded, leaving the lovely green foliage to continue growing.

Caring for daylilies really couldn’t be easier. Water, of course, is essential for good performance. Given enough of it, daylilies will give you as many and as large of blooms as possible. It is most important that daylilies get sufficient water in the spring when blooms are forming on the scapes, and in summer during bloom season. Daylilies are drought tolerant, but the price you’ll pay is a decrease in number and size of bloom. The general rule is to give daylilies an inch of water each week – three or four long waterings to let the water soak in deep.

Since daylilies grow just about anywhere, it’s difficult to suggest a fertilizer as they could be growing in a variety of soils. Daylilies are not terribly picky about their fertilizer and for most home gardeners a balanced fertilizer of 10-10-10 works well. Of course, organic is best, in my opinion. Mulch, of course, is beneficial to daylilies in a number of ways. It helps improve the soil by the addition of organic matter, helps retain moisture and discourages weeds. Wood chips, chipped bark, straw and pine needles are all possibilities.

Many growers of daylilies deadhead the faded blooms at the end of each day to give their gardens a tidier appearance. Because of the intense summer heat in our area, the foliage of daylilies can get a little ragged in appearance toward the middle and end of the summer. One practice that has been found useful is to trim the foliage. Some gardeners go at their daylilies with scissors or hand trimmers. Others utilize a weed eater and trim the foliage to about six inches. Naturally, you would not want to do this on plants that have not yet bloomed or on plants that are still bearing flower scapes. Trim to about 6 inches and promote fresh, new foliage, which will keep the plant looking nice until frost. It’s generally not a good practice to remove dead foliage in winter because to do so is to remove the plant’s natural cold insulation. You can, however, if you replace it with mulch to protect against frost.

As all gardeners know, there are no easy answers to weeds. Daylilies are good at keeping weeds down once they are established. Until then, mulch and hoeing are good weed control methods.

Daylilies are not very prone to pests, fortunately for us. The ones that do bother them generally do only minor damage. The common pests of daylilies are aphids, spider mites, thrips, slugs and snails. There are a number of good, organic remedies for use in repelling these pests. They may cause damage to the buds, discolored leaves, bent and twisted scapes and ragged edges or holes in the foliage. It is often difficult to determine which pest exactly is the culprit for visible damage. The tomato leaf spray described in a previous article works well for insect pests. Beer traps or diatomaceous earth work for slugs and snails.

For best results, give your daylilies at least six hours of full sun a day. Darker blooming plants may require less to discourage fading of the blooms, however if you plant them in too much shade, you’ll get more leafy growth with fewer flowers.

These hardy perennials excel at providing splashes of color in borders and perennial flowerbeds. They also make excellent ground covers on slopes where they contribute to erosion control. They look really great against fences, decks, patios, steps and even driveways. To allow them room to thrive, don’t plant them too close to the roots of trees. Plants range in height from eight inches to five feet and flower size can be as small as two inches to as large as eight inches. They usually bloom the first year they are planted, even if the plant of is relatively small in size. They will grow quickly to form dense clumps and tend to be long lived.

The reblooming daylily will have a longer flowering period or more than one bloom season. Some bloom early in May or June and will repeat the bloom in the fall. Other types have a succession of bloom periods, one shortly after another for several months. Removing the scapes after all the blooms on it have faded will encourage rebloom.

Daylilies are by far the easiest plant to grow in your garden. They will thrive for you without any maintenance requirements and will do their best when you don’t baby them with too much water or too much food.

These truly can be your “darling buds of May” that will show off in your garden all summer.

It Pays To Grow The Berry Best...

Nothing says “Summer” like juicy delicious strawberries, warm from the sun, oozing with flavor. Around here, the very sight of the rich, red berries is enough to spark an argument over who gets to eat it between the girls. Strawberries are just beautiful all the way around – beautiful plants, whimsical little blooms and the fruit…oh, the fruit!

Growing your own really is the ONLY way to get that sun-drenched flavor that is so lacking in what we find in the grocery stores. Truly ripe and juicy strawberries are just too fleeting and perishable to be found in any grocery store. Commercial strawberries are grown for firmness, size and shelf life…period. Flavor is secondary. Besides that, like tomatoes, commercial strawberries are plucked before they turn red. It stops the development of flavor in its tracks, but not the lovely color.

Strawberries are really easy to grow; truly one of the easiest and most rewarding gardening effort you can take on. They don’t need a lot of space and they produce lots of berries fairly quickly. Right now is the ideal time to make plans to grow your own, so here’s some information you might want to consider to help you succeed:

Perennial strawberries come in three types: June-bearers (or short-days), day-neutrals and ever-bearers. June-bearers are available as early, mid- and late-season varieties, are the most widely grown by home gardeners, according to Barbara L. Bowling, author of The Berry Grower’s Companion (a wonderful book, by the way). Day-neutrals, gaining in popularity, bear a modest crop along with the June-bearers and continue to produce fruits into the fall. “They produce flower buds regardless of day length, thus producing fruit throughout the summer and a sizeable fall crop that is a great bonus for backyard growers,” Bowling says. Day-neutrals, however, don’t like really hot summers. Ever-bearers, which are sometimes confused with day-neutrals, bear from early summer into the fall, but are less productive and have lower-quality berries than the day-neutrals. Either way, the ongoing harvests appeal to many gardeners.

You can harvest berries from day-neutrals and ever-bearers the first year. It’s better to wait with June-bearers until the second year. In many zones, growing a combination of these types, you should be able to harvest your own tasty strawberries from late May through October every year.

Go for the berry varieties that are tried and true local favorites. Check with the Master Gardeners or the local extension. There are a few varieties that are good tasting and disease resistant no matter where you are: June-bearers Earliglow and Jewel are great. Seascape and Tribute are day-neutrals that produce large fruit on strong plants.

Strawberries grow in a wide range of locations. They do, however, like full sun and slightly acidic soil. They are hungry plants and require lots of nutrients from soil high in organic matter. Choose a site with good air circulation and drainage. Avoid areas where tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers or raspberries have been grown in the last five years as these plants can be hosts for verticullium wilt, a threat to strawberries.

Prior to planting, remove all perennial weeds and till in a 1 to 2 inch layer of compost. Plant your strawberries in the spring as soon as the soil can be worked. When you plant keep in mind that the holes should be wide enough to accommodate the roots, fan out the roots as you plant and be sure the crown of the plant is slightly above soil level.

June-bearers send off more runners than either day-neutrals or ever-bearers and should be spaced about 18 inches apart with about 3 feet between rows. This spacing allows the runners to root and form what is known as a “matted row.” Day-neutrals and ever-bearing types should be spaced about 9 inches apart with 24 inches between the rows. These two types also have a higher requirement for nitrogen, so fertilize them with a good organic fertilizer once a month or so, June through September.

Once you’ve got your strawberries in the ground and fertilized, follow up with a deep mulch of straw, grass clippings or pine needles between plants. Mulching inhibits weeds, conserves moisture and helps keep the fruits clean and roots cool. Water your new plants thoroughly and try to keep the soil evenly moist, as consistent moisture is essential for strawberries shallow root system.

During the first year, no matter what kind of strawberries you are growing, your goal should be to get your plants well established. One way to do this is to pinch all the flowers for the first four to six weeks. By doing this, you are helping the plants to focus energy into developing healthy leaves, strong root systems and runners.

The major pests affecting strawberries – besides your children or grandchildren decimating your crop in one fell swoop – are birds (cover your rows with bird netting) and slugs or snails. Diatomaceous earth works well on slugs, snails and earwigs. You can put out beer traps for the slugs and snails or you can release decollate snails (Rumina decollata), a proven slug and snail predator sold in garden centers, nurseries and through mail order.

If you want your plants to succeed for years to come, you should renovate your beds after each harvest period. As a bed grows older, the plants become too crowded, berries become smaller and yields decline. To renovate, narrow the rows to 6 to 12 inches and then thin the remaining plants to about 4 or 5 inches apart, removing the older, smaller and spindly plants whenever possible. Some people mow their rows, but I use hedge trimmers to remove the old leaves and avoid hitting the crowns. June-bearers and day-neutrals, managed properly, should produce good crops of large berries for at least five years. Day-neutrals will need to be replaced about every third year.

After renovation, give all your strawberry beds – no matter what type – a good weeding and top-dress them with compost or feed with organic fertilizer. Replenish the mulch between the plants and be sure to have covering available in the late fall. 3 to 4 inches of loose straw should be just the ticket, but be sure to remove the straw in the early spring.

There’s one more good reason to grow your own strawberries – and that’s THE DIRTY DOZEN. Strawberries are one of those fruits that are generally packed with high levels of pesticide residue, even after you wash them. Homegrown strawberries are ALWAYS fresh, firm and delicious. Since they’re so easy to grow, the only problem you’re ever likely to have is not to growing enough.

Aphids & Beetles & Grubs, Oh My!

Pick a pest, any pest, and there is very likely a natural control for it. One that won’t poison you, your kids, your pets or the planet. Natural pest control is so much less expensive than buying and applying pesticides, plus it’s safer for your garden, natural wildlife and the environment.

Each year North American gardeners use approximately 136 MILLION pounds of pesticides on lawns and gardens, and in their homes. Homeowners actually use THREE TIMES the amount of pesticides as farmers. Most wildlife pest poisonings and most surface water contamination from pesticides come from single-family homes.

Homemade remedies are a longstanding tradition among organic gardeners, who have had to be creative in finding ways to deal with insects and diseases without the aid of synthetic chemicals.

In the case of fighting aphids, two homemade sprays have proven very effective in controlling aphid infestations. Tomato leaf spray and garlic oil spray have been used to battle aphids for generations.
Tomato Leaf Spray: Tomato plants, as members of the nightshade family, contain toxic compounds called alkaloids in their leaves. When the leaves of tomato plants are chopped, they release their alkaloids. When the alkaloids are suspended and diluted in water, they make a spray that is easy to use, toxic to aphids and safe around other plants and humans. You will need one to two cups of tomato leaves, two cups of water, a strainer and a spray bottle. Soak the chopped leaves of the tomato in the two cups of water overnight. Strain the leaves out of the liquid and put that in your spray bottle. Fill the rest of the bottle with water. To use the tomato leaf spray in your battle against aphids, spray the stems and foliage of the infested plant with the spray, paying particular attention the undersides of the leaves where aphids like to congregate. This spray is safe for humans; however if you are allergic to tomatoes or other members of the nightshade family, use a lot of care when using this remedy.

Garlic Oil Spray: Organic gardeners have long relied on garlic as part of their pest-control arsenal. Garlic contains sulfur, which, besides being toxic to pests, is also an antibacterial and antifungal agent. The dish soap in the mixture will break down the bodies of soft-bodied insects, like aphids. You will need four cloves of garlic, mineral oil, a strainer, some Ivory dish soap, water and a spray bottle. Mince or finely chop the garlic and add to that two teaspoons of mineral oil. Let this mixture sit for 24 hours. Pick out the garlic and add the liquid to one pint of water. Add one teaspoon of Ivory soap. This mixture can be stored, diluted and used as needed. Use two tablespoons of the mixture to one pint of water in your spray bottle. First test the mixture by spraying it on an inconspicuous part of the plant to see if the mixture will harm it. If there are no signs of yellowing or leaf damage after a day or two, it is safe to use on that plant. If there is leaf damage, your mixture is too strong and you will need to dilute it more and test it again. If it is determined that it won’t harm your plant, spray the entire plant, paying particular attention to the undersides of the leaves. Garlic oil is a non-selective insecticide, meaning that it will kill beneficial insects as well as the ones you want to get rid of. Only use garlic oil if there are no signs of beneficial insects (lady bugs, lacewings and mantis) in your garden. The tomato leaf recipe will not harm beneficial insects.

For Lawn Or Garden Grubs: There is a natural remedy called milky spore. The granules are spread on the soil and cause the grubs to contract a disease that kills them. This natural control affects only the grubs, leaving the beneficial residents unharmed. Milky spore multiplies over time and will sit inactive, waiting for grubs to infest. One treatment is said to last 40 years!

Mites and Other Insects: Mix two tablespoons of hot pepper sauce (the hotter the better!) or cayenne pepper with a few drops of Ivory soap into a quart of water. Let stand overnight, stir and pour into a spray bottle. Apply as with other organic sprays. Shake the bottle frequently during application.

Earwigs, Slugs and Snails: Sprinkle diatomaceous earth over plants and around the edges of your garden beds. The diatoms particles are very small and sharp, but only harmful to the small exoskeletons of insects, slugs and snails.

Powdery Mildew: Mix equal parts of milk and water and spray on infected plants. Three treatments about a week apart should control the disease.

Insects and Fungal Diseases: Combine one tablespoon of cooking oil, two tablespoons of baking soda and a few drops of Ivory soap into a quart of water. Pour into a spray bottle and apply as above.

Good Bugs Vs. Bad Bugs: Releasing large numbers of lady bugs or praying mantis into areas of your garden infested with insect pests is lots of fun and can be a very effective means of controlling aphids, mealy bugs, leaf worms and many other pests. Ladybugs should be released at night near the base of infested plants where they will seek and devour your pests. Praying mantids are voracious predators that will feed on many of the larger pests including grubs, beetles, leafhoppers and caterpillars. These beneficial insects are available for sale and through mail order.

By applying these natural and organic pest control techniques it is possible to stay one step ahead of the pests and be ready for them when they arrive!

Terriffic Tomatoes

Terrific Tomatoes

If you’re the competitive tomato gardening type, it’s never too early to be thinking about growing the earliest and sweetest tomatoes on your block. Unfortunately, growing great tomatoes doesn’t just happen on it’s own. Those science experiments they offer us in the grocery stores over the winter months are proof positive of that! Starting early with some time-tested tomato growing tips will ensure you the bragging rights you deserve.

Don’t overcrowd – If you are starting from seed, be sure to give your seedlings plenty of room to branch out. Grow them too close together and you’ll get puny plants. Transplant them as soon as they get their first true leaves and then move them into 4” pots in about two weeks.

Throw some light on the subject – Your seedlings will need either direct sunlight or 14 to 18 hours under grow lights. Place the young plants only a couple of inches from your grow lights. Plant your tomatoes outside in the sunniest part of your vegetable garden.

Fan the flames – Tomato plants need to move and sway in the breeze in order to develop good, strong stems. Turn a fan on them for 5 to 10 minutes a day to provide them with a breeze.

Preheat your soil – Tomatoes LOVE heat! Cover your planting area with garden plastic a couple of weeks before you intend to plant. This week, you could likely get away with a few days since it’s going to be gloriously warm! That extra heat will translate into earlier tomatoes.

REALLY plant them – Bury your tomatoes deeper than they than they were in the pot, clear up to several of the top leaves. Tomato plants have the amazing ability to develop roots all along their stems, making for a strong root system. Dig your holes deeper.

Plant today, mulch later – Lay out your mulch after the ground has had a chance to warm up. Mulching conserves water and prevents the soil and soil borne diseases from splashing up on the plants, but if you lay it on too early it will also shade and cool the soil. Try using plastic mulch for heat lovers like tomatoes and peppers.

Remove the leaves – Once your plants are around 3’ tall, remove the leaves from the bottom foot of the stem. This is the area that will first develop fungus issues. That area of the plant gets the least amount of sun and pathogens from the soil can be splashed onto them. Spraying once a week with compost tea or a mixture of 2 tablespoons of baking soda, a tablespoon of Ivory soap and a gallon of water seem to be effective at warding off fungus diseases.

Pinch and prune – Pinch off the suckers that develop in the crotch of two branches as they won’t bear fruit and sap vital energy away from the rest of the plant. Take care with pruning the rest of the plant. Thin out the leaves to allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit, but not too much. Those leaves are photosynthesizing and creating the sugars that will be flavoring your tomatoes.

Water – Water regularly and deeply while the plants are developing. Irregular watering leads to blossom end rot and cracked fruits. Once your tomatoes start to ripen, watering a little less will encourage the plant into concentrating it’s sugars in the fruits. Don’t withhold water so much that the plants wilt or get stressed, or you could lose your blossoms and possibly fruit.

Setting fruit – Determinate type tomatoes set and ripen fruit all at once, making large quantities available when you’re ready to stew, make sauce or put up salsa. Those are also the ones that will send your neighbors running when they see you coming with your shopping bag of tomatoes due to the fact that you’ve planted too many plants and are overrun. Indeterminate types, which are nice to have, can be forced into setting fruit earlier by pinching off the tips of the main stems in early summer.

In Your Garden This Week…
1. Provide support for flowers that need it before they start to fall over. Pea stakes are good for sweet peas and ramblers. Use grow-thru rings for bushier plants like peonies and balloon flowers.

2. Spread a little lime or wood ashes around your delphiniums and peonies.

3. Trim your climbing roses and attach securely to fences or trellises.

4. Scatter crushed eggshells thickly around roses to deter slugs.

5. Sow annual poppies and baby’s breath in your borders for midsummer bloom by scattering them between the other plants, covering with fine soil and tamping down gently.

6. Prune suckers from fruit trees NOW before they become established.