STATE OF THE GARDEN
FEBRUARY, 2011
FEBRUARY, 2011
For a gardener, February is the month when nothing is impossible. Gardens grow lush and beautiful in our minds. Weeds, sore muscles, pests don't exist. But, after a reality check, I'd like to suggest that we, as a community garden,
Focus on 3 things this year:
1. Tomatoes:Last year we had a rather serious problem with early blight in the garden. This is a bacterial infection that turns the vines into brown skeletons, although they will still produce a reasonable crop of tomatoes. I called Johnny's Seeds and asked what varieties they carry that might be resistant to early blight. A very helpful person suggested these: red pearl (grape-type), defiance, (determinate, very good taste) JTO 99197 (determinate, average taste), mountain magic (indeterminate, excellent taste). Stripe German and stupice are also said to be resistant, but Johnny's doesn't carry them. Also, I heard in passing on the radio that roma, better boy, green zebra, and stupice are resistant varieties, but I didn't catch specifically which problems they are resistant to. The Johnny's guy didn't have any open pollinated varieties that are listed as early-blight resistant. If you have input here, let me know.
Other things you can do for your tomatoes: mulch them heavily from the beginning and water at the ground level only (better yet, use a drip irrigation line.) Blight spores overwinter in the ground and bounce up in the rain drops or water sprinkles. Rotating crops is always a good practice, but the problem is so widespread in our garden, that I'm not sure you can get away from it. If we all focus on good practices for a couple of years, maybe we can lick this problem.
2. Thistles: Thistles are a problem because they are so aggressive and so nasty to grab when you are working in the garden. They are spread by a lateral underground root system that can go as much as 10 feet deep. This means that pulling off the top does nothing but stimulate the root to grow another shoot. I don't know of any quick and easy way to get rid of thistles. Timing is everything. A squirt of vinegar on young shoots kills them off easily, but the next day another will grow. In theory, if we killed off all the shoots every day, the roots would eventually die or get discouraged and go elsewhere. So something to add to your garden basket is a quart-sized squirt bottle of vinegar. Then spend 5 or 10 minutes whenever you're in the garden squirting thistle shoots on the paths and in the plots. I'll try to remember to put a bottle of vinegar in the shed, too. Also, heavy mulch is helpful. We have tried to do that in the paths with the newspaper layered under the wood chips. Mulching your plot paths with newspaper or cardboard may help. At least you wont' have to weed there.
3. Flower borders: The flower border surrounding our garden is an excellent set up to attract beneficial insects to our garden. The insects are out there, they just need to be invited in. Beneficial insects are of 2 types-the pollinators and the predators that attack the "bad" bugs. A couple of principles to keep in mind for a beneficial border are: (1) a border that blooms the whole season; (2) a diversity (at least 3 species) of flowers blooming at the same time; and (3) a grouping of flowers that is large enough to attract the insects, about 25 square feet. Below is a quick chart that I made up. It is by no means complete, but it might give those of you with flower strips a way to start thinking about what you will plant this summer.
Focus on 3 things this year:
1. Tomatoes:Last year we had a rather serious problem with early blight in the garden. This is a bacterial infection that turns the vines into brown skeletons, although they will still produce a reasonable crop of tomatoes. I called Johnny's Seeds and asked what varieties they carry that might be resistant to early blight. A very helpful person suggested these: red pearl (grape-type), defiance, (determinate, very good taste) JTO 99197 (determinate, average taste), mountain magic (indeterminate, excellent taste). Stripe German and stupice are also said to be resistant, but Johnny's doesn't carry them. Also, I heard in passing on the radio that roma, better boy, green zebra, and stupice are resistant varieties, but I didn't catch specifically which problems they are resistant to. The Johnny's guy didn't have any open pollinated varieties that are listed as early-blight resistant. If you have input here, let me know.
Other things you can do for your tomatoes: mulch them heavily from the beginning and water at the ground level only (better yet, use a drip irrigation line.) Blight spores overwinter in the ground and bounce up in the rain drops or water sprinkles. Rotating crops is always a good practice, but the problem is so widespread in our garden, that I'm not sure you can get away from it. If we all focus on good practices for a couple of years, maybe we can lick this problem.
2. Thistles: Thistles are a problem because they are so aggressive and so nasty to grab when you are working in the garden. They are spread by a lateral underground root system that can go as much as 10 feet deep. This means that pulling off the top does nothing but stimulate the root to grow another shoot. I don't know of any quick and easy way to get rid of thistles. Timing is everything. A squirt of vinegar on young shoots kills them off easily, but the next day another will grow. In theory, if we killed off all the shoots every day, the roots would eventually die or get discouraged and go elsewhere. So something to add to your garden basket is a quart-sized squirt bottle of vinegar. Then spend 5 or 10 minutes whenever you're in the garden squirting thistle shoots on the paths and in the plots. I'll try to remember to put a bottle of vinegar in the shed, too. Also, heavy mulch is helpful. We have tried to do that in the paths with the newspaper layered under the wood chips. Mulching your plot paths with newspaper or cardboard may help. At least you wont' have to weed there.
3. Flower borders: The flower border surrounding our garden is an excellent set up to attract beneficial insects to our garden. The insects are out there, they just need to be invited in. Beneficial insects are of 2 types-the pollinators and the predators that attack the "bad" bugs. A couple of principles to keep in mind for a beneficial border are: (1) a border that blooms the whole season; (2) a diversity (at least 3 species) of flowers blooming at the same time; and (3) a grouping of flowers that is large enough to attract the insects, about 25 square feet. Below is a quick chart that I made up. It is by no means complete, but it might give those of you with flower strips a way to start thinking about what you will plant this summer.
Beneficial border
Early blooming | Middle blooming | Late blooming |
Lupine Penstemon Spiderwort Baptesia Borage Catmnt Dandelions | Beebalm Gaillardia Lobelia Mint, catmint Purple coneflower Spiderwort Borage Lavender All the herbs: basil, thyme, marjoram , etc. | Asters Gaillardia Lobelia Mint, catmint Purple coneflower Sunflower Borage Cosmos Lavender Tithtonia (Mexican sunflower) Russian sage Sedum All the herbs: basil, thyme, marjoram , etc. |
Starting seeds: Johnny's Seeds web site has a handy seed starting calculator go to: johnnyseeds.com and click on the "seed starting calculator" on the right.
Voles:
Local Foods Expo, March 12: Vicki will be managing the community garden booth there. Stop by and say hello.
No comments:
Post a Comment