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For too long now I have been out enjoying my gardening and not at my desk keeping up with the changes in the seasons. Harvesting is well under way and the gardening season is coming toward the end. Over all it has been a good year even though it started wet, late and cool. The summer was warm and dry and in the end most of my crops did well.
It has been a great ear for peppers and tomatoes. I am still picking both although with the cooler nights and with the plants getting older the production is tapering off. Talking to a my gardening friends I am sticking to my decision to put a fungus spray on my tomatoes.
I am just now seeing signs of late blight while a number of them lost their tomatoes a number of weeks ago. I am still having a problem keeping Zucchini late. It died off a few weeks ago. I would have thought I would have the same problem with cucumbers. The fanfare slicer did die about the same time but the English cucumber vine produced its last cucumber this past week.
By now you should have pulled your onions. I put mine in large mesh boxes in the garage until the stems are completely dried then cut the stems off and put the onions in the root cellar for the winter. They need to stay dry and cool to last. I have just harvested my beets, most of my carrots and my potatoes. (Everything needs to be harvested before the first frost.) They all will last well in a cool dry spot for winter use. Remember to leave them dirty. You want the dirt residue on them dry before storage but if you wash it off you will shorten the storage live significantly.
This was a great year for melons and cantaloupe. I got more fruit and terrific flavour from the melons I picked and just picked the last ones this week.
The other plants also did well and as always I learned a few lessons to help improve the garden next year. My ever baring strawberries should have been mulched and should have been fertilized more and kept wetter for a good crop. This is the same as my raspberries. The berry size and production for the fall picking was a big improvement because of the better care. Remind me once again, seed the beans one row at a time a week or so apart and not all four rows at once if I want a continued fresh supply. Too many then not enough is my fault not the plants. For next year plant another Hansel Eggplant and one less regular eggplant. The Hansel is 6” long and about an inch across and is great sliced into a stir fry.
The next job is get the garden ready for winter. As I harvest the last of the vegetables it is time to clean up the garden. I am a great believer in mulching the leaves and trimmings from my trees and bushes as well as composting green kitchen waste but not the old leaves and vines from my garden. Beat tops, tomato and cucumber vines etc. are a great source for disease and bugs that are attracted to my garden to over winter and attack again next year. For this reason I clean all the old plant material up in the fall to protect next years crop from problems. Both my vegetable and flower gardens get packed very tight over the course of the summer. For this reason I dig all my gardens in the fall so the frost gets in and helps loosen the soil for spring. It is also a good time to dig in that manure or organic matter so it breaks down in time to feen next seasons crops.
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Finally I have all my gardens planted and will finish my containers this weekend. It has been a dodge the rain drops spring that has made gardening a challenge. If you have not planted yet do not despair it is not too late to get the plants into the ground and have a great garden. You will soon be seeing great deals on plants at the garden centers and there are always a couple of extra corners to plant something fun.
With all the rain this spring many of our gardens, even the ones that have had ample organic mater incorporated, will have had a significant amount of the nutrients leached down away from where the plants need them.. I recommend a side dressing of an all purpose fertilizer to help the plants along. This can be done a week or two after planting as the plants really start to spread their roots and grow. Don’t procrastinate too long, you want the feed to go into the initial growth. Too late and it will add to growth rather than fruit initiation.
The second thing to watch out for is weeds. I just planted my vegetable garden about 8 days ago. Small weeds are already starting to stick up out of the ground. The best advise is to get your, sharp, hoe and do a quick cultivation around all your plants. Do this about once a week and it will take very little time and will keep the weeds in check and keep the soil loose allowing oxygen to the roots. If you wait until the weeds are 2-4 inches tall it will take forever to pull them all out and they are a magnet for harmful insects that can eat your crop.
So far water is not a problem but the summer forecast suggests it may get hot and dry. Remember wait until the top inch or so of ground gets crumbly dry between watering s and then soak the soil so the water penetrates down to the roots. The rule of thumb is and inch and a half every 5-7 days. If you just squirt the surface the roots will be very shallow and the plant will wilt in the hot summer sun.
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Another Wet, Windy, Cool Day |
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Another wet, windy, cool day. I look out the window at my gardens that are not ready for spring planting and it is hard not to get a little frustrated. Last year on this weekend I worked my vegetable garden and stored working my flower gardens, digging in some manure and emptied my composter. I even planted a few peas. If the forecast for next week is correct it will be at least two weeks before the ground is dry enough to start working.
Before you write off the weekend as a gardening non-starter lets take a look at what we can do to be ready for when the sun finally shines. I am always guilty of setting down my planting trowel and it takes half an hour to fine it. The rest of my tools are treated with the same neglect. This weekend I am going to sort through them making sure they are all accounted for. I will also make sure the ones that need sharpening are sharp, clean and ready to go. The wheel barrow is going to get its flat tire fixed and my patio containers are going to get scrubbed ready for planting.
It is not too late to seed some pots on the window sill to get a head start. Plants like cucumbers, zucchini, and beans can be direct seeded but for the first planting established plants will take a couple of weeks off the time to harvest. They do not take a lot of special care. Just seed into a pot, three seeds per 4” pot is good. Water and put on a warm sunny window sill. When the seeds germinate cut back on the water. You will want them moist not wet. Also add a little water soluble fertilizer. If they stretch they are too wet, too dark, too warm or not enough fertilizer. I am a great believer in the garden varieties we have today. They are great producers and the fruit has terrific flavour when grown in well cared for soil and allowed to ripen on the vine.
Kathy, my wife, is suggesting that it would be a good weekend to clean the garage but I will be far to busy preparing for spring gardening.
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Finally a sunny day. We can now start thinking about spring and gardening and planting and…..
Now go back and remember the basics. Before you start digging your gardens be sure they have dried enough that the ground is not sticky. If you dig when the ground is wet it will be hard and lumpy all summer.
It is still a good idea to add organic matter to the soil to help keep the soil healthy for the plants.
Once the ground is dug give it a number of days to warm up. Just because today is finally warm and sunny does not mean the ground can warm that quickly.
As a grower who makes his living selling plants to retailers you are doing me a favor by rushing out to buy your plants. I can ship more to the store, I have lots to sell. Remember there I no rush to plant. I plant my gardens starting in early June because I am too busy now growing plants for your garden. My gardens are just about as early as yours because by the time I plant the soil is warm and the nights are warmer so the plants do not get a shock when they first go into the ground. You have lots of time to pick up your plants.
My ground is still wet so I am going to start this weekend by dividing the perennials I could not get to because of all the rain. By next weekend I will be able to start digging.
Don’t get a sunburn.
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Notes from the garden (April 5, 2011) |
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It is the first week of April. the gardening itch needs scratching but what can we do? I spent Sunday afternoon cleaning one of my perennial beds. In the fall I will rack as many leaves as I can from the trees to compost and add to the flower and vegetable gardens later. When the perennial plants die back in the fall I leave them the way they are till spring. The old growth holds the snow in the garden protecting plants from the harsh winds of winter. Now I cut and rake all the dead plant material away. This gives the garden a clean start for spring but also that old growth is where insects and diseases can winter. For that reason I want them cleaned up and removed. I do not compost the old growth just in case the bugs will survive.
I have some perennials that need to be dug and divided because they are getting too big but I will be awaiting a couple of weeks. It is not too early but the ground is too wet. Any time I dig wet soil it compacts and I lose the soil structure. This is the same for digging my gardens for spring. Unless you have really light sandy soil you have to wait until the soil will crumble when digging before you work it for spring other wise it will be tight and lumpy for the season and the plants will have a harder time growing in it.
What I can do is keep cleaning beds, pruning shrubs and bushes and start racking the lawn. I will be phoning my neighbour for a load of manure to dig into the gardens when they are ready. In the next week or so, as long as it is dry, I will be spraying lime sulfur and dormant oil on my bushes and roses. This combination coats the stems and suffocates insects that get under the bark to over winter and also kills fungal spores that will cause disease problems during the summer. These are organic chemicals that can be picked up at any garden centre and are not dangerous to use. There is rain in the forecast so it will be a week or so yet before the gardens get worked for spring.
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