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April
18, 2001
Cold
Hearty, Garden Party...
Brrr! I hope the frost alert we sent out kept your
plants from "a chillin". As Kevin and I were out
in the garden covering our plants all I could think about was
what a nice healthy start everything seemed to have and how
horrible it would be to lose some to frost. The good news
is that all of our plants survived and here's hoping yours did as
well. Mother Nature certainly is hard to predict this time
of the year. If you're not worrying about frost, your
worried about torrential rains, high winds and hail! Times
like these sure make it tuff to be a gardener.
Since there
is so much going on this time of the year, don't forget to check
out our event
calendar. If you know of something going on that is not
on the calendar please feel free to add it. Don't forget
about The
Garden Party for Savvygardeners @ The Kelly Gallery Saturday,
April 28th from 12:00-4:00 PM. You won't want to miss
this! Kelly Daniels and husband Mark have quite a place and
will actually be featured in future issues of Better Homes and
Garden, Midwest Living, and Signature Living.
Come and enjoy a peaceful walk through their private gardens or
take a stroll through The
Barn to find that new garden ornament. The party is
free but make sure you RSVP!
Kevin and I will be there and as always look forward to meeting
and talking with our readers. See you there!
~
Shelly
Debutante
Party for Transplants...
For Savvygardeners who were able to successfully start some
flowers or vegetables indoors from seed it may be time to plan
their "coming out" party. Based on your plant's cold
tolerance you will need to pick the date when you plan to
permanently relocate it outdoors. Tomatoes for instance are not
friends with cool weather and really need soil temperatures at 60
degrees and above to do well.
Once you've
picked the magic date (and there may be as many dates as there
are plants) plan a "hardening off" schedule. Remember
these plants have had the benefit of consistent temperatures,
regular light, and no wind in the comfort of your home. It's a
different world out there in the wild and wooly garden.
About two
weeks before permanent relocation you should stop fertilizing and
place your plants outdoors for an hour or two. Each day increase
the time outdoors by an hour. (I know this is impossible for
working gardeners, just do your best.) The trick is to acclimate
your plants to the bright sun, wind, and varying temperatures
gradually. Don't panic if they look a little wilty during this
process - they're going through a bit of shock.
Once
they're in the ground give them some starter fertilizer and begin
a regular water and fertilizer routine.
Singin'
The Blues...
You may have noticed that transplants set out earlier in the
year may now be turning a little blue. According to our
friends at K-State
Reasearch & Extension the blue color comes from the
accumulation of anthocyanin pigments in the plant induced by a
brief phosphate deficiency (phosphate is often limited in its
availability in cold soils ). Adding additional phosphate
is usually not necessary since a few warm days will take care of
the purplish color. Soils that were warming readily a week
or so ago have been dramatically slowed by the cooler weather and
cold rains that have prevailed over the state recently.
Source
Circular
Logic...
A popular and
effective way to prevent disease in the vegetable garden is
called crop rotation. By rotating the location of vegetable
plantings within the garden each season you can greatly reduce
the likelihood of soil-borne disease. This method works
best when you rotate crop families from place to place
and the rotation includes at least three families. The
effectiveness of crop rotation is diminished when the total
gardening area is quite small. Just do your best!
Here's a list of the most common home garden vegetables and their
associated families:
Family |
Family Members |
Alliaceae |
Chive, garlic, leek, onion, shallot |
Apiaceae |
Carrot, celery, parsley, parsnip |
Asteraceae |
Endive, lettuce |
Brassicaceae |
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower,
collards, kale, kohlrabi, radish, rutabaga, turnip |
Chenopodiaceae |
Beet, Swiss chard, spinach |
Convolvulaceae |
Sweet potato |
Curcurbitaceae |
Cucumber, gourd, melons, pumpkin, squash |
Fabaceae |
Lima bean, pea, snap bean, soy bean |
Malvaceae |
Okra |
Poaceae |
Corn |
Solanaceae |
Eggplant, pepper, potato, tomato |
Looking
For A Great Gardening Road Trip?
Papa Geno's Herb Farm, only 3½ hours away, is open to the
public this weekend!
All herbs and scented
geraniums - 1/3 off website prices. Bring
a printed copy of this newsletter and get a free basil or
bay laurel plant!
Friday and Saturday, 10 AM - 4 PM and
Sunday, Noon - 4 PM
Papa Geno's is about 5 miles south of Lincoln, near the
corner of 14th Street and Saltillo Road. E-mail
him for driving instructions or call: 402-423-5051
Can't get away? Visit his website: www.papagenos.com
|
Healthy
Houseplants, Healthy Home...
Just because it's time to garden outdoors again is no
reason to abandon your houseplants. In fact those
houseplants are making your home a healthier place. About
ten years ago NASA scientists discovered that plants are capable
of removing volatile organic compounds (VOC's) from the
air. The gases most often studied include formaldehyde,
benzene, xylene, toluene, ammonia, acetone, methyl alcohol, ethyl
acetate, and trichlorethylene. The plants listed below (in
no particular order) are proven effective in this arena:
- Palms (Chrysalidocarpus,
Rhapis, Chamaedorea, and Phoenix)
- Fern (Nephrolepis)
- Corn
Plant and Dragon Tree (Dracaena)
- Rubber
Plant and Weeping Fig (Ficus)
- English
Ivy (Hedera)
- Peace
Lily (Spathiphyllum)
- Florist
Mum (Dendranthemum)
- Gerber
Daisy (Gerbera)
- Dumb
Cane (Dieffenbachia)
- Schefflera
(Brassaia)
- Orchids
(Dendrobium and Phalaenopsis)
- Spider
Plant (Chlorophytum)
- Philodendron
(Philodendron)
- Arrowhead
Plant (Syngonium)
- Pothos (Epipremnum)
- Dwarf
Banana (Musa)
- Chinese
Evergreen (Aglaonema)
Source
Precipitation
Estimation...
Here's a fact that's easy to remember: Most plants need 1
inch of water per week. But how can you be sure? The
precipitation figures you hear on the local weather broadcasts
may have little in common with what actually falls in your
garden. A simple rain gauge is the answer. They are
available for a couple of dollars at most hardware and garden
stores and are perfectly adequate for the job. Placement is
critical - you don't want it under awnings or trees. During
a visit this past weekend Kevin's father Larry mounted our rain
gauge on a single bamboo stake. Rather than looking out of
place it now looks more natural and elegant!
You
can help Savvygardener.com grow as strong as your garden!
Click
Here to share your discovery with a friend!
Thanks!
|
What's
Hot On The Hotline...
Two consecutive nights of frost warnings were a real wake up
call for Savvygardeners. That may have been the last of
them though the next two weeks still hold risk. If Jack
Frost comes our way again you will benefit from some more frost
tips in this
week's What's
Hot on the Hotline...
Two
Blades Are Better Than One...
No matter how good your mower is the quality of the cut comes
down to the sharpness of its blade. If you're like most
people you never get around to sharpening the blade during the spring
and summer cutting season. Probably because you don't want the mower out
of service while the blade is sharpened. We solve that
problem by keeping two mower blades. That way a well
sharpened second blade is always ready to be swapped into
service.
Finally... "When
the April wind wakes the call for the soil, I hold the plough as
my only hold upon the earth, and, as I follow through the fresh
and fragrant furrow, I am planted with every foot-step, growing,
budding, blooming into a spirit of spring." ~
Dallas Lore Sharp, 1870-1929, Nature Essayist |
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