August
15, 2001
Always
Something To Learn...
What a weekend! Kevin and I finally had a chance to
work in the yard on Saturday and Sunday because it was so
pleasant outside. We started our weekend off by attending
the Flower Extravaganza sponsored by the K-State
Horticulture Research & Extension (click
here for photos). Wow! You should have seen
all of those flowers! The color was extraordinary! We
had a chance to talk to some very knowledgeable people and came
away with some new tips and great growing information. It
certainly did motivate us to come home and get to work. I
am truly amazed how much there really is to know about gardening
and that there are professionals doing tests and trials to create
a better product for us as consumers. As always it was
great running into some of our readers. I hope you enjoyed
the experience as much as we did.
I sure am
enjoying the break from the heat. Now if we could just get
some rain. It sounds as if our best chances will be on
Wednesday and again on Thursday. The unfortunate news is
that they are calling for an inch or less. We sure could
use more but beggars can't be choosy.
It is
time to start thinking and planning for the fall garden.
Re-seeding the yard, planting perennials, top-dressing with
compost and mulch, buying mums, asters and even pansies!
Visit our sponsors, Earl
May, The
Sweet Onion, Missouri
Organic Recycling and don't forget about all of the special
gift items you can purchase from The
Kelly Gallery. I am glad fall is around the
corner. I need a new season to pull me out of my gardening
slump. Enjoy the "cooler" weather for now because
it may not last long.
~
Shelly
Getting
Ready For Winter...
Despite the August heat it's actually time for your trees and shrubs
to start preparing for winter. They've got some tough
conditions to prepare for and it begins now. The best thing
you can do to help is lay off the fertilizer. Fertilizing
now will only stimulate late growth
that won't have time to harden-off properly before winter.
Keep watering however. You still want to keep them alive
after all!
Bitter
Cucumbers Or Better Cumbers?
Wondering why your cucumbers are bitter? Well, the
bitter taste in cucumbers is the result of stress that can be
caused by a number of factors including heredity, moisture,
temperature, soil characteristics and disease. Most often
this occurs during the hot part of the summer or later in the
growing season. Sometimes these happen at the same
time.
Two
compounds, cucurbitacins B and C, give rise to the bitter
taste. Though often only the stem end is affected, at times
the entire fruit is bitter. Also, most of the bitter taste
is found in and just under the skin. Bitter fruit is not
the result of cucumbers cross pollinating with squash or
melons. These plants cannot cross pollinate with one
another.
Often newer
varieties are less likely to become bitter than older ones.
Proper cultural care is also helpful. Make sure your
plants have the following.
- Well-drained
soil with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5. Plenty
of organic matter also helps.
- Mulch. A
mulch helps conserve moisture and keep roots cool during hot,
dry weather.
- Adequate
water especially during the fruiting season.
- Disease
and insect control.
Source
Compost Considerations...
We get a lot of e-mail about compost piles. There's
always a question or two about what should not be
composted. Here are a few don'ts when it comes to back yard
composting:
- Weeds
-
Many weed seeds can remain viable and germinate next year when
the compost is used.
- Pet
Waste - While many animal manures make valuable soil
amendments, parasites carried in dog and cat feces can cause
diseases in humans.
- Meat,
Fish, Bones - These items will develop an awful odor, attracting
rats and other unwanted critters.
Lush
Lawns Are Looming...
Fall is just around the corner and there's no better time of
year to renovate your lawn. Take a hard look at your grass
and decide just how much work you have ahead of you.
- If you
just need to thicken it up a round of over-seeding will
probably do the trick. To ensure good seed to soil
contact you might want to make use of a verticutter.
This handy machine, which can be rented locally, makes nice
vertical cuts in your existing lawn and soil. Over this
cutting you can broadcast your seeds. Seeds should find
their way into the soil where they will germinate nicely.
- Every
other year or so you should try core aerating your
lawn. Doing so will control and prevent
problems such as thatch and soil compaction. Core
aerating machines will pull up numerous plugs of soil about
the diameter of a pencil, making holes into the lawn.
Leave the plugs on the surface and work the lawn as usual.
- If your
lawn is so overridden with perennial weeds or you're ready to
try a new type of grass altogether you will need to eliminate
what's there with Round Up or other appropriate herbicide.
Once the grass and weeds are dead use a verticutter or
roto-tiller to prepare the soil for new seed.
A note
about weeds - If crabgrass is appearing in your lawn in mid
to late summer, remember that it's an annual and will die-off as
temperatures drop later this fall. For perennial weeds it
is best to delay herbicide applications until a newly planted
lawn has been mowed at least 3 times. This gives the new
grass time to mature to a point where it is not so sensitive to
the weed killer.
Helpful
Harvest Hints...
Fruit and vegetable harvest can be confusing - especially if
you're still new at it. Here are some quick tips to help
with a few local favorites:
- Harvest onions
after the tops yellow and fall, then cure them in a warm, dry,
well-ventilated area. The necks should be free of
moisture when fully cured in about a week's time.
- Harvest potatoes
after the tops yellow and die. Potatoes also need to be
cured before storage.
- Pick beans,
tomatoes, peppers and squash often to encourage further
production.
- Harvest sweet
corn when kernels are plump and ooze a milky juice when
punctured with your fingernail. If the liquid is watery,
you're too early; if the kernels are doughy, you're too late.
- Harvest watermelon
when several factors indicate ripeness:
- the
underside ground spot turns from whitish to creamy yellow
- the
tendril closest to the melon turns brown and shrivels
- the
rind loses its gloss and appears dull
- the
melon produces a dull thud rather than a ringing sound
when thumped.
Source
What's
Hot On The Hotline...
Hotline editor Bill Latimer knows clematis. This week
we're fortunate to have him share a small part of his vast
knowledge of these wonderful plants. Simplified pruning, disease-resistant
plants, and more can be found in this
week's What's
Hot on the Hotline...
Final
Feeding...
Savvygardeners growing warm-season grasses like zoysia should
make their last application of fertilizer this week.
Fertilizing into fall can interfere with the all important
hardening-off process that prepares the grass for winter.
Finally... "Inebriate
of Air - am I -
And Debauchee of Dew -
Reeling through endless summer days -
From inns of Molten Blue." ~
Emily Dickinson, Poet, 1830-1886 |