September
19, 2001
The
Healing Sun...
The weather of the last few days represents the way I have
been feeling since last weeks tragedy. The gloominess and
the rain have me continuously thinking about how our lives have
so drastically changed. The sun has finally come out to
warm our souls. It gives me hope and makes me believe that
we as Americans will survive this devastation and become a closer
nation. I want to thank all of you who shared your
sentiments with me. I enjoyed reading them and felt a very
strong connection to you. Now is the time to share our
souls with our friends. After all, the world is a changed
place and we need to depend on one another. This is a time
of healing for all of us. We are God's plantings. We need
love, nurturing and a kind hand to make us grow. Stay
strong my friends and pray for our country.
Speaking of
a new start, I have to tell you about our lawn. We planted
seed Labor Day weekend and you should see it! It is growing
like crazy. The only reason I mention it is because there
is always such a small window of opportunity when re-seeding in
the fall. You could plant too early or worse yet too
late. But we were on the ball and planted just at the right
time. I seem to see a change in the way the yard looks
daily. How exciting! Once again the lawn will display
a beautiful show of green. I should have been Irish!
The future
weather sounds as if it is going to be favorable for fall
planting! I am going to purchase some pansies, mums, a few
hundred bulbs and get busy this weekend in the garden. I
often think that it is a good thing that there is not a garden
center close to me. I am afraid that my frequency of
shopping might supercede many of my day to day tasks as a mother
and wife. Recently we received an Earl
May flyer with fabulous discounts on fall goods. I hope
you received one too. If you didn't, make sure you request
to be on their mailing list the next time you visit them.
That way you are informed of what is going on in their stores
year round.
Fall
arrives on Saturday. Plant, plant, plant!
~
Shelly
Organically
Speaking...
At the end of the growing season, garden cleanup, lawn
renovation, and leaf gathering provide excellent opportunities to
add organic materials to garden soil without the time and space
of composting. You can add organic materials, till them in,
and compost the organic materials right there in the soil.
In a few weeks, repeat the process. Continue this into late
November or early December when soils usually start to
freeze.
For best
results, finely chop or shred organic materials by running them
through a lawnmower and catching them in the bag. No
shredding is necessary for finely textured materials such as lawn
renovation residue, but coarse leaves or garden refuse needs to
be shredded.
Add organic
materials to a depth of about 3 inches and till the area well
with a rototiller. Make sure soil is not excessively wet
when you till. With the warm soils we have now,
decomposition will begin to occur in just a few days. In about 2
weeks you can repeat the process by adding more organic
materials.
Source
Garlic
Lovers Get Ready!
Garlic needs to be in the ground at least one month before the soil
freezes so now through mid-October is the ideal time for planting.
Start by
planting the small cloves that are divisions of the large bulb.
The larger the clove, the larger the size of the mature bulb at
harvest. Do not divide the bulb until immediately before
planting. Although some people have had good luck planting
the garlic from the grocery store, seedstock from a nursery or
via mail-order is recommended.
Garlic needs a full-sun site with loose soil rich in
organic matter. Adding compost to the bed is usually a good
idea. Plant the
cloves (with their pointy sides up) three to five inches apart at a
depth of two to three inches. Add a light layer of mulch.
Allow 18 to 30 inches between rows or plant five inches apart in
all directions if you're using raised beds. Next
spring the garlic will push through the soil and mulch.
We'll wait until then to complete the directions through harvest.
It's Not
Nice To Fool Mother Nature...
But it sure is fun! Perusing the bulb catalogs one
can't help but wish spring would come sooner. Well, you
can't rush the Vernal Equinox but you can enjoy blooms
from your spring flowering bulbs while the snow is still flying.
Just start the process of bulb forcing now to get colorful
and fragrant wintertime indoor blooms. Everything you need
to know is in "Forcing
Bulbs Indoors" in our Features section.
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Mulch
Ado About Trees...
Fall is a great time to plant a tree. Keeping it alive
is an all-season affair. Mulching is so important for new trees but it's
not as simple as dumping a bag of wood chips at the base of tree.
Here are some tips to help you avoid the most common mistakes:
- Don't
pile mulch around the trunk. This keeps the trunk wet,
which can allow diseases and insects to invade. Keep the
mulch at least 6 inches from the trunk.
- Don't put
on too little or too much. A 1-inch-deep layer doesn't
do the job. A settled depth of 3 to 5 inches gives you
the full benefits of mulch, including good weed control.
Mulch depths of a foot or two are excessive and may smother
roots.
- Don't
apply sour-smelling mulch. If it smells like a litter
box it's probably been stored on a waterlogged site.
The ammonia that builds in this situation can harm your tree.
Sour mulch is a rare occurrence, but your nose will give you a
clear warning of it.
- Don't use
freshly chipped chips. While the chance of disease
transmission is small it's easy to go zero-risk by aging
chips for six weeks or more before using them around your
trees.
Source
A Sweet
Surprise...
Cleaning out some planters last weekend yielded a nice
surprise. Deep under my sweet potato vines were - can you
guess? - sweet potatoes! Whether you are intentionally
growing them
for eating or you get a surprise crop like ours make sure you
cure them before eating. Curing will allow any wounds to heal
and increase the conversion of starches to sugar for a yummier
yam.
As most
home gardeners cannot meet the demands of perfect curing
conditions it's best to just let them sit in the warmest room in
the house (often the kitchen) for 14 days. After curing
sweet potatoes can be stored for up to six months in a cool place
with a minimum temperature of 50° F.
What's
Hot On The Hotline...
Autumn officially starts this weekend and Savvygardeners will
turn their thoughts to bulb planting. The pros at the
hotline have given us a good primer on all manner of bulbs.
You'll find it in this
week's What's
Hot on the Hotline...
A Dandy
Time to Stop Dandelions...
So, all summer long you've been battling a few (or a few
dozen) dandelions for control of your lawn. Well, they say
the best way to control dandelions and other broad-leaf weeds is
by maintaining a lush, healthy turf. But you've still got
to knock out those pesky weeds that just won't go away and fall
is a great time to do it. Options are many but generally
the most effective controls result with a liquid broadleaf weed
herbicide sprayed under these conditions:
- The weeds
are actively growing.
- Soil
moisture is plentiful (never in drought).
- Air
temperatures are between 60 and 75 degrees F (never above 80
degrees).
- Wind
speeds are below 5 mph.
- The lawn
will not receive moisture through rain or irrigation for at
least 24 hours.
- The lawn
will not be mowed for several days before or after the
application.
- The
person doing the applying reads and follows herbicide label
instructions carefully.
Source
Finally... "But
now in September the garden has cooled, and with it my
possessiveness. The sun warms my back instead of beating on
my head... The harvest has dwindled, and I have grown apart from the intense
midsummer relationship that brought it on." ~
Robert Finch, Poet |