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April
17, 2002
Be
Careful What You Wish For...
Yes, I am the one who wished this warm weather upon us. I
did not ask for hot, humid summer weather however! If my
memory serves me well I remember wishing for something in the mid
70's. Nevertheless it sure has been great to be out in the
garden. All of our tulips are in full bloom and I must
admit that they are fabulous! It is always so great
to see the fruits of your hard labor. I remember last fall
when we were planting all of those tulips - painstakingly - one
by one. After seeing the results I would do it all over
again. I am such a crazy gardener!
A big thanks to all of you who came out to the Earl
May Savvygardener.com party. Kevin and I were kept busy
at the Shawnee store and from what Earl May has told me, the
other stores were busy also. Your support is amazing.
We truly appreciate it and would not be able to survive without
it! For that, Kevin and I thank you. We also have to
give a huge thanks to Earl
May Nursery & Garden Centers. They continue to
support our work and most importantly take care of us as
gardeners. Thanks Earl May!
We have a lot of late spring and summer events planned so make
sure you keep updating your calendar. Mark these two dates
down in May:
- May 5th -
The
Sweet Onion is having a Spring Blast. There will be
prizes, flowering giveaways, food, music and of course all of
the other great stuff to be found at The Sweet Onion.
- May 11th
is "Gardens in Bloom" at The
Kelly Gallery. This will be spectacular!
For those of you who have not had a chance to visit Kelly and
Mark Daniels' place you will not want to miss this.
KCTV-5 will be on hand so come on out and be a celebrity!
I will announce times and give more information soon.
Let the
planting begin! I must admit that we have had several
readers asking if it is OK to go ahead and start planting.
Dig in! (though I'd wait on the peppers and tomatoes) If
the temperatures take a nosedive we will be on top of it and let
you know. I am also starting to plant - couldn't resist the
temptation any longer. This past weekend was great.
We removed all of the mulched leaves from our beds and everything
looks great. It is amazing how everything is growing so
fast. If your beds are still covered go ahead and remove
the mulch. With this warm weather the plants will start to
cook if they are not uncovered. Go for it!
~
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° 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.
Really
Wild Fertilizer from the Zoo...
Our recent warm weather means lots of families are visiting
the zoo. It turns out that a number of gardeners are
visiting too! Why? Well, to buy some "zoo manoo"
- the Kansas City Zoo's special blend of animal manure.
It's apparently great for gardens! Curious? We were
and went to the zoo to check it out last Friday. Read about
our visit and the get the scoop on zoo manoo here...
Just
Like Starting Over...
At last week's Earl May party we were asked by many gardeners
why their forsythia looked so bad this year. Most
complained that some of the forsythia branches looked great while
other branches of the same plant had virtually no flowers at
all. This is actually a very common problem with forsythia
and other flowering shrubs. Basically they have become too
"woody" and need rejuvenation. Simply cut the
tired branches to a point just above ground level. Next
year's growth will include many more flowers.
To stay on
top of this process Savvygardeners will rejuvenate a third of the
shrub every year. That way none of the branches are ever
any older than three years.
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 |
Tines
For Transplanting...
One of the trickiest parts of raising seedlings indoors is
the delicate process of transplanting up to a larger peat pot.
All too often the soil surrounding the roots just falls apart.
Try using an ordinary table fork next time. You can loosen
the plants in the seed flat without damaging the roots.
Then you can open a hole for the new transplant in the new flat
or pot by rocking it sideways. Finally, by sliding the
tines around the delicate stem and pressing down, the transplant
can be firmed in the growing medium.
Source
What's
Hot On The Hotline...
Raise your hand if you love Clematis. I thought
so. Well it turns out that our chief hotline correspondent,
Bill Latimer, is quite handy with these wonderful plants.
Now is a good time to take stock of your existing Clematis and
think about planting some more. Get the inside scoop in this
week's What's
Hot on the Hotline...
Organic
Round-Up?
By now you know that Bradfield
Industries is one of our newest sponsors. They produce
a great line of natural fertilizers which we have used well
before they came on board. Taking a fresh look at their
product line we noticed something called "horticultural
vinegar" (we would describe it as a natural alternative to
Round-Up). That sounded pretty cool so we picked up a
bottle and gave it a try. Read
about the results...
Finally... "April
hath put a spirit of youth in everything." ~
William Shakespeare |
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