Sprouting
Up in Your Garden
Vol. 1, Issue 5 Newsletter
Monday, August 3, 2009
Farm News:
Well, it's August again....Fall is going to creep in around the corner (in
theory anyway), and the kids are going to head back to school in 3 weeks (they
are strangely happy about it...lol). It also means for us that we start culling
plants in the garden to make room for second rounds of our current varieties or
maybe some fall veggies that we are trying to sprout right now....I went
shopping for beans seeds (among others) and had to pare down my checkout basket
because I had chosen so many awesome looking bean varieties. I am eagerly
awaiting my shipment of fall seeds and anticipate
a huge weekend full of dirt, seeds and planting pots (it's odd fun for
us.....guess that's why we are in this business, right?). I also went out to take
stock of what is going to seed, or what I am going to want to go to seed because
the seeds aren't available anymore, and noticed that the grapes should now
officially be called "Grapes Gone Wild". Despite my rather harsh pruning
of them pre-spring, they have reached back over into our neighbor's yard (although she
knows she's welcome to anything that grows on her side - I think that's why she
tolerates them!), taken over the area next to our greenhouse (that is typical)
and have now started to grow over the greenhouse at either end. I think it's a
good idea I am planning an overhaul for the garden area this winter, or the
greenhouse may end up becoming a shade-house instead by next fall!
Topic of the Week:
That got me thinking: when
is it that you are supposed to pull out
all those summer plants, and what do you do with them when you do? Some of you
probably already know this, and that's fine...you can skip ahead....but for the
rest of you I hope that these tips will be of some help.
The biggest thing for us has always been the nighttime temperatures. It can be as hot as it wants during the day, but if those overnight temperatures drop too low, certain plants of ours start to have hissy-fits. The biggest culprits usually consist of the truly heat-loving and totally-cold-intolerant plants like peppers, basils, eggplant, and most melons. You would think that tomatoes would be in this set of plants as well, but we have found that they will muddle along until the first good frost. Most of the summer squash will toddle along for a while until their current fruit-set is done, but you have to watch out for pest damage or plant disease. It is not worth the additional harvest to infect your soil for the next round of plants (been there, done that, not a good idea!). Winter squash, on the other hand, will keep growing and even producing until the first really nasty frost. Use your own judgment and keep an eye on your plants; if they are still healthy and happy, leave them in a while longer, despite what traditional gardening lore says. On the other hand, if you are mired down with a particular veggie, have filled every nook of your freezer, and annoyed your neighbors giving it away, feel free to pull that baby out! I had volunteer tomatillo plants one year (3 of them) and they were the Energizer-type....I finally told my hubby to pull them out as I had no more room to store any tomatillos or the salsa from them.....I breathed a sigh of relief this year when only one popped up (but it's a whopper - 4 ft and counting; if I don't write the next newsletter it's because I have been swallowed by my tomatillo plant!).
That begs the next question: what do you do with the plants you pull out? In most cases, you can just chop them up and compost them over the winter, unless they are diseased. It takes a really consistent, hot compost pile to kill off most of the diseases that can persist, even thru winter. If you do maintain a good, hot compost bin or pile, then by all means, go for it. Otherwise, I would err on the side of caution, and dispose of your diseased plants in your garden waste bin(s). Also, do not compost any plant material infected with insects (unless they are the beneficial sort), as you will only be propagating next spring's batch of garden pests. Again, the best place to dispose of this type of material is in your local garden waste bins. See the links below for help sorting out the good from the bad....
I hope that this article has given you some ideas of where to get started in your fall garden. If I have not answered a question that you have, please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to answer it.
Our Favorites:
Identifying Plant Nutrient Deficiencies - basic information on nutrient-based plant issues and sources to correct them
Manage and Identify Pests - from the U.C. Davis Extension office; a very thorough garden encyclopedia and full of helpful pictures for identifying. My new favorite for figuring out any issues that come up in our garden and greenhouse.
Fall's Arrival Doesn't Spoil A Vegetable Garden - good fall garden inspiration
Plant Now For Fresh Fall Garden Produce - based out of Mississippi, but still relevant fall gardening information
The Fall Vegetable Garden - from Purdue University; good information on prep for fall garden and a nice chart about the hardiness of fall plants
What Not To Compost - good site about what to compost and what NOT to compost.
Compost A to Z - from Gaiam Life, a pretty thorough site on composting
Composting 101 - a simple guide to composting
Recipes:
Apple "Pie Filling"
This apple mixture will work for pies if you don't cook it first. Otherwise, if you can cook it down into a mixture and freeze it for later use in turnovers, toppings or other yummy choices. This is our favorite way to preserve that fall-time goodness from our apple trees.
4 tablespoons butter
6 to 7 cups apples, cored, peeled and sliced thinly
1/2 cup each, brown and white sugar, or equivalent sugar substitute
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each, allspice and ground cloves
1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 to 1 cup flour, wheat or rice
Melt butter in a sauce pot and add the sliced apples. Sauté until just tender (use more butter if necessary to keep the apples slices from burning). Add the sugars, spices, and vanilla; stir thoroughly to make sure the flavors are distributed evenly. Slowly add the flour, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens up. Turn off the heat and use in your favorite apple dessert, or freeze and save for later.
Up and Coming:
We are currently is the process of creating t-shirts and reusable shopping bags that we will bring to the farmers market in the fall along with our plants. Look for samples to be posted on our website in the near future. A percentage of the proceeds will go to support conservation and the promotion of sustainable agriculture.