Weekly Gardening Outlook: Rain, Rain Go Away!

This will be a continuing series where we look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

Well.  That was a lot of rain.  Northwest Arkansas got 15" of rain in a few days, resulting in the biggest flood I've seen in my 14 years here.  Check out the pictures HERE.  You can compare the picture of the dam at Devil's Den State park to my recently posted picture.  Let me take this opportunity to brag on the raised bed system.  Unlike in-ground beds where water can sit for days and smother plants, my raised beds were drained within an hour of the rain stopping.

Hoverfly on an onion flower

Honey bee on an onion flower

In addition to the normal honey bees, I spotted a hoverfly in the garden recently.  These beneficial flies are often colored like bees, but are harmless to humans as they do not bite or sting.  They are pollinators as adults and some larvae eat soft bodied pest insects like aphids or stink bugs.  HERE is a study showing the connection between plantings of attractive plants, hoverflies, and a decrease in pest insect populations.  HERE is a link with lists of attractive plantings for various beneficial insects.  Consider planting things like dill, fennel, or parsley to make your garden more attractive to these unpaid mercenaries in the fight against pests.

Onions, arugula, cilantro, and flowering bok choy

Week old onions (purple and yellow)

Bolting bok choy

The onions and herbs are doing great.  The bok choy bolted quickly and is quite bitter.  That just goes to show you that buying plants on a whim doesn't usually work out. 

Arugula after harvest

Fresh picked arugula leaves

I recently harvested the center leaves from the arugula as an addition to our dinner salad.  I really enjoy the nutty flavor that it adds.

Strawberries

Strawberry runners

The first harvest from the strawberry plants is close.  If you have strawberry plants, be sure to be removing the runners right now to increase fruit production.

Blueberry flowers

The two remaining blueberry bushes are flowering nicely.  Hopefully they will set fruit.

Chicken and Egg Report:

We are getting five eggs a day from our backyard flock of 6 hens.  The person that took us up on our recent offer to help get a backyard flock going has obtained six 2 month old chickens.  On Friday, we will be rehabbing an old children's playhouse to serve as a chicken coop.  Look for upcoming posts about that.

Weather Outlook:

-Look for a break in the rain for the next two days and then another chance of rain this weekend.  Expect typical spring temperatures of between 40 and 75 degrees.

It's still a little too cool to plant warm season crops outside like tomatoes, eggplant, squash, or cucumbers.

-Ten day forecast

What's Being Harvested:

-Herbs

-Arugula

Junior Master Gardeners: Nature hike at Devil's Den State Park

Dam at Lee creek

Just a quick report on the last Junior Master Gardener meeting.  If you've got kids, this is a really fun and educational club.  Check it out HERE.  The meeting was held at Devil's Den state park.  The park, including the dam shown above, was built in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC).  Click the link for more information about the park.

The kids were treated to a talk on bats by one the park's interpreters, played "wildflower tag", and ate hot dogs and chips.  Afterwards we had to option of listening to a talk on snakes or going on a self directed hike.  We went hiking!

Refreshing waterfall

Mating speckled king snakes

It was an usually warm spring day (upper 80s) making it a great day for a hike.  We hiked about a 2 mile circular route that took us up and over a mountain and past numerous caves with cool breezes wafting out of them.  We went under a waterfall and got to explore numerous cool rock formations.  We came across the snakes pictured above.  They were right in the middle of the trail breeding!  How cool.  The trail went past Lee creek, giving dad a chance to lie down in the grass while Will threw rocks in the water.  By the end of the hike, our blood was pumping and we had gotten rid of some of the winter cobwebs.

Any readers in Northwest Arkansas want a small flock of egg layers?

To the first responder via comments or the contact form, I will help someone in Northwest Arkansas start their own small backyard flock of egg laying hens.  At no charge for my time and expertise, I will order chicks, design and help you build your coop, and provide advice for your specific situation.  All I ask is permission to photograph and write about the process.  Your identity, picture of yourself, address, etc. won't be published without permission.

Any sized backyard can accommodated a flock.  Unlike roosters, hens are relatively quiet, only emitting a low cooing or cackle when startled.  With a small flock like this, they do NOT smell.  I know that Fayetteville and Rogers specifically allow 4 hens to be kept for backyard egg production.  However, it's a good idea to call your city and learn the specifics of any pertinent ordinances.

Approximate costs:

My help and labor - FREE

4 hens - $10

Coop materials - $50+ depending on design

Feed costs - $8 per month

Return:

2 dozen healthy, fresh eggs per week

The ability to recycle your food scraps without having to compost

The enjoyment of watching your own chickens scratching about in your backyard

Weekly Gardening Outlook: Last Minute Bed Prep and Some Early Plantings

This will be a continuing series where we look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

Bermuda grass infesting raised bed.

In December of 2009, I added two wooden framed 4' x 8' raised beds to my garden.  Despite scalping the area with a lawnmower on its lowest setting and laying down two layers of thick cardboard, the Bermuda grass persisted and invaded my new beds last year.  This spring, I raked the soil back and removed as much as I could, but I have no doubt that I will deal with it again this year.  If you are building a new bed and have Bermuda grass, my suggestion is to remove the top 3-4" of soil containing the grass before building your bed.  A flat-nosed shovel will do the job, but a motorized sod-cutter can be rented to expedite the job if you are putting in multiple beds.

Evergreen bunching onions flowering.

Evergreen bunching onions flowering.

The flowers are opening up on the evergreen bunching onions.  As they are pollinated and form seeds, I will be watching them closely to try to harvest some of my own seeds.  I started these from seed last spring and look forward to completing the cycle from seed to seed.

Apple tree leafing out.

Despite my concern over the -18 degree temperatures, the potted apple trees made it safely through the winter.  I will pot them up into larger containers soon.

Partially planted bed containing onions and herbs.

This past Sunday, I planted a portion of the "Bermuda grass free" bed with onion sets (yellow and purple), cilantro, lemon thyme, oregano, and bok choy.  The onions can handle any mild freeze that we may get, but I will have to cover the herbs and the bok choy.  In about two weeks, when all danger of frost has passed, the garden really gets going when I put in the main summer crops.  Until then, bed prep continues.

Oregano. 

A common herb, oregano is used in Italian and Mexican food.  Because it spreads via runners, I only bought one plant and will divide it up as it spreads to eventually have several for plantings in my blocks.  Oregano is known for its hardy nature.  Once established, it will come back year after year.

Lemon Thyme.

 Lemon thyme is a less common herb that I haven't found in stores.  It's great on fish and chicken or anything that you want to add a lemony zing to.  Thyme of any variety is very tough and stays green through the winter and comes back year after year.

Bok Choy.

I've never grown bok choy and bought this plant on a whim.  It appears that spring may not be the easiest time to grow these according to THIS source.

Arugula.

 Arugula is a nice addition to a salad with a spicy flavor.  It continuously sends up new leaves as I pick the young tender ones for salads.  As the days get warmer, it will bolt (send up flowers) and become bitter.  I will erect a shade cloth to cover it in three or four weeks to try to prolong the harvest.

Divided cilantro.

Transplanted volunteer cilantro. 

 My transplanted volunteer cilantro is doing great.  I bought two more cilantro plants and then divided them immediately in half before planting.  We use a lot of cilantro in salsa.  It will bolt as it gets hotter outside.  Once it flowers and forms seeds, they can be harvested and used for cooking.  Their seeds are the seasoning called coriander.  I will erect shade clothes over them in three to four weeks as well to try to prolong the harvests.

Yellow onion sets.

Purple onion sets.

 After these pictures were taken, the sets were covered with an inch of soil.  Our local nursery provides as many onion sets as I would care to take free of charge every year.  This year I added purple onions to the garden just for the variety.  Onions are very easy to grow.  For large bulbs, plant the smallest sets four inches apart and 1-2" deep.  Water them once and pretty much leave them alone until late July.

Rabbit or deer damage to a blueberry bush.

Budding blueberry bush.

I stopped by the house of the customer that I helped plant four blueberry bushes.  Three of their bushes suffered severe damage over the winter from rabbits or deer munching on them.  This next fall, we will install wire fencing around each bush to protect them.

Chicken and Egg Report:

We are still getting four to five eggs a day.  One hen has gone broody and is sitting on the eggs.  She's not pulling feathers from her breast, so I figure she'll come out of it pretty quickly.  FYI broody means that a hen begins sitting on the eggs with the intent to hatch them.  Usually she pulls the feathers from her breast so that the skin can better transmit her heat into the eggs.  She also doesn't get up to eat or drink very much and can lose weight.  In the spring and summer our hens go broody here and there and we just leave them be other than harvesting the eggs out from under them daily.

Weather Outlook:

About an inch and half of rain.

-The evening after planting the our bed, we got about an inch and a half of much needed rain!

-It's going to cool down with a chance of rain Friday and Saturday.  I've seen predictions that it might get close to a frost Saturday morning, so keep and eye on that.  By Sunday it should warm back up into daytime high in the 70s.

-Ten day forecast

What's Being Harvested:

-Herbs

-Arugula

Weekly Gardening Outlook: Warming Up

This will be a continuing series where we look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

Pill bugs on the underside of a brick.

Closeup of pill bugs on the underside of a brick.

Pull back mulch or lift up a pot and chances are that you will find these critters in your garden.  I think we all played with pill bugs when we were kids.  We called them rollie pollies because they would roll into a ball when threatened.  The closely related sow bug looks similar, but is slightly flatter and does not roll into a ball when threatened.

Recently, a reader emailed asking about these in their garden and whether they were good or bad.  The answer is both.  They are omnivores and scavengers, meaning that they will eat anything they can find living or dead.  They help break down organic matter in the soil, but will also eat your crops.  I find them in my garden all the time and the only damage that I have ever been able to attribute to them is when they eat into some of my strawberries leaving shallow pits in the surface.  I can live with that, so we coexist in the garden.

So how do you reduce the population if it becomes too high?  Alter the habitat in and around your garden.  They want dark, damp surfaces against soil with a lot of organic matter.  Pull mulch a little further away from your plants.  Remove potted plants, old boards, bricks, large rocks, or anything else they might hide under from the garden area.  As a last resort, when there is a very large colony that is causing major damage, diatomaceous earth (DE) can be used as an organic treatment.  A couple of warnings about DE.  Do not breathe any in when applying as it can cause scarring in your lungs.  Also, it is a non-discriminating pesticide and will kill any hard-bodied insect.  So apply it in the evening after bees have quit flying.

Egg shells in a bag.

Planting time for warm weather crops such as tomatoes, squash, and the like is just a few weeks away.  These crops need a lot of calcium to prevent blossom end rot disease.  A half cup of crushed egg shells in the hole when planting will provide this extra calcium.  I keep a large gallon sized bag in the kitchen and put my spent eggs shells in there.  I leave the top of the bag open to allow the shells to dry out and become brittle.  After the shells have dried a week, I crush them inside the bag.  I have several pounds of shells in the bag shown above.  You can see the older crushed shells on the bottom and the newer uncrushed shells on top drying out.

Potatoes planted by Junior Master Gardeners begin to emerge.

Young peanut plant.

I stopped by the Junior Master Gardener garden and the potatoes they planted are beginning to emerge.  The peanuts in a jar that my son brought home sprouted and have been planted into the garden.

Blooms on a year old strawberry plant

Immature strawberry.

We are starting to see green strawberries forming.  The one year-old established plants have many more blooms on them than the younger transplants.

Budding blueberry bush.

The blueberry bushes did not handle the -18 degree temperatures this past winter.  Being in pots made it that much harder on them.  Of the four bushes, two have not begun to bud out.

Chicken and Egg Report:

Our average increased to five eggs per day this past week!  The chickens spend their days scratching around and nipping off the tender green shoots of grass that are emerging.  We expect their feed consumption to decrease with the onset of spring and the emergence of all the new things for them to eat.

Weather Outlook:

-Classic crazy spring weather. Highs in the mid 60s today rising to the mid 80s this weekend then falling back to the mid 60s early next week.  A chance of rain Thursday and again this weekend.  No freezes are predicted.

-Ten day forecast

What's Being Harvested:

-Not much right now other than wild edibles.

ALERT: Freeze Warning Tonight!

http://www.weather.com/weather/alerts/localalerts/72703

For my readers in Northwest Arkansas, a freeze warning has been issued for tonight.  Cover any potentially affected plants.