This will be a continuing series where we look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.
The Blogger problems seem to have been resolved and I have been able to reconstruct this earlier post. I am republishing it, though the material is a couple of weeks old.
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My youngest boy helping out in the garden |
A mistake many people make is putting their warm season annuals (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, etc.) out too early in the season. I have done it myself. The gardening bug hits with that first warm day in the spring and you just want to fill the garden up. For a gardener in the extreme northern United States or Canada, where growing seasons are short it makes sense to get the summer crops in the ground as soon as possible and try to protect them from cooler weather. However, here in northwest Arkansas, we have a fairly long growing season of about 5 and a half months. There is plenty of time for the crops to mature before the first freezes hit in October. These warm season annuals can be permanently stunted by cool soil and overnight temperatures, so I don't plant too much until the first part of May.
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Bed overtaken with Bermuda grass |
Well here we are in early May and it's time to really get our hands in the earth. In the picture above, you can see the bane of my gardening existence. Bermuda grass. This is by far the worst infestation of any of my beds. When building your own beds, I urge you REMOVE ALL BERMUDA GRASS within several feet of your beds and don't let it ever get a toehold in your garden. I wet the soil and remove as much as I can find by hand every spring. This plus constantly weeding out new shoots gets me through the summer. I refuse to use RoundUp.
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| Garden soil and a worm |
Speaking of garden soil, this is what the soil looks like after just three years of organic gardening. Loose, crumbly, black, and full of worms. The formula is plenty of organic matter (compost) + no chemicals + avoiding soil compaction by not walking on it or using power tillers. Simple.
On to the planting.
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| Multiple basil plants in one pot |
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| Removing a "biodegradable" pot |
Basil is a member of the mint family and as such is extremely hardy. I carefully separate the roots of each individual plant in a basil pot and plant them separately. I got three different plants from this one purchase and they are all doing very well.
On "biodegradable" peat pots. I don't like them. I have planted them into the ground per instructions before and at the end of the season, the pots were still there when I pulled the plant up. It's my contention that they restrict the roots of a plant. It may do okay in the pot, but it will do better without it. Also, a peat pot with the rim above the soil line acts as a wick that sucks the moisture out of the soil up the where it can evaporate. I soak the plants thoroughly and let them sit awhile and then remove the pot as shown above. I use the remains of the peat pot as a weed barrier on the soil surface.
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| Two tomato seedlings; the one on the right is pruned and ready for planting |
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| Planted tomato seedling |
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| Tomato seedlings and a soaker hose |
Tomatoes are easy to plant. Dig a hole that's almost as deep as the plant is tall. Pinch off all, but the top leaves. Throw and handful of crushed eggshells in the hole to provide calcium to prevent
blossom end rot. Plant the seedling deep with just the uppermost leaves protruding from the ground. Tomato plants will root all along the stem and this gives them a nice big root system. They will need support to keep them up off the ground. See
HERE for a previous post about caging, trellising, and staking.
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| Peppers and a soaker hose |
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| Pepper seedling |
Peppers are even easier. Plant them with the garden soil at the same level as the plant was in the pot. Insert a strong 3 foot long stake in the ground near the base of the plant (not shown above). Do it while the plant is small so that you don't damage the plant roots later on.
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| Tomatoes, peppers, onions, and basil inside the bed; Strawberry plants in the blocks |
Two beds planted. Two to go.
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| Damaged tomato seedling |
The next day I found 5 of my tomato seedlings that looked like this. My first thought was
cutworms, but they cuts are not low enough or smooth enough and sifting the soil around the seedling did not reveal the worm. Deer and rabbits are excluded by multiple fences and vigilant dogs. I think this was caused by a rat or birds. Something to keep an eye on. Replanting will be needed.
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| Thyme |
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| Oregano |
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| Cilantro and onions |
The cilantro is ready to harvest. If not harvested, it will soon bolt due to the upper 80 degree temperatures we've been experiencing.
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| Arugula |
The arugula bounced right back from the previous harvest and is ready to be picked again.
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| Strawberries |
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| Freshly picked strawberries |
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| Morning snack for the kids |
The strawberries are starting to produce a nice daily harvest. So much more flavorful than the watery store-bought version.
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| Pillbug damage |
Here is an example of pillbug damage that I talked about earlier in
THIS post. This was the only affected berry I could find. I just cut off the affected part and ate the rest.
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| Garlic chives |
These were given to me by my
Master Gardener mentor. I will let them grow a little more before I eat some. They are very invasive, so they have been planted in the blocks to keep them from taking over the garden.
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| Mint |
Speaking of invasive. My mint plants were started by cutting a few pieces from my in law's plants and then just sticking them in the dirt. From there they have come back year after year. These MUST be planting in some sort of containment.
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| Green sand plums. |
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| Immature blueberry clusters |
The plums are on their way, as are the blueberries.
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| Nanking cherry bush |
The Nanking bush cherries flowered a little, but I cannot detect any growing fruit.
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| Onion seeds |
The onion's seeds are in various stages of maturity. I plan to save some for next year. Honey bees and hover flies continue to be strongly attracted to these flowers.
The hula hoe (aka stirrup hoe or scuffle hoe)
is a must have tool for any garden, whether raised bed or row crop. It allows a gardener to quickly remove weeds with precision, without having to bend down. To use it, drag the blade across the ground just under the surface. It cuts off weeds, but doesn't destroy the root structure of nearby crops. When preparing beds or weeding large areas where less precision is needed, it can be worked back and forth like a mop. In the spring, I take my hula hoe out of the garden shed and it doesn't get put back until winter. I like to always have it handy for a quick weeding session. If I could only have one tool in the garden, this would be it.
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| Watermelon rind picked clean by chickens |
We are getting five eggs a day from our backyard flock of 6 hens. An often overlooked benefit to chickens is the ability to recycle kitchen scraps without composting. They will eat anything short of citrus peels or onion tops.
-Hot with chances of strong storms for Wednesday and Thursday. Cooling back down into the 60s on Friday. Dry the rest of the week. Slowly warming to the upper 70s again by next week.
-Strawberries
-Garlic scapes
-Herbs
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