Weekly Gardening Outlook: Spring has sprung!

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

Honey bee visiting some inaptly named dead nettle

The purple topped dead nettle seen above is a winter annual that seems to be everywhere right now.  Despite its name, it is not a nettle and does not have any stinging parts.  It's in the mint family and the whole plant is quite edible, making an interesting seasonal addition to salads.  As with harvesting any wild edible, make sure you know what you're picking and only harvest it from areas that you know have not been treated with chemicals.  Click HERE for further reading.

Newly planted strawberry plant in cinder block

Newly transplanted strawberry plants in blocks

Late last year, I quit picking off the runners on my strawberry plants and allowed them to infiltrate the main garden area and root new daughter plants.  This past weekend, I transplanted about 50 of these into the blocks that form my raised beds.  It's hard to beat the price (free!!!).

Transplanted volunteer cilantro seedlings

Mint emerging in a cinder block

 While transplanting the strawberry plants, I saw some seedlings with familiar leaf shapes.  I tasted one of the leaves and confirmed that I had some volunteer cilantro seedlings coming up!  I transplanted them into a suitable location.

The mint comes back every year, as seen to the right.  It is very hardy and invasive, so never plant it in your main garden.  Always make sure it is segregated as in my cinder blocks.  Also, don't buy mint.  Find someone that has some and get a cutting.  My mint was established by cutting a piece from my in-law's plant and sticking the cutting into soil.  A little water over a couple of days and it rooted and took off!

Freshly harvested green onion

The green onions persisted all winter and are now growing rapidly.  They add a great flavor to many dishes.

Garlic showing some freeze damage, but putting on new leaves

Asparagus emerging in mid-March

The asparagus is beginning to emerge from the bed we helped a customer plant last year. The owner could harvest a few spears right now, but they decided to give the bed a second year to become well established.

Sand plum tree budding out

My old sand plum tree and the six Nanking cherry bushes that I planted last year are budding out and will soon be covered in leaves.  The plums aren't very good for eating fresh as they have large pits and thin flesh, but I do make jelly from them every year though.  The cherry bushes should produce fruit this year and I'm very excited to see how they taste.  Look for a report on that later in the year.

Chicken and Egg Report:  

We are averaging four eggs a day now.  After transplanting the strawberry plants and covering the cilantro seedlings, I allowed the chickens into the garden.  They very efficiently scratch up the soil and dispose of any weeds or grubs and other insects they can find.

Weather Outlook:

-Highs in the 70's, with overnight lows in the 50's.  A slight chance of rain on Saturday.  Absolutely perfect weather to be out in the garden.

-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:

-Green onions

-I should have already planted lettuces, but procrastinated.  Get it in the ground if you haven't already.

Time to Plant Garlic

Garlic cloves removed from the bulb for planting

It's time to get the garlic planted for next season.  It's quick and easy to do and the weather is perfect for being outside.  Here's a link to everything you need to know:

http://www.backyardfreshfoods.com/2010/06/garlic.html

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section.

Weekly Gardening Outlook

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

        

The onions are ready to be harvested.  Look for more discussion of onions later in the week.  The paste (cooking type) tomatoes are coming online.  The garlic is harvested and put up.  Peppers are starting to pop.  What does that add up to?  Well, almost any Italian dish really, but for us it's salsa making time!  The cilantro has all flowered due to the heat, so we had to resort to buying that at the local store.  Next to watermelons, fresh salsa is the best thing about summer gardening.  

     Flowering cilantro

In anticipation of the coming harvests, we are freeing up freezer space.  Last summer we raised 15 hens and 25 roosters.  We kept the 6 best looking hens and put the rest into the freezer.  We tried to keep the best two roosters around, but in our opinion, they just made too much noise for a suburban environment.  We are pressure canning the remaining meat.  Chicken salad anyone?

Things to be on the lookout for:

Japanese beetles are out in full force.  As we've discussed before here, they can be kept at bay on medium to small plants with a jar of soapy water and diligence.  On our pole bean arbor and large apple tree, this just isn't possible.  Too much real estate and too high up.  Being busy people, we let the beetles get a head start on our apple tree.  They did this much damage in a little over a week!  The tree will survive, as it has past attacks, but it now has much less foliage to gather the sun's energy.  The result will likely be smaller apples.  They are just now attacking our pole beans and we aren't going to go down without a fight.  So how to deal with this problem organically?  Our old friend neem oil to the rescue.  A twice weekly application should hold them off.  We are also attacking them on another front by spreading milky spore on the lawn.  This is a bacteria that invades beetle grubs and kills them within 1-3 weeks.  When that grub dies, it releases even more milky spore to take out other grubs.  This method is organic and safe for pets and children.  We'll keep you updated on our progress.

Weather outlook:
-Low 90's
-Dry; very slight chance of rain late in the week
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Green beans (Wow!  These pole beans are really producing!)

-Peppers

-Watermelons (Getting some delicious melons)

-Chard and kale

-Onions (Most are ready to harvest)
-Tomatoes
-Cucumbers (MANY cucumbers!)
-Kohlrabi (Should probably pull the last stragglers, but haven't yet)
-Squash and zucchini (Squash vine borer has hurt the harvest, but still getting some zucchini)
-Squash blossoms
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs (all going strong)

Garlic

Garlic is perhaps the lowest maintenance crop we raise.  It is very resistant to most pests and it replants itself every year.  Like most bulbs, garlic should be planted in the fall.  So why are we posting about it now?  There are many different varieties of garlic, but for a standard, hardnecked garlic you will have the most success with locally adapted varieties.  Examples of locally adapted garlic should begin to become available at your local farmer's market anytime now.  So now's the time.  Go out and get some, then store it in a cool, dry place until early October.

Planting and Harvesting:

Prepare a sunny to partially shaded location with your loosest, richest soil.  Use plenty of rich, black compost if you have it.  In early October, plant one clove each about 6" deep and 6-12" apart.  Orient the cloves so that the pointed end is up and the blunt end is down.  They will sprout small shoots in the fall.  Some green leaves will remain throughout the winter.  DO NOT mow these down.  The plant will gather energy slowly throughout the winter with them, which will give it a great start in the spring.  After they have come up in the fall, mulch them with a 2" layer of well shredded leaves if you have them.  A bagging mower works well for making this mulch.  When spring comes around you will observe rapid growth.  In mid-May the plants will send up a central stalk about 3 feet tall with a bulbous end called a scape.  As soon as they emerge, cut the scape off of the very end of the stalk.  This will force the plant to put its energy into the bulb rather than sexual reproduction.  Save the scapes and stir fry them in olive oil.  They are really good with a mild garlic taste.  You can see plants with the scapes removed in the picture above.

When one third of the plant has turned brown (mid June), pull one and look at it.  To pull a garlic plant, grasp it firmly as close to the ground as possible and steadily pull up.  Do not jerk them or you risk breaking the neck off and leaving the bulb in the ground.  If it has a well developed head with a "paper" wrapper around it, then pull them all.  If not, then check again the next week.  It's not a sin to just wait until the whole plant has died back in late June before pulling your garlic (see photo above).

Tips and Tricks:

• Buy locally grown garlic for starter bulbs.  Your farmer's market is a good place to look.  You want to purchase the largest, healthiest heads of garlic available and buy 3 times as much as you think you need for planting.  Once you get home, plant only the large cloves from each head.  Store and eat the rest.
• The best time to pull bulbs is after a rain.  The damp soil allows the bulb to come right up; with dry soil you may snap the neck of the garlic off and leave the head in the ground.
• When you pull your garlic, you will likely see small (3/8") orange bulblets around the outside of your bulb (see photo at the beginning of this post).  Those are new plants.  While pulling them out you will likely leave several in the ground, which will give you a brand new crop next year.  We have never replanted our garlic and have had a good crop every year.

Putting Up the Harvest:

• Whole bulbs.  
• Leave plenty of neck on each bulb (5-6").  Cutting it too close will open the bulb up to rot.  Let the bulbs air dry for a week in a warm airy place.  A covered porch with a fan is ideal, but the fan is not wholly necessary.  Just make sure there is plenty of air flow.  Store cured whole bulbs in a cool, dry, dark place.  
• Garlic Powder
• You can make your own garlic powder by dehydrating thin slices and then pulverizing them with a food processor.

Organic Pest Control (Remediation)

So you did everything right (or didn't) and you have an infestation?  Here are some organic methods to try:

• Spray the insects off with a strong stream of water 
• Works especially well on small, less mobile pests like aphids 
• Neem Oil 
• We have had a lot of success as a treatment for powdery mildew, downy mildew, and other fungal problems
• Also, works well as an insecticide because it only harms insects that eat plant material
• Spray in the evening and avoid flowers to reduce the likelihood of harming bees
• Bacillus thuringiensis
• Kills caterpillars and gnats by invading their gut with a harmful bacteria
• Does not harm beneficial insects, humans, pets, etc.
• Beneficial Insects
• Beneficial nematoads are microscopic insects that naturally parasitize many pest insects that live in the soil
• Lady beetles and green lacewings eat large numbers of aphids and other pests
• Diatomaceous Earth
• Kills all insects (especially hard bodied insects) by physically cutting them with its sharp edges allowing natural organisms to invade and kill the insect
• WARNING:  This treatment will also kill beneficial insects, so be thoughtful with when and how it is applied.  Also avoid breathing it in during application.
• Insecticidal Soap or Horticultural Oil
• Kills all types of insects by coating them and depriving them of oxygen
• WARNING:  These treatments will also kill beneficial insects, so be thoughtful with when and how they are applied.
• Additives such as garlic juice and cayenne pepper can be added to insecticidal soap for residual pest repelling properties