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 garden is growing extremely rapidly right now.  We check our plants daily to ensure that they are staying within their cages (tomatoes) or growing up their trellises like we want them to.  It takes just a day for a cucumber or squash vine to lean over and grab onto a neighboring plant or trellis.  If this happens we unwrap the tendril and guide the vine back to where it needs to be.


Watermelons climbing cattle panels

Spaghetti squash climbing cattle panels

Things to be on the lookout for:

The imported cabbageworm is doing its damage in Northwest Arkansas.  You can see the damage done to some of our broccoli below.  A round of Bacillus thuringiensis has the infestation under control.  See our other post about this pest.


Damage done by the imported cabbageworm

Adult stage of the imported cabbageworm known as the Small White

Weather outlook:
-Warm, upper 80's
-Chance of sporadic rain throughout the week
-Ten day forecast


What's being harvested:

-Broccoli
-Squash and zucchini

-Squash blossoms
-Celeriac leaves
-Basil, mint, and other herbs
-Turnips
-Radishes
-Strawberries
-Green onions


What's coming soon:

-Green tomatoes
-Peppers
-Kohlrabi is almost ready

Organic Pest Control (Prevention)

Like most problems, the best time to address pest problems in a garden is before they occur.  Let's look at some things to think about when planning your garden.

• Mix up your plantings instead of planting large blocks of the same plant.  It makes the pest work harder to get to all of your plants and the different smells and appearances can confuse the pest.

• Attract beneficial insects

• Plant native flowers and bushes.
• Plant fennel, mint, or dill and allow them to flower.  Many parasitic insects (the good guys!) will feed on and hang out in these plants while looking for other insects to parasitize
• Quit using non-organic insecticides on your property and be thoughtful of when and how you apply organic pesticides.
• The easiest thing you can do is to allow some area near your garden to go "wild" by not mowing.  This gives beneficial insects a place to shelter.

See the "wild" area behind our garden.  This is also a wet marshy area that attracts frogs and toads.

• Attract toads and frogs
• They love water, so if a pond or wet area isn't near your garden you will need to provide it.  A concrete bird bath top buried level with the ground works perfectly.  Just keep it flushed out to avoid mosquitoes breeding in it.
• Provide shelter.  Terracotta toad houses can be purchased, but a 6" terracotta pot upside down with a 3-4" hole broken into the side works just as well.  Place these around your garden in the most shaded areas.

• Plant things that repel pests
• Japanese beetles can devour a garden, but are repelled by onions and garlic.  Guess what we plant around the edge of our beds?
• Marigolds and nasturtiums repel many beetles, worms, and nematoads.  As a bonus, their flower petals and leaves are great additions to a salad.
• In addition to being great in the kitchen, basil repels flies and mosquitoes.
• Cover the bottom of your raised bed with 1/2" hardware cloth
• This will impede any burrowing pest (voles, gophers, rats, etc.) from dining on your plant's roots

In the next installment we will look at what to do if you did everything right (or didn't), but still are having problems.

Suggested Reading:

The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control: A Complete Guide to Maintaining a Healthy Garden and Yard the Earth-Friendly Way

Great Garden Companions: A Companion-Planting System for a Beautiful, Chemical-Free Vegetable Garden

Swiss Chard: A Spinach Replacement

If you like spinach (fresh or cooked), we suggest never growing it again.  


Huh?  


Instead, try Swiss chard.  They are very similar to each other when eaten fresh or cooked.  There are some key differences.  Spinach bolts and becomes inedible when summer temperatures arrive, where chard continues to thrive.  The leaf shape of spinach traps dirt and is difficult to clean, while chard rinses easily and grows in a more upright fashion that keeps its leaves cleaner to begin with.  Spinach is dull green, where chard adds beautiful colors to your table.  Spinach only gives a leafy product, where as chard stalks are colorful celery-like treats in addition to the leafy goodness.

Yeah, we really like Swiss chard.


Swiss chard comes in several varieties, distinguished by the stalk color (white, red, yellow, and orange).  We prefer a rainbow seed mixture just for pure aesthetics.  Some claim texture and taste difference between varieties, but we haven't experienced this.








Tips and Tricks:

• Plant seed directly into the ground 2-3 weeks before the last frost.  This would mean seeding about April 1st in northwestern Arkansas.  It's not too late to seed some now though.  Go ahead and get it going!
• Pick smaller, glossy leaves for fresh eating in salads.  Use the larger leaves for cooked greens.
• The crunchy central stalk can easily be removed by folding the leaf lengthwise and running a sharp knife between the leaf and stalk.
• Remove and discard old leaves to encourage growth.  Chard grows from the inside out, so leave the smallest inner leaves for future harvest.

Putting Up the Harvest:

• Swiss chard is so hardy that it grows almost year-round reducing the need for storage.
• Freezing
• Blanch for 2 minutes. 
• Plunge into ice water for 2 minutes to stop the blanching process. 
• Pat dry and freeze in an airtight container.
• Dehydrating (good for adding greens to soup!)
• Blanch and chill as above.
• Place in a dehydrator on its coolest setting until the leaves are brittle.
• Store in an airtight container.

Sweet Basil

Sweet basil should be found in every garden.  Just brush up against it and the surrounding area is filled with its sweet scent.  It adds flavor to a fresh salad, Italian dish, freshly made pesto, or oil and vinegar salad dressings.


Commonly Used Cultivars:


Sweet basil (aka bush basil) - Seen in the picture above, this is the traditional basil that you will likely find seedlings for at your local big box store.  It is the most common type and one of two that we are growing this year.  It has a wonderful flavor and grows about 18" tall.


Genovese basil - The second type that we are growing this year.  Used in pesto and is fast growing.  Grows about 18" tall.


Lemon basil - Has a very lemony flavor.  Good in chicken dishes or tea.   Grows about 2' tall.


Thai basil (aka holy basil) - Used in Thai and Vietnamese dishes.  Grows about 18" tall.


Tips and Tricks:

• Pinch off any flower stalks as soon as they appear
• Harvest small bits often to encourage the plant to bush out instead of growing tall and lanky
• They love full sun as long as the soil is kept moist (not wet)
• They do very well in pots or the 4" x 5" x 8" openings in the upturned cinder blocks that make up our beds
• In many big box store offerings, the plants can be subdivided with a sharp knife to give more plants per dollar spent
• They do not tolerate frost or even cool weather well, so wait until the nights are in the 50's before planting

Putting Up the Harvest:

• Drying 
• Basil can be dried by cutting off the stem and hanging in a warm room for a week.  To maintain flavor, pick off the leaves and keep them in an airtight container after drying.
• Freezing
• For a pesto base, process the leaves with a small amount of olive oil in your food procesor; then freeze in whatever airtight container you wish.  
• For whole leaves, place in an ice tray with enough water to cover the leaves and freeze.

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.

This week we will see our first 90+ degree days. It is normal for a plant to appear slightly wilted during midday with these kind of temperatures. You should only be concerned if the edges of the leaves turn brown or the plant doesn't perk up when watered.

Things to be on the lookout for:
Maintain even soil moisture. Uneven watering can cause poor fruit development and unhealthy plants. Try to keep your soil as damp as a just wrung out sponge. It is perfectly normal for the top inch of soil to dry out and develop a crust, but below that it should be lightly damp to the touch. Check your soil each day, but water no more than once a day (preferably in the morning).

Check the underside of the leaves on squash plants (especially yellow squash) for clusters of small orange to dark red eggs. If found, crush them. These are squash bug eggs. If squash bug nymphs or adults are found on your plants, a dusting with diatomaceous earth (DE) will help control them. DE is the crushed remains of ancient algae. It gets into the crevices in the bodies of insects and physically cuts them apart. It is organic and chemical free, but wear a mask when applying to avoid getting it into your lungs. Also, keep it off of the squash flowers to protect bees.

Continue to be on the lookout for imported cabbage worm on your broccoli, kale, and kohlrabi and for signs of powdery mildew and downy mildew on your squash, cucumber, and melons. Read my previous post on these problems.

Squash, tomato, and watermelon tip:
Save your eggs shells, let them dry, crush them into small pieces, and then mix them into the top inch of soil around your squashes, tomatoes, and watermelons. These plants are susceptible to blossom end rot which is caused by a calcium deficiency. The egg shells will boost the calcium in your soil.

Weather outlook:
-Hot, climbing into the mid to upper 90's
-Chance of sporadic rain throughout the week
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Garlic scapes
-Baby squash and zucchini
-Celeriac leaves
-Basil, mint, and other herbs
-Squash blossoms
-Loose lettuce (probably the last week for this unless your lettuce area is heavily shaded)
-Turnips
-Radishes
-Strawberries
-Green onions

What's coming soon:
-Broccoli heads are getting really close (harvest when the individual buds in the head are the size of match heads)
-Peppers and early tomatoes are putting on fruits
-Kohlrabi is starting to head up

Trellising, Caging, and Staking

One of the biggest advantages of the raised bed design that we use is the ability to grow a lot of food in a relatively small space.  So how can we grow space hogs like watermelons, cantaloupe, tomatoes, spaghetti squash, cucumbers, and the like with such a small ground footprint?  As I am sure you have guessed, the answer is we support them and grow them vertically into the air.

Cattle Panels:

The most useful trellis material that we have found are 16' x 50" cattle panels.  They are strong and flexible, have holes large enough to put your hands through for harvesting and guiding the vines, and at $15 each are CHEAP for the value they bring to the garden.  They can be bought at your local Tractor Supply, Lowes, etc.  With a pair of bolt cutters they can be cut into custom sizes and shapes in minutes.  If you don't have bolt cutters, ask the people where you buy them from and they will probably cut them for you.


In the picture above you can see three trellises.  The rainbow shaped trellis on the left will support the spaghetti squash that you see in the wooden bed.  If you have the space to do it, a curved design works better than a strictly vertical trellis as it gives the vine more solar exposure and more support for heavy fruits.  If the vine is well supported by the trellis, it will usually be strong enough to support even heavy fruits.  If the fruits do become too heavy, they can be supported with a sling made from breathable fabric such as old pantyhose.  


Coming from a cinder block bed on the right of the picture, watermelon vines (personal sized variety) will grow up this arched trellis which connects to the spaghetti squash trellis.  Spaghetti squash and watermelon vines grow particularly long (15-20 feet!!!) so full length 16' panels were used.  

Between the two wooden beds we created an arbor by bending a full length panel to fit.  Green beans (pole beans) are planted in each bed and will climb up both sides of the arch.  These vines and fruit weigh very little and just the stiffness of the bent panel will support them.


Due to space constraints in our garden area, our cucumbers are growing vertically on a half a cattle panel (8' tall) secured to two 8' tall t posts.  

Green beans ready to grow up the trellis

Connecting the panels:

The spaghetti squash trellis is connected to the wooden bed with fencing staples at the bottom and at the top it is connected to the top of two t posts with electric fence wire.  The watermelon trellis is up against the cinder block bed at the bottom and is secured to a t post with the electric fencing wire to keep it in place.  At the top it it connected to the spaghetti squash trellis with electric fencing wire.  While we are on the subject, electric fencing wire is marvelous stuff to have around the garden and home.  It doesn't rust and is useful for a ton of things.


Tomato Cages:

The soil in our raised beds is so loose and friable that taller plants need support or they can fall over.  Tomato cages aren't just for tomatoes.  These cages completely surround the plants and provide good support for crops such as eggplants and peppers.  There are many styles available, but we prefer the conical, premade type because they stack inside one another for easy storage through the winter.  Hint: wire the cages together at the top with electric fencing wire to provide more stability.  Many people have good luck with welded wire fencing rolled and wired together to form a cylinder.  One method that we are thinking about experimenting with next year is the Florida weave.  If anyone has any experience with this, let us know in the comments section.


Staking:


Almost anything can be used as a stake. Bamboo, premade plastic covered stakes, and wooden stakes are common.  Put the stake in before planting to avoid damaging the plant's root system.  As the plant grows tie it LOOSELY with a soft material to the stake.  Strips of old pantyhose work great for this.  Ensure that the stake is tall enough for the plant's final height and that it is in the ground deep enough to avoid toppling over during a wind storm.

Apple Trees

When we bought this house 7 years ago, it came with a large, overgrown apple tree in the backyard.  We have harvested a lot of small (2-3") green apples from it over the years.  They made passable jelly and apple sauce.


Tired of small fruits, we decided to try to increase our fruit size and quality.  We started by pruning this unruly tree in late winter.  Then, as the fruits appeared in early May, we thinned them by hand. What a difference it made!  It turns out that our tree is not a green apple tree after all!  The apples are growing much quicker than previous years and are starting to turn red.  Our apples were never ripening.  It will be interesting to see what kind of apples this tree is supposed to produce!  We added to our "orchard" with two dwarf apple trees planted in pots this spring.


Thinking about planting apple trees?  It's not difficult.  Here's what you need to know.


All apple trees consist of a tree grafted to root stock.  The tree portion determines what kind of apples your tree will produce, while the root stock determines final tree size.  The neat thing about this is that an apple tree can be made to fit in almost any yard.

Dwarf trees (pictured at right)

• need as little as 8' of horizontal space
• grow 4-8' tall
• can be harvested and sprayed without ladders
• some varieties can be grown in pots
• produce 30-40 full sized apples per tree when mature
• must be staked as they grow larger because dwarf rootstock does not hold a tree up well

Semi-dwarf trees (pictured below)

• need 15' of horizontal space
• grow 10-16' tall
• require pruning to maintain shape and height
• require ladders to pick the upper branches
• produce a large crop when mature

Standard trees

• need 40' of horizontal space
• grow 30' or taller
• require a cherry picker to prune and harvest the upper reaches
• produce a large crop, but thinning and picking all fruits is virtually impossible

Tip and Tricks:

• It takes 3-5 years to get fruit, but apples trees can produce for decades so start as soon as possible
• Plant from late fall to early spring
• Water new trees very well for the first year
• Don't plant in low pockets of land as these places will hold cold air in the spring, potentially frosting blossoms
• The fruits will try to grow in clusters (see picture above); when they reach the size of dimes pick off the smallest fruits leaving only one apple per 6" of branch 
• Prune vertical and interlacing branches each winter
• Plant at least two different varieties of apple trees (a crabapple will work as well) for cross-pollination making sure that the trees will bloom at the same time in the year
• Planting dwarf varieties that mature at different times of the year can ensure a constant harvest without consuming much yard space or producing too many apples at once
• Plant the graft juncture above the soil line
• Contact your county extension agent for advice on which varieties work best in your area
• Also contact your county extension agent if insect or disease problems arise (if you want to stay organic, make sure they know that)