Whether you are closing up shop for the winter, or just getting started on your fall garden, you can enrich your soil by growing a cover crop. Learn about green manures in today's podcast.
For those who are cooling down for the winter, there are plenty of things to do before saying goodbye to gardening this fall. As the leaves change color and the weather becomes more crisp, here are a couple fall gardening check lists for your end-of-season needs:
Organic Gardening Magazine's Fall To-Do List
Better Homes and Gardens Fall Garden Checklist
I also found a section on Consumer Reports' website that you might enjoy surfing through:
Consumer Reports Fall Lawn and Yard Checklist
Happy fall gardening! ...
Every gardener has moments of trial and error, simply because there are some things you just don't know until you try. Irrigation is one of those things for me.
Now that the seedlings (that were started under grow lights) have been planted out into the garden, it's time to figure out how to integrate them into our new irrigation system. The irrigation is relatively simple, in that each bed has its own spigot with a hose attachment on the end. (You can read more about it in this blog entry). It is complicated, however, in that each bed has different watering ...
No gardener wants to sacrifice the hope of new life, but often times it is necessary for thinning so that remaining plants can thrive. Here's a sure-fire way to thin without damaging your seedlings. .
One more question came in this week at Ask Gardenerd:
"I have large New Zealand Flax in planters on the balcony, they got white mealy buys - how can I treat it? I removed the nearby smaller plants where the bugs seemed to have invaded...but want to be sure I can save the large flax. Please help! Is there anything organic that works... the internet suggests malathion....ekkk! thanks...Beatrice"
I'm pretty sure we can save your New Zealand Flax (Phormium), Beatrice. But first, let's make sure we have the right bug. Is this the culprit?
http://floriculture.osu.edu/archive/oct97/mealy2.html
If so, there are a few ...
Another great question came in this week:
"Crows! I had to deal with tiny snails which I handpicked daily out of my basil all summer, but I was not ready for crows feasting on my tiny green onion sprouts. Short of leaving my dogs in the front yard (they'd love that), any tips on how to discourage these critters?"
My grandfather used to shoot crows off of the telephone poles when I was a child. His neighbors didn't really appreciate it, and I can't say I recommend it either. I have a few recommendations for you that are a little ...
A gardener wrote in recently asking if Epsom Salts are organic.
I think we should break this question down into two questions:
1) Are Epsom Salts organic?
2) Are Epsom Salts safe to use in organic gardening?
The short answer to both questions is yes, but for the sake of clarity, I'll explain a little further.
Microsoft Encarta defines Epsom Salts as the following:
"Epsom Salts, common name for colorless or white crystalline salt (magnesium sulfate hepta-hydrate, MgSO4·7H2O) found in the minerals kieserite and epsomite and in mineral waters. Epsom salt was first prepared at Epsom, England. ...
Get gourmet in the garden by growing your own mesclun mixes. It's cheap and easy way to have exotic salads all winter long.
There are so many things to consider when planning out a garden, and whether you've done it before, or it's your first time, the task can always be a little daunting. Luckily, the excitement of having fresh produce growing steps away from your kitchen overshadows almost all of those feelings of intimidation. Still, it's always nice to have help.
That's why at the end of September we debuted a new class. The Gardenerd Fall Garden Planning Workshop drew five enthusiastic gardeners, each with a different plan in mind for their garden. Some had a space already defined and needed only to fill it. Others had a blank canvas ...
It's a little late to be talking about this, but I just
wanted to wait to make sure it worked before reporting on my
progress. As I wipe my hand across my forehead in relief, I can say that I
successfully started brassicas from seed indoors for the first time this
year.
I've always grown them straight in the ground because I
haven't had space to start seeds indoors. As you know, if you've been
reading along, this is my first full year starting seeds under grow lights and I
have to ...