What to do in the Garden this Month

The Holidays are in full swing!  Break out the pumpkin pie (made from your own pumpkins), mashed potatoes, corn, peas, carrots - all from your garden!!  If you brew your own beer or wine, it's time to uncork a few bottles and toast the season!

Who wants to work in the garden in the snow?  Not me!  If you've followed our posts throughout the year, you should be ready to take a break and enjoy the indoors this month.  Here is a list of items concerning Holiday plant care for you instead of garden care.

• Give holiday plants such as poinsettia adequate light and water. In general, keep plants away from drafts and heat sources.
• Maintain even moisture and remove the decorative foil or plastic pot covers that can cause root rot. Water over the sink and let the water drain out completely.  You then can replace the decorative covers.
• To ensure your Christmas cactus will flower again next year, keep it dry and at a temperature of about 55 degrees for the next two months.
• Real mistletoe is fatal for pets - beware.
• You still can force bulbs.  Place them in a cold place for 2 months then pot them up.
• If you have a live tree for the holiday, dig the hole it will go into now before the ground freezes.  It's best to only keep the tree inside for one week then plant it outside.
• Cut the boughs off your Christmas tree (after the holiday, of course!!) and use them to mulch your perennial beds.  

 Poinsettia are very popular this time of the year.  Here are few poinsettia facts for you:

• Keep them moist but not wet.  A dry plant will lose it leaves quickly and a wet plant will rot.  Test your soil daily.
• They like temperatures between 65- 70 degrees during the day and no lower than 60 degrees at night.
• Place them in a sunny window.  South facing is best.
• If you want to keep them year round and force them to bloom the following year, here is a link to a fact sheet from Ohio State on how to do this.  Generally, these plants are composted after the holidays and new purchased the following year. 

What to do in the Garden this Month

Indian Summer is upon us!  We never know if or when a blast of warm weather will hit, but we love it when it does!  Don't worry, frost will be here and the leaves will change all too soon.  I love to start new hardscape projects this time of the year.  My enthusiasm for gardening has not dropped off but harvesting and maintenance has, giving me time and energy to build a new fence or put in a new bed.  There's always a bed to dig up and re-do ~ it's a wonderful time of year to dig!!

Here's a list of tasks for the garden this month.  Enjoy!

• Dethatching your lawn is a great task to do early this month.   
• Rake leaves and add them to your compost pile.
• While you are at it, turn the compost pile.
• Dig up tender herb plants such as rosemary, thyme and transplant in containers to bring indoors.  These plants need a rest period so keep them in a cooler area of your house over the winter.  Enjoy adding them to culinary dishes throughout the winter.
• Brussel sprouts, kale, and kohlrabi are cold-tolerant veggies and best harvested in cooler weather. 
• Plant garlic cloves for next season.  
• Beets, carrots, leeks and turnips will survive into early winter if mulched with straw or leaves. 
• Continue to add spring flowering bulbs to your gardens.
• Cut dahlias back and dig up the tubers after the first heavy frost. Brush off dirt and air dry.  Share some with your friends.  Store tubers in a cardboard box between layers of vermiculite, peat moss, saw dust or wood shavings.  The bulbs can also be potted in a soilless mix and stored in the cellar or heated garage.  Do not water until mid-May. Store at 35 - 45 degrees.
• Canna bulbs must be dug up once a heavy frost hits.  Cut back the stalks, dig up the bulbs and store them in an airy container with peat moss or rice hulls to help maintain bulb moisture.
• Transplant trees or shrubs now. Water them well.
• Gather fallen leaves, twigs, fruit and debris to keep disease at a minimum. 
• Remove spent annuals from your garden.  Compost them. :)
• Cut back spent perennial foliage to 3" or so.  Compost the stalks.

What to do in the Garden this Month

Whew!  Fall is right around the corner and we find ourselves busy harvesting, canning, freezing and generally enjoying the bounty of another great year in the garden.  As you prepare for the upcoming Labor Day celebrations, take a few minutes and walk through your gardens.  Enjoy the beauty you have created (with a little help from Mother Nature!!) and actually smell some flowers.  Roses are my favorite but any will do.  Watch out for small bees and crab spiders: it's a busy time for them as well!!!

Here are a few tasks to do this month.

• Cool nights and ample precipitation mean it is time to fertilize your lawn.
• Early September is an excellent time to sow grass seeds.  Be sure to water the area seeded frequently so it grows in well.
• If broadleaf weeds (dandelions or plantains, for instance) are a problem in your yard, herbicides can be effective if applied now and in accordance with product recommendations.  Alternatively, hand weeding in moist soil helps - be sure to get the taproot!!
• Pick your warm season veggies before frost hits.  This includes squash, melons, tomatoes, eggplants and peppers.  
• Pumpkins and gourds should be ready now.  Store in a dry, cool cellar after washing with a weak bleach solution to retard mold.
• Pick herbs on a cool, dry morning for drying or freezing.
• Sow lettuces and mixed greens for harvest later in the season.
• Turn your compost pile.
• Begin planting spring flowering bulbs in your flower beds.
• Divide your day lilies and give some to your friends. 
• Divide and plant spring blooming perennials now, especially if they haven't been divided in 3 or more years.  These make fabulous gifts for your gardening buddies!
• Remove spent annuals.
• Houseplants that have been kept outside should get a good washing before bringing in the house.  Check their pots for ants, spiders, or any insect you do not want in your house. 
• Later in the month, begin planting your garlic for next year.  

What to do in the Garden this Month

The "dog days" of summer are here. The Romans called this time of the year the "dog days" because the star Sirius rose right before sunrise at this time.  Sirius is the brightest star of the constellation Canis Major ~ the large dog.  As time has passed, the rotation of the stars has shifted and we no longer see Sirius rise before sunrise during summer.  However, the name stuck. 

The Romans sacrificed a small brown dog at this time to keep Sirius happy.  A mad Sirius caused hot, dry weather: a happy Sirius gave the Romans a nice, tolerable summer.  Rather than sacrificing a small brown dog, let's just give thanks for the bounty of our gardens and the beauty they provide.  Take time during your day to send appreciative thoughts out to your garden and the stars.  Who know, maybe Sirius will bring us wonderful weather!

What to do in the garden this month:

• Keep watering your new woodies.
• Weed, weed, deadhead and weed some more.
• Scout local nurseries for great bargains and talk to your gardening friends and trade plants.
• When planting new perennials, water the planting hole before you plant, then water again after planting and mulch your new plant well.
• Use the hot dry weather to tend to garden srtuctures that need paint, repair or staining.
• Continue to photograph your garden and individual plants, recording in your journal what you love and any ideas you have for next season.
• Water and fertilize your container plants.  Pinch petunias and other flowering plants back to encourage more blooms.
• Later in the month, install trunk protectors on trees to keep bucks from rubbing their antlers on them in the fall.
• Harvest tomatoes regularly.  Visit your veggie garden daily to harvest, weed, and look for pests.  Squash, pole beans, cucumbers all respond from regular picking by producing more produce.
• Day-neutral strawberries may produce another crop if regularly watered.
• August 10 is the target date for your last planting of broccoli and cauliflower transplants as well as seedings of lettuce, spinach, and turnips. 
• Late August, pinch melon and winter squash vines back after they have set all the fruit that can mature in time.
• Early potatoes can be harvested.  If early blight is nearby, definitely harvest now!
• Check your fencing and make repairs as necesary.  Your gardens should look fabulous both to you AND to the deer, rabbits and groundhogs nearby. :)
• Turn your compost pile (or at least keep adding to it!!)

Ahhh, keep your tools sharp and your mulch pile growing - enjoy the bounty of your garden. 

Learn About Growing Hazelnuts in NYS

 

Can hazelnuts (filberts) be grown in as a commercial crop in New York State? Visit the rural property of Dawn and Jeff Zarnowski in McGraw, Cortland County on Saturday August 3 and learn about the possibilities. The Zarnowskis have been growing hazelnuts for some fifteen years and they will explain the basics of hazelnut growing and give a tour of their hazelnut plantings.

 

This full day program is sponsored by the New York Nut Growers Association and will feature presentations by leading horticulturists and plant breeders from Cornell University, Rutgers University, Minnesota and Oregon. These presentations will introduce new cultivars of hazelnut that are resistant to disease and freezing. They will report on successful steps taken to mechanize hazelnut planting and harvesting to allow for larger scale commercial production.

 

The full program agenda is below and also available online at www.nynga.org. The program is free and open to the public but registration is requested. There will also be a buffet lunch served on site for $15.00 – registration is required for this to help plan for the buffet lunch. Registration forms can be obtained from the NYNGA website along with driving directions to the Zarnowski property.

 

For more information, contact John Wertis, NYNGA Program Coordinator at (607)387-4331 or at bwwfarmtoday@aol.com 

 

 

   Agenda

8:30-9:00	Sign in, Snacks, and Chat
9:00-9:30	Welcome and Hazelnuts 101 Talk (Jeff Zarnowski)
9:30-10:00	Genetic Diversity in Hazelnut Research (Megan Muehlbauer, Rutgers)
10:00-10:30	Ongoing Hazelnut Research at Rutgers/Hazelnut Consortium Activity (Dr. Tom Molnar, Rutgers)
10:30-12:00	Walk-About and Talk-About: Z's Nutty Ridge LCC, Hazelnuts and Otherwise (Jeff and Dawn Zarnowski)
12:00-1:00	Lunch and Time to Chat
1:00-1:30	NYNGA Meeting
1:30-2:00	West Coast Hazelnut Cultivars in the Northeast (Dr. Tom Potts)
2:00-2:30	Cornell's Dilmun Hill Planting of Mark Shephard Wisconsin Hazelnuts (Prof. Ken Mudge and Cornell Students)
2:30-3:00	Commercial Hazelnut Growing Opportunities in Southern Ontario and Optimism for Hazelnut Plantings in the Future (OMAFRA Literature and Speaker TBA)

 

Final Results of Fava Bean Experiment in Upstate NY

If you've been following this blog since last fall then you know that I've been obsessed with growing fava beans in NY ever since we moved back from Ireland, where 'broad beans' are commonly grown as a winter crop and harvested in spring. It's so nice to harvest something from the spring garden other than lettuce, spinach and other greens, so I was determined to find a way to grow them here.

Go to Growing Fava Beans in Upstate NY Part 1 and Growing Fava Beans in Upstate NY Part 2 if you want to see photos from the early days of this experiment.

 The overal result: Success! We were eating fava beans starting in mid May and are still eating them now in early July, thanks to sowing four different varieties which made for an extended harvest. They have been a wonderful addition to stirfries with spring greens, spring onions and garlic scapes, all from the garden.



Here is a summary of the experiment:
November 2012: Sowed four varieties in cell packs in our solar greenhouse - Banner, Aqua Dulce, Dreadnought and Crimson-Flowered. I also sowed 6 Banner seeds outside under straw just for the heck of it. (Autumn is when they would be sown outdoors in Ireland.)

December 2012-February 2013: Continued to pot up the seedlings into larger and larger pots in the greenhouse.

March 12: Dreadnought and Crimson started flowering in the greenhouse. Flower buds on Aqua Dulce.

March 24: I was worried that the greenhouse was getting too hot during the day for the flower buds, which are said to be intolerant of heat and won't set pods, so during a warm spell I planted some out and set out the rest to harden off on a porch.

March 29: The temperature plummeted to 20F overnight and the plants looked like goners the next morning, completely wilted and flat. I noticed that as the stems thawed  they didn't turn to mush, and  after a few days the stems firmed up again and I was able to stand them up with the help of stakes and string. I had inadvertantly put them through a cold hardiness test. Even the flower buds survived the extreme cold.

April: Continued temperatures below freezing at night but with no harm to the bean plants. Once we could start digging in our garden again we direct-sowed a block of Banner fava beans at the same time we planted peas in early April.

May 15: Started to harvest fava beans to eat. The most productive variety is Aqua Dulce, which produced lots of big pods. Crimson-Flowered is very pretty but the pods are small. Dreadnought has large plants and pods but it didn't make very many. Banner is the latest of the four and flowered prolifically in May. Despite several days in May when temps went into the 90s F most of the flowers continued to set pods. 

 June: Harvested beans twice a week or so. The plants that were direct sown outdoors in April started flowering. Crimson and Dreadnought were finished so removed and the space replanted.

The biggest surprise was that some of the beans that I direct sowed outside in November suddenly sprouted up amongst the kale that I had planted there in the spring, after seeing no sign of the beans! Alas, too late for them to flower and fruit now.

Banner produces many pods per plant

July 1: The Banner that were started indoors are now producing heavily. They were much later than Aqua Dulce which was a good way to extend the harvest. The direct sown Banner in the garden had lots of flowers but few beans, so it didn't work to direct sow them in spring as directed by the Fedco seed catalog (well, this year anyway).

Conclusions:
- I did not need to start the plants so early in the greenhouse. Next year I will wait until late January to early February so the plants do not get so big inside.

- The flowers are not quite as heat sensitive as indicated so I will let them stay in the greenhouse till the weather is settled. However, it's good to know that they can survive down to 20F, recover and still produce beans although it did set them back for a few weeks. I think early to mid April is a good time to plant out 10-12" plants as they can take temps down to 25F without damage.

- It's not worth direct sowing them outdoors unless you can do that in March. Sprouting the seeds first indoors would have helped as the soil was cold and the direct-sown seeds took 3 weeks to germinate.

- The most productive varieties were Aqua Dulce and Banner. Aqua Dulce produced heavily in May and Banner in June/early July. Aqua Dulce has a great flavor but the beans from Banner are a bit bland. I am saving seed from both of these varieties to further select for our local weather conditions.

Aqua Dulce has long pods with many beans inside. 

- Fava beans could also have commercial potential in our area for market gardeners. They are quite cold tolerant and can be started early in the greenhouse then planted outside in April. The pods are impressively large and shiny and look good in a market display. They are something different from greens, greens and more greens at the markets in May. 


- The fresh beans have a unique and delicious  flavor when lightly cooked. There is no need for all that fussy squeezing-out-of-the skin that I see recommended as long as they are harvested when the beans within are not too big.

If you have a greenhouse, why not try growing your own fava beans next year?

What to do in the Garden this Month

July is known for fireworks, picnics and gathering with family and friends.  It is also a fabulous time for your gardens!

What to do in your garden this month:

• Pinch chrysanthemums back to promote big, bushy growth and increase the number of blooms later.
• Divide and/or move your bearded iris so they can re-establish before winter.  Share extras with your friends!
• Deadhead your perennials and weed, weed, weed!
• If you are going on vacation, chop (if you don't have time to pull) any weeds in your garden.  The goal is to NOT let them go to seed. 
• Continue to water your new woodies (shrubs and trees) with 10-15 gallons of water each week.
• Stop fertilizing your woodies and cut out only dead, crossed and diseased branches.
• Take photos of your lovely plants as they flower.  Place labels near the plants.  Add the images to your garden journal and write the names down on your garden map, recording bloom times and other notes about how each species performs.
• Fertilize your container plants regularly or use a slow release fertilizer.
• Keep small veggie transplants watered.
• Mulch all your gardens, if you haven't already.
• Got holes in your veggie leaves? Look for slugs and squish them.
• Succession planting time has begun!  Plan replacement veggies for places where your spring veggies have finished.  For instance, spring peas are done and it's time to plant your next item in that spot.
• Blueberries will begin fruiting this month.  Get your bird-proof netting out and protect your berries.
• Actively train your squash vines, tomato plants and any vining, trailing plant.  Tuck stems inside cages, pinch errant vines, encourage growth where you want it now for easy, abundant harvesting later.
• Harvest garlic late in the month after half the leaves have turned brown.
• Handpick Colorado potato beetles and scout for other insect pests.
• Remove yellowed leaves, watch for mildew and keep an eye out for late blight symptoms on your tomato plants. 

Above all else, enjoy your flowers and the abundant harvest from your gardens.  Take time each day to admire their growth and beauty.  Appreciate your hard hard work and pat yourself on the back.