This and That for October From Master Gardener David Wall
With tomatoes still ripening on the vine next month and a frost on the near horizon, consider pulling the whole plant up and bringing it inside. Find a warm place to hang them up, and the tomatoes will finishripening. Increasing organic material content greatly increases sol ability to retain water. A goal of increasing organic content to 5% will quadruple the soil’s ability to store water. Healthy soil provideshealthy plants...
Keeping Bees Away From Food, Drinks & You! From Master Gardener David Wall
Yep, we’re well into the fall when outdoor festivities get interrupted with multiple types of bees, wasps, and other assorted characters. As their food supply dwindles in late summer and early fall, they beginlooking for alternative food sources. AND, it seems they are even more active than in the spring or early summer! Quick to recognize a good food source when they see it, your food and beverages become prime targets! As such, the...
Plant Potatoes Now! From Master Gardener David Wall
October 8, 2023 – Planting potatoes in the spring is usually a hit or miss action due to weather. Is the soil dry enough? Is the soil too wet? Well, if you’d like to avoid spring planting problems, including fitting potato planting in with everything else you’re doing at the time, try planting your potatoes early, like now! You don’t hear much about fall planting any more, but 50+ years ago, fall plantings were often the rule...
Controlling Goat Weed From Master Gardener David Wall
September 27, 2023 – NOTE: This article written for vegetable gardens, not pasture-land. Several years ago, a local land owned was showing his 200 acres of pasture land and mentioned he wanted to invest in a goat herd because of all the goat weed on the property. He wasn’t happy to learn that goats detest goat weed. Usually, the only way they’ll eat it is if the field is brush hogged and later baled. Even then, they’re not happy...
Twig Girdler Beetles are Back From Master Gardener David Wall
Twelve or so years ago, a local rancher brought in a small twig and had a question. He couldn’t figure out how the twig, had a girdling circle cut nearly all the way through it. Further examination confirmed the perfect girdling circle. Finally, someone with more experience recognized the damage being caused by a twig girdler beetle. They haven’t been a real problem since then until now. I’m currently losing 4-6 twigs a week, A twig...
Wood Mulch in Your Garden From Master Gardener David Wall
September 18, 2023 – There are all sorts of mulches available for your garden, but wood mulch is often called a gardener’s best friend. The object is to cover the soil and protect the vegetable plants by keeping sunlight off the soil, thus lowering soil temperature, while helping to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and slowly increase available nutrients. Newspapers and cardboard are often used and work very well, but they tend...
Will Our Trees Recover? From Master Gardener David Wall
September 11, 2023 – We’ve discussed soil, water, and sun in terms of their effects on our gardens. It would be shortsighted, however, to ignore the effect of these items on our trees which, under our current conditions, are little effected by the soil itself, as they were born, grew, and currently survive in the same soil. On the other hand, they’re affected by the sun, associated temperatures, and especially by water...
Watering During Current Drought From Master Gardener David Wall
As global warming continues to increase (yes, global warming is real),our summers are becoming unreal. Summers are drought times, with theonly question being when in May or June are rains going to cease untilsometime in September. Temperatures get into the hundreds and stay therefor longer periods. Pollen hardens, and pollination becomes difficult ifnot impossible, all of which combine to cause vegetable plants to eithergreatly reduce...
Eggshells and Banana Peels for your Tomato Plants From Master Gardener David Wall
There’s a lot of confusion lately about what egg shells can do for your tomatoes. Literature, in the past, recommended putting egg shells in the planting hole before you transplant. It’s also recommended you crack an egg and drop the whole thing in the hole. This will help your tomato plant perhaps late in the season or, better yet, if you plant a tomato in the same spot next year! The calcium in egg shells is highly desired by tomato...
Helpful Advice From Master Gardener David Wall
Zeolite comes from ancient volcanic eruptions. Later, materials (zeolite) leached out that can grab soil contaminants and odors, especially ammonia from synthetic fertilizers, which it grabs and slowlyreleases. If a Zeolite packet has been used for a while, put it out in direct sunlight for a short time. It’ll release absorbed material and become ready to be reused. Packets also work very well in your house! Fire...
