Composting is like printing your own money, maybe better! As a home composter you take your kitchen scraps and lawn wastes and turn them into “black gold” for free. I call it gold but it is so valuable and provides so many benefits that it’s actually better than gold. Gardeners, farmers, and landscapers all know about the amazing benefits of compost for gardens and lawns, the environment, and your local economy. With a vision for the future Vermont passed a…
As plants enter their peak vegetative growth phase in June their nutrient requirements increase so they can get bigger and prepare for fruiting (tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, etc.) or storage (carrots, beets, onions, etc.). We’ve had some badly needed rains and things should start to look good out there. Also, this can be when plants in deficient soils run short of essential nutrients and show signs of poor health. In order to promote strong growth and avoid nutrient shortages now…
We’ve had a very dry and unusual spring in Vermont, again. While there is little we can do about the weather, there are some things you can do in the garden to be sure your plants are healthy and thriving despite what nature brings. Mulching is a very good practice to conserve water, suppress weeds, improve the soil, and encourage natural pest control. Let’s take a closer look at the kinds of mulch materials to use, when to apply them,…
If you’re growing asparagus you probably have been harvesting for a couple weeks now. You are not alone in enjoying those delicious, nutritious sprouts – the Asparagus Beetle is now active and it’s time to deal with them! One of the first signs that you have Asparagus Beetles are curved tops on asparagus sprouts known as “shepherds’ hooks”. You might also see the adult beetles on your asparagus, usually up near the tops. They are eating your asparagus and laying…
Garden planting and transplanting is now in full swing. If we can avoid any more cold spells pretty much everything we want to grow can be planted from now on. But one question remains, who makes good garden companions, who do not? Plants affect their neighbors and the soil so we should try to place compatible or non-competitive plants near each other when possible. A similar principle applies when deciding which plant follows recently removed ones (succession). We don’t want…
Protect your young transplants If you ambitiously got your tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, or basil transplanted during this recent warm spell, congratulations, but you may want to give them some protection from the cold spell forecast for Saturday, Sunday, & Monday nights. Temperatures in the low 40s and upper 30s probably won’t kill those plants but it can cause a serious set back and damage to exposed young leaves. Since plants grow mostly at night and chilly night temperatures (below 45F)…
The end of May has brought almost ideal gardening weather, what a welcome change! Although it’s been a bit dry for Vermont spring, it looks like a great time to get all those ready-to-go plants into their new homes for the summer. It’s still a little early for some heat loving plants like basil, tomatoes, beans, artichokes, okra, & peppers, but almost everything else can move out. Some adventuresome gardeners have already planted out their tomatoes and they might do…
We have a welcome break in the weather and early planting can begin. Some ambitious gardeners already have put in peas, onion sets, greens, and carrots. It’s time to go ahead with early herbs & vegetables but be careful not to get ahead of the season just yet and don’t work that soil if it’s still very wet. Here is a list of what can be safely sown now, how to get the best germination of seeds in cool soil,…
Whether you grow your own seedlings (Congratulations!) or buy your garden plants, they will need some preparation for the transition out to the “real world”. There are big differences between indoors (house or greenhouse) and the tough world outside and plants need a little help to adapt to those hard conditions outside. This process is called “hardening off” and it is easy if you follow these basic steps. Hardening off is a stressful transition for plants because they have to…
Vermont spring can be a challenge but there are a couple easy ways to prevent early plant damage on cold nights. Sunny warm days tend to be followed by clear, still, cold nights when frost damage occurs. Cloudy, windy nights bring chance of freezing. Either way we need to protect our early plantings and strawberries. Experienced gardeners have used simple cold frames for years as they are a great way to get an early start while providing needed protection for…