Spring Garden Series

Penn State’s Lehigh and Northamption County Master Gardeners are offering classes to launch the vegetable gardening season.

If you are browsing those beautiful seed catalogs now, the first sessions on planning and seed starting should push you out of the winter doldrums. These timely topics are offered on February 24 in Northampton County and February 27 in Lehigh County.

The “Mission Possible” series in March “Mastering Home Vegetable Production” continues with planting, spacing, watering, feeding, rotation as well as pest management.

Small space? Container Vegetable Gardening will be covered February 27 in Lehigh County and March 10 in Northampton County.

Both locations will end with “Win with Tomatoes and Peppers”.

Each class costs $6 or $30 for all 6 hour-long sessions at one of location. Space is limited and usually fills quickly. If you are a beginning vegetable gardener or an old hand looking for a refresher or some new ideas, you can’t beat this deal.

See the brochure “Spring Garden Series: Victory in the Vegetable Garden” for all the details.

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Seed Challenge

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I haven’t started vegetables from seed in many years.

Local nurseries have inexpensive plants ready for the garden. A good neighbor has a large vegetable garden and shares his produce all summer. Local growers have great vegetables at nearby farmer’s markets.

I turned the vegetable bed into a flower garden years ago. I only grow a few vegetables in the flower garden now.

But this year, a gift of grow lights and free pepper seeds came as a challenge.

Never one to dodge a challenge, I planted a few ‘Early Sensation’ pepper seeds on March 11. I used dampened seed starting mix, slid the container into a plastic bag and put them on a radiator cover for warmth. When the plastic became too wet I opened the bag to let it dry.

The seeds germinated in a week or two. I removed them from plastic bag and put them under the lights. I watered them with a spray bottle at first. As they got a little bigger, I used a weak fish emulsion fertilizer about once a week.

When the plants had four sets of true leaves, I carefully planted them in their own peat pots using potting soil/perlite/peat moss mixture (3-1-1/2).

Now, the plants are outside hardening off. I’ll plant them in the garden in the next few days. The seed packet says 73 days to harvest. I made a note to fill in the end of this story then.

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I rose to the challenge and now I'll taste the fruits of my labor if the rabbits don't get them first.

Would I do it again? Probably not. Growing from seeds requires daily attention.

Local nurseries have inexpensive plants ready for the garden. A good neighbor has a large vegetable garden and shares his produce all summer. Local growers have great vegetables at nearby farmer’s markets.

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(More information from Purdue University Extension, “Starting Seeds Indoors”.)
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Adventures in Agriculture

February 15, 16, and 17, Palmer Park Mall in Easton hosted “Adventures in Agriculture.” It was sponsored by Penn State Cooperative Extension and Northampton County. The displays covered a wide variety of conservation and agriculture as well as home gardening topics.

Hens, chickens, rabbits, dogs and alpacas grabbed the kid’s attention. Games and prizes were available throughout the mall. 4H members helped the children make silly putty and butter. Other 4H members displayed project rabbits. The soft, cuddly animals begged to be touched. Guide dog handlers answered questions while the kids stroked the young dogs.

Local food was available to taste and buy. Becker Honey Farm, Klein Farms Dairy & Creamery, the old Copella store & farm and Reeder Farms were among the local food vendors. Smith Krekk Alpacas displayed soft and luxurious scarves, gloves, skeins of yarn and alpaca toys while 2 patient alpacas rested in their cage.

Master Gardeners were on hand to help identify the seeds of common vegetables and answer questions about seed starting. Informational sheets included vegetable variety recommendations and seed starting instructions. The display included a soil-less potting mixture and how to make paper pots.

Northampton County Conservation District brochures included “Backyard Conservation.” This colorful brochure highlights “10 conservation activities, adapted from farms and ranches, that can be used in your backyard.” - planting tree windrows, providing wildlife habitats, composting, cover crops, creating a pond, soil testing, terracing, drip irrigation and pest management. More information at USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Feature/backyard/

Other informational displays included Northampton Farm Bureau, RSVP groundwater flow model, Forks of the Delaware Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and Burnside Plantation. Mall stores offered up to 70% off on merchandise. There was something for everyone. Don’t miss it next year.

Cow Pots. I just followed this link from the National Gardening Association Regional Newsletter. http://www.freundsfarmmarket.com/cowpots/index.html.htm

Looks like a great idea. The peat pots I've used in the past never seem to let the roots grow through. Even though I put a bunch of holes in the pot with my thumb nail at plant time, the pots end the summer intact. I noticed that the pots don't degrade when I re-potted annuals from the garden to bring inside to take cuttings for the next summer.

I may give them a try this year.