Workshops for the Gardener

Immerse yourself in a day full of gardening topics.  It will be an exciting day full of gardening information and fun.

Master Gardener Workshops for the Gardener

September 15, 2012

Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 696 Johnson Road, Nazareth, PA 18064

All day seminar includes sessions topics:  Macro-Photography, Backyard Habitat, Composting, Vermiposting , Food Preservation, Seed Starting, Small Space Gardening, Fruit Trees, Hypertufa, Year Round Gardening, Invasive Plants, Pruning.

Keynote address "Pollinators" by Dr Anita Collins, USDA-ARS, retired. Dr. Collins has done research on honey bees for more than 40 years and is currently collaborating on a survey of native bees east of the Mississippi with the U.S. Geological Survey

Garden Fair: vendors with Birdhouses, gardening books, perennial plants, jewelry and more. 

Hurry. Registration ends August 31. Click here then click on “Workshops for the Gardener Brochure” for registration information and form.

More information or questions call:  Call Northampton County Extension Office (610) 746-1970.  Lehigh County Extension Office (610) 391-9840

Vegetable Garden Quiz

True or False?

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Plant tomato seeds indoors 5 to 7 weeks before last frost date.

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Determinate tomatoes produce fruit in a batch and indeterminate tomatoes produce fruit continuously until frost.
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Leggy tomato stems can be planted in a trench leaving the top of the plant above ground and they will grow roots along the stem.

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Potatoes are actually underground stems.

Cucurbits include cucumbers, muskmelons, watermelons, pumpkins, summer squash, winter squash, and gourds.

Beans are nitrogen fixing plants.

Blossom end rot on tomatoes is a calcium deficiency caused by anything that interferes with the supply of water during fruit development such as drought or long periods of heavy rain..

As you know, all of the above are true.

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If you are planning your 2012 vegetable garden and want a refresher from Penn State College of Agriculture, check out the “Vegetable Gardening – Recommendations for home gardeners in Pennsylvania” here.

Community Gardens

As the vegetable gardening season starts to wind down, I stopped by a local community garden. I am interested in what goes right and wrong with in community gardens - the personal stories. Right now I have more questions than answers. I would like to share the answers with officials and other gardeners.

Here are a few of the questions:

· Was there adequate communication among gardeners?

· Were the rules understood and followed by all the gardeners?

· Did you have enough time to spend in the garden?

· Were you physically able to do the work required?

· Was water accessible? Mulch? Compost?

· Were tools available?

· What made your experience with community gardening a success or failure?

· Did you use a Master Gardener to educate gardeners on subjects such as: planting, plant choices, propagation, weed identification, fertilization, soils, compost, mulch, etc.?

If you have any experience with or opinion about community gardens or can answer any of the questions, please leave a comment. I will be very grateful for any information.

More information on Community Gardens from ACGA http://communitygarden.org/learn/ and SUN*LV http://sunlv.org/

Let’s Talk Vegetables

Bean flower (pole beans Burpee 'Kentucky Wonder')

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Every year, with spring enthusiasm, I eagerly place seeds and plants in pots and in the ground. I dream of fresh green beans steaming on the dinner table; solid cucumber slices in a tangy dressing and juicy tomatoes eaten right off the plant.

With spring enthusiasm, I forget that vegetable gardening takes work and time. Not to mention battling the mosquitoes and gnats that hide under the leaves. In spring I forget how hot 93 degrees with high humidity really is. I forget that vegetables will need watering.

Every year, in July, reality sets in as I pull weeds, wash lettuce, pick cucumbers and clean beans. Years ago I had a large garden with rows of vegetables. Freezing and canning went on all summer. Now as empty nesters, we have only a few vegetables among the flowers.

I’m happy with a few vegetables every year. I wouldn’t want to be without them. The taste of my favorite varieties makes the effort worthwhile. I’m sure I’ll be overcome with spring enthusiasm next year.
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My vegetables this year:

Potted cherry tomatoes - Burpee ‘Sweet 100’.

In the window boxes on the patio - Agway parsley ‘Forest Green’ and lettuce ‘Black Seeded Simpson’. The lettuce is ready for its third cutting.

Happy cucumbers - Burpee ‘Straight Eight’ - crawl up the hydrangea and holly and over the daylilies and mums. Picking cucumbers will be quite a challenge.

Pole beans - Burpee 'Kentucky Wonder’. I’ve had the seeds since 2007 and planted a few seeds every year. This year I planted a few extra thinking they may not all be viable but it looks like they all germinated. I should have pulled a few when they came up. They are one of the best tasting beans I have ever planted.
Green tomatoes on Burpee ‘Early Pick’

Progress in the Garden

It’s been a perfect week in the garden – 60 or 70 degrees and lots of sunshine. Area gardeners are digging with joy.

The bamboo bean tepee is waiting for the pole beans planted last weekend, radishes are in the two leaf stage, cucumbers, flower boxes, canna are planted.

Zinnia seeds are in the ground. The roses have been fed. Lettuce is peeping out of the soil in the flower box.

The Euonymus, Pieris japonica, PJM, and lilacs need to be trimmed. Daylily and Brunnera need to be moved. The ivy covered bank needs to be cut back. There are weeds to pull and hoeing to be done.

But, 47 coleus plants (top picture), tomatoes, a bunch of impatiens, dusty miller, marigolds and other annuals (below) are ready for planting.

I plan a big planting day tomorrow. Everything else will have to wait. I'm almost giddy with anticipation.

Urban Gardens

“Community Gardens in an Urban Setting” was the topic at the Master Gardeners Spring Garden Series last Saturday . Community Gardens provide an opportunity to grow vegetables in the city. A lot of dedicated people work to organize and provide supplies to the gardens.

I know the benefits of raising fresh vegetables in taste, nutrition and cost saving.

But, I wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming testament of a simple peripheral benefit. Pride and satisfaction comes from working with other members of the community – learning from one another, laughing, complaining, sharing stories and garden tips, tools and bug spray.

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Many stories are heartwarming - A neighborhood kid who knocked on doors to report an trespasser walking on the gardens – A grandmother with her own garden who plants a community garden plot for the interaction with other gardeners and donates the produce to local food banks and soup kitchens.

The rewards of Urban Community Gardens are greater the weight of the produce.



Find local gardens and contacts by zip code at American Community Garden Association Local Harvest or call your local county extension office.

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June Garden Progress

The garden is starting to look good. I have finally spread about half of the mulch that we got at the end of April. A lot of snapdragons and other re-seeding annuals have been pulled or transplanted. The snaps that survived the winter are in full bloom.

Evening Primrose (Oenothera speciosa ‘Siskiyou’) , in all its glory, blooms and oversteps its bounds as usual.

All the pots are planted. I used mostly coleus and fuchsia cuttings from last year’s plants and canna tubers that didn’t fit in the garden.

All seeds are up. Lettuce in the fish box has been cut a couple of times.

Beans are growing.

The tomato is growing but doesn’t have any flowers. It’s a little behind the rest of the neighborhood. The tomato is called ‘Dan’s Favorite’. It thought it sounded interesting. It was labeled “mid-season slicing tomato”. I really don’t know what that means. I’ll have to wait for a taste test to see if ‘Dan’s Favorite’ is also mine.

The first Heavenly Angels Poppy opened. There are many walnut sized buds promising a colorful show.

So far it’s been a busy week. The forecast predicts rain today. I am looking forward to it. So is the garden.

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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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Garden Vegetables

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(Yellow Bush Scallop squash, Beefsteak tomato, Kentucky Wonder pole beans and Cherokee Wax beans)

I came back from vacation to find the vegetables thriving without me.

The Kentucky Wonder Pole and Cherokee Wax plants dripped with beans. Most of the beans were huge, 7 to 8 inches. When I can see a distinct shape of the seeds inside the bean, I know they’re too tough for me to eat. I’ll compost the extra large and cook the small and medium beans.

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The scallop squash has overpowered the peppers. There are a few small peppers on the plants. I’ve cut some leaves off the squash to give the peppers more room and light. I may have to pull a few squash plants. I hope the squash is as tasty as it is pretty.

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The beefsteak tomato turned into a monster bush. A few branches broke from the weight. I pruned some small branches and leaves. The first small ripe tomatoes were delicious straight from the garden.

I’ll try to catch up this week with deadheading and weeding. It was nice to be away but it’s also good to be back in the garden.

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Vegetables in the Flower Garden

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This year I decided to plant vegetables in the flower bed and in containers. (See February 4 post “Planning for Vegetables” and May 13 “Seed Challenge”)

I only wanted to grow as many vegetables as we could eat this summer – no canning, no freezing, maybe a little for friends. Most of the seeds were in the ground on May 9. The pepper plants and tomato were planted a week later.

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Oregano, basil, parsley, and lettuce grow in the fish boxes. I’ll have fresh lettuce this week. The herbs will take a little longer.

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The peppers and squash (Yellow Bush Scallop) are planted in a “rabbit cage”. Rabbit cage is DH’s name for my metal fence post/plastic fence. I keep telling him it’s to keep the rabbits OUT not IN. And it’s working very well, thank you.

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Cherokee Wax Beans grow between the holly and the daylilies. It’s getting a little weedy in there.

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Radishes and carrots are up around the lilies in the Oriental Garden. The radishes are almost ready to pick.

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I’ve planted containers with pole beans and bush cucumbers the past two years. They do pretty well. Watering becomes a problem in the summer. This year I bought “Precision Drip Spikes” to help keep the soil from drying out. (You know those things with an upsidedown liter soda bottle sticking up in the pot.) Not very attractive but, if I can stand looking at “rabbit cages”, I guess I can put up with soda bottles sticking out of pots.

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The beefsteak tomato has flowers behind the euonymus with marigolds and an ageratum for company. I may have planted a little close here but it will have to do.

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So, my “Vegetable Experiment” is underway. I’ve been fertilizing with fish emulsion once a week. I’ve used compost and compost tea on the vegetables that are planted in the ground.

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So far everything looks good. (Click on the pictures for a larger view.)

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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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