When I first planted my vegetable garden, I had my Dad come over and check it out. He is the Garden Doctor, as far as I’m concerned. He was thrilled with my new garden and gave some pieces of advice for the season.

One of those pieces of advice concerned garden pests and diseases that can hurt my plants. Mostly such insects as aphids, cabbage worms, harlequin bugs, bean beetles, Japanese beetles, stink bugs, thrips, and more. And diseases like bacterial spot, blights, and powdery mildew.

My natural question was, “Well, Garden Doctor Dad - how do I control these things?? Can I?”

He told me about a product called “Garden Dust” that he uses on his plants (and flowers) every year to keep the insects and diseases at bay. He told me to apply the garden dust the very MINUTE I start seeing holes in the leaves of my plants - - because that generally means there is some bug.. or two or three.. munching away at my precious vegetables and flowers!

Today, in my vegetable garden - I noticed that my pole bean plants had quite a few little holes munched in the leaves - - so, luckily, I had followed my Dad’s advice and purchased a few containers of Garden Dust. I went to the garage and got the container and ‘dusted’ all my plants in the garden.

Hopefully, this will now keep the little munchers at bay and AWAY from my plants!

I have a beautiful pair of impatiens in my yard now (thanks to the local garden shop!) - I just love impatiens. They’re such a delicate looking flower - - and a very pretty addition to any yard!

I found some good info on growing them - let me share:

• Impatiens are VERY popular, probably because they are easy to grow and flower in the shade all season long!
• Too much sun will stunt their growth
• There are hybrid varieties : New Guinea or SunImpatiens that tolerate the sun, if you don’t have a lot of shade in your yard
• You can grow them easily enough from seed by starting them inside your house (or a green house) until they establish a small seedling - then replant outside
• They grow about 6 - 24 inches in height - depending on the soil, water and how much sun they get
• Impatiens make a perfect plant for a container on the patio or window box.

Here are my Orange Impatiens:

Here are my Pink Impatiens:

This year, I planted 8 cucumber plants in our new vegetable garden.

A week later - they turned pure white, then they turned brown, dried out and withered away. I had to dig them up and replace them with new cucumber plants - which after a week are doing extremely well at the moment. They’re deep green and nice and perky in their new home.

But why did my old cucumber plants turn white?

I’ve found two possible scenarios:

1.) The soil is too nitrogen rich. When we prepared the garden - we mixed in rotted manure into the soil and planted the cucumbers in it - - along with vegetable slow-release fertilizer. This proved to be too much fertilizer with the manure and slow-release fertilizer combined. solution: when the plants died.. I dug them up.. made a large hole around the area and filled that hole with regular topsoil (non fertilized) then mixed that soil with the surrounding fertilized soil. This mixed in good nutrients, but decreased the nitrogen content of the surrounding soil. I then replanted the cucumbers.

2.) the very night I planted the cucumbers… it got down to 38 degrees overnight. While that is not freezing temperatures - there is a such thing as a ‘chilling injury’ that can occur in cucumber plants… in zones that are cooler. It happens in zones where the temperatures warm prematurely (in Wisconsin that would be early -mid April) - - then gardeners (like ME!) get anxious to plant and they go out and get their crops in the ground - - then the temperatures dip to an ‘almost’ freezing temperature.. but not quite freezing. The chilling effect occurs: “Exposure to chilling
temperatures results in increased ethylene production and leakage of cell membranes. The degree of chilling injury depends on the temperature, the duration of chilling, and other factors such as relative humidity and soil moisture. Because chilling results in cell leakage, damage to plants can stress tissues. These include loss of turgor (wilting or drooping leaves) and leaf scorch, appearing as a whitish ring around the leaf margins. Other symptoms include reduced growth rate after warming and plant yellowing.” [source]

So - my mystery white cucumbers may be solved with one, or both, of the solutions above. Either way - I replanted and they are currently doing extremely well - - let’s hope that continues throughout the season!

Whether you’re planting only one shrub or fifty annuals, it’s important to prepare the soil. This is true even if you’re planting in an existing flower bed. Prepare new flower beds well. In existing flower beds, work a few spadefuls of soil ammendment, such as compost, into the area you’ll be planting. Especially if planting annuals, work a slow-release fertilizer into the ground. Annuals are hungry, fast-growing plants that thrive when given plenty of nutrients.

Before planting, make sure your plants are well-watered and not wilting. If they are looking droopy, water them in their existing pots and wait a day for them to recover. If a plant is a bare-root, soak the roots in cool water for several hours before planting.

To plant, remove the plant gently from its pot. If the roots are wrapped in circles or are thickly knotted, loosen them with your fingers. If the roots are very large and tough, you may even need to slice through them slightly with a space to loosen them.

Position the plant so the soil level is the same as it was in the pot. If the plant is bare-root, plant it at the depth specified in the package.

Difficult as it may sedem, pinch or trim off any flowers. They’re taking energy that would be better put into establishing the plant’s root system for bigger, better and more flowers later on. You’ll lose a few pretty blooms initially, but you’ll be rewarded with a healthier, longer-blooming plant.

Water the plant well. If it’s a shrub or a rose, position a hose at the base just barely at a trickle and let it run for half an hour or more. For annuals and perinneals, water so the soil is soaked a foot down.

Keep the plants well watered for the first two weeks, checking them daily for soil moisture and signs of wilting. Once they’re established, they’ll need less water.

Hot Tips!

Get those roots going! When planting, it’s a good idea to add something that will get the roots off to a FAST start. Well-developed root systems make for healthier plants that are better at taking up water and critical nutrients. A so-called starter fertilizer is heavy on phosophorus, which encourages growth. Another way to get roots going is to use a root stimulator. Root stimulators contain hormones that encourage rapid root growth.

Happy planting!

I’ve got the garden planted - now I, like every other gardener, am patiently awaiting harvest time! There is NOTHING better than eating your own home grown vegetables, fresh from your own garden!

Here’s one of my absolute favorite garden recipes:

MARINATED TOMATO AND CUCUMBER SALAD
4 lg. tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 cucumbers, peeled & cubed
1 lg. Vidalia onion, peeled & sliced
1/2 c. olive or salad oil
1/4 c. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. oregano

Put prepared vegetables in large salad bowl. In smaller bowl combine remaining ingredients with wire whip until salt and sugar dissolve. Pour dressing over vegetables and let stand in refrigerator about 1 hour before serving for best flavor.

From the garden: Tomato, cucumber, vidalia onion, oregeno

From the grocery: Sugar, cidar vinegar, salt, olive oil

Man, I cannot wait!

Thought we would join in the Thursday Thirteen fun this week. Instead of 13 things about Me - I have created The Garden 13 with 13 interesting gardening tips and tricks I’ve come across over the past week.

To start off our second Garden 13 - we’re talkin’ tomatoes! I’m a BIG fan of all types of tomatoes and have planted 6 different varieties in my own garden. I’m listing them here - along with 7 other fabulous varieties that I wish I would have planted, but did not have the room

Here are 13 fabulous tomato varieties (the first 6 are in my garden):

1. Beefsteak Tomatoes - This surprisingly compact plant (20-24″) is just loaded with large flavorful tomatoes. Combines big meaty fruit (8-12 oz.) and early maturity on a dwarf plant, perfect for a small garden and patio containers. Yeilds perfect slices for sandwiches!





2. Roma Tomatoes - Bright red, plum shaped, paste-type fruits with meaty interiors. Determinate plants. Ready to pick about 76 days after plants are set out. GARDEN HINTS: Fertilize when first fruits form to increase yield. Water deeply once a week during very dry weather.





3. Cherry Tomatoes - Scarlet, cherry-sized fruits are produced in long clusters right up to frost. 70 days. Bursting with sugary flavor. Scarlet, cherry-sized fruits are produced in long clusters right up to frost. Grow on stakes or fence.





4. Grape tomatoes - these are my favorite! I can pick these and just eat them right off the vine! nce upon a time, grape tomatoes were considered a specialty item. Now, as the word about grape tomatoes is catching on and are more mainstream.





5. Fourth of July Tomato - The first tomato to ripen by Independence Day! Be the first on your block to have vine ripened red, luscious tomatoes by the Fourth of July. Enjoy the plentiful harvest about 49 days after setting plants in the garden. Indeterminate plants produce fruits that average 4 ounces all season long. YUM!





6. Tomato Viva Italia Hybrid - The best tomato for soups and ketchup. Vigorous plants yield an abundance of 3 oz. fruits. Disease resistant.





7. Tomato Heatwave - Grow great tasting tomatoes in the most intense summer heat even at 100°F. Round, 6-7 oz. fruits on com pact plants are extremely disease resistant.





8. Tomato Sweet Tangerine Hybrid - Gorgeously golden and astonishingly sweet. These delectable tomatoes also ripen early for so large a fruit. The determinate plants set very heavy crops, even in hot weather. Strong disease resistance. Ready to harvest in 68 days.





9. Yellow Pear Tomato - This extremely old variety makes a vigorous plant, which bears enormous numbers of bright yellow, bite-sized fruit. The flavor is deliciously tangy. Perfect for summer party hors d’oeuvres.





10. Pink Belgium Tomato - A succulent and enormous dark 1-1/2 to 2 lb. pink tomato that many gardeners prefer to the more acidic varieties. The flavor is sweet and very mild, and the large fruits are very attractive. Indeterminate. Pink-skinned tomatoes occur as a result of a clear skin over red flesh. (Ordinary red tomatoes have yellow skin over red flesh.) When ripe fruits retain green pigment, tomatoes take on purple and brownish hues.





11. Brandywine Tomato - Exceptionally delicious pink fruits, up to 1 lb. each, grow on indeterminate plants.





12. Brandy Boy Tomato - Many gardeners consider Brandywine heirloom tomato (above) to be the best tasting of all tomatoes. But as all tomato connoisseurs know, Brandywine has its drawbacks. The tomatoes are often misshapen with uneven shoulder ripening. The plants grow wildly, set fruit late in the summer and yield a sparse crop at best. But not Brandy Boy! Our new hybrid Brandywine produces loads of large pink fruits, up to 5½ inches across, that ripen evenly, with soft heirloom texture, thin skin and that same incredible Brandywine flavor. Better yet the plants sport an upright more manageable growth habit. Brandy Boy is an indeterminate variety, ready to pick 75-78 days after setting out plants. If you love tomatoes like we do, and especially the rich, tangy-sweet taste of Brandywine, don’t miss Brandy Boy!





13. Tomato Tomande - Tomato connoisseurs rave about the flavor of these broad-shouldered beauties. Fleshy, juicy and flavorful,’Tomande’ will treat gourmet gardeners with both heirloom taste and abundant hybrid yields.

Happy Gardening!

If I learned anything at all from my folks about gardening, is that it’s alllllll about composting. Compost! Compost! Compost!

The long list of benefits that come from composting goes on and on:

• It feeds your plants
• It improves drainage in your garden
• It helps retain moisture
• It makes weeding easier
• It helps distribute fertilizer better
• It attracts beneficial earthworms
• It promotes microbial activity (soil microbes break down organic matter so it can be used by your plants)
• It helps prevent disease

Composting is not only important, it’s easy! Pile up materials and let them break down - could it be any more easy??? In fact, composting makes the daily garden grind easier because it’s a convienent way to dispose of leaves, grass clippings, and other yard wastes. Forget bagging!

Fancy compost bins are available at your local gardening or home improvement store and are easy enough to install. They aren’t necessary, though - you can make your own with cheap wire fencing. Just build a framework with the wire. Once you have the bin, add the materials as you gather them during the ordinary course of your yard work. You’ll have compost in several months - - usually found at the bottom of the pile.

Cold Compost
Cold compost is the easiest method of composting - but it is also the longest way, taking the most time - it’s done by piling up materials and letting them break down for a year or two with an occassional turn if possible. Add cold compost to the bottom of a planting hole, but avoid mulching with it. When used on the soil’s surface, incompletely composted weeds or plants you’ve added, such as tomatoes or dandelions, may sprout and create problems.

Hot compost
Hot compost comes from a compost pile constructed with a balance of nitrogen-rich and carbon-rich materials that are turned regularly, at least once every week or two. It is also kept evenly moist with occasional watering. Hot compost becomes hot to the touch, and the heat kills weed seeds and many disease pathogens.

Tips for Faster, Better Compost

• Keep the pile a manageable size. make it no more than 4 feet across and 3 feet high so you can turn it easily with a pitchfork
• Turn the compost regularly, as often as every few days, with a spading fork or pitchfork. Any turning is helpful, but more is better because oxygen activates compost piles
• Cut up or shred materials. The smaller the materials, the faster they’ll break down.
• Layer nitrogen-rich material (green material) with carbon-rich material (brown materials) if a pile has too much nitrogen, it will get slimy. If it has too much carbon, it will fail to break down quickly.
• Keep it moist. A damp environment speeds up decomposition. During dry spells, soak the compost heap with a hose. However, avoid keeping the compost heap wet all the time, because that also prevents good decomposition. In cool, rainy climates, such as the Pacific Northwest, you may want to cover the ocmpost heap with a tarp or even build a shelter to keep it from being too wet.
• If you have trouble producing enough compost for your garden, consider purchasing it. It’s available in bags, sometimes labeled ‘humus’ adn in bulk for delivery via truck if you need a lot.

Good Materials To Compost
Nitrogen-rich: Alfalfa hay, fruit and vegetable scraps, grass clippings, greenleaves and weeds, manure, seaweed.

Cargon-rich: Dried leaves, shredded newspaper, straw, woody stems and sticks

Other materials: coffee grounds, tea leaves, eggshells, pine needles, wood ashes

DO NOT ADD: black walnut leaves, nuts and branches, Bones, Cat, dog or other pet feces, diseased or invasive plants, meat or meat products, oils fats and greases, seed heads.

Vaccinium spp. - Berry producing deciduous shrub.

Size: Grows 18-15 inches tall and 18 inches to 10 feed wide, depending on the type.

Features: Easy, attractive bushes that produce tasty fruits in the summer. It’s one of the best bird-attracting plants around, so be sure to plant one for the birds and one for you, and plan on draping plants with nets if you want all the berries. Makes an oustanding ornamental shrub with lustrous green leaves and attractive white bell-shaped flowers in spring. Some varieties have good fall color.

Uses: In the berry patch, or as a hedge. Used for edible treats for birds or humans.

Needs: Full sun. Moist, acidic soil is a must. Grow in one foot raised beds with acidified soil in regions with neutral or akaline soils. Prune each spring. If soil is not naturally acidic, fertilize with ammonium sulfate or another acidifying agent.

Choices: High bush types grow 8-15 feet producing much fruit; berries are especially tasty. Lowbush types grow up to 3 feet tall, short enough for snow to protect them, and are good choices for the North. Choose low chill types for the South. Early, mid and late-season plants are available.