gardening

We had a speaker at our last Green Dream Meeting (I am the chair of this group at my church) I took these notes and thought others might want to read them.... does anyone read this blog? :)

Minutes from Green Dreams Meeting- March 23- 7 pm- Fellowship



Alice Brooks, a master gardener from the extension office, spoke for about 30 minutes. She then took questions until a little after 8. A great deal was discussed in that hour. This is an overview (the best I could do, writing quickly!)

Our next meeting will be the last Monday in April at Bailey and Justin's home, 136 SW Kendall Ave. 7 pm.

Soil:

In the Fall- Till your land and then add manure, straw, and/or compost to the section you plan to use. During the winter, the nutrients will settle as the ground freezes and thaws. I don't think you have to "double dig" if you do this... but I may be wrong.

In the Spring- do a process called "double digging". I had to draw a picture of this process.... this may help. If that sounds like too much work, you can think about a raised bed. Then you don't have to dig as deep. (but you have to build the walls) Add about 3 inches of compost (manure, grass, straw, leaves).

After you think your soil is ready, do a soil test. Dig in several places, 6-8 inches down. Stir this around in a bucket, take 2 cups to the extension office. They will want to know what you plan to grow and how big your plot is. Then they can tell you what you need to add to your soil to have the best growth. This cost $10, but right now it is FREE... they have a grant. The funding could disappear at any moment.

Some ideas on how to feed and water your garden:
Cut milk jugs and fill them with manure. Bury the thinner end near other plants. Water the jug as you water the garden. Here are other ideas for using those jugs.

Dig trenches along the edge of your garden. This will allow water to pool and keep feeding your garden. A garden needs about an inch of water each day. Tuna cans placed around your garden will help you to know when you've done enough.

A garden needs 6-8 hours of sun.

Making compost- be careful what you add to compost and mulch. Black Walnut Trees hurt many types of plants. Even the leaves. If you use grass clippings, make sure they are untreated!

Weeds-

Raised beds are easier to weed and care for.

Keep unwanted weeds and insects from your garden area by creating a mulch path. This can be done with layers of newspaper (8-10 thick), covered with hay or mulch. Straw must be "ugly" not fresh. To create ugly straw, water it and let it sit in the sun. Fresh straw will burn up your plants.

Container Gardening- After we got over laughing about this being called "pot gardening" we learned these things: If you are doing a container garden, they sell dwarf varieties that work best. She mentioned bush zucchini, little eggplants, cucumbers. You may want to use 5 gallon buckets and drill 5 holes in the bottom. It helps to add half a tomato cage to the top of this. Fill with potting soil. If you use soil that is made to "retain water", be careful because if it dries out it is BAD.


Other random tips-
Think about what you want to do with what you plant. For example, if you are canning you may want a jet star or celebrity tomato. If your are making salad you may want a big boy or better boy.

You may want to plant a wind block for your tomatoes.

Want to save money. Buy tomato plants later in the season, take off most of the leaves, and plant most of the plant under ground. This gives the plant a head start on a rooting system.

If you are not canning, you may want to plant in succession... like a bean plant once a week, so you can eat them longer.

Got Rabbits- Cheyenne pepper or pepper spray help. Can make pepper spray by mixing hot peppers and water in a Cuisinart.

Cilantro grows early and late in the planting season.

Basil grows in hot weather. Plant in the middle of May.

Cut worms can ruin your plants. Think about using a toilet paper roll around the base of your plants... paper works too.

If you are canning, get a good pressure cooker.

She said that www.ksu.edu is a great website for gardening questions.