Spring Newsletter

We got the cutest children's book about gardening on our last trip to the library. The riddles and rhymes tickle my funny bone! Here's a riddle for you (name the vegetables):

Papa ate the root and tossed the leaves.

Mama ate the leaves and said, "Mine's best!"

Brother ate the stem and found no seeds.

Sister ate the seeds and tossed the rest! 

Answers at the bottom!

Today I want to share a gardening newsletter written by the Relief Society President of my ward. She helps her father with an acre garden, and says he is crazy enough to plant 500 tomatoes, 200 peppers and 200 pounds of potatoes and think it's fun. She begins everything by seed in a hot house, and I am hoping to get my tomato and pepper starts from her this year. 

I love hearing advice from people with years of experience... it is the best teacher after all. I have heard that her tomatoes are the biggest and juiciest around! Here is what she wrote--it's good stuff so I'll let her have the last word:

Is It Spring Yet?  Well, if you're following the movement of the sun, the days are getting longer.  Compared to last year this winter weather has been a contrast for sure. Our area is known for its unpredictable weather patterns which include killing frost in June, severe winds (especially around Memorial Day), snow on the 4th of July, and hail on Labor Day.

Spring is still a few weeks off.  If you are familiar with the area then you know you don’t need to get in any hurry to plant your garden yet. There’s plenty of time left to look through seed catalogs or check out online catalog versions.

Vegetable and flower seeds will start to appear at local stores in a few weeks. However, if you want a larger selection to choose from, here are some companies with online catalogs that offer All-American (that means these varieties do well in all 50 states) selections and other hybrid options for you to consider:

• Burpee www.burpee.com/
• Parks www.parkseed.com/
• Stokes www.stokeseeds.com/
• Twilleys www.twilleyseed.com/

Gardening is a whole lot like having a baby. Time erases the painful memories and you start to get baby-hungry again. If last year was not a happy gardening experience, spend some time looking at the catalog pictures and dreaming of that perfect tomato or your favorite vegetable fresh from the garden and prepared just the way you like it. If you haven’t ever planted a garden as yet, start out small. You can expand your garden size over time rather than kill your desire to garden right out of the chute.

Late February is a great time to start pruning, weather permitting. It’s best to start with the earliest blooming fruit trees and work your way down. Apricots should be at the top of your pruning list, then peaches, pears and apples.  For best size fruit prune aggressively. All water sprouts (tall single stems that shoot upward from main branches) should be totally removed. Reduce growth by 1/3 to ½. Prune back to sturdy short branches that can support the weight of mature fruit. Grapes and raspberries can also be pruned in late March. 

Detailed pruning and spraying information may be found at the Utah State Extension website: http://extension.usu.edu/htm/horticulture/ A full outline of 2012 spring class offerings held at Thanksgiving Point may be found at that location as well.

If you took advantage of autumn’s fallen leaves and tilled them into your garden before winter arrived, congratulations! Leaves are one of the finest soil builders as they contain trace minerals which are drawn up by the trees from the subsoil. If you didn’t make use of last season’s leaves, set a resolution this year to cache in on the 2012 leaf crop. You’ll be glad you did. Grass clippings and other green waste also build up the humus in your garden. Don’t till in weeds that have gone to seed. Dispose of these nuisances. Additional weed seeds only add to a gardener’s frustration!

In closing, I hope this gets you thinking about the Provident Living principles we talked about last year in Relief Society.  Now is a great time to check your pantry shelves and determine what fruits and vegetables need to be restocked during the 2012 growing season.

***Riddle answer:  Carrots, spinach, celery, peas***

Deer Damage

We have some deer taking up residence.

My neighbor sent us this picture while we were on vacation over New Year's. Another neighbor dropped by one evening before Christmas and said they thought we had some of those deer yard decorations that light up, but then they moved and blinked. We have had to make noise and chase them out of the yard multiple times.

I'm still baffled that deer found us here in the middle of a valley, miles away from the mountains where they typically live. I asked my brother-in-law (an avid deer hunter) about it and he said they love it down here in the valley because the have easy access to food and little competition. I guess it's time to get a yappy dog!

I took some pictures around Thanksgiving of what the deer were eating.  They have broken and stripped some branches of this limber pine.

I left some pumpkins in the garden late into the season, hoping they would turn all the way from green to orange. Learned my lesson there!

I knew deer liked pansies, but now I know deer like pansies.

The most aggravating part is the footprints in the grass. Our turf is still so new and thin that the deer hooves just puncture through it and leave deep holes. That will be fun to fix in the spring!

I've been researching deer repellents and there are some crazy ideas out there! My friend Doris told me to put a bar of soap in some nettting (like my nylon?) and hang it on the deer-desirable tree. We'll see if it's worth anything.

My same neighbor told me she saw a movie where they covered their yard with hair. Gross.

When in doubt, I always trust state Cooperative Extension services more than anyone. I found this helpful fact sheet from Colorado State. It can be saved and printed as a .pdf. Their ideas are weird too (hot sauce, a solution of raw eggs and water!?) but at least they are tried and tested.

Apparently the most effective repellents are a fence (novel idea) and deer resistant plants. Although I wouldn't mind distributing some lavender and Hawthorns around my landscape, I just don't think I can give up my dreams of roses, tulips, apple trees, and grapes! Guess we'll have to go with the fence.

Grapes

A girl in my neighborhood recently asked me about growing grapes. She wants them to climb over her deck, which rang a bell in my head because I just posted about growing climbing plants on pergolas!

I gave her my usual answer when I've never grown something myself: "I'll look it up!" I love to garden but I don't hesitate to look to experts for advice. It has been a good opportunity for me to learn about grapes and now I'm inspired to grow my own! I can picture a lovely little seating area next to my garden made of a small stone patio with a pergola over it, laden with leafy grapevines and juicy purple fruit in the fall.


The basics to consider when growing grapes are what varieties are best suited to your area, where you want them to grow, and how to prune and care for them. The first place I usually look for information is my Sunset Western Garden book. It is a fabulous reference book for any (western) gardener, including climate zones, descriptions and care for over 8,000 plants, a basic guide to creating and maintaining a healthy garden, and a glossary defining garden terms. It's also chock full of beautiful photographs and drawings. I love it.

According to them, a backyard gardener should be careful not to overdo it. "A single grapevine can produce enough new growth every year to arch over a walk, roof an arbor, form a leafy wall, or provide an umbrella of shade over deck or terrace... Once they are established, grape vines grow rampantly. If all you want is a leafy cover for an arbor or patio, you need only train a strong vine up and over its support and thin out entangling new growth each year." I'm going to tell my friend one--maybe two--vines will serve her well. Unless you have rows of trellises or fencing you don't need more than a few grapevines!

There are some basic categories grapes varieties fall under. European grapes, including most wine grapes, are mostly produced in the Northwest and California. Then there are American grapes, which are more hardy and disease resistant, and can be grown in colder climates. Of course there are also hybrids of the two. For the best varieties for Utah gardens, I checked a favorite resource: Utah Cooperative Extension. They provide a great table with pictures, ripening dates, and uses for each variety. One example is 'Concord', a well-known American variety, which is good for juice, jams, and jellies. It's deep blue-black fruit looks tempting to me, although I also love the color of 'Candice', and it says they are better for fresh eating.

Grape vines are best planted in the spring. Soil amended with compost is ideal. If you are planting more than one vine they should be at least 6' to 10' apart, and holes should be about 12" deep. It is best to plant the vine the same depth as it was grown in the nursery, and then it needs to be trimmed back to 2-3 buds. I know that sounds harsh, but the first summer the vines will grow aggressively and then you will be able to select the sturdiest shoots for training.

Pruning is vital for a good grape crop. The SW garden book says, "The purpose of pruning is to limit the amount of potential fruiting wood to ensure the plant doesn't produce too much fruit and that the fruit it does bear is of good quality." For proper pruning practices, I'm going to refer you to a local expert, Larry Sagers. (He's a horticultural specialist for the Utah State Extension Service. He does a lot of work for Thanksgiving Point, and I've taken many classes from him. He's like the Utah garden guru!) Here's his article: "Careful Grape Pruning Brings Sweet Rewards." Pruning should be done in the winter or early spring before bud swell.

Grapes don't seem to require a lot of care, but I found a helpful article on growing grapes organically. It focuses on light and air and pest prevention.

I can't wait to give grapes a go in my new landscape!

Free Gardening Advice!

Here is my first official Q & A session! I know only my mom and sisters read this blog (hi guys!) but in the case that anyone else does, I would love to try to answer your questions about green things.

My friend, Tina in Pennsylvania, asked:

"So we have an apple tree but it, along with the whole yard, has been neglected for years. It did grow apples this year, but they were very small and the cores seemed rotted almost immediately. They almost sounded hollow when I tapped on the cores. So, my question is, can it be fixed, and do I need to call an expert? I'm thinking it's overcrowded. Can that happen? And if I trim it myself, can I ruin it? Could it have some sort of bug or infection? Does that kind of thing happen? And finally, if I call someone, should I do it now or in the spring? I'd love to have apples and make apple sauce next year."

My answer:

From what I have seen, it’s pretty hard to grow apples organically. Most people who have apples trees spray for insects and diseases, because, yes, they do commonly happen! I would say spraying usually happens in the spring. Your best bet would be to contact a professional for the spraying, but you can learn to do the pruning yourself! It's not hard!

Also, most people don’t know about an awesome FREE information source—your local university Cooperative Extension service and Master Gardeners. They are trained volunteers who are familiar with the horticultural region and growing conditions. They have tons of information and resources at their fingertips and they are there just to help you! They may even have a list of professional arborists to get you started.

Here are some links I found just from perusing the Penn State Cooperative Extension website:

Contact a Master Gardener directly (click on your county to get numbers)

Complete guide to growing apples! (click on pome fruits)

Tree Fruit Resources

You may wonder, why such a plug for cooperative extension? Well, I'll toot my own horn for a moment... (although again, mom and sisters already know this! Hi guys! :)

I'm a Master Gardener! Or was, when we lived in Nevada. To be certified in Utah I would have to take a few more classes and start over with my volunteer hours.


In the fall of '07 I began a course through the University of Reno Extension Service to become a Master Gardener. It sounds like a flashy title, but really it's just a name for a person who volunteers to teach and 'extend' education to the community. I took a 70-hour classroom course (mostly a super quick review of my hort education) and then had a year to complete 50 hours of volunteer service to become certified. After graduating from the coursework in December, my volunteer hours were put on hold to prepare for and welcome little Maddie! But starting in April I began participating a couple of times a month on various projects. Most of my time was spent on the Master Gardener help line (call in to get your gardening questions answered today!) and also as a leader for the Junior Master Gardener program that met 2x a month. The kids enjoyed growing pumpkins, planting herbs, and learning about compost. It was a rewarding way to serve the community and stay connected to the green industry.

For those of you living here in Utah, here are the contact numbers for the Utah State Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners. More info on their website here.

Here is another great cooperative extension website:

"Gardening and landscaping is extremely popular in urban areas and, in many ways, the public's main connection with agriculture and the natural world around them. Extension offers an extensive catalog of publications on every aspect of landscaping and gardening. We have demonstration gardens in several areas around the state where you can see plants and landscaping techniques before you try them at your home. Underlying all of our gardening programs is conserving water - Utah's most precious resource."

Happy gardening!