Time to start work on that fall garden

Newport News Daily Press - MCTMany vegetables such as spinach can be grown before frost.

Mid- to late-summer is the ideal time to start a fall garden, or a "second season" crop of your favorite cool-season vegetables and flowers.

What to grow: Even where winters are cold and the ground freezes hard, many vegetables can still be grown to maturity before first frost. For edibles, try beets, cilantro, lettuce, radish, spinach, kale, peas, salad greens, Swiss chard, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, onions, leeks, parsley and arugula. When choosing varieties, select those that are fast-maturing to ensure a harvest before cold weather hits.

When to start: The key to growing vegetables for fall harvest is timing. Vegetables grown in this season need about 14 extra days to mature compared with spring-seeded crops because of fall's shorter days, cooling soil and less intense sunshine. When deciding the date to start your veggies, first determine your average first frost date, which is Oct. 28 in Raleigh. Then look at the seed packet for days to maturity. Add 14 days to that number, then use that figure to calculate back to seed-starting date.

Growing on: Sowing seeds or setting out transplants in midsummer can be more stressful to young plants than seeding during cooler, often wetter spring weather. Keep the soil moist as seeds are germinating.

Protect young seedlings with shade cloth or plant them near taller plants, to provide shade from the hot afternoon sun. Or start seeds in containers in a spot with bright light and then transplant young seedlings into the garden. This works well for crops like lettuce and spinach, whose seeds don't germinate as well when soil temperatures are high.

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Avondale's community garden grows vegetables, friendship

by David Madrid - Jun. 20, 2011 07:12 AM
The Arizona Republic

Avondale's community garden grows vegetables and friendship.

Avondale City Councilwoman Stephanie Karlin planted the seeds of the idea at a City Council meeting in November 2009.

Avondale community garden

Her vision was that a garden could be used to make an empty lot greener, that it would provide healthful food and that residents would be drawn to the spot and would become friends through their shared love of gardening.

Mission accomplished.

Today, the Garden Patch grows on a third of a 2-acre lot, and about 30 people have joined to either garden communally or they have their own plots. Add to those members their family and friends and the volunteers who come to the garden to work, and Karlin, 57, said the garden has grown to exceed her dreams.

"Nobody knew each other beforehand," Karlin said. "And sometimes they (members) bring their neighbors, and the neighbors say, 'Oh, we want to be a part of this.' So, it's just gotten bigger and bigger. At first, I have to say, it was a struggle, because we've been working on this for a while. . . . We weren't getting a lot of responses. Then, all of a sudden, it just went boom, boom, boom with people (joining)."

Among the gardeners are developmentally-disabled students, children, adults and people who don't live in Avondale.

The garden is northeast of the Avondale Civic Center Library, 11350 W. Civic Center Drive. The plants, most of which are in full bloom or heavy with vegetables, are part of the first of three phases of Garden Patch membership.

There is a membership fee to join the Garden Patch. It is $60 a year to share in the communal garden and $90 a year to garden your own plot of ground. Each plot is 10 feet by 20 feet.

Membership, both individual and communal, entitles each person in the member's household or group to participate as a gardener, to use gardening tools owned by the Garden Patch, and to use the composting facilities.

The annual membership fee covers the plot, insurance and water to irrigate. Each garden plot has its own water spigot.

The garden was planted March 26. An executive board of seven runs the Garden Patch, which is working to have its non-profit status approved.

The garden grows a wide assortment of vegetables and flowers, including peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, eggplant, mint, sunflowers, squash, watermelon and cantaloupe.

Michelle Buvala, 46, is secretary of the executive board and coordinates many of the details necessary to running a community garden. She is a communal member.

"We (communal gardeners) get together. We decide what we want. We plant it. We make the decisions together. We pool our finances to buy what we need. We work it together," Buvala said of the communal plot. "We have a schedule: who comes out when and who does watering, picking the weeds and whatnot. And then we harvest together."

When a communal member comes out on watering day and a vegetable is ripe for the picking, the member picks it, she said. On Saturday mornings, most of the communal gardeners come out and each walks away with a basket full of vegetables, Buvala said.

Rusty Van Leuven, 42, treasurer of the board, has an individual garden plot. Among his crops are corn, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes and okra.

There are an amazing variety of plants packed into each garden plot.

"I've never had anything to do with gardening," Van Lueven said. "That's one reason why I did it. I wanted to learn how to do it."

And learn Van Lueven has. He said there is a vast reservoir of gardening knowledge among the gardeners. Everybody shares what they know.

"The first day, I picked and took zucchini home; we had a party," he said. "It's really satisfying when you pick what you've grown."

And one of the better aspects of the community garden for Van Lueven is that he didn't know any of the gardeners, but now, he is friends with his fellow gardeners.

Esmie Avila, Avondale's water conservation specialist, is a master gardener and she also has her own plot.

Despite her expertise, she said she learns things from other gardeners.

"You never stop learning," Avila said.

Although the Garden Patch is planting loofahs and ornamental gourds to raise money, it accepts donations. It could also use a shed to hold its gardening implements and some canopies.

For more information on the Garden Patch, go to www.avondalegardenpatch.com or e-mail garden.patch@yahoo.com.

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Garden offers food to North Hills pantries

Fresh vegetables, grown in Bellevue, soon will supplement the nonperishable items clients receive at North Hills Community Outreach's food pantries in Bellevue and Hampton.

In fact, some already are being harvested from an organic garden at 119 Davis Ave. The produce grown will be given to the 400 to 500 families who use the pantries every month. If the garden flourishes, the outreach will share with other local food pantries.

In 2008, Teresa Amelio of McCandless, a North Hills Community Outreach volunteer, donated the one-third acre of land that is the site of the garden with the vision that fruits and vegetables grown there would be given to pantry families. The garden is named the Rosalinda Sauro Sirianni Memorial Garden in memory of her mother, who died in 1983.

Ribbon-cutting for the garden will be held there at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, followed by a garden tea party at the James Porch Gazebo next to Bayne Library, 34 N. Balph Ave. from 2 to 6 p.m.

The back of the home on Center Avenue in Bellevue, where Mrs. Amelio grew up, faces Davis Avenue and the garden across the street. She remembers selling some of the vegetables grown organically by her Italian immigrant parents, Luigi and Rosalinda Sirianni, to neighbors. Mrs. Amelio, now in her 70s, and her husband Salvatore are putting the land to further good use,

"I'm so happy because that land has been sitting there for years and I wanted to do something with it. I got involved with NHCO and asked if they could use it. I'm so pleased the canned foods clients receive will be enriched with the items grown in the garden."

North Hills Community Outreach was formed after a devastating flood in 1986 ravaged parts of the North Hills. Religious and community leaders joined to help flood victims and the outreach was incorporated in 1987 with the mission of People Helping People.

The organization, headquartered in Hampton, has expanded to include satellite offices in Millvale and Bellevue, as well as programs such as Free Rides for Seniors, Community Auto, and numerous others.

To reclaim Ms. Amelio's ground, though, volunteers first had to remove weeds, brush, trees and thousands of pounds of bricks, rusted metal, broken glass and other debris that had accumulated over the past 20 years.

The Siriannis are also remembered through the Luigi Sirianni Family Memorial Field, a ballfield that was donated in 1994 by Mrs. Amelio's brothers, Nicola and Ernest, to the Bellevue-Avalon Girls Athletic Association.

Outreach garden coordinator Rosie Wise watered the garden, which she said was planted using the sloping contours of the property to reduce soil erosion and water run-off. Bellevue agreed to allow the agency to tap into the water line at the borough's utility building across the street from the garden.

The garden also saw help from community members.

Retired carpenter George Becker, 63, of Bellevue, worked on a metal mesh fence to keep the deer at bay. Mr. Becker said the gate was built wide enough for a truck to access the shed he also built, along with helping with the fence and compost bin.

"These people are so idealistic. They work hard and still have fun," Mr. Becker said of the outreach staff and volunteers. He said union carpenters volunteered to set the fence posts.

Two raised beds -- one four feet high and the other, two feet -- contain herbs and are designed to accommodate volunteers who find it difficult to stoop. The garden also has rows of onions, pole and bush beans, cucumbers, pumpkins, cherry and regular tomatoes, peppers and zucchini, said Ms. Wise, who has worked at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and as a soil conservation technician for the Department of Agriculture.

Close to 100 volunteers logged 250 hours since March, she said.

The garden was aided by a $75,000 two-year grant from Allegheny Grows, split among new urban gardens in Bellevue, Wilkinsburg and Penn Hills. It provided technical assistance, plants and material, according to Liza Walrath, an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer events coordinator at Community Outreach.

The program is in collaboration with Pittsburgh Grows, which encourages city gardening, and the grant also is providing second-year costs for gardens in Millvale and McKees Rocks. Source of the money is federal community development block grants.

"We had the soil tested and it was great for gardening," Ms. Walrath said.

Ms. Walrath is chairwoman of a jazz-age garden party celebrating the garden's grand opening.

The ribbon-cutting party will include live music, refreshments provided by local businesses, a flower market, croquet and activities for youngsters. Theme attire is encouraged. The event is free; donations will benefit the garden. For information, call 412-487-6316, option 2.

Volunteers are needed to weed, water, harvest, and deliver the food to the pantries and cut grass. To help, contact Rosie Wise at 412-307-0069 or rmwise@nhco.org.

First published on June 23, 2011 at 5:52 am

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Volunteers to plant vegetables in new Waterford Community Garden

Stephen Frye has covered the police beat and courts for The Oakland Press and now serves as online editor for www.theoaklandpress.com.

Dave Patterson and Erin Preston, a father-daughter team of Certified Financial PlannerR licensees, provide thoughts and suggestions on a broad collection of personal finance topics.

Karen will share a variety of information, including training tips, behavior, breed and health information, as well as heart-warming and comedic stories about her own dog and others.

Roger Beukema shares news from Lansing that impacts sportsmen (this means ladies as well) and talks about things he finds when he goes overseas to visit his children, and adding your comments into the mix.

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LIBRARY NOTES: Books can help yield results in the garden

There are many rewards in growing and harvesting your own vegetables and fruits. Even though my family lived in town, my parents planted a big garden that included tomatoes, beans, watermelon, cucumbers, strawberries and fruit trees. We kids helped harvest and prepare the produce for canning and freezing.

Mom made the best apple pie and watermelon pickles from some of the harvest. We seldom had to go to the store for a can of vegetables.

To get you started this year, we have gardening books ready to be checked out. The first book I recommend is James A. Fizzell's "Guide to Wisconsin Vegetable Gardening," whether you are a beginner or expert gardener. He suggests the best vegetables and herbs for a Wisconsin garden.

Included are easy recipes, such as focaccia with cherry tomatoes and eggplant parmigiana. Helpful charts are given with information on the number of days required from planting to harvest. The author advises you when, where and how to plant for each vegetable and herb.

Joann Woy's book "Accessible Gardening" is a guidebook of tips and techniques to help you overcome obstacles and return the joy of gardening to your life. Whether illness, accident or advancing age has frustrated you, do come in and check out this book.

There are directions for constructing raised bed planters and specifications for inclines, paths and railings. Horticultural therapy can lead to increased physical strength and self-esteem.

These books and other gardening books can be found at La Crosse County Library branches in Bangor, Campbell, Onalaska, Holmen and West Salem. If the item you are looking for is not on the shelf at your favorite facility, you may request items through the Winding Rivers Library catalog on our website www.lacrossecountylibrary.org, or in person at any circulation desk.

Mary Humm, a La Crosse County Library System staff member in the Holmen branch, retired Monday after 26 years on the job.

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Scott Eckert: No space for garden, try containers

Homegrown vegetables are in demand!? Consumers are more interested in where their food comes from and what goes into growing it. Homegrown food is the freshest, but for people with limited space, traditional gardening can be difficult.
That’s where vegetable container gardening comes in.
This great way to get fresh produce without taking up much space. Plus, you know exactly what went into producing the food you eat. Follow these easy steps to get your garden started.

Choose your
location
The logical place for your vegetable pot garden is on a patio or porch where you can easily enjoy and harvest your crops. Vegetables are sun-loving plants. Some leafy vegetables can tolerate partial sun, but root crops and fruit-bearing varieties like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and eggplant prefer full sun.
Plants should receive six or more hours of sunlight during the day. However, a fully exposed patio or porch can subject plants in pots to high temperatures and severe drying conditions, so if possible, choose a location with a little protection from wind or with a bit of protection from the full afternoon sun.

Choose your
container(s)
The first step to pot gardening success is to get a big enough container.
Choosing a large pot from 16 to 24 inches in diameter will go a long way toward ensuring your success. Larger pots hold moisture longer and aren’t as susceptible to tipping over in the wind.? Anything less than a 12-inch pot is probably too small. Consider factors like pot depth, weight, durability, and good drainage when selecting containers. Plastic, clay, ceramic, fiberglass and wood are popular choices, and all have advantages and disadvantages.
Plastic pots are lightweight and less expensive but not very durable. Clay pots are inexpensive and durable if protected from freezing but are heavy and tend to dry out quickly. Glazed ceramic pots are nice because they are attractive, but they also are heavy and more expensive. Fiberglass is both lightweight and durable, but costly. If using wood, avoid treated lumber and look for containers made of cedar or redwood.

Fill with the right potting media
Soilless potting mixes are ideal for containers. The components are lightweight and hold water and oxygen much better than garden soil.
Soilless mixes also will be free of weeds or diseases, and many contain a slow-release fertilizer.
Adding fertilizer to container vegetables is a must for good production. The nutrients most frequently lacking for growth are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Try to find an N-P-K value such as 18-6-12, or something close to a 3:1:2 ratio.
You can reapply this fertilizer again in late July. If you don’t use a slow-release granular, then water-soluble fertilizers of similar nutrient ratios are an option.
In general, fertilizers that are high in phosphorus should be avoided for vegetable containers. High rates are simply not needed for good production, and if there is runoff, it can contribute to surface water pollution.

Choose and plant your crop
Most of the standard garden varieties of vegetables will grow well in containers, but there are some cultivars specifically bred for small spaces.
Herbs also are great choices to grow in containers, either by themselves or mixed in with other vegetables.
If you want to grow large or climbing vegetable varieties, prepare your cage or trellis system ahead of time.
The less you disturb the roots after planting, the better. Just as in the garden, you can plant some crops directly from seed. Others, such as tomatoes, are best started from transplants. Follow within-row spacing recommendations provided on seed packages or in garden guides.
Cool-season salad crops such as lettuce and radishes can be planted before warm season crops such as a tomato or pepper, and harvested before the latter grow to full size.
A large pot actually has quite a bit of planting area, so one can grow a significant quantity of vegetables for a continuous harvest during the season.

Watering system
This can be as simple as you and a watering can every morning, but ideally you should set up a small drip-irrigation system and put it on a timer to give your vegetables consistent moisture.
Plants in containers dry out much faster than those in the ground and will likely need daily care during the hot periods of summer.
Before watering, stick your finger into the soil to check for moisture and only water the container when the soil feels dry. Another way of checking whether a plant needs watering is to gently lift the pot (if it’s not too heavy).
A dry pot will feel much lighter than one with adequate moisture.
Be sure to use a “breaker” nozzle on your hose or watering can to distribute spray evenly. Keep applying water until you see it running out the drainage hole.

Monitor
Keep an eye on your vegetables. Daily observation helps spot problems before they get out of control. See if the plants are getting enough water and fertilizer, and check for signs of insects or ailments. See other K-State Research and Extension publications for recommendations on pest and disease control.
Frequently checking your pots also ensures that you harvest your produce right when it’s ready.

Scott Eckert is Harvey County Extension agent, horticulture.

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