Gardening Continued from previous page specifics. Most of Jefferson county is located in Plant Hardiness Zone 5, but there are some parts of Jefferson County that are in Zone 6. The majority if Indiana County is Zone 6, too. This info can be found online or at your local library and in a Farmers Almanac, which is also online at www.almanac.com. The USDA also lists the zones at www.planthardiness.ars.usda.gov. The zones will tell you when it is safe to plant seeds. SOiL is another key ingredient. You can till existing soil in your yard with a rototiller or have it tilled by someone with a tiller attachment on their tractor. Perhaps you can just turn the soil over with a spade shovel. You can add to existing soil with top soil, planting mix, manure, compost or a combination. Straight compost may damage young plants though, so it’s best to use a mixture. You can use fertilizer, but the prepackage blends only give you three or so of the nutrients your soil needs. Compost works just as well. Plants will grow in containers, too. Use planters with holes in the bottom or with rocks or other filler in the bottom so water can drain out. Containers are great for herbs, especially ones that will take over an area quickly like lemon balm. Lettuce also grows well in containers. WATer is very important. It’s amazing how well plants grow and produce when you water them. My biggest newbie mistake was not watering enough. You want the soil to be moist. Water early morning or in the evening so wet plants don’t get wilted by the sun in the afternoon. SuNLiGHT should be available to plants for at least 6 hours throughout the day. This will determine where you place your garden. Sometimes a small area between buildings will get enough sunlight. Other items you will need are a hose or watering container for watering plants, a small shovel and a spade shovel. All of the above items are all you need to begin a small garden. Additional items include gardening gloves and boots. Gardening bare foot in a sundress seems picturesque until you have to hose off your feet in freezing water and still track mud through your house. Gardening shoes or boots are practical and you can leave them out on your porch. You can also add a straw or leaf mulch or plastic covering to the garden to keep weeds down. None of these are a requirement. You will learn yourself through trial and error or by researching what plants work well with one another, so you may not need any ground covering at all. An organic gardening tip is to plant plants closer together than recommended to keep the weeds from coming up. Some plants like cabbage or broccoli can get pests. I had a battle with cabbage worms last year. It is so cruel that they are exactly the same shade of green as cabbage. Instead of spraying chemicals on plants, you can just pluck off whatever pest you have, every day. You can see in the picture on the previous page the mound where I have my garlic growing. Onions and potatoes are already planted in this same mound. Beet seeds will be the next to go in. I have a few carrots already coming up from last year, too. I have found that plants that grow down — like all of these — grow better in a raised-up bed
or built-up soil. And because they are all in a mound, the soil doesnt get trampled down when you walk in the garden. The area behind me in the picture is where tomatoes will go again, or maybe peppers. It is good to rotate where you plant the same crop, so the nutrients aren’t depleted in that area, even in a small garden. So, to start a garden, plant seeds or plants in turned over or piled up soil according to the directions. Water often to keep the soil moist and let sunlight do the rest. Then, when you have produce, you can enjoy it straight from the garden or try a new recipe, or can or freeze it for later use. Preserving your harvest is an entire other crash course. One of my favorite salads comes right out of my garden, when the vegetables actually make in into the house.
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vidALiA ONiON SALAd Vidalia Onion Feta Cheese Cherry Tomatoes Cucumbers Balsamic Vinegar or Dill & Red Wine Vinegar
Because this is a salad, I don’t actually measure anything. The cherry tomatoes and cucumbers I grow in my garden. The cucumbers are regular or pickling cucumbers or my new favorite lemon cucumbers. They look just like lemons covered in black pepper. The Vidalia onions I buy. Slice the Vidalia onions thinly and top with Feta cheese. Add cucumber slices and whole cherry tomatoes. Drizzle with Balsamic vinegar or with red wine vinegar and dill. •••
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Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2012 - Issue #139 – 7