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Inside Winter pruning Page 2 Prevent veg. diseases Page 3 Bird watch contest Page 11 Control wild flowers Page 13
Fr
ee
March 2013
North Georgia’s Agricultural Newspaper
Time again to prepare to ‘dig in the dirt’ By Barbara Olejnik Georgia Ag News Staff bolejnik@poultrytimes.net
GAINESVILLE — With longer days and mostly warmer weather, the itch to “dig in the dirt” begins to hit as thoughts turn to planting in the soil. But whether planting runs toward flowers and landscapes or visions of mouth-watering home-grown vegetables, a little preparation is always the best starting place. Preparation includes some spring cleaning. This means removing and composing any dead annual plants that remained over winter. Clean up all leaves that were missed over the fall and winter months. Prune fruit trees and any needled evergreens that need it. Fruit trees must be pruned while dormant. Cut out crossing, diseased or broken branches and water sprouts that have grown up over the past year. Get a jump start on weeding by removing the young seedlings before they have a chance
to grow and establish a root system. Discard the weeds from flower beds. And preparation also begins with the soil. But don’t get anxious and start working the soil too early. The soil needs to be damp but not soggy or sticky. A handful of soil made into a ball should fall apart easily when the hand is opened. The soil for a flower bed or a garden needs to be worked before any planting can begin. A good place to begin is a soil test to determine what nutrients might need to be added. Plants consume nutrients from the ground and the soil can become depleted over years. Plants also like a pH or acidity level of about 6.5. A soil test can identify both the nutrients and the pH levels in a garden. Fertilizers containing a mixture of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium can also be added to the soil. A balanced fertilizer containing equal
See Garden, Page 14
Photo by David B. Strickland
Garden ready: Whether you grow flowers or vegetables, or both, it soon will be time to get in the garden, get your hands dirty, and get your plants and soil ready.
National Ag Day: a time to celebrate agriculture By David B. Strickland Georgia Ag News Staff
dstrickland@poultrytimes.net
GAINESVILLE — There has been a lot of agriculture news in the past year with record drought, corn and feed prices and more. But a day is set aside every March to look toward the positive, as well as vital contributions that agriculture makes to our lives.
National Ag Day — this year held on Tuesday, March 19 — is sponsored nationally by the Agriculture Council of America. The council notes that the annual event is a chance to pause and “recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by American agriculture.” The celebration day is not only a time to note agriculture’s importance to the country, but also a
chance to recognize the importance of agriculture to our state. Georgia is a major producer of many crops, as well as being the number one producer of broiler chickens, peanuts and pecans. Agriculture firmly supports the economic shoulders of Georgia. Which is an aspect that Georgia’s Commissioner of Agriculture Gary W. Black agrees with and supports. “Agriculture is Georgia’s largest
and oldest industry, contributing more than $68 billion annually to Georgia’s $719 billion economy,” Black said. “One in seven people in our state actually work in agriculture or a forestry related field,” he added. “Helping this diverse industry thrive is critical to Georgia’s economy, and families across the state.”
See Ag Day, Page 15