Grow Your Own: The Fantastic Four – Rise Of The Silver Sprout
by John Weckerle
Salad On The Hoof: Got Romaine? All you need is a pot, soil, water, some seeds, and a sunny window.
This past winter was a time for some, well, interesting discourse on global climate change. “Skeptics” local and nationwide heaped criticism on the concept, often using the winter weather as a springboard to dive into the muddy waters. Well, winter’s over, and it’s time to start growing – although we’ll have a brief mention of the previous season’s severity before we’re through.
Sprouts – though not those referenced in the title; again, that’s for later – are up! Tomatoes, kale, and chard were up three weeks ago. We started with tomatoes and green bell peppers to get a head start on our short season, and spinach, kale and chard because of their wonderful cold tolerance. In fact, we started spinach very early. Unfortunately, a mouse got in during some remodeling, and decided to dine on our spinach sprouts. Spinach seeds planted later have just poked up above the soil surface.
A week after we started the aforementioned veggies, we got started with snow peas and three varieties of bush string beans. Those are all up – and about 4-6 inches tall – as well. The green bells popped up today, as did some impatiens seeds (not food in the traditional sense, but food for the eyeballs if they do well). Of course, we didn’t wait until just now to start growing; we’ve had fresh dill, cilantro, and basil all winter…and then there’s the lettuce, and the “head start” kale.
As for the climate issue – we’re surprised to report that four of last year’s cabbages that were not harvested, as well as one kale plant and one Brussels sprout plant, survived the winter on their own (no cover or water) and are putting out leaves. We’re not sure what their fate is – we’ve never gotten a sprout off a Brussels here as they are prone to severe aphid infestation – and I have to wonder just how good the cabbages would be. Of course, it would be something to be the only guy in the neighborhood with a bunch of perennial cabbages, and kale seems to be good as long as it keeps growing. I can almost taste the kale and white bean stew…
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How to Get Rid of Aphids Naturally
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By an eHow Contributing Writer
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Aphids, those tiny, pear-shaped, sap-sucking pests, appear every spring to feast on your plants’ tender new leaves. Not to fear; you don’t have to resort to toxic chemicals to save your garden.
.Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions.Things You’ll Need:
•Dishwashing Detergent
•Spray Bottles
•Fertilizers
•Garden Hoses And Attachments
•Lacewings
•Ladybugs
•Pruning Shears
•Sticky Traps
•Pruning Shears
•Vegetable Oils
Step 1
Examine your garden regularly for signs of aphids. Look for clusters of the little bugs on new growth and flower buds, as well as on the curled and twisted leaves.
Step 2
Remove the aphids by hand (wearing gloves) or using a sharp stream of water.
Step 3
Cut away and dispose of infested foliage.
Step 4
Capture flying aphids by placing yellow sticky traps near infected plants.
Step 5
Make a nontoxic pesticide by mixing 1 c. vegetable oil with 1 tbsp. liquid dishwashing soap. Add 1 1/2 tsp. solution per cup of warm water to a handheld spray bottle.
Step 6
Hit the aphids directly with above mixture and spray entire plant thoroughly.
Step 7
Introduce beneficial insects, such as ladybugs or green lacewings, to your garden to feed on the aphids. Both can be bought from any garden store or online.
Step 8
Avoid planting aphid-attracting plants, such as birch trees, and instead grow plants such as white sweet clover, spearmint, sweet fennel and Queen Anne’s lace, which attract and house the lacewings, ladybugs and other insects that feed on aphids.
Step 9
Rid your garden of ants. Ants love to eat “honeydew,” the sugary sap secreted by aphids, and will keep the aphids alive by fending off predators and carrying the sap makers to other plants.
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Read more: How to Get Rid of Aphids Naturally | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4030_rid-aphids-naturally.html#ixzz0ukjfGnwx