By SALLY ROTH, Courier & Press
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Time to sift through the mailbox, because lots of you are rarin' to get going in the garden.
Can I use wood ashes on my vegetable garden? I have a big pile after this cold winter.
Wood ashes are great for most of your garden. They add potassium and potash, which will make tomatoes grow like crazy. But potatoes aren't happy about them, so keep them off of the patch where you grow spuds.
Wood ash can change the alkalinity of your soil, so don't go overboard. Spread no more than half an inch of ash, and dig it in thoroughly.
I already have my vegetable garden dug. What can I plant and when?
Starting about mid-March, you can plant peas, potatoes, onion sets or seed, kale, mustard, endive, radishes, kohlrabi, broad beans, lettuce, spinach and strawberry plants. That ought to keep you busy until it's time to put in the tomatoes.
I had my storm debris hauled away, but I'm still picking up lots of sticks. Is there anything I can do with them?
Sturdy forked sticks are great to have on hand when your lilies, glads or other tall plants need a little extra backbone. Shorter twiggy sticks make a great pea fence — just poke a row of them in the ground, plant your peas and let the vines clamber up the sticks.
I pile sticks in an out-of-the-way corner until I need them. Song sparrows, towhees, Carolina wrens and rabbits appreciate the shelter of a brush pile.
I saw seeds for really cheap — I think they were 10 packs for a dollar. They don't grow, do they?
Cheap seeds grow just as well as the fancy packs, so I snap up those bargains whenever I see them.
Last year, I planted my veggie garden for a grand total of two bucks, and I had more cukes, squash, lettuce, spinach and tomatoes than I could eat. Not to mention a whole strip of cosmos and zinnias along the sunny side of the garage.
I have a lot of seeds I bought over the years and never planted. Are they still good?
Most seeds stay "good" for years. Even if some of the seeds don't sprout, you'll still get something. Just plant your old seeds thicker than usual; you can always transplant or weed out the extras.
I wanted to start an herb garden this year, but with both of us out of work, there's no money for plants. Help!
Herb gardening doesn't have to cost a mint. In fact, you can do it for nothing.
Ask your friends for starts of their oregano, creeping thyme, bergamot, spearmint or other mints, or beg a few 4-inch snippets of stem to stick into moist soil; they'll root like lightning.
And check your spice rack — it's easy to grow caraway, dill and hot peppers from a sprinkling of the seeds in those little jars.
Got any coriander? Plant some of those little round balls in late April, and you'll get a great patch of cilantro, which is what makes coriander seeds.
Check your couch cushions for spare change to invest in a pack of basil seed. Next fall, shake the seeds from your plants into a paper sack and you'll have the 2010 crop covered.
As for the lavender I'm sure you crave, it's easy to start from cuttings, but it takes a little more TLC. Now's the perfect time to do it on a sunny windowsill. Cut a few of last year's new stems with a bit of woody part on the end and poke them into a recycled nursery cell-pack filled with moist, sandy potting soil. Keep the soil moist but not sopping wet, and when they start to really grow, transplant the rooted cuttings to your new freebie herb garden.
Columnist Sally Roth can be reached at sallyrothcolumn@yahoo.com. Because of volume, responses to e-mails are not guaranteed.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Time to sift through the mailbox, because lots of you are rarin' to get going in the garden.
Can I use wood ashes on my vegetable garden? I have a big pile after this cold winter.
Wood ashes are great for most of your garden. They add potassium and potash, which will make tomatoes grow like crazy. But potatoes aren't happy about them, so keep them off of the patch where you grow spuds.
Wood ash can change the alkalinity of your soil, so don't go overboard. Spread no more than half an inch of ash, and dig it in thoroughly.
I already have my vegetable garden dug. What can I plant and when?
Starting about mid-March, you can plant peas, potatoes, onion sets or seed, kale, mustard, endive, radishes, kohlrabi, broad beans, lettuce, spinach and strawberry plants. That ought to keep you busy until it's time to put in the tomatoes.
I had my storm debris hauled away, but I'm still picking up lots of sticks. Is there anything I can do with them?
Sturdy forked sticks are great to have on hand when your lilies, glads or other tall plants need a little extra backbone. Shorter twiggy sticks make a great pea fence — just poke a row of them in the ground, plant your peas and let the vines clamber up the sticks.
I pile sticks in an out-of-the-way corner until I need them. Song sparrows, towhees, Carolina wrens and rabbits appreciate the shelter of a brush pile.
I saw seeds for really cheap — I think they were 10 packs for a dollar. They don't grow, do they?
Cheap seeds grow just as well as the fancy packs, so I snap up those bargains whenever I see them.
Last year, I planted my veggie garden for a grand total of two bucks, and I had more cukes, squash, lettuce, spinach and tomatoes than I could eat. Not to mention a whole strip of cosmos and zinnias along the sunny side of the garage.
I have a lot of seeds I bought over the years and never planted. Are they still good?
Most seeds stay "good" for years. Even if some of the seeds don't sprout, you'll still get something. Just plant your old seeds thicker than usual; you can always transplant or weed out the extras.
I wanted to start an herb garden this year, but with both of us out of work, there's no money for plants. Help!
Herb gardening doesn't have to cost a mint. In fact, you can do it for nothing.
Ask your friends for starts of their oregano, creeping thyme, bergamot, spearmint or other mints, or beg a few 4-inch snippets of stem to stick into moist soil; they'll root like lightning.
And check your spice rack — it's easy to grow caraway, dill and hot peppers from a sprinkling of the seeds in those little jars.
Got any coriander? Plant some of those little round balls in late April, and you'll get a great patch of cilantro, which is what makes coriander seeds.
Check your couch cushions for spare change to invest in a pack of basil seed. Next fall, shake the seeds from your plants into a paper sack and you'll have the 2010 crop covered.
As for the lavender I'm sure you crave, it's easy to start from cuttings, but it takes a little more TLC. Now's the perfect time to do it on a sunny windowsill. Cut a few of last year's new stems with a bit of woody part on the end and poke them into a recycled nursery cell-pack filled with moist, sandy potting soil. Keep the soil moist but not sopping wet, and when they start to really grow, transplant the rooted cuttings to your new freebie herb garden.
Columnist Sally Roth can be reached at sallyrothcolumn@yahoo.com. Because of volume, responses to e-mails are not guaranteed.
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