Hot tips for cool crops: Get growing on your fall garden

(ARA) - You might think the end of summer means bidding farewell to fresh, homegrown veggies. Not so - many cool-season crops hit their heyday as autumn temperatures drop, and some even taste better when nipped by a light frost.

As long as their basic growing conditions are met, vegetable plants don't care what season it is. If you live in a warmer climate, you may be able to grow your fall garden all winter long. If, however, you live in a colder area, your growing season will be shorter.

In most regions of the country, gardeners plant fall vegetables in August or September for harvest in October and November. You'll need to carefully calculate your growing season so you can ensure plants have time to produce before freezing weather arrives. Generally, you should plant fall vegetables when daytime temperatures range between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (the cooler the better); night temperatures should be above 40 degrees, and you'll need enough sunshine to ensure plants will get at least six hours of sun per day. You'll also need to give plants at least an inch of water per week.

To get started, remove all the debris left over from your summer garden so fall crops have plenty of room to grow. Add compost to your garden beds and landscapes. Soil should be light, well-aerated and well-draining - since fall gardens are more likely to get soggy from rain. Mulch will keep the soil cool and moist during the last days of summer.

You can also mix in an all natural fertilizer like Bonnie Plants, Herb and Vegetable Plant Food, made from soybean oilseed extract, known to contain 150,000 nutritional and organic compounds that include vitamins, minerals, amino acids and proteins, enzymes, plant hormones and carbohydrates. All are vital to plant growth. Next, find out your local frost and freeze dates. For most areas, frost doesn't have to end the fall growing season. Monitor your local weather forecast during late September and early October so you know when frost is coming.

Once you know your local frost and freeze dates, you can begin planning - and planting - your fall garden. Remember, when growing vegetables in the fall, plants need to be in the ground in time to mature before the first frost, and to yield most of their harvest before the first heavy freeze. Some cool-season crops mature in as little as 30 to 40 days, while others may take several months to produce.

Since time is of the essence when planting a fall garden, start out with transplants that are already growing. Choose fast-maturing varieties, like Bonnie Plants, to get the most for your harvest. The gardening experts at Bonnie suggest these fall crops:

* Winterbor kale - This vigorous producer weathers winter easily, even in very cold climates. Cut outer leaves so that the center can continue growing. Space transplants about 12 inches apart

* Georgia collards - Another leafy green similar to kale, Georgia collards are prized for their sweet, cabbage-like flavor. Space transplants 36 inches apart.

* Romaine lettuce -- Romaine packs more vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytonutrients than other popular types of lettuce. Space transplants 18 inches apart.

* Early dividend broccoli - Popular, productive and easy to grow, this broccoli is high in fiber and calcium. Set transplants 18 inches apart.

* Mustard greens - Offering spicy hot leaves, this is a very fast-growing, nutritious vegetable. Mustard greens always taste sweeter when nipped by frost. Space plants 12 inches apart.

* Bonnie hybrid cabbage - Bonnie's best cabbage is high in beta-carotene, vitamins C and K, and fiber. Space transplants 24 inches apart.

* Arugula - These fast-growing leafy greens are super-food for your bones. The leaves are "nutrient dense" and low in calories. Leaves grow best in cool weather.

As winter grows closer, you can extend your garden harvest by using floating row covers on frosty nights, or by planting in containers that can be brought indoors overnight. Be ready with some kind of protection to cover your plants. You can opt for something commercially manufactured, such as cloches, polyethylene blankets and corrugated fiberglass covers, or try simple household items like old towels, bed sheets, or even used plastic milk jugs with the bottoms removed.

You can continue to enjoy fresh, homegrown vegetables through fall and even into winter when you start with some expert knowledge and the right plants. To learn more about growing a fall garden visit www.bonnieplants.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent


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How to make growing your own vegetables as earth-friendly as possible

(ARA) - There was a time when it was the norm to go out in the yard and pull fresh vegetables up from the soil. At some point over the years, we moved from the goodness of home-grown vegetables toward processed foods and microwave dinners. Now consumers are becoming more aware of the financial value of growing their own vegetables, and how doing so can bolster the health of their families and of the earth.

Vegetable gardening might sound intimidating, but new technologies can make your thumb greener than ever. Combined with good old-fashioned growing techniques, your garden can be healthy and yield a good crop with less effort than you'd imagine - all while being good for the earth. Here are some tips for a garden that is doubly green.

Water, water everywhere, but not too much
* A fine balance needs to be struck when it comes to watering your vegetable garden, especially during drought conditions. You want your plants to get adequate moisture, but overwatering can be bad for plants and a wasteful use of a precious natural resource. Because it's better for both your crops and the environment, careful water usage is essential to being a truly green gardener.

Installing an irrigation system is a good way to keep water usage at the ideal levels. Plus, you don't have to plan a schedule around when you need to water. There are user-friendly, affordable solutions like Mister Landscaper's new Drip Irrigation Vegetable Kit, which connects to your outdoor spigot. It's a great way to ensure that your plants get the water they need, without wasting or over watering. The kit is drought approved in most areas and available at Lowe's in the plumbing department. Watering timers can also make the job of watering even easier. Keep in mind that it's best to water in the early morning, when the sun is lower in the sky, for 30 to 60 minutes, every other day. For more information about watering vegetable gardens, go to www.misterlandscaper.com.

One man's garbage is another's fertilizer
* Ever feel guilty about throwing out vegetable and fruit peelings, rinds or scraps? Your intuition might just be telling you that there's a better way to handle those leftovers. Composting is a great way to make use of organic matter that might otherwise just get thrown away.

Building a compost heap is relatively easy, and it will keep on giving back to your garden and the environment. The four necessary ingredients for composting, according to California's "CalRecycle" program, are nitrogen (from sources like grass clippings or those throwaway veggie scraps), carbon (from sources like sawdust or twigs), water and air. Once your compost is at the ideal level of decomposition (it will be uniformly dark brown and crumbly), spread it on your garden to give plants a nutrient boost.

Get growing - organically
* From the moment you start planning a garden, think organic. The most basic - and fun - choice of all is deciding which plants you'll grow. Choose organic seeds and starters so that you know you're buying into an earth-friendly business venture. There's the added bonus of knowing that your plants won't be tainted with harmful chemicals.

When it comes to maintaining your garden, you'll probably need things other than just compost. Look for products that are recognized as organic by respected organizations like the USDA or the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) - you'll be able to find an ever-growing supply of products like pest repellent or soil amendments.

Growing your own vegetables at home has many benefits: it saves money, allows you to control what your food is exposed to and provides a fun and easy activity that the whole family can participate in. And when you follow these green gardening principles, you'll be doing something good for the earth, too.

Courtesy of ARAcontent


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Flavorful Landscapes -- A Growing Trend

(ARA) - Nothing beats the flavor of a fresh-from-the-garden tomato; warmed by the sun, plucked right from the plant and eaten in the garden.

More than 43 percent of U.S. households plan to experience this and the other benefits of homegrown fruits, vegetables and herbs this summer, according to a recent survey by the National Gardening Association.

Space Limited? Get Creative
The good news is you don’t need much space to have an edible garden. Many gardeners grow food in containers or mixed in with their flowers, shrubs and other ornamental plantings.

Look for creative ways to include vegetables in your landscape. “I like to mix them with flowers in my container gardeners” says Melinda Myers, horticulturist and author. “One of my favorite combinations is ornamental corn, eggplant, tri-color sage, purple ruffle basil and trailing verbena. For a quick burst of spring beauty and produce I use Swiss chard as a vertical accent, add a few pansies -- they are edible -- colorful leaf lettuce or ornamental mustard and a trailing ivy or two for aesthetics, not eating.”

Limited sunlight? No worries
Full sun will give you the best results, but you can still grow edibles where sunshine is limited. Save the sunniest spot for tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers and other vegetables where you eat the flowers or fruit. They produce their best and have fewest disease problems when grown in eight to 12 hours of sunlight. Root crops such as beets, radishes and carrots can get by with about a half a day of direct sun and leafy crops like lettuce and spinach can still produce in a shady location with only four hours of sunlight.

Get Your Garden Off to a Good Start
Use a quality potting mix when growing in containers. It should have good drainage and retain moisture. In the garden, it’s important to properly prepare the soil before planting. Add several inches of compost, peat moss or other organic matter to the top 6- to 12-inches of soil. This improves drainage in heavy soils and increases water holding capacity for sandy or rocky soils.

Add a slow release fertilizer like Milorganite to the soil. This goof-proof organic source of nitrogen meets the Environmental Protection Agency’s Exceptional Quality standards and will help encourage growth without interfering with flowering and fruiting.

Time it Right
Let the weather be your planting guide. Cool season crops like lettuce, peas and broccoli can tolerate chilly air and soil. Wait for the danger of frost to pass and soil to warm before planting tomatoes, peppers, squash and melons. Myers suggests anxious gardeners can, “Jump start the season with the help of floating row covers. These polypropylene fabrics let air, light and water through while trapping the heat near the plants. The best part, you won’t need a hammer, nail or other tools. Simply lay the fabric over your planting leaving enough slack for the plants to grow and anchor the edges to the ground with stones, boards or other items.”

Maximize Your Efforts
Check the seed packets and plant tags for details on when and how to plant each herb and vegetable seed or transplant. Increase productivity with succession plantings. Simply start with lettuce, radishes or another cool weather plant. Once harvested, replant the area with onions or beans. After these are done you can replant the area once again with a fall crop of lettuce, spinach or radishes.

Double your harvest with interplanting. Plant quick-to-mature crops like radishes and lettuce in between longer maturing plantings of cabbage, tomatoes or eggplant. The short season vegetables will be ready to harvest just about the time the bigger plants are crowding them out.

Consider planting vegetables closer together in wider rows. You’ll waste less space for pathways putting more room in plantings. Make sure each plant has enough space to grow and that you can reach all planted areas to weed and harvest.

Just a Bit More Care Needed
Water new plantings thoroughly and often enough to keep the soil moist but not too wet. Add a layer of shredded leaves, evergreen needles or other organic material to conserve moisture, suppress weeds and moderate soil temperatures. Midsummer, give your plants a boost with a slow release organic nitrogen fertilizer like Milorganite. And don’t worry if the weather turns hot and dry, Milorganite won’t burn. It will remain in the soil until the plants are ready to use it.

Pull weeds as they appear, watch for bugs and wait for the produce to come pouring in. You may find this is a great family activity that gets even the most reluctant vegetable eaters munching on a few fresh carrots and maybe even broccoli.

Courtesy of ARAcontent


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Create Your Own Salad Garden

(NAPSI)-The current economy is fueling a grassroots hobby and a healthy money maker: vegetable gardening. One major seed company says a $10 investment can produce up to $1,500 worth of vegetables. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says vegetables are important sources of nutrients that help maintain healthy blood pressure and reduce cholesterol levels.

"Vegetable gardeners may become the most popular people in your neighborhood," says Bayer Advanced garden expert Lance Walheim, co-author of "Vegetable Gardening." "Growing your own veggies lets you create your own salad or side dishes that taste great."

Here are some tips to help you get started:

Choose your vegetables: What kind of veggies or salads do you like to eat? Options include head and leaf lettuces, spinach, parsley, asparagus, peas, carrots, corn, broccoli, eggplant, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, okra, peppers, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes and celery.

Let the sun and soil be your guide: Most vegetables need six to eight hours of direct sun daily and well-drained soil.

Prepare the soil: Contact your local cooperative extension about soil testing, then till in ample organic matter and other recommended amendments, including fertilizer.

Lay out planting beds: Use string to mark off the individual rows of vegetables you'll plant. Rows that face east to west will get the best sun exposure.

Plant with the seasons: Contact your local cooperative extension office for a local planting calendar and for tips on locally adapted and pest-resistant varieties.

Use organic mulch: It helps keep the weeds out. Weeds compete for nutrients and may harbor pests and diseases.

Monitor for pests: Destructive insects such as Japanese beetles, aphids and hornworms like veggies, too. Bayer Advanced™ Complete Insect Killer for Gardens kills more than 100 different pests. Spray it on the upper and lower leaf surfaces, stems and branches. Be sure to read and follow label directions. Visit bayeradvanced.com for more details and for other products that will prevent insects from eating your vegetables.

Water and fertilize: Vegetables need consistent water and nutrients.

Enjoy the bounty: Pick often and share the wealth. Many vegetables will stop producing if not harvested often.

If you don't have adequate space for vegetable gardening, Walheim says you can always start small by growing vegetables in containers. A container for vegetables can be as simple as a bushel basket, ceramic pot or a planter box.

Vegetables are an important source of nutrients.

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Home Gardeners Can Reap Huge Financial Rewards Growing Veggies

/PRNewswire/ -- A recently completed cost-analysis by America's leading home gardening company reveals major savings for people who grow their own vegetables.

According to W. Atlee Burpee & Co. (www.Burpee.com), a well-planned garden will result in a 1 to 25 cost-savings ratio, meaning $50 in seeds and fertilizer can produce $1,250 worth of groceries purchased at a supermarket. "And all you need is a small, sunny plot to enjoy these big savings," says Burpee Chairman, George Ball.

For the coming year, 2009, Burpee is planning a new seed packet offer, appropriately termed, The Money Garden. Each Money Garden packet will contain packages of six easy-to-grow varieties capable of producing $650 worth of vegetables. The Money Garden will have a special $10 price and will be available on the company website (http://www.burpee.com/product/id/112011.do?KickerID=100535&KICKER ) exclusively.

The Money Garden packet will include the following varieties: Bell Peppers, Beefsteak Tomatoes, Sugar Snap Peas, French Green Beans, Butterhead Lettuces and large Nantes-type carrots. If purchased individually, the six items would retail for $20.

Crucial to attaining enormous savings is succession planting, Mr. Ball says. "Too often home gardeners plant an item such as lettuce early in the season and then leave the site fallow after harvesting a month later." Much of the success in The Money Garden results from extending the season from early planting to late harvesting, according to Mr. Ball. Burpee will help gardeners learn "staggered sowing" and the best vegetables to plant in succession in their locale and when to start for maximum results. Also, which varieties actually do better in colder weather. The Money Garden can be cultivated in a relatively small garden of approximately 200-225 square feet.

To make it easier for home gardeners to plant The Money Garden, Burpee plans to post information on the company website, www.Burpee.com. A toll free Money Garden hotline has been established, 1-800-333-5808, to answer questions customers may have about planting their Money Garden.

It should also be noted, Mr. Ball points out, that in addition to cost savings the taste of homegrown vegetables is vastly superior to store-bought and their nutritional value far exceeds vegetables that line the shelves of supermarkets a week or more after being picked.

To arrive at the 1 to 25 ratio, Burpee planted a series of test gardens during 2008 at its main research facility, Fordhook Farm, in Bucks County, PA. "A hundred dollars will produce $2,500 in groceries", Mr. Ball concludes, "that's $2,400 a family can save in five months."

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UGA Leads Effort to Swat Down Major Vegetable Disease

In the Southeast, thrips are tomato and pepper farmers’ No. 1 enemy. The tiny, plant-feeding bugs carry a disease that can devastate their crops. A $1.75 million grant will help experts with the University of Georgia and other universities in the region develop ways to stop the damage.

“The key pest for Georgia, north Florida and up through the Carolinas are no doubt thrips-vectored viruses,” said David Riley, a research entomologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “It’s the one that will make or break the crop.”

Over the next four years, Riley will lead a multistate, interdisciplinary team of experts from CAES, the University of Florida, Clemson University and North Carolina State University. The goal is to drastically reduce the risk and damage of the tomato spotted wilt virus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service will fund the effort.

Each university included in the grant has faculty working on ways to control TSWV and thrips in their state. This grant will provide the funding and direction needed to coordinate the efforts into strategies farmers can use throughout the region, said Terry Kelley, a vegetable horticulturist with UGA Cooperative Extension.

“Several individual variables that impact tomato spotted wilt virus on tomatoes and peppers have been identified in recent years. This grant will provide the means to look at combinations of these variables and determine the best overall system to use in combating it,” Kelley said. “Hopefully the result will be a strategy that growers can employ to reduce the impact of TSWV every season on their farms."

TSWV is mainly carried by tobacco thrips and Western flower thrips. The disease costs tomato and pepper farmers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina as much as $100 million in preventive management and damage annually. The four states combined produce half of the nation’s fresh tomato and pepper supply, worth $1.3 billion annually. “This is the hot zone for tomato spotted wilt virus in the U.S.,” Riley said.

The virus can destroy 20 percent to 30 percent of a field in any year or all of a field in a bad year, said Bill Brim, a vegetable farmer in Tifton, Ga. The few TSWV-resistant varieties available to farmers now can succumb to the virus over time.

“This virus can devastate us.” said Brim, who is president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. “We’re excited about this grant. The research and work that will come from it will help us stay ahead of the game on this in the future.”

Riley hopes to develop a risk index, or a planning tool, that farmers can use to score their crop’s chances of getting the disease. By combining resistant plants, different types of plastics to cover planting beds, thrips population predictions, chemicals and chemical application times, farmers can reduce the damage the disease causes.

In the mid-1990s, CAES experts developed a similar index for the disease in peanuts. It helped farmers drastically reduce the damage it causes that crop annually.

“We won’t eliminate the virus. It will always be around,” Riley said. “But I am confident in time we will be able to eliminate the damage it causes.”

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Clean Produce with Water and 'Elbow Grease'

Regardless of fresh-food contamination scares, produce lovers should always thoroughly wash their food. It won’t guarantee that it’s safe, but it helps, say University of Georgia experts.
"It has not been determined whether the current cases of salmonella illnesses related to fresh tomatoes are linked to contamination on the fruit’s surface," said Elizabeth Andress, a UGA Cooperative Extension food safety specialist.

“In reality, we don’t know what the real problem is yet,” she said. “We don’t know if the bacteria are just on the outside or if they are on the inside, too. Until we know where the problem is coming from it’s hard for us to give consumers advice.”

Fresh water and friction

"The best way to clean produce at home," she said, "is to simply rub it while running fresh water over it."

Soaking the produce in a weak chlorine solution will reduce bacteria, too, but it won’t get it all if it is contaminated. “It is certainly not an answer to the problem,” she said.

Don’t soak produce for more than one minute in a chlorine solution. Still rub it under fresh water after the soak.

“Dirt or any kind of organic material that the vegetables add to the solution will use up available chlorine before any free chlorine can sanitize,” she said. “Free chlorine will bind with organic material first, and it's only what is left over that will be available to kill microorganisms.”

Nooks and crannies

Cleaning the surface of vegetables like cantaloupes can be a difficult task.

“There are so many nooks and crannies for bacteria to hide in on produce,” said Judy Harrison, a UGA Extension food safety specialist. “They can get down in the openings for respiration on the surface of leaves or inside stem scars.”

In addition to providing county agents with consumer information, Harrison works with UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences food scientists to develop post-harvest safety recommendations for farmers.

"The key to preventing contamination is to take precautions at all steps along the way -- from the farm fields to home tables," she said.

Follow these tips

To reduce health risks from contamination, Harrison offers these tips:
* Wash hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds before and after preparing fresh produce.
* Wash all produce before eating.
* Don’t wash it with soap or detergent or commercial produce washes.
* Remove damaged or bruised areas on fruits and vegetables before preparing or eating. Throw rotten-looking produce away.
* Wash produce even if you plan to peel it.
* Scrub firm produce, such as melons and cucumbers, with a clean produce brush.
* Dry produce with a clean cloth or paper towel.

By Sharon Omahen
University of Georgia

Sharon Omahen is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Organic Farm in Tyrone

Cowgirl City Ranch is a sustainable organic farm located just 15 minuets south the Atlanta Airport in Tyrone, GA.

Our mission is to grow nutritious and healthy food for the community. Organic farming practices build a living soil, which enhances the health of the land and people in our community. We use only sustainable and organic farming methods which rely on minimal off-farm inputs and no chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

Our growing methods include crop rotation, planting cover crops, applying finished compost and mulches, encouraging beneficial insects, using heirloom and organic seed, and selecting proper irrigation methods.

We produce vegetables, blue berries, apples, herbs and flowers. There will be a market on the farm each Wednesday and Saturday. This year CSA shares will be offered from April through November at a fee of $500 per share. Farm tours and internships available upon request.

Farm Name: Cowgirl City Ranch (Tyrone, GA)
(http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M20261)