Summer Farmer's Markets

With Summer comes an abundance of vegetables, and an effort to sell them at local markets. We attend the Sykesville Apple Butter Market to sell plants, and it always has several farmers selling fresh goods. There is no better flavor than the food that can be bought fresh at markets and roadside stands this time of year. Please support them, you will be healthier for it.

It's Finally Summer!

Summer has finally arrived, and with it arrives hot weather and frequent thunderstorms. Most vegetable plants will not perform well until the hot weather arrives. Since we've had such a cold and wet Spring, they have a lot of lost time to make up for. The plants will perform well if they receive enough water, but go easy of the fertilizer, as they do not need it as much during the Summer.

Don't forget to stake or cage the tomatoes, and any other plants that need something to grow on such as pole beans, cucumbers and other climbing plants.

Spring Weather Pattern

Wow, it's certainly been a poor start to the 2009 growing season. Cold temperatures and endless rain have frustrated many gardeners, but it looks like we are finally going to get a break. Since we are going to have a short growing season, you might want to purchase seedlings to start the vegetable garden this year. We had started many of our vegetables from seeds in February, but many didn't make it because of the cold and rain, so off to the plant sellers... Growing vegetables from nicely established plants can help lengthen the season somewhat.

Transplanting Cactus and Succulents

Cactus and succulents are both normally slow growing plants. They sometimes need to be repotted, or put in a larger pot. Cactus growth is limited by the size of the pot it is in. It is false that cactus like hot, bright sun, and only grow in sand. In their natural environment, cacti sometimes grow in the shade of other plants, or rocks. A good mix of potting medium for such plants is 60% regular potting medium, with the additional 40% mix of some combination of sand, perlite, coarse sand, small gravel, small crushed stone, paver base, etc. The idea is that the medium needs to drain quickly to avoid plant rot. Cacti & succulents do not like to sit in wet soil.

Always handle cacti with leather gloves, or for larger specimens, wrap a piece of folded newspaper around the plant, hold the ends together with a gloved hand to hold the plant while repotting. Applying some small gravel on top of the soil not only gives a neat appearance, but keeps the soil from drying out too quickly from evaporation, and protects the plant by keeping it above the moist soil.

Using plastic pots will mean that you will need to water less often, so are good for beginners.
Using clay pots will mean that you will need to water more often, as the clay absorbs some of the moisture.

Spring - 2009

Well, it's about 3 weeks 'til Spring. We have been busy getting seeds started for planting after the last frost, There's always so much to do this time of year, so it's a good time to make a plan for the garden. Please take a moment and use the "comments" button below to tell us what you are doing to get ready...

Used Coffee Grounds

A number of plants prefer a more acidic soil, and are known as acid-loving plants. These include pine, spruce, white cedar, azalea, rose, hydranga, holly, rhododendron, blueberry raspberry, and dogwood. Dumping your used coffee grounds around these plants is beneficial to them.
Coffee grounds can also be used in the compost as a "green" material, to go with the dried materials.
I have just learned that some coffee shops make their used coffee grounds available for gardeners for free if you ask. I am going to check this out and report back soon.

Feeding the Birds

Gardening is a hobby that has aspects to it that can lead to whole new hobby, such as birds. Although we don't try to identify every bird that visits our area, we do like to feed, watch, and listen to them.
Besides the obvious, there are benefits to this for gardeners such as the fact that birds eat lots of unwanted insects. Once you start feeding the birds, you need to remember to feed them year round. Birds become somewhat dependent once they get used to eating from feeders.
You need tube feeders and thistle seed for small birds, regular feeders along with other types of bird seed. Some birds like the suet feeders, which are wire boxes that hold blocks of fat that contain a variety of seeds.
We use a lot of black oil sunflower seed, as that attracts the widest range of birds. Prepare your feeders with squirrel deterrents, if there really is such a thing, as squirrels really go for the black oil seed.

Birds are also attracted to an area by:

• moving water, such as a pond or small fountain
• berry bushes or small fruit trees
• Trees, bushes, and tall grasses that they can safely nest or perch in