Blog Lafayette

My grandfather has been gone for several years now. He passed on in 1973. Even though I was only a child of ten when I last saw him, my memories of him are still strong even after all this time. One of my fondest memories of him is of his love of gardening and growing things. He and my grandmother worked a very large half acre vegetable and flower garden every year. It was always a vibrant and healthy garden. It was a beautiful example of the art of the green thumb. The harvest was always bountiful enough that my grandparents would can and pickle much of what they grew and would still have some left over to sell locally to supplement their income. My grandmother’s true claim to fame was the meals she cooked from the bounty of their hard work. Her meals were works of art to my taste buds.

I have always dreamed of having a similar, if on a smaller scale, garden. Up til this last year I lived in places that did not promote growing a garden, or if they did, I didn’t have enough time to devote to caring for plants as they should be cared for. Now that I live in a location that has decent soil and growing conditions I have started thinking about gardening again, especially now that Spring is starting to slowly warm up our State of Indiana.

As I think about gardening I have no choice but to compare what I know about it to how my grandfather made it look. He made gardening look easy. Is gardening easy? It should be. Mostly it is what you make of it. Gardening done well is a set of simple steps that, if followed, will make your plants flourish. You don’t just buy a flat of tomato plants, dig a few holes in the back yard and plant them and expect them to do well every time. You have to do the simple steps that make it happen.

What are those step? The following list is a great list created by the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension called 10 Steps to Success with Your Vegetable Garden.

1. Pick a good site. The best site is one that’s near the house, receives full sun all day, contains no large rocks, perennial weeds or grasses, has good air circulation and is sheltered from strong winds.
2. Start with good soil and continue to improve it. Plants do best in deep, loose, well-drained topsoil. Improve it with compost, aged manure, cover crops and organic mulches. Have soil tested every three years.
3. Plan carefully. Don’t plant crops from the same plant family in the same spot two years in succession. Consider the path of the sun, so tall crops do not shade shorter ones. Space plants so outer leaves on mature plants will just touch those of their neighbors.
4. Start small. There’s a lot to learn in a vegetable garden. Experience success with a small garden, then gradually increase its size.
5. Grow only what you like to eat. You’ll take better care of what you look forward to eating.
6. Select crop varieties with care. Look for crops bred to do well in short seasons with cold, wet springs and extremes of temperature and moisture. Also consider disease resistance, tolerance of adverse conditions, the variety’s growth habit and length of harvest season.
7. Water only when necessary, then water deeply and early in the day. Vegetables need about an inch of water a week. Conserve water by building soil organic matter and mulching crops to reduce soil moisture evaporation. When soil around plants is dry a couple of inches below the surface, soak the soil deeply, preferably with a drip or soaker hose. Water as early in the day as possible.
8. Visit your garden every day. Check for signs of pests and diseases so you can take care of problems before they get out of hand. Of course, visit also for the sheer joy of it!
9. Make sure you have correctly identified the cause of a problem before applying a “treatment”. Inappropriate use of pesticides is expensive, threatens the health of humans, pets and the environment, and may itself cause more damage than it remedies.
10. Maintain good garden sanitation. Remove diseased leaves, fruits and vines; control weeds.

I love what was said in step 8, “visit your garden each day for the sheer joy of it!” That is a truth. It should be a joy. That is probably what makes my memories of my grandfather and his garden so memorable. I could tell that it was a “joy” for him. That knowledge makes the memories even sweeter.

Are you ready to sink your fingers into some good dark loamy soil and plant some of your favorite vegetables and flowers? If so there will be a great event happening Saturday April 30, 2011 at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds. It is the Garden Expo, a garden show featuring plants, growing supplies, garden decor, lectures and information. The event will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and will be a great place for you to learn a little bit more about what makes for a good green thumb. Come on out to 1010 Teal Road ready to learn a thing or two!

For further information contact the Tippecanoe County Extension Office at 765-474-0793.

You are getting ready to plant your garden with all of the vegetable goodies that you like to eat and you are looking forward to reaping the harvest later this year. You have also spent a lot of money and time making sure your yard, trees, and shrubs are going to look good this year. Then along comes a hairy little critter in search of food who does a number on all of your hard work in the matter of just a few days.

What critter? A mole. Cryptomys Hottentotus for you scientifically endowed intellects. Reminds me of the song from the 1970′s TV show, Lavern and Shirley. “Schlemiel, schlimazel, hasenpfeffer incorporated!” Hasenpfeffer, Hottentotus? Oh well. Just how do you keep old Hottentotus from visiting your yard and garden? Take away his food supply.

Moles do not eat the plants in your yard. They eat the worms, grubs and other creepy crawlies that live under the surface of your yard and garden. If you remove the food supply of the mole then they will go elsewhere to find food. The way to limit the food supply is by using pesticides that kill the grubs under your yard and garden. One benefit of doing this is the prevention of those same grubs from turning into Japanese Beetles later in the Summer season.

Another way to keep the moles from getting into a garden or flower planting is to use raised beds for your gardening and landscaping. If you build your raised bed with chicken wire laid down as a base before you add the dirt to the raised part then you will create a barrier to the moles that will keep them away from the main roots of your plants.

These are two steps that are great for people who do not want to have to resort to traps and poisons to get rids of moles once they have appeared. Seems like it would be better to never have them show up in the first place.

The weather is starting to warm up and all of the Winter denizens of Lafayette are beginning to shed their coats in favor of t-shirts and a chance to work outside in the yard again this year. I know I have a little Spring fever myself. I am looking forward to growing a garden and to sitting on our back deck enjoying the warm Spring air.

Speaking of gardening, the 2011 Greater Lafayette Home and Garden Show will be taking place at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds on Teal Avenue in Lafayette, Indiana this weekend. The show will start Saturday, March 19th and go from 10AM to 6PM, finishing up on Sunday, March 20th with hours from Noon to 5PM. I have not heard which vendors will be at the show this year but I am sure it will be worth taking the time to attend. There is nothing like walking around at a home and garden show to get your ideas percolating for your own home and yard projects. Usually there are more than enough people with expertise in home and garden areas for you to get all of your questions answered by someone who should know the right answers. Even if you do not plan on working a garden or doing any major home projects this year, just the chance to get out into the warm Spring air is reason enough to attend.