Washington County Cooperative Extension Service
Helping You Grow! HORTICULTURE
March 2014
Spring Vegetable Gardening
Volume 10, Issue 3
Inside this issue:
To Do’s For March
2
Spring Vegetable Gardening Continued
3
A Note From Dennis
3
Recipe of The Month
4
Horticulture Calendar
4
Wheelbarrow Series Calendar
5
Plant of The Month
6
Like Us at Washington County Horticulture
Mid to late March is an ideal time to plant your cool season or spring garden. Potatoes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, peas, and many other crops can be planted this month. Lettuce can also be planted, however you will want to cover it with remay fabric (tobacco canvas). If you haven’t started cole crop (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower etc.) seedlings yet you should just buy the plants in a few weeks from a trustworthy nursery. This will save you time and trouble unless you are growing a great deal of it.
plants produce their vegetative growth during springs short cool days. If they are planted too late, summer heat will reduce the quantity and quality of your produce. Cool season crops planted too late
If you haven’t had your soil tested you still have time to get it back before it is too late for your spring garden. It generally takes only a couple of weeks to return.
Spring vegetables should be planted as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. A light frost will not harm most cool season plants after they have become acclimated to the garden.
Vegetables for a spring garden grow best at relatively cool temperatures (55-65 degrees). These
may bolt, become bitter, and have a poor texture.
When working the soil in the spring make sure it is dry enough.
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Volume 10, Issue
3
March To Do’s
Now is a good time to plan your flower and vegetable garden layout. Look through garden catalogs and landscaping books. Plan on using plants that you have experience with and new varieties, and always try to buy plants that Pristine Apple are disease resistant. Check local nurseries for cultivar availability. Generally locally grown plants are better and you get to look at the plants before you buy them. March and April are good months for planting fruit crops. When planting apples choose more than one variety for pollination and fruit set. There are several apples that are good and disease resistant in Kentucky, such as Liberty, Redfree, Enterprise, Jonafree, and my personal favorite Pristine. For a more complete list call me at the office. It is also a good time to
plant thornless blackberries (Apache, Arapaho, Triple Crown), raspberries (Heritage, Autumn Bliss, Fallgold, Brandywine, Royalty)
tion each year and can weaken trees over time.
March and April are also good months for planting trees and shrubs. Early March is a good time to prune summer-flowering trees and shrubs such as clethra, beautyberry, butterfly bush, golden raintree, mimosa, and only the following hydrangeas (Annabelle, Hills of Snow, Peegee). Do not prune other hydrangeas or they will not bloom this year.
It’s a good idea to start spraying fruit trees for diseases as well. Apply liquid lime-sulfur spray on peach and plum trees anytime before the buds start to swell. This single spray will almost completely control peach leaf curl and plum pocket. Two diseases that cause premature defolia-
You can also spray raspberry and blackberry with a liquid lime-sulphur spray to help control anthracnose. This will not control it completely, however it will help and additional sprays during the growing season will be needed. A dormant spray of copper sulfate should be applied to apple and pear trees by the first of April to improve control of fireblight. Be sure to spray the entire tree. A streptomycin sulfate spray (if available) during the growing season will also help.
Volume 10, Issue
3
Page 3
Spring Vegetable Gardening Continued…. If the soil is too wet will become cloddy and hard. This could change the soil structure and cause you problems for several years. If you squeeze a hand full of soil and it crumbles easily when you let go then the soil is dry enough to work. Generally organic mulch is a very good idea in a garden, however not in a spring garden. Mulch will shade the soil and keep it cool; in the spring however it is better to let the sun reach the soil. The soil will warm faster and your crops will do better. A black plastic mulch will help warm the soil, however it will have
to be removed later in the seasons. If you are going to spring because it will become plant a spring and fall garden too hot for cool weather plants. and are going to “double crop” You should plant cool season be sure not to plant closely related crops in plants tothe same area. gether so you This will can use the increase the same place chances of later. This disease and inwill make sect carryover working the problems. soil in the summer for your fall garden much easier. Most spring garden crops can be “double cropped” in Kentucky, credit our long growing season and the fact that we have relatively mild spring and fall
For more information on growing vegetables in Kentucky stop by the Washington County Extension Office and pick up booklet ID-128 Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky.
A Note From Dennis Any one that knows me knows I dislike cold weather and winter but this year has taken on a whole new meaning. It is now early March and in two weeks I would on most years be planting cool season vegetable crops such as potatoes, onions, beets etc. but I don’t think that is going to happen this year. It is going to take a week of warm dry weather just to dry the soil out! Spring will happen but it looks to be a bit later this year so we will just have to wait until then. Tori and Gabby have kind of gotten use to short weeks at school but honestly how much can the kids learn in a couple days here and there spread out? Hopefully we can get on a regular school schedule and the kids can learn what they are supposed to before the year ends. Gabby and Tori both received Kindles at Christmas and Gabby seems to be a bit obsessed with apps/games and she gets her Kindle out as soon as she gets up and has it until she goes to bed. We are going to have to limit her when school actually gets back in full swing. She downloads the kid apps all the time and we don’t mind as long as she asks and they are free. Last week they were home on a snow day and Amy was with them and Gabby ordered 12 apps without asking! Little did she knows that I get an email each time she orders one and all of the apps aren’t free, she spent $9.59. To teach her a lesson we took her Kindle for a day and made her pay us back out of her money. I actually thought it was funny but she doesn’t know that!
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Volume 10, Issue 9
Recipe of The Month-Green Onion and Mushroom Soup Ingredients 4 tablespoons of butter 6 bunches scallions (Green Onions) chopped Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste 5 cups vegetable or chicken broth 2 cups of your favorite mushrooms, sliced 1/3 cup heavy cream (for a lighter version use fat free half and half) Directions 1. In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, melt the butter and add the chopped green onions (reserve a tablespoon full to sprinkle on top of individual bowls of finished soup), along with salt and pepper to taste. SautĂŠ for a few minutes, until the onions are softened, then add broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, add 1 cup of the mushrooms and cover, allow to simmer for 10 minutes. 2. Puree in a food processor or blender until smooth, then put the soup back in the pot, add the cream and the remaining mushrooms, and heat gently (do not boil) until the mushrooms are tender. 3. Serve warm. Serves 4. Add cheesy croutons or a side of crusty French bread to make it a meal.
March Horticulture Calendar March 11th 10:30 AM and March 13th 6:30 PM The Wheelbarrow Series Class is on Growing Root Vegetables in Kentucky March 12th at 6:00 PM The Washington County Garden will meet at the Extension Office (we will plan this years meetings so please attend)
March 13th 7:30 PM immediately following the Wheelbarrow Series Class we are having a formation meeting for the Washington County Master Gardener Association. Any Master Gardener that completed the program through the Washington County Extension Office is encouraged to attend.
March 18th at 10:30 AM and March 20th at 6:30 PM the Wheelbarrow Series Class is on Growing Medlar and Rose Hips in Kentucky March 25th at 10:30 AM and March 27th at 6:30 PM the Wheelbarrow Series Class is on Growing Josta Berry and Goji Berry in Kentucky. March 25th 3:30 PM The 4H Seed Sprouters meet at the Extension Office
Volume 10, Issue 9
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Wheelbarrow Series Registration-Classes Meet Tuesdays at 10:30 AM and Thursdays at 6:30 PM For More Information Call 859-336-7741 Feb Mar Mar Mar April April April May May May June June Aug Aug Sept Sept Oct Oct Oct Nov Dec
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Starting Seeds At Home Starting Seeds At Home Growing Root Vegetables In KY Growing Root Vegetables In KY Lesser Known Fruit Series-Medlar and Rose Hips Lesser Known Fruit Series-Medlar and Rose Hips Lesser Known Fruit Series-Josta and Goji Berry Lesser Known Fruit Series-Josta and Goji Berry Herb Gardening For Culinary Use Herb Gardening For Culinary Use The Other Pollinators The Other Pollinators The Exceptional World of Dahlia’s The Exceptional World of Dahlia’s Growing Vining Vegetables In Kentucky Growing Vining Vegetables In Kentucky Begonias! Begonias! The Great Hellebores The Great Hellebores Make and Take Hypertufa Planters Make and Take Hypertufa Planters Cole Crops For Fall and Winter Harvest Cole Crops For Fall and Winter Harvest Fall Cover and Green Manure Crops Fall Cover and Green Manure Crops Long Blooming Perennials Long Blooming Perennials Alternative Hardy Spring Flowering Bulbs Alternative Hardy Spring Flowering Bulbs Trees for Food and Wildlife Habitat Trees for Food and Wildlife Habitat Healthy Hollies for Kentucky Landscapes Healthy Hollies for Kentucky Landscapes Creating The Ultimate Holiday Centerpieces Creating The Ultimate Holiday Centerpieces Basic Registration For Any and All Classes Total From Above Minus 10% If Paid In Full By February 15th. Total
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Washington County Cooperative Extension Service 211 Progress Road Springfield KY, 40069 Office 859-336-7741 Fax 859-336-7445 Email dennis.morgeson@uky.edu
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February Plant of The Month - Chinodoxa luciliae Commonly called Glory of the Snow
Culture Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Plant bulbs 3” deep and 2” apart in fall. Naturalizes easily by bulb offsets and self seeding to form a carpet of early spring bloom. Foliage begins to fade shortly after bloom and generally disappears by late spring as plants go into dormancy. Noteworthy Characteristics Glory-of-the-snow is so named because it is among the first bulbs to bloom in the spring. Each bulb produces 2-3 narrow, basal leaves and a flower stalk to 6” tall which is topped in very early spring by 3-6 star-like, upward facing, six-petaled, soft violet-blue flowers with white centers. Garden Uses Provides late winter to early spring color to the garden. Best when massed and naturalized in rock gardens, sunny woodland areas or in lawns under large deciduous trees. Mixes well with other early spring bulbs such as daffodils, species tulips and snowdrops. Information from: http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx? kempercode=q570