In the Garden my thumb’s not green

By ray mikula

day. Check this during May, June or July when the sun is at its peak. What is the ph of your soil and what kinds of nutrients does it need. Do a soil test and get all the info you need.

Many people have told me, as they see pictures of my gardens, that I have a green thumb. If they ever saw the many plants that I have sent to the compost pile due to my negligence they might say something else. Every gardener has their own mishaps but the key to getting better is to learn from your mistakes. Trial and error goes only so far in one lifetime. So I'll share a few tips to make things easier.

Know your garden spaces. How is the moisture there. Does the ground stay soggy for a long time or does it drain well? How much sunlight does it receive each

Know your plants. So many times I will see a flowering plant I can't resist. But I've learned to see what it's needs are first and see if I can meet them. The tag will let me know how much sun it needs each day, how often it needs water, and spacing. Some will say if it needs well drained soil or can stand having its roots in wet conditions. You might need to look that one up on line. Plants that are planted properly and in the right space grow and bloom best. If you don't have enough sun, your plant will bloom less or not at all. Instead of growing larger, it will shrink until it dies. If you give plants too much water they will get root rot. Too little water will make them wilt. Some plants need little or no fertilizer while others do better with a regular fertilizing schedule. Are your plants susceptible to diseases and what are they. How do you know how to prevent this from happening.

Sharing information on plants and gardening is the mission of The Master Gardener Associa-ttion in our area They present free talks with guest speakers throughout the year. These are usually at the public libraries of the Central Rappahannock Region. They are free and open to the public and are often offered on Zoom. You can visit the website at MGACRA org for the current schedule of speakers. You can also find a Master Gardener booth at the Farmers Market at Rt. 3 and Gordon Road on Saturdays throughout the summer or at Cossey

August 5th and 19th. The Master Gardeners are not at Hurkamp Park this year. We'll get you started in the right direction. We also have soil sample test kits from VA Tech with instructions and many Va Tech gardening pub-lications for free. Soon your thumb too will be green. Until the next time, happy gardening.

RayMikula is a Master Gardener. He has several acres of garden space & has been gardening for 62 years. Before retiring Ray was a Earth Science & Astronomy Teacher

Master Gardener booth at the Farmers Market at Rt 3 and Gordon Road on Saturdays throughout the summer or at Cossey Botanical Park in Freder-iicksburg at 1601 Kenmore Avenue on July 1st and 15th and August 5th and 19th

Botanical Park in Freder-icksburg at 1601 Kenmore Avenue on July 1st and 15th and

Berry Bugs in the UK they are referred to as Harvest Mites Here in the states we call the Chiggers No matter what you call them, we can all agree they are terrible.

It's that time of year again. Time when these horrible little beasts wait patiently for some unsuspecting person or animal to walk by their perch so that they may reach out and ruin someone's day… and week.

From the family trombiculidae, they live in forests and grasslands and most places there is vegetation. They are most numerous in early summer when grass, weeds, and other vegetation are heaviest.

In their larval stage, they crawl onto their hosts and inject digestive enzymes into the skin that break down skin cells. They do not actually "bite", but instead form a hole in the skin, called a stylostome, and chew up tiny parts of the