Community Garden: potential pitfalls, problems-solving and possible solutions

by Sheila Moon

Sheila is the Outreach Coordinator for Ladies Homestead Gathering of Effingham County a local chapter of National Ladies Homestead Gathering whose motto is Empowering Women Through Homesteading.

Sheila has a Bachelor’s degree in Family Consumer Science. She is a breast cancer survivor and strives to eat healthy and gardening provides a great way to do that. Sheila resides with her husband, and daughter in Guyton. She is a member of Zion Lutheran Church and involved in the management of The Zion Community Garden.

When I wrote my previous article I would’ve never thought that war gardens or victory gardens would have a place in the near future or that my need to feed people that couldn’t feed themselves would come from the break down of the supply chain. I used to put off planting in the garden now I find myself trying to plant whenever the climate allows me to plant safely.

Now, with the Covid19 Pandemic, the problems with transportation, and workers to process the food; gardening isn’t just a need to grow food because of the fresh garden taste we want, or the convenience of going out to the garden versus having to drive to the grocery store. Now, growing food ourselves becomes more important when we cannot buy what we want when we want to buy it.

History has shown us that in the time of need for food whether it be WWl or WWll or a world pandemic we can feed ourselves. (If you missed it, check out my first article in this series where I covered our country’s history with community gardens)

Whether you choose to garden in a community garden with social distancing placing each plot a healthy distance a part, plant in your garden that you’ve had for years on a homestead, a new garden in your backyard, one in your flower bed, a 4x6 handmade planters box in your front yard, a flower box in your windowsill or variety of containers on your porch or patio - one thing that history has shown us is that Americans know how to grow food.

It not only becomes patriotic to grow your own food but also to share your knowledge and about how to grow it. Remember this, while sharing your newly picked harvest and the knowledge of how you grew it - you also share hope.

Speaking of troubled times, “How does your garden grow?” Let’s go over common problems encountered when gardening.

Troubles in the Garden from Problem Soil to Pests

If your soil has come back in need of important nutrients, it is what I call problem soil or soil with great opportunity.

Apply a good basic organic fertilizer or use compost to feed your garden again if necessary. Then, decide which vegetables you want to concentrate on. I like to use a method called “target fertilization”. Each vegetable has different requirements for producing at its best. In this article, I will focus on my husband’s favorite vegetable - the tomato - and how we used target fertilization last year to achieve a bumper crop.

I had our local University of Georgia Extension Office representative come out and help me decide what to buy to get a high yield of tomatoes. Target fertilization project was a success!! I hope I have piqued your interest as well on how to raise your yield on your favorite crops. If you have never used this method I would start out with one favorite and then add more each year.

Check out our Target Fertilization Method for Tomatoes.

Target Fertilization for Tomatoes

Using a normal mix of organic fertilizer what is referred to as a generic all around fertilizer for the garden to start with and then moved on to using potassium or potash after the blooms came on the plants this seemed to be the right mix for the dry sandy soil we currently garden in.

We use mulch around the plants and sometimes newspaper and mulch to help keep the soil moist for optimal growth of the fruit once it comes on the tomato plant. We used what they call macro nutrients in the general mix of 10-10- 10 that have a number series and have letters of N-P-K. N- is for Nitrogen, P- is for phosphorus and K is for Potassium. This is how commercial fertilizers explain what their mix is and how you determine what your soil needs is by what you are planting and by your initial soil report. Each one of these macronutrients contributes to your plants growth and overall health. Nitrogen stimulates continuous growth of foliage.

Phosphorus is for root and fruit development, and it also helps fight stress. Potassium or Potash helps with continuous growth and aids in photosynthesis and makes the plant less susceptible to some diseases.

There are micronutrients that tomatoes need as well like calcium which is used for root and leaf growth and to help the plant produce firm tomatoes. Magnesium helps keep the plant green and it improves the flowering and fruit quality.

Last but truly not least boron and zinc aide in the flowering and the even ripening of the tomatoes. This is a list of the most essential macro and micronutrients for growing tomato plants. This is just a basic list there are many more out there.

Pests and Fungal Diseases

First, make sure that you have done due diligence to prevent fungal diseases. Prevention of garden pests and fungal diseases will keep many problems at bay. One way of doing this is to make sure that your planting soil, mulch or your compost was healthy and free of pests. Fungi or pest infested compost, mulch or soil could result in infecting your entire garden.

If your plants are not far enough apart for good airflow thinning them out is a good idea. Make sure that you have adequately fed your soil before and after planting to ensure your plants are strong. Strong plants are more resistant to diseases.

There are many ways to tackle pesky pests in the garden. I try very hard to use organic methods or some ideas my grandmother told me about that worked “back in the olden days”.

Hand-picking pests can be effective if you only have a small number of plants, but is not a practical method for me. My favorite product for pest-control in the garden is neem oil - it saved our entire potato crop last year.

You can buy it already diluted or you can buy the concentrate and diluted it yourself. I don’t buy it premixed as It is more expensive and I like to use warm soapy water to dilute it. I dilute it by mixing one teaspoon of neem oil and a ½ tsp. of liquid dish soap to one quart of water. Shake well, neem oil mixes better with warm water.

You should only mix what you will use in a four to six hour period. It is safe to use on both ornamental and edible crops and can be sprayed on herbs and vegetables up to the day of harvest.

However, do not apply to plants that are in desperate need of water. The neem oil can burn the foliage so make sure you water your plants well before use.

Neem oil is also effective against many other fungal diseases that occur regularly in your garden and even in house plants.

A few things to remember when using neem oil is a little dab will do. Make sure you use a regime. Test a small area on your plants before spraying the entire plant. Be careful using it by ponds and streams run off from your garden mixed with neem oil has led to problems with aquatic wildlife.

The verdict is out on whether or not neem oil hurts beneficial insects like ladybugs.

Homemade remedies for pests and fungi

1. Powdery Mildew - Mix four teaspoons of baking soda with one teaspoon of mild soap with one gallon gallon of warm water. Use in a spray bottle and spray on the entire plant NOT just the leaves.

2. Tomato fungicide- Use one bulb of garlic, two tablespoons of canola oil and four hot peppers and juice from one lemon. Mix ingredients together and steep overnight in a deep bucket, strain the solution with cheesecloth or a strainer. I would put it in a glass container mason jar or a glass bottle with a lid of some kind. You will only use four tablespoons to a gallon of water so you may want to split this up between friends when you mix this if you don’t have more than a few plants. You spray the tops and the bottom of the leaves at the first signs of fungi.

3. Potato Bugs/Tomato Worms- I have used this on both of these plants. This is a very old one and it works pretty well up north. I have NOT tried this here, Dust flour over dry Potato and Tomato Leaves. You have to do this for a few days and if it rains make sure you have let the sun dry the leaves before reapplying to the leaves of the plants.

4. Apple Cider Vinegar- Although this takes multiple applications every few days since it is a one ingredient treatment it makes it easier than other fungicides. I would definitely use the one with the mother included. You simply add four tablespoons to a gallon of warm water. The one drawback to this is that it must be used early in the day so the acid mixed with the sunshine doesn’t burn the leaves. This solution may be used as a preventative every few weeks. I have found too that what works in different regions doesn’t necessarily work here in Southeast Georgia. Trial and error is a big part of winning against pests and fungal diseases. Make sure to always (like I mentioned earlier) to test a small amount on a few leaves before treating an entire plant or the whole crop.

Plan, Plan, Plan on what to do with your harvest. If you don’t have a plan and you pick all of your harvest without knowing what to do with it, you could unintentionally waste much of what you’ve grown.

The most popular ways of preserving food are freezing, canning, and dehydrating.

Please look for tips on popular preserving methods in our next issue!