by Julie Connor, Somervell County Master Gardener

A great therapy for the “Winters in Texas Time Garden Blues” is to garden indoors or in your greenhouse.  Get a head start on spring by planting seeds, the future of your garden.  No greenhouse?  Start seeds in a sunny window where the temperatures can reach at least 70 to 75 degrees.  Shop your favorite seed catalog or visit a nursery for your old favorites or a new and exciting plant you want to add to your garden.  Vegetables and flowers are the most common seeds to start, but you can also use stem, leaf or root cuttings.  Always refer to your seed packet or go online for optimal temperatures for your seeds.

The growing medium for your seed should be composed of equal parts peat moss   (which holds moisture)  and perlite or vermiculite  (for drainage and aeration).  There are also seed-starting mixtures available which are finely ground and great for small seeds.  If you have trays or small pots available, utilize these, as handling seeds when grown is made easier.

When planting the seeds a good rule for depth is 2-3 times the seed width.  Water the medium before planting.  Future watering should be a gentle mist nozzle so that the seeds are not disturbed.

Germinating seeds do not need fertilizer, but once the ‘true leaf’ appears fertilize with a seaweed and fish emulsion solution.  Over fertilizing can lead to excessive growth which makes the plant weak.  Cut back on the fertilizer if you notice a growth spurt.

Before transplanting the seedlings, acclimate them to the outdoors over a two to three week period leaving them overnight gradually.  You can Google for a ‘Spring Planting Guide’ for Texas in preparation for the best time to put your seedlings in the garden.

Happy Gardening!  Hoe, hoe, hoe.

 

There will be no CHES meeting in January, but we can look forward to the second Monday in February, when Christine Morgan will advise us on planning our spring gardens.  We won’t want to miss her expert guidelines on what, where, when, and how to plant those delicious fresh vegetables we all enjoy. 

So mark your calendars!  Monday, February 13th, 6:30 pm, at the Citizens Center, in Glen Rose, Texas.

CALLING ALL GARDENERS!!

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Office of Somervell County, along with the Hood and Johnson County Extension Offices, will be offering a Master Gardener Training starting in March 2017.  If you are an avid gardener or someone who enjoys learning about horticulture this is a great opportunity.  Training topics will include in-depth classes on plant diseases, soil fertility, trees, grasses, vegetable production, irrigation, organic gardening, entomology and more.

You may ask yourself what exactly is a Master Gardener?   A Master Gardener is an individual who has completed extensive training and has served the community by sharing their gardening knowledge through the activities of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.   They are enthusiastic, willing to learn and to help others, and are able to communicate with diverse groups of people.  What really sets Master Gardeners apart from other home gardeners is their special training in horticulture.  In exchange for their training, persons who become Master Gardeners contribute time as volunteers, working through their Extension office to provide horticultural-related information to their communities.

If you think the Master Gardener Program may be for you, contact Zach Davis at the Somervell County Extension Office by emailing [email protected] or call 254-897-2809. The fee for the 2017 Master Gardener training is $150, this includes Master Gardener Training Manual, field trip fees and all other training fees.

by Julie Conner, Somervell County Master Gardener

Winter is a great time to amend the soil in your garden and raised beds. As all my fellow club members know I own and ride horses, so I have ready access to their generous by product:  manure.  Horse manure has a slightly higher nutritional value than cow manure and can give your plants nitrogen, phosphate and potassium for a healthy start. 

Do not use fresh manure as it can burn plant roots. So aging the manure or compost for 2 to 3 months is recommended. Composting horse manure also helps kill the weed seeds and any harmful bacteria that may be present. Other organic materials can be added for extra nutrition. Turn frequently and add enough water to keep pile moist. Covering with a tarp can retain moisture and heat. When ready the horse manure will look and smell like soil. Horse manure is very humus rich and helps with soil aeration and drainage.

Pepper, Princess and Breezy are always ready and willing to help amend my soil, so if you would like a bag of horse…. manure to jump start your garden just see one of us. Happy Trails.

by Jess-c French, Somervell County Master Gardener

It’s that time of year when people are making resolutions to do better in 2017. Whether you’re making any formal  New Year’s resolutions or not, now is a great time to make plans to do more gardening. Here are a few resolutions you could achieve with gardening.

Eat better
One of the most common resolutions is to eat better. Vegetable gardening is one way to incorporate more veggies into your diet, while ensuring their quality and freshness.

Exercise more
Between the digging, squatting, crawling, weeding and lugging that go into a successful garden, gardening can certainly be part of your active lifestyle.

Give back to the community
When you get involved with the master gardeners, you become a part of a network of volunteers whose goal is to educate the community about gardening. Maintaining our various gardens in the community and teaching others are two ways you can give back to Somervell County as a Master Gardener.

Meet new people
If you’re interested in gardening, meet some new people who share your interests.

Learn something new
If you’re looking for a new hobby or just to expand your horizons, gardening is a huge topic to explore. Start learning about gardening now, and you will be learning about it for the rest of your life.

 

 

by Julie Conner

1/2 head each broccoli & cauliflower, chopped

Mix:

1/2 cup vegetable oil                                             Ramen noodle seasoning packet

1/4 cup cider vinegar                                            1 pkg Ramen noodle soup, crushed

1/4 cup sugar                                                          1/2 cup sunflower seeds (optional)

Mix all of the above and refrigerate for 2 hours.

 

 

by MaryAnn Steele, Somervell County Master Gardener

Onions!  There is no substitute!  Bulb onions are valued by cultures all over the world.  Not only do they add rich, savory flavor to our culinary endeavors, but they are also a source of potent cancer-fighting phytochemicals.

The Texas sweet onion was designated the official state vegetable by the Texas Legislature in 1997. The first seed, from the Island of Bermuda, was planted in South Texas near the town of Cotulla in 1898.

Onions are photoperiodic, which means they bulb in response to day lengths.  It is important for onions to develop strong roots and adequate foliage before the bulbing process begins.  Each bulb is made up of layers of leaf sections.  As the onion grows, it stores water and carbohydrates in the base of the leaves, which swell to form a bulb.  When day length triggers the bulbing response, the larger the onion leaves are up on top, the larger the bulbs will be down below.  Long-day varieties require 14-16 hours of daylight, intermediate-day varieties require 12-13 hours, and short-day types require 11-12 hours.  Short-day varieties are best for our area.  Popular short-day varieties for home gardeners in Texas include:  1015y Texas Super Sweet, Contessa, Yellow Granex, Bermuda, and Red Southern Belle.

Full sun and good bed preparation are important.  Onions grow best in well-drained, loose soil that has been amended with 1-2 inches of compost.  Form beds that are 4-6 inches high and 20 inches wide in order to provide good drainage.  Also, a small amount of 10-20-10 fertilizer applied before planting at a rate of ½ cup per 10 foot row is helpful.  Because onions are shallow-rooted, the recommended method to apply pre-plant fertilizer is to dig a trench 4 inches deep and 4 inches wide, sprinkle the fertilizer, cover with soil, and plant a row of onions along each side of the trench.  Transplants should be planted knuckle deep (about 1 inch) and 4-6 inches apart down the row.  Water as soon as planted.  Be sure your plants receive 1 to 1 ½ inches of water each week, preferably from a soaker hose or drip irrigation.  Apply a high nitrogen fertilizer every three weeks until onions start to bulb.

Crop rotation, sanitation, and avoiding drought stress will go a long way in preventing onion pests, such as thrips and onion maggots.  Rotate all members of the onion family on a three year schedule.  Be sure to remove all plant debris at the end of the season.  Neem oil, insecticidal soap, and sulfur spray are effective in controlling thrips.

Onions begin to bulb as the days grow longer in spring and reach maturity in May or June.  Onion tops do not need to be cut or knocked over; they will do that on their own.  The tops provide energy to the bulb, and, if broken prematurely, the onion growth will stop, and the injured neck will become a portal for disease.  Once most of the tops have turned yellow and fallen over, pull the onions from the soil and leave them exposed to air and sun for a few days. Then move them to shade to cure for a week or two.  DO NOT WASH!  After the leaves have dried, trim the roots and cut the tops to within an inch of onion neck and store in a cool, dry spot.

by Linda Heideman, Somervell County Master Gardener

No flower says Christmas in the United States like the beautiful Poinsettia.  It is part of the large and diverse Spurge family, botanically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima.

Poinsettias received their name in the United States in honor of Joel Roberts Poinsett, who introduced the plant into the country in 1828.  Poinsett was a botanist, a physician, and the first United States Ambassador to Mexico.  He sent cuttings of the plant he had discovered in Southern Mexico to his home in Charleston, South Carolina.  The word Poinsettia is traditionally capitalized because it is named after a person. December 12^th is Poinsettia Day, which marks the death of Poinsett in 1851.

Today the plant is known in Mexico and Guatemala as “La Flor de la Nochebuena” (Flower of the Holy Night, or Christmas Eve).  In Chile and Peru, the Poinsettia is called the “Crown of the Andes”.  In Spain it has a completely different holiday attribution:  “Flor de Pascua” meaning “Easter Flower”.

Poinsettias have also been called the lobster flower and the flame-leaf flower, due to the red color, but today there are more than 100 varieties in many solid colors, or even marbled and speckled varieties. The Paul Ecke Ranch in California grows over 70% of all Poinsettias purchased in the United States and does about 50% of the world-wide sales.

The showy colored parts of Poinsettias that most people think of as the flowers are actually colored bracts (modified leaves).  The yellow flowers, or cyathia, are in the center of the colorful bracts. The plant drops its bracts and leaves soon after those flowers shed their pollen.  For the longest-lasting Poinsettias, choose plants with little or no yellow pollen showing.  The colors of the bracts are created through “photoperiodism”, meaning that they require darkness (12 hours at a time for at least five days in a row) to change color.  On the other hand, once they finish that process, the plants require abundant light during the day for the brightest color.

In nature, Poinsettias are perennial flowering shrubs that were once considered weeds.  But they are not frost-tolerant.  They will grow outdoors in temperate coastal climates, such as Southern California beach communities.  In the ground, they can reach 10 feet tall!

Despite rumors to the contrary, Poinsettias are not poisonous.  Some people with latex allergies have had a skin reaction, most likely to the sap in the leaves.  A study at Ohio State University showed that a 50-pound child would have to eat more than a pound-and-a-quarter of Poinsettia leaves (500 to 600 leaves) to have any side effects.  The most common side effects are upset stomach and vomiting,  The leaves are reportedly not very tasty, so it’s highly unlikely that kids or even pets would be able to eat that many!  But be aware that leaves can still be a choking hazard for children and pets.

If you’re up for the challenge, it is possible to keep your Christmas Poinsettia through the year and get it to bloom next year, but recreating the size and color of this year’s bracts is almost impossible.  These plants are plentiful and cheap.  Why not just look forward to new ones every year?  They will keep a few weeks if you put them where it’s cool (65 to 70 degrees), where the light is bright in the daytime, and let them dry out between waterings.  Remove the pretty outside wrapping and don’t let them stand in water.

Good luck!