In This Issue:
In the Garden
Leaves: Rake, relax
Bulbs, Tropicals and Pruning
Harvesting Tips
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The Voice of Youth: a voice of hope.
She speaks for us all.
In the news just last week was the announcement that a Canadian, 21 year old Hélène Campbell, had reached her 6 month anniversary of breathing with 2 new lungs. From the article in the Globe and Mail article, my favourite quote:
"I think we live in a wonderful world where people are willing to act on something like this [organ donation] - a selfless act that can help save others' lives and I am just so blessed by this amazing support and it's such an incredible inspiration to me.
And it shows me how much we are loved.
I value faith and I believe there is a God taking care of us and it really shines through in this whole situation, how just everyone has jumped on board."
My response to this is to suggest that the 'inspiration' cuts both ways. As inspired as Hélène is by the generosity of someone who donated their organs after they died, I am moved by her conviction. Who strings words together like this? 'Wonderful world', 'selfless act', 'amazing support', 'I value faith and believe in God'. This is 2012 and we don't hear this very often in popular media.
Our youth are often painted as basement dwelling, obsessive video playing, on-strike for a cheaper [or free!] education, generation of freeloaders who refuse to leave home.
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I have seen the other side. This past summer I hired 2 intern students to help me with my work: Marette helped in my 10 acre garden and with my writing at the office. Melissa helped to shepherd the new organisation, Trees For Life, the Urban Tree Coalition through our first stages of development [more on that in a future newsletter].
It was my experience that they are smart, committed to doing good work, anxious to learn and equally anxious to listen. Melissa is focused on a business career and will go far. Marette is less certain of her professional future but will go equally far. When you are in your early 20's you can take your time with such things.
I learned something while reading what Hélène had to say. Her experience as an organ recipient has obviously moved her. My summer experience with two interns was an education unto itself. The lessons that they taught me through their enthusiasm, questions and open minds are clear: no matter what our age, we can be a support to one another. The inspiration will come.
I urge you to sign your organ donor card.
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In the Garden
October is an outstanding month in the garden.
As we enter the 4th lap of our annual 'gardening relay' it is important to push aside the temptation to light a fire and sit when there is so much to be done out there. Here is my list of suggested gardening activities:
Fertilize your lawn. This is the most important application that you will make all year. Why? Golfgreen Fall Lawn Fertilizer is formulated to build up the natural sugars at the root zone of grass plants. You will get a faster green up come spring, less snow mould and a stronger, healthier lawn.
The later that you apply this in fall, the better. So the timing of application varies from region to region. Wait for a few 'killing frosts' which will slow down the metabolism of grass plants, creating the perfect conditions for application. No need to water in and if you seeded your lawn recently, so much the better.
Golfgreen, for the record, is all that I use on my lawn. Why? It contains the most sophisticated form of slow release nitrogen in the business. It is safe ['apply and play'], lasts a long time and is great value for the money.
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Harvest / Don't Harvest
Harvest.
Tomatoes still on the vine? Peppers? Potatoes in the ground? Get them harvested before a killing frost finishes them for you.
A tomato plant can be hung in your garage for a week or two [depending on night time frost] where it will ripen remaining fruit. If you still have tomatoes on the 'vine' after a couple of weeks remove them, green ones included, and put them in the basement in the dark, sitting up on an old rake [off of a hard surface] so that air circulates around them.
They will ripen over time. They won't be as tasty as the garden fresh ones, but much better than store bought ones from the greenhouse or strip mined in the states.
Don't harvest.
There are some winter vegetables that actually improve flavour as the cold weather arrives. Parsnips, leeks, carrots, kale and cabbage would be a few of them.
Others, that are tolerant of light frost, but do not 'improve' with frost necessarily but can remain in the garden for the time being if you don't have somewhere to put them indoors just yet. These include winter squash, broccoli, cauliflower and pumpkins.
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Leaves: Rake, relax
There is no need to hurt your back or strain your pocketbook. Rake the leaves from your lawn onto your garden. They can be up to 12 inches/25 cm thick when dry and not do any damage.
In fact many of your perennials will be warm and cozy under this blanket until spring. Mark the location of your perennials though as you will want to pull the leaves back from the crown of each plant come spring to allow it to emerge from the soil.
By late spring the leaves that have matted down under the weight and moisture of the melted snow will disappear as earthworms - the foot soldiers of the garden - come to the surface, pull them down and consume them. They convert leaves into nitrogen rich earth worm castings. True story. Go figure. No need to bag, lug, carry or bend out of shape disposing of them. And you will buy less triple mix or Mark's Choice flower and vegetable soil at Home Hardware next spring. Save money.
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Bulbs, Tropicals and Pruning
Bulbs.
All bulbs can be planted now, for a great spring show of colour. Later in October your narcissus and daffodils should have been planted but tulips and hyacinths are fine with a late season planting. My Dad was known, in his day, to plant tulips the day before Christmas and they came up in spring nicely.
Tropical plants indoors.
You mean that you haven't brought your tropical plants indoors yet? Well, neither have I. Too busy, that is my excuse. Time to get to it though, if you want to enjoy reasonable performance in your home over the next few months. Wash them down with Green Earth insecticidal soap before you bring them indoors just to be sure that you are not importing any bug problems from outdoors to in.
It is too early to winterize your roses, wrap evergreens to protect from winter sun, wind and salt spray, protect fruit trees from rodent damage, etc. I will cover all of these tasks in detail in my next newsletter, which you will receive about October 26th.
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Harvesting Tips
I hear from many gardeners who are not sure when to harvest their home-grown vegetables. A few simple tips will help take the guess work out of harvest time.
Beets. Take eight weeks to produce golf ball size roots. Wait another 4 weeks for tennis ball size roots. Harvest June through October.
Carrots. Allow 12 weeks for large roots to develop. Lift as needed August through December (until the ground freezes hard).
Tomatoes. Allow fruit to ripen on the plant for the best taste. Green tomatoes can be harvested at the end of the season. Ripen on the kitchen counter (place a banana near the green tomatoes to speed ripening).
Pumpkins. A darker colour and tough skin will develop as they ripen on the plant. This allows the pumpkin to be stored longer. Harvest before the first hard frost.
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