Guess what guys?! Herbs are so easy! If you have never gardened before and you would like to make the foray into the world of gardening…go for it with herbs. Not only are they easy but they are fun, practical, delicious, and pretty. There is not a ton you need to know about herb care, thus the “easy” part. But, you know me…I can’t just say nothing! Really, I am only trying to help. Pinky swear.
A FEW TIPS FOR EASY HERB CARE:
- Your soil must be well-draining. Use a regular potting mix like Van Wilgen’s Professional Potting Mix. Don’t use heavy compost or topsoil. If you are planting the herbs in the ground, be sure to lighten up the soil especially if it currently feels like brown pavement. Use some VW Planting Mix amended into the soil to keep it loose.
- Here is a little trick that your neighbors won’t know. Add a little Greensand to the soil when you are planting your herbs. Not only is it a natural soil conditioner that helps with drainage but it gives herbs the extra mineral boost they need.
- Herbs need fertilizer but don’t go crazy. I have two favorite fertilizers I like. Trick #2: Kelp Meal is great for adding flavor to your herbs. If you love to cook and what to really get full flavor from your herbs, hit them with a little Kelp Meal. It makes them more delicious. Van Wilgen’s Root Boost is the other fertilizer I use on Herbs. It is organic and well-balanced with Kelp Meal to boot. Use Root Boost every couple of weeks applied to the herbs foliage.
- Keep herbs damp daily. I know, I know, I said that the soil needs to be well-draining with herbs. This is true but they are also happier if the soil is damp every day. Confusing huh? What I am trying to say is that in the heat of summer, herbs need to be watered daily but the soil they are planted in needs to drain efficiently.
- Don’t be afraid to harvest your herbs. The more you use them, the more herbs you get. I used to make the mistake of taking off the bottom leaves of my Basil plant before the top. Silly me. It is best to harvest herbs from the top. You can even pinch herbs back ½ way down the stem. This keeps them from getting leggy.
- Don’t buy herbs if your main desire is for flowers. Yes, herbs do flower but the flowers are rather insignificant and if you really want to use herbs for cooking, letting them flower is not the best idea. Once herbs flower and go to seed, it indicates they are at the end of their lifecycle for the season. If a flower appears, pinch it right off. By cutting off flowers, herbs live longer lives, are better for harvesting and I think even taste better.
- Give them some sunshine. Most herbs are happier in full sun (5 plus hours) so don’t deprive them. Although, I do find that herbs in my yard do a little better if not all of the sun is afternoon soon. Some herbs can handle less sunlight like chives and mint.
- Only plant mint in pots. I love mint. Don’t get me wrong, making my own summer cocktails with Mojito Mint is so fun but mint in the ground is aggressive. If you are looking for an herb to take over a garden bed, then mint is your herb.
My final tip for easy herb care is just to have fun. Mix up herbs with annual flowers. Plant them in cute, little pots on your windowsill, fill a window box with herbs and flowers for easy harvesting, cook with them, and drink with them. If you are a beginning gardener or well-seasoned, herbs are for everyone.
Come see us at Van Wilgen’s. We would love to help!
SHOPPING LIST:
*VW Potting Mix
*Greensand
*Kelp Meal
*VW Root Boost
A good tomato is hard to forget. You know you’ve hit the jackpot in that first, juicy bite.
Every tomato has the potential to be great and some extra attention now will pay off big time come harvest. Set the stage for a stellar performance by this year’s crops with these tips.
How to Get The Best Tomatoes:
- Healthy soil, healthy plants. Enrich the soil with Tomato-tone and compost every other week to keep plants supplied with essential nutrients.
- Remove damaged plants. Remove any fruit that shows dark patches on their bottom. These leathery patches, known as blossom end rot, cannot be reversed.
- Water well. During hot weather, tomato plants need deep waterings. Tomatoes are also less likely to crack when the soil is kept slightly moist.
- Cover the soil. Mulch blocks weeds, saves water, and protects your fruit. Adding it is a no-brainer! Spread a 2-3” layer of organic mulch around plants, leaving 2” of room around the stem so water can reach the roots.
- Protect plants from heat. Hot sun can cause sunscald, leaving tomatoes with pale, leathery patches on the fruits that pucker when they should be ripening. Bushy plants with lots of leaves naturally shade the fruit from the sun, however, plants with fewer leaves are more vulnerable. Cover plants with lightweight cloth through the first few heatwaves.
- Remove tomato suckers. These small shoots sprout out from where the stem and the branch of a tomato plant meet. Though harmless, tomato suckers do drain energy away from the main stems.
Pick tomatoes when you’re ready for them, avoid letting them get soft and mushy. Tomatoes picked at the breaker stage, when they first show signs of changing color, are considered vine-ripened. These tomatoes will continue to ripen off the vine and on your kitchen counter. Plus, tomatoes picked at the breaking stage can still have the same flavor as one that has fully ripened on the vine.
Whatever you do, just don’t put tomatoes in the fridge to ripen.
Last week I harvested the first round of asparagus from our garden. There is nothing better than food fresh from the garden but asparagus must be one of the best tasting fresh veggies. Perhaps it’s because of the Zen-like
patience it takes to wait for your plants to get established enough to start producing “harvestable” amounts.
A good asparagus bed takes several years to hit its stride. Year one only takes a few shots, let most of them grow so they can work on growing roots, year 2 harvest only a little bit more. The greedier you are in the beginning, the longer it will take for the plants to get well-established roots. The wait must be what makes them taste so good. I think the biggest misconception about asparagus is that the thick shoots are not as tender or tasty, but in truth, there is no difference in deliciousness based on the diameter of the shoot.
When I lived and worked for a garden center in Oregon, my boss Jack, who I call my Oregon dad, had a 20′ by 100′ greenhouse dedicated to his asparagus beds. I learned a lot about plants from Jack, but I learned the most from him watching him grow food. I worked at the “farm” where all the annuals and perennials were grown for their stores and Jack’s house was in the center of acres and acres of greenhouses. His “garden” was just a few steps out of his back door, I use quotations because his “garden” was acres and consisted of a dedicated greenhouse of asparagus. And yes, acres with an “s”. He had it down to a science; what goes where, how many days each variety took to harvest and what varieties were his favorite. If you weren’t growing his favorite varieties, you weren’t doing it right. Often Jack and his wife Dee would invite me to lunch at the house and every time there were pounds of produce, berries, etc. ready to be cooked, baked into something delicious, or processed. Always extra to put away for winter. On the days I had lunch at the house, at precisely 12:30, Jack would grab me and we would walk through the asparagus greenhouse; “grab that knife kid” in his distinctive voice that I will never forget. He had 2 knives stabbed into the wood of the greenhouse doorway, they weren’t very sharp and they looked 20 years old, probably about the same age as the asparagus beds. It doesn’t take much to cut the tender asparagus and I can just imagine those knives must have harvested tens of thousands of shoots. As we harvested, I didn’t have the heart to tell Jack that I didn’t like asparagus or that I thought I didn’t like asparagus. I did what he told me, helped cook lunch and if you know Jack, there is no way I could say “no” when my plate came. Turns out, maybe the freshness or the experience changed me but I did like the asparagus.
Now I can’t wait to see those shoots pop up in our garden. I ate a few shoots raw right out of the ground, so crisp and tasty. We made a little pasta primavera with peas, parmesan, and asparagus with our first bunch and I’m looking forward to more so I can grill them! Mmm, a little salt, pepper, and olive oil, then throw them on the grill. Helpful hint: If you have a grilling basket, it makes it a lot easier so you aren’t losing precious shoots between the grates.
Ryan Van Wilgen
May has finally arrived, and many of us are very eager to get our gardens started. While I would love to tell you to plant away, I need to ask you to be patient.
Did you know that during the month of May the nighttime temperatures are only in the 50’s a third of the time, but waiting until June it jumps to 80 percent of the time?
This is very important when it comes to your vegetable garden and your warm-weather vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and cucumbers to name a few. So, don’t rush you can plant most tomatoes as late as July 1 st, but don’t worry you won’t have to wait that long.
Warm weather veggies need nighttime temperatures to be at a consistent 50 degrees, and the soil temperature at 60 degrees. A very easy way to tell soil temperature is to take your index finger and stick it all the way into the soil, if you can’t leave it there comfortably for a full minute you will not want to put your vegetables in that soil.
If you plant before the ideal time your plant will not be happy, you are not doing it or yourself any favors the plant will not grow any faster because you planted it early. It will in fact not grow at all until that soil temperature reaches 60 degrees, and it can also cause you to cut your vegetable yield in half.
If you just can’t wait to buy your favorites make sure you protect them from any cold nights we have ahead of us, remember May can be very unpredictable so pay attention to your nighttime temperatures until that last chance of frost is finally behind us.
Darlene Granese, Greenhouse Manager
Have you wondered why heirloom tomatoes taste so much better than those conventional ones from the store?
Conventional tomatoes have been bred for long shelf life, disease resistance, high yield, and, even for their looks! So whether you say to-may-to or to-mah-to, we’re here to help you choose the perfect heirloom tomato variety for you.
What is an Heirloom Tomato?
Heirloom tomatoes come from seeds that have been handed down from farmer to farmer for generations for their special characteristics and varieties must be 50 years old at least. Because of this, heirloom tomatoes have minimal disease resistance.
Heirloom varieties are open-pollinated–meaning that the seeds you collect will produce plants almost identical plants year after year. That’s key to their survival.
Many heirlooms have been passed down from generation to generation. Seeds, once considered valuable property, traveled country to country in pockets or through letters. Varieties come from Central America, Russia, Italy, Japan, France, Germany, and Kentucky. Here are a few of our favorites.
Best Heirloom Tomatoes to Grow
Pink Brandywine– This is hands-down the yummiest and most popular heirloom. Dating back to 1885, these tomatoes ripen late in the season, but delight with huge tomatoes with even bigger flavor. Plus, Pink Brandywine tomatoes grow well in containers.
- Growth Type: Indeterminate
- Time to Maturity: 85-100 days
- Taste and Texture: Intense, full flavor with a rich, velvety texture
- Light: Full sun
- Plant Size: 4-9’
- Spacing: 24-36” apart
- Staking: Yes – Cage or stake
Black Cherry – This black, heirloom cherry tomato is somewhat disease-resistant and easy to grow – even in containers. The truly striking color makes these cherry tomatoes an instant conversation (or kabob!) starter.
- Growth Type: Indeterminate
- Time to Maturity: 65-75 days
- Taste and Texture: Sweet meets smoky flavor with a meaty texture
- Light: Full sun
- Plant Size: 5-8’
- Spacing: 24-36”
- Staking: Yes – Cage or stake
Cherokee Purple – Cherokee purple tomatoes may look eccentric, but boy, do they taste good! Believed to be passed down from Cherokee Indians, this variety produces significantly more tomatoes than other heirlooms.
- Growth Type: Indeterminate
- Time to Maturity: 75-90 days
- Taste and Texture: Sweet, juicy, and savory with a thin skin
- Light: Full sun
- Plant Size: 4-9’
- Spacing: 24-36”
- Staking: Yes – Cage or stake
San Marzano- The long, blocky fruits mature with a small, discreet seed cavity that can be scooped out, leaving all meat. This means much less boiling to get a first-class paste. The shape is also good for canning and excellent for drying.
- Growth Type: Indeterminate
- Time to Maturity: 75-90 days
- Taste and Texture: Sweet, with few seeds. Perfect for sauce.
- Light: Full sun
- Plant Size: 4-9’
- Spacing: 24-36”
- Staking: Yes – Cage or stake
Why Should I Grow Heirlooms?
We believe the flavor of heirlooms is so superior that no garden would be complete without them. Try a variety this year, and we’re sure you will agree. You will be tasting a little bit of history all summer long.
When you’re organic gardening, be sure to feed tomatoes lots of Tomato-tone during the growing season.
For a printable guide to tomatoes click HERE
Eat your veggies! They are so good for you. It is nice to get them from your local grocery store but even better to pick them out of your own garden. Nothing like the smell and taste of fresh veggies! Nothing like the satisfaction of knowing you grew them on your own! Nothing like the joy of sharing with family and friends! Nothing like a good ole’ disease to rain on your bountiful vegetable parade! It’s just like me to be a “Debbie Downer”, isn’t it?! It would be great if we could just yell at the disease and it would go away. It is not quite that simple but I do have some solutions for you.
PEPPERS:
Cercospora Leaf Spot:
- The disease lays dormant in old affected leaves left in the soil of the garden bed.
- It spreads quickly by wind, splashing water, and leaf to leaf contact.
- Water is necessary to activate the disease.
- Lesions on leaves are somewhat circular, yellowish at first, and have a white to tan center with a dark halo around the spot. Spots will dry up and turn into holes.
- Bottom leaves will be affected first, turn yellow and drop off the plant.
Cercospora Leaf Spot Control:
- Remove infected leaves & throw them into the garbage.
- Do not overcrowd plants.
- Avoid overhead irrigation. Water spreads the disease.
- Spray immediately with Copper Fungicide by Bonide. Make treatments weekly.
- Fertilize monthly with Espoma’s Garden-Tone + Van Wilgen’s Fish & Seaweed weekly(especially in this heat) to keep plants healthy.
- Clean garden beds thoroughly in the Fall. Do not leave any dead leaf debris in the garden.
- Throw infected plant debris away in the garbage, not into your compost pile.
TOMATOES:
Septoria Leaf Spot:
- It begins on the lower leaves of the tomato plant.
- The disease remains living in old tomato plant leaves.
- Spots appear as water-soaked circles with grayish centers, a dark brown margin, and little black spots in the middle.
- Spots will eventually dry up and leaves will drop.
- It is spread by wind, rain, insects, cultivating, etc.
Septoria Leaf Spot Control:
- Remove infected leaves and throw them away in the garbage.
- Avoid overhead irrigation.
- Fertilize tomatoes with Espoma’s Tomato-Tone monthly + Van Wilgen’s Fish & Seaweed weekly to keep them strong.
- Spray weekly with a fungicide, such as Daconil, Copper, or Serenade.
- Do a complete garden clean-up in the Fall and remove all infected vegetation.
- Rotate your crop yearly to a different location in the garden.
SQUASH & CUCUMBERS:
Powdery Mildew:
- This disease shows up on leaves of squash and cucumbers in a blotchy form or a full covering.
- The fungus is white to gray in color.
- It weakens the plant significantly to the point that you may not get any maturing fruit.
- If the fungus completely covers the leaf, photosynthesis will stop, the leaf will turn yellow and drop off the plant.
- It remains to overwinter in affected cucumbers and squash.
- In the Spring, it is spread by wind, insects, rain, birds, etc.
Powdery Mildew Control:
- Be sure plants have good air circulation and are not too crowded.
- Water plants at the base, not from the top.
- Pick off and throw away infected leaves.
- Treat weekly with a fungicide. Daconil, Safer’s Garden Fungicide, and Copper will all do the trick.
- Fertilize monthly with Espoma’s Garden Tone monthly + Van Wilgen’s Fish & Seaweed weekly to keep plants healthy and strong.
- Clean up the dead plants in the garden at the end of the year. Fungal spores will remain in the dead leaves and reinfect plants next season.
Hopefully, I was not too much of a “Debbie Downer” in this tip. Let’s look at the bright side of things. Rarely do these diseases kill the plant and you will still enjoy some delicious vegetables as long as you follow some of the control measures above. Now I am more of a “Penelope Positive”, don’t you think?!
Come see us at VanWilgen’s. We would love to help!
It’s our favorite time of year again, spring is here! This marks the start of prime time gardening season as the weather begins to warm up.
Now’s the perfect time to put on some gardening gloves and repot indoor plants or start fresh with new seeds outdoors. Either way, March & April is the time to get a head start on rejuvenating your outdoor garden to ensure your harvest is ready by mid-spring or early summer.
Beets
Healthy and delicious, the best time to plant beets is right now. They’ll harvest quickly, leaving us with an early summer treat. Plus, beets are known to lower blood pressure, fight inflammation and they’re rich in nutrients and fiber.
Broccoli
One of our favorite greens, broccoli is a nutritional powerhouse. It contains Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Fiber, and Folate. This cool-weather crop can germinate in soil with temperatures as low as 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Be sure to keep the soil wet, though, because this plant is thirsty.
Cabbage
Whether leafy green or perfectly purple, this annual vegetable is perfect for colder temperatures. Pests love Cabbage, so be sure to keep an eye on it. Try using natural repellant methods instead of harmful chemicals to keep your cabbage healthy and safe.
Carrots
Why plant orange carrots when you can choose from the entire rainbow? Choose from purple, black, red, white, or yellow. Not only are they good for eyesight, but carrots are also one of the best plants for reducing the risk of Cardiovascular Disease.
Lettuce
This true cool-weather plant is actually stunted by hot temperatures. Perfect for early spring gardens, lettuce requires light watering since its leaves will develop quickly. And, don’t forget to use organic mulch to conserve water. Once true leaves grow, it is time to harvest the crop before it becomes bitter and tough.
Spinach
Perfect for salads and sides, spinach loves the spring weather. This green is extremely sensitive to excessive heat. Spinach is fast-growing, forming flowers and developing seeds in no time at all.
Onions
Onions have disease-fighting power and high nutritional value, making them one of the healthiest vegetables to eat. Onions can endure all of the hardships that come with early spring weather. Note that this crop will not be as fruitful if temperatures drop below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Peas
Sweet peas, snow peas, and snap peas are perfect for planting in March. They’re easy to grow and so delicious.
