Monday, November 10, 2014

November 2014


Planters Punchlines
Men’s Garden Club of Wethersfield
November/December 2014
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HOLIDAY PARTY TIME! (In lieu of Nov/Dec Meetings)

The annual club Holiday Party will be held on
Monday December 1, 5:30 – 9:00 p.m.
@ the Solomon Welles House, in Wethersfield.

Catered Food, Drink, Fellowship, and 
Entertainment by the Wethersfield High School Choraleers.

Spouses/guests are cordially invited.
$15.00 per person ($30.00 per couple)
Bring a potential member @ the above prices. 
If they join the club, then their first year $15 dues are free.

RSVP (including potential member-guests) to President Tony Sanders at 860.529.3257 by Friday November 21.

WESTON ROSE GARDEN “WINTER OVER”
Saturday November 22 @ 8:00 a.m.

Branches will be trimmed, & piled next to the driveway (town will pick up), and compost placed around the bushes.  BYO pruners & work gloves please.

A Message from the Treasurer:
       
Plantsmen,: As a member of this organization you have the unique position of belonging to the oldest men’s garden club in Connecticut and perhaps New England.  This state of being allows us to participate in the dreaded rose garden, incredible parties, the thrill of plant sales, informational encounters and communications, farmer’s market, and interaction with some of the oldest people in town. Along with this euphoric privilege is the duty to pay dues at the beginning of the fall season.

Failure to pay the $15.00 contributes to disorder in the universe and could be punishable by certain means in the botanical sense that can only be imagined (or not).  In order to continue your societal advantage please bring the correct change to the next meeting on December 1. 

If not able to attend you may send the amount to
                        Richard Prentice
                        1 Long Green Terrace
                        Cromwell, CT  06416

Thank you from the Treasurer.

Compostable Matter
By Jim Meehan

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman describes the modern-day, globally interconnected, multinational economy by saying “The World is Flat”.  The world of plants was flat long before the 21st century.  This is particularly apparent if you are a zone 6 gardener vacationing in zone 8.
       
In early October Mars and I spent two weeks in coastal North Carolina – specifically the South Outer Banks (SOBX on your white oval auto decal).  We stayed in the town of Emerald Isle on the barrier island of the same name in a beachfront condo unit.  The grounds were neatly and attractively designed and maintained with perennials that were totally foreign to my knowledge base, except for some flora (the identity of which I am not certain), which appears around Mother’s Day in Southern New England as one-summer-long flowers in hanging planters.
      
 The slope area from the condo property down to the beach is protected dunes and, either in spite of or because of its safeguarded status, it is chock full of shrubbery – two of which I initially thought were also Outer Banks outsiders like us until I got home and was made aware of the truth by the all-mighty Google.
       
The first, the Palmetto, is ubiquitous in this part of coastal Carolina decorating everything from highly landscaped, gated communities to the all-natural sand-drifts.  This latter location should have made me question my assumption about its foreigner status.
       
Sand mounds are classified as stable back dunes; secondary dunes; primary dunes; or foreshore depending upon the wind and wave activity patterns.  The one at our condo is something in between a primary and secondary dune, which allows shrubby or woody species of plants to grow – many of them “low-growing and shrubby, despite their growing as robust shrubs or trees in areas inland of the dunes…. Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), live oak (Quercus virginiana), and prickly pear cactus (Opuntia stricta), are all common inhabitants of back dunes and secondary dunes.” (http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Dunes.htm)
      
 I had always thought of palm trees as being native to a much warmer clime, e.g. Florida, and imported to e.g. the Carolinas by those who wanted to pretend they lived someplace tropical.  (BTW North Carolinians refer to northerners who move to the “The Sunshine State”, and then can’t take the heat so they settle in the Tar Heel State as “halfbacks” because they move 50% of the way back home.)
      
 The cabbage palm in its full-grown robustness appears on the state flag of South Carolina, which is where people assume Mars and I are going to when we mention that we are going to North Carolina to play golf.  (“Are you going to Hilton Head?”)  I also find it interesting that both North and South Carolinians refer to their home state as “Carolina” and to their neighbor to the South or North (depending) by its full name.  At least they realize that we are staying in the United States – unlike when we travel to New Mexico.
       
Speaking of which – what is the desert-loving prickly pear cactus – which we became personally familiar with on our travels to high-desert New Mexico – doing in the dune? 

Well it turns out, according to davesgarden.com this particular genus/species also grows in: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin.
       
Actually Mars and I now have one (perhaps not the same genus but close enough) in a “year round” pot in our perennial sun garden.  We acquired it from a fellow garden club member early this summer after unsuccessfully seeking them out at a show and sale put on by the Connecticut Cactus Society where we did learn that prickly pears have been cultivated to survive in various parts of the U.S.  Our donor’s crop has lasted in his yard for several years with no special care – so we assume all will be well with ours after the snows and freezing temperatures make their annual pass through our area.
       
It occurs to me now that Mars and I also saw some on our first foray to Europe on the island of Malta (the 122 sq. mi., largely limestone country in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea) where it grows widely and is enjoyed as a summer fruit (bajtar tax-xewk or “spiny figs”), as well as being used to make the popular liqueur known as bajtra.   

Full disclosure – while I do remember the cactus it was Wikipedia that told me about the food uses.  I also recall that seeing a plant whose identity I knew in the midst of confusing tropical flora and exotic non-Western architecture gave me a sense of comfort that I was still on the same planet.
       
So how did the Prickly Pear get to be just about everywhere?
       
“During the Pleistocene [about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago] many Opuntia species evolved to become resistant to frost.  Prickly pear cactus thrives on poor sandy soils because they can retain water better than most other plants.  This would have made them especially well adapted to southeastern North America during arid stadials when sandstorms smothered many square miles of territory.
      
 “A study of prickly pear DNA determined that southeastern and southwestern regions of North America provided refuges for prickly pear cactus during the Last Glacial Maximum [26,500 and 19,000–20,000 years ago].  When prickly pear cactus recolonized the Midwest and Canada after the retreat of the glacier, closely related species came into contact with each other and hybridized.   

This suggests that many more species of Opuntia may be the result of hybridization events that occurred when isolated populations reunited after thousands of years of separation due to climate-initiated environmental changes.”   (http://markgelbart.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/the-biogeographical-history-of-the-prickly-pear-cactus-opuntia-sp/)
       
Then, once it gets within a general area - “When an animal (or your foot) bumps the plant, the barbed spine sticks-to and pulls a pad loose. Not happy with this new ornament, the animal (or you) dislodges the pad, where upon it falls (or is tossed) to the ground. It soon forms roots and grows new pads.” (http://lee.ces.ncsu.edu/2007/08/north-carolinas-cacti/)
       
In other words prickly pear is really, really old – and is equally at home in the desert southwest, or the limestone land of Malta or the sand dunes of North Carolina.
       
On our way to and from Emerald Isle, N.C. Mars and I spent a night in Pocomoke City Maryland.  It is about mid-way in our trip and has a clean Holiday Inn Express, a nice pub restaurant on the banks of the local river, and a walkable nature trail/historic area that allows us to loosen our legs after eight hours of driving.
       
This year on our walk we came upon a tall tropical looking tree that was lying across the sidewalk.  And standing at the base of the plant was a woman in dirt-spattered garden clothes, who was enthusiastically willing to talk to us about our strange horticultural happening-upon.
      
 It was a banana tree of which she and her husband had several arranged around their property – some laying on the ground, some in pots, and some in the ground.  Along with several more in process down in their cellar.  The trees grow to about 8 - 10 feet, produce a few fruits, drop the beginnings of the next plant on the ground, then wither and die.  She had been growing bananas in Pocomoke City for several years.
       
At home the Great Google directed me once again to davesgarden.com wherein I read, “You don’t need a greenhouse or a conservatory to grow bananas and other tropicals north of zone 8. You do need a strong back and a willing shovel! I’ve been growing bananas in my Maryland garden for the past two years. It’s an adventure that’s worth a try.”
      
 It turns out that the Pocomoke banana growers have a son who lives about twenty miles from Emerald Isle, N.C. and they themselves have vacationed on the island while visiting him. 
      
 Who knows where the little bits of the banana starter kit that sticks to their clothes falls (or is tossed) to the ground?  Next year Mars and I will definitely be on the lookout for fresh breakfast bananas among the prickly pears and palms of our back yard Carolina sand dune.

Cleaning soil the solar way
By Barbara Damrosch – Washington Post
      
 It was a difficult moment. I had walked into our greenhouse on a July day, and where there should have been rich, dark brown earth, all I could see was plastic spread out over the ground. Instead of an earthy smell there was a petrochemical one. We were solarizing the soil.
       
Solarization, a practice that’s been around since the 1970s, uses a sheet of clear plastic film to concentrate the sun’s heat and burn out weeds, weed seeds, many plant pathogens such as verticillium wilt, and even pests such as certain nematodes. It works.
      
 Ideally, you cover the area long enough
to bring the top two inches of the soil to 140 degrees. If the sunshine is good and strong, you’ll have freed the soil from the annual weeds — the ones that germinate anew each year. (Deep-rooted perennial ones are harder to kill.)

After solarization, your plants tend to grow better, too, as heat-loving bacteria break down organic matter. It’s a bit like the purification that goes on at the center of a compost pile, a cycle of renewal.
       
But after spotting a desiccated worm that apparently had tried to flee, I wondered whether it harms the life in the soil? What about those gazillions of beneficial microbes? “They come back right away,” my husband insisted. “And most of the worms just go deeper into the ground.”
      
 I decided to get a second opinion, so I asked Will Brinton of Woods End Laboratories in Mount Vernon, Maine, a professional composter with a respect for soil life, not just the periodic table. “The soil is not damaged,” he assured me. “A pause takes effect. Soil organisms are resilient: The bacteria go dormant and the fungi send out spores. Life quickly returns.” So I made my peace with the process. Our crops came up, grew well and tasted just as good as ever. The worms reappeared.
       
Solarizing the soil is best done in the summer to kill the most heat-tolerant weeds and their seeds. Even purslane seeds will die if you can maintain 140 degrees. (Another reason to acquire a soil and compost thermometer.) If solarizing an outdoor bed doesn’t result in that level of heat, you can double the plastic, laying one sheet above the other with a support in between (wooden frames, PVC pipes) to create a heat-trapping airspace.

By autumn — even a warm autumn — the sun is too low in the sky to begin solarization. But now’s the time to take stock of how the season went, and if numerous and persistent weeds were a problem, consider such a treatment for next year.
       
It takes some planning. In addition to getting the plastic sheeting and the landscape staples to anchor it, the enterprise requires some advance steps.
       
Before solarizing, amend the soil, rake it smooth and mark out the beds so they are all ready for planting when the covers are removed. Irrigate the soil very deeply, too. Moisture will intensify the heat and will also prompt those pesky weeds to germinate — and quickly die. After the crops are in, hoe shallowly, lest you bring up weed seeds from deeper below, where the heat has been less intense.
       
Given the choice, I’d still rather cultivate, hoe, mulch, plant cover crops and practice all the other more homely, peaceful ways of keeping weeds down. But sometimes I appreciate a quick boost from the sun.

Tip of the week

If core aeration is in your lawn’s near future, water the turf deeply a day or two before the work to allow the aerator to reach an optimum soil depth. Aeration reduces soil compaction and is useful for overseeding, but it should be followed with another deep watering to prevent the grass roots from drying. — Adrian Higgins
       
Damrosch’s latest book is “The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook.”

GMO's - Pros and Cons
By Dr. Keith Kantor Sc.D, PhD – CNN.com

       
GMO’s are microorganisms, plants, and animals that have their genes altered. Usually they are modified either to further scientific research or to alter the food supply. Common genetic modifications include: adding antibacterial genes to plants, introducing genes that make the organism bigger or hardier, making new foods by adding genes from existing foods, and adding animals genes to plants and vice versa.
      
 Most American crops are now genetically modified and the percentage of GMO’s in our food supply is growing extremely rapidly. Products that are genetically modified do not have to be labeled as such.
       
Pros
       
The government and agribusiness tout the benefits of GMO’s to the public. They say that they are doing this to increase the food supply, help underfed nations, and assist farmers.
       
Some of the benefits they claim are better food quality and taste, and making crops disease resistant so we have higher yields and more efficient production. GMO’s allow farmer to skip steps in the production process, like spraying herbicides and pesticides, because the crops are already resistant. In some crops they claim the foods are modified to contain additional vitamins and minerals. 

These are supposed to be beneficial to people in countries that do not have an adequate supply of these nutrients. They claim that since fewer pesticides are used, it is good for the environment. Their most important claim is that GMO’s are safe for human consumption.
       
Cons
       
The biggest concern is that there has not been enough testing of GMO’s and no real long term testing to detect possible problems.
       
Another problem is allergic reactions; genetic modification often mixes or adds proteins that weren’t indigenous to the original plant, causing new allergic reactions to the human body, according to Brown University.
       
Some GMO foods have had antibiotic features added to them so they are resistant to certain diseases and viruses. When humans eat them, these antibiotics features persist in our bodies and make actual antibiotic medications less effective, according to Iowa State University.
       
Another risk is that the modified genes may escape into the wild. Brown University warns if herbicide resistant genes cross into wild weeds, a super weed that is resistant to herbicides can be created. Making plants resistant to bacteria can cause bacteria to become stronger and harder to kill.
       
There have been isolated cases of animals dying after eating genetically modified foods.
      
 Dr. William Davis says, “The new genetically modified wheat has a new protein call gliadin. This gliadin binds to the opiate receptors in our brain and in most people stimulates appetites, such that we consume 440 more calories per day.” Davis claims clinical studies show this happening to hundreds of thousands of people. He suggests totally avoiding wheat.
      
 In my own practice, while testing for food allergens using the elimination diet, I have found several patients that improved when all GMO’s were eliminated from their diet.
       
As you can see, there are pros and cons to this issue. I wanted to try and discuss both sides of the issue so you can make your own decision. At the present time I do not recommend using any GMO foods until more testing is done, and true long-term studies can alleviate my concerns.



Horti-Culture Corner
-   Oliver Herford, I Heard a Bird Sing

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

'We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,'
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.

A sneak peek at the new product offerings 
from W. Atlee Burpee & Co.
http://www.streetinsider.com

      Burpee's Top 10 for 2015:
       
•Summer Squash, 'Cupcake' hybrid: Delectable oblate 2-5" fruits impart perfectly calibrated flavor: somewhat sweet, somewhat savory. Go-to squash for roasting, slicing, grilling, boiling, and stuffing, 'Cupcake' combines patty-pan's rich, sweet flavor and zucchini's soft skin. Large, trailing plant yields dozens of round, green squash.
      
 •Tomato, 'Jersey Boy' hybrid: This 8-ounce super tomato hybrid is the brilliant combination of the sublime sweet-sour tang of 'Brandywine' and the classic rich color, shapeliness, yield and performance of 'Rutgers'. Indeterminate.
       
•Tomato, 'Cloudy Day' hybrid: Cool weather? Late Season? 'Cloudy Day' thrives in cooler temperatures; indeterminate plant laughs off early and late blight. 'Cloudy Day's juicy, flavorful, glossy 4-5 oz. pure-red cocktail fruits infuse salads, soups, and sauces with tomato excellence. Indeterminate.
       
•Sweet Pepper, 'Long Tall Sally' hybrid: This succulent, flavorful Italian frying pepper works culinary magic whether stuffed, fried, roasted or grilled. Hybrid yields an abundance of glossy, thin-walled, light green 8-inch Cubanelle fruits.
      
•Hot Pepper, 'Big Boss Man' hybrid: Big, bold, dark green fruits deliver sensational flavor and just-right mild heat. This disease-resistant ancho-poblano hybrid produces an outsize yield of extra-large 7-by-3-inch fruits from the first harvest, with a Scoville rating of 1,500-4,000.
      
 •Lavender, 'Platinum Blonde': A fragrant masterpiece in mauve bred by Spanish breeder Juan Momparler Albors. Leaves of gray-green are edged with wide, creamy yellow margins. Perfect for containers and borders.
       
•Zinnia haageana, 'Color Crackle': Gorgeous bicolor double flowers on vertical 16-24-inch spikes create a sensation in a favorite sunny border. Hardy and floriferous. Available for the first time as a single seed selection.
       
•Sunflower, 'Candy Mountain': Tall, branching sunflowers produce single head "junior" plants blooming in all directions with vibrant burgundy on yellow flame. Great variety for small space or used as vertical interest, or for cut flowers.
      
 •Blackberry, 'Prime Ark Freedom': Produces two blackberry harvests a year. The first-ever thornless primocane fruiting blackberry, 'Freedom' delivers outstanding fruit size and flavor. Fruits the very first year, early summer and fall (climate permitting).
       
•Raspberry 'Glencoe': Velvety-purple, intensely sweet berries. Developed by the Scottish Crop Research Institute. Bushy plants have spine-free canes for easy picking (and snacking). Berries, amazingly sweet and favorable, are perfect for wines, sauces and preserves.

Top 12 Garden Trends for 2014 (Excerpt)
     
       
1. Grafted Vegetable Plants: Grafted plants are relatively new, but I have only seen grafted tomato plants. A grafted plant simply means the top part of a separate plant(scion) is attached to the root system of another plant(the rootstock).
       
2. Not Using GMO Seeds
       
3. Planting Raised, Stackable Beds, and Container Bags
      
 4. Bee Gardening: Bees have been in the news for the past couple of years and people are concerned about their disappearance, wanting to do something about it. The easiest solution is to plant a bee-friendly garden, using native plants. Native plants continue to be a hot topic in gardening worlds.
       
5. Planting for Health Benefits/Foraging: When I was ordering my tomato seeds, I noticed in the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog, that they had a chart titled “Our 2013 Nutritional Study on Tomatoes”. That is why I ordered the variety “Black Krim” which topped the list as best overall.
       
6. Herbs-Medicinal and Culinary
       
7. Growing Exotic and Unusual Vegetables
      
 8. Themed Seed Samplers: Renee’s Garden Seeds increases their themed seed collections every year, such as the Basil Lovers Bonanza, Fabulous and Unusual Annuals, or Collection of Collections, which is all twelve of the themed garden seeds together for $155!
       
9. Growing Small/Rooftops
       
10. Growing “Super Foods“
       
11. Fermentation: Fermentation is huge! Enjoying a resurgence are plants that can be fermented such as hops for beer, grapes for wine, cabbage for kimchi,  kombucha, and relishes.
       
12. Sprouts & Micro Greens:   Micro greens are an “offshoot” of the sprouting scene and you have probably seen them on restaurant menus, garnishing sandwiches, salads and soups. Micro greens are juvenile vegetable seedlings that are between 7 and 14 days old that grow in soil. Sprouts are seeds that germinate in water and are about 48 hours old. Micro greens are harvested by cutting the plant off at the soil level. Arugula, mustard, pea, beets, cilantro are some micro greens now on the market with more to come. The nutrients contained in micro greens are four to six times more intense than the mature vegetable.
       
I am sure that you noticed that of the above movements, most of the options involved vegetable or edible gardening.  As a consequence, when vegetable gardeners speak, the gardening industry listens!

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