January 2017

Planters Punchlines

Men’s Garden Club of Wethersfield

January 2017

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" CT NOFA "

@ Men’s Garden Club of Wethersfield January Meeting

Monday January 23 @ 7:00 pm in the Pitkin Community Center

Jeff Cordulack of The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut (CT NOFA) will discuss CT-NOFA’s mission to: Promote organic methods of farming, gardening, and land care that encourage the growth of a sustainable, regional food system, Educate  consumers about their power to effect positive changes through their food and land care choices, Increase the local and organic food supply and maintain productive agricultural land by creating opportunities for new and veteran farmers.

Compostable Matter

By Jim Meehan

Wethersfield’s World Renowned Red Onion

           

            (For the past year or so I was a member of the group that created the town’s new Heritage Trail – 22 markers scattered throughout Old Wethersfield that tell the story of the town from its inception in 1634 to its current incarnation as a Hartford suburb. The following is an edited version of one of my early drafts.)     

           

             

“It is peculiarly novel and interesting, on passing through the town in the month of June, to behold in every direction the extensive fields of onions. Whilst in a luxuriant state of vegetation, the growing vegetable exhales its strong savour. The atmosphere becomes impregnated, and the luscious qualities of the onion are wafted far and wide, upon every passing breeze.” Pease and Niles Gazetteer –1819

            

 Wethersfield’s deep, rich soil was ideal for farming and from 1730 until the mid-1830's the major agricultural activity in Wethersfield was the cultivation of a flat red onion that came to be known as the “Wethersfield Red.” – earning the town renown throughout the world – and the nickname “Oniontown.”            

             

Strung together in long “ropes,” (or “skeins”) the onions were shipped primarily to New York – and to the West Indies where they were used to feed the slaves on the islands’ huge sugar plantations. At its height in 1774, Wethersfield exported about one million of these knotted bundles.  More than twenty sloops and schooners were owned and manned by Wethersfield residents engaged in the trade.  Onions were traded for sugar, salt, tea, coffee and spices as well as molasses from which New Englanders made rum.  Well-known for their large size, deep red color, pleasant flavor, productivity, and long shelf life, even President Thomas Jefferson grew “Wethersfield Reds” at Monticello.

             

Unusual for that time, many young women were responsible for growing and harvesting the crop.   These so-called “onion maidens” accounted for about one-third of Wethersfield’s onion producers.  Most of them worked in the fields for other growers.  Some, however, raised and sold their own crops. And a few women acted as agents not only for themselves, but also for other onion growers, including men. In 1774 Alexandria Frazier shipped 6,782 ropes of onions on behalf of 41 workers, 7 of them women.

             

The onions were such a valuable and stable commodity that they became a form of currency within the town. In 1764 Wethersfield leaders levied taxes to build the First Church of Christ meetinghouse. Many residents paid their fee in the form of onions, making it known as “the church that onions built.”  Around town the long ropes decorated the rafters and doorways of the village – like pretty red Christmas ornaments. 

The combination of a Civil War-era blight known as pinkroot and the end of the plantation system in the West Indies signaled the end of the reign of the red onion. Tobacco and garlic supplanted the onion crop. and Wethersfield transitioned to cultivating seed for the newly settled West. 

             

Today, Wethersfield Red Onion seeds are still available from the Town’s two remaining seed businesses – Comstock, Ferre & Company and The Charles C. Hart Seed Company.

           

Mr. Temptation can cause trouble when the seed catalogs arrive

By Diana George Chapin, Special to the Bangor Daily News March 09, 2002

A tall stack of seed catalogs has accumulated in my storage rack. The brilliant cover of each tries to lure me away from the rest. An enormous sunflower adorning one screams for my attention over the simplicity of a quaint bouquet on the cover of another. The slippery feel of the glossy pages tempts my fingertips. The light newsprint pages of another beckons.

             

Inside each catalog, copious varieties are described in detail. They say positively delicious things such as, “coral-rose blooms with a gentle golden burst at the center” or “dark green with a dark reddish maroon overlay, a very dark velvety crimson” or “nutty, buttery flavor of excellent meaty golden flesh.”

             

I have assigned a storage bin to seed catalogs because I discovered that the worst possible thing to do is to misplace a treasure. “Where is my Pinetree Garden Seeds catalog?” I would say frantically each year. “Where did it go? Have you seen it? Is it under your bed? Is it in your toy box? Did you take it off the counter? Please don’t tell me the dog has shredded it to pieces. Please, please, please?”

             

The questions would roll off my tongue faster than anyone could answer them. As my seed-need hysteria would escalate, three blurry figures of a man and two little girls (who in any other situation would be recognizable as my husband and two daughters) would stand helplessly, hands flung in the air and apologetic looks on their faces. (Although I have a feeling that when I turned my back, ranting my way into the next room, their eyes rolled.)

             

Eventually, the catalog would turn up under a pillow on the couch or beneath a cushion, its tender pages creased and crumpled, but not ruined completely. Ah, the overwhelming relief, that feeling that a serious crisis had been averted, that the world might resume its normal course of events. My catalog had been found. OK, kids, let’s carry on.

             

That was then. This is now. I’m beyond all that, believe it or not. My organization efforts keep my misplaced-seed-catalog syndrome at a minimum. But this year, I seem to have developed another alien condition. It’s a rather foreign feeling to me. I think it’s called moderation.

             

During this seed-buying season, there are two forces at play on gardeners: that of temptation and that of moderation.

             

Temptation has spoken to me for years. You know, he’s the little fellow dressed in crisp overalls and a neat flannel shirt sitting on your right shoulder whispering into your ear as you peruse catalogs. “Try this, try that!” he says. Then, with a devilish grin, he says, “Try them all!”

             

His bulging biceps and wide-rimmed straw hat look positively alluring. He’s the picture-perfect gardener. His silver-plated spading fork glistens in the sunlight. As your eyes struggle to keep up with the ever-enticing descriptions in the seed catalog, he keeps you distracted with his whispering, and the fact that his sparkling spading fork is brand-new escapes you. After all, you’re the one who does the work, not him! He wouldn’t want you to notice that.

             

For the first time ever, the voice of moderation has spoken back. Though we’re newly acquainted, I’ve discovered that he’s the prim fellow on your left shoulder dressed in chinos, a clean white shirt and boat shoes, resting in a comfy lounge chair, surrounded by a tidy little container garden that’s blossoming perfectly in the summer sun. What’s that in his hand? My lord, he has time to enjoy a glass of ice tea! What is he looking at? Goodness, he’s actually enjoying the flowers and doesn’t seemed to be compelled to jump up and pull out that naughty weed that’s germinated between the pots.

             

Well, this voice of moderation has edged out Mr. Temptation.Yes, it’s true. I’ve reformed. I won’t be ogling every seed catalog over and over again to be sure I didn’t miss something that might soon become one of my favorites. That’s right, I’m only buying a packet of this and a packet of that.

             

I swear, no more than four packets of anything. I pledge that. And I won’t be ordering from a dozen sources, honest. I’ve pared it down to four or five. That’s it. It’s final. Moderation has triumphed.

             

Oh, what’s that? Excuse me, please. The mail has just arrived. I just need to trot out there to see if my first seed order has arrived. Have to make sure everything’s in order. Who knows, maybe they weren’t able to complete my order. Oh, darn. I might just have to find those dear seeds from another source. Shucks, I’ll probably have to make that new order worthwhile. Just toss in one of these, one of those.

            

 Oh, Mr. Moderation! Thou art fleeting!

Are African violets in trouble?

The surprising story behind the cute little plant on your windowsill.

Tom Oder  – www.mnn.com

             

The little African violet, one of America's favorite flowering houseplants, is in big trouble in its native habitat.

             

Forests in the narrow geographic range of the Eastern Arc Mountains and coastal forests of Kenya and Tanzania, where the violets grow naturally, are disappearing. The problem is largely impoverished local residents; they are cutting down trees and pushing back the forest at an alarming rate to clear the land for agricultural purposes.

             

As the trees crash to the ground, they take with them the canopy that shaded the groundhugging violets, which aren't violets at all but are called violets because they resemble true violets in flower color. The sudden exposure to unobstructed sunlight is more than the plants, which thrive in moist conditions in low and filtered light, can withstand. The result is that the Saintpaulias — the botanical name for African violets that honors Baron Walter von St Paul-Illaire, the German district commissioner who discovered them in 1892 — tends to literally burn up.

             

"Except for the species Saintpaulia ionantha as a whole, which is near threatened, all of the other Saintpaulia species and all of the subspecies of S. ionanatha are in one of the three threatened categories: vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered," said Roy Gereau, an assistant curator of the Missouri Botanical Garden and co-director of the Tanzania Botanical Research and Conservation Program. Gereau has participated in conservation assessments of all eight of the wild species and the 10 subspecies of Saintpaulia. He helped prepare data about the status of wild populations of Saintpaulia for the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. This list is considered the world's most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species.

             

"Almost all of the species of Saintpaulia and all the subspecies of Saintpaulia ionantha are in a perilous position," said Gereau.

             

What does this mean for the person who just wants to buy cultivated hybrids of African violets at their neighborhood grocery, box store or garden center? That depends on whom you ask.

             

If, for instance, you ask Ralph Robinson at The Violet Barn in Naples, New York, it doesn't mean much. Robinson and his wife, Olive, are among the leading breeders of African violets for the consumer market in the United States.

             

"The modern hybrids are so distantly related to the species that, at this point, there's not a whole lot to be gained by going back and hybridizing again with species," said Robinson, who has been growing and exhibiting African violets since 1975 and has been prominently featured in major newspapers such as The New York Times and in national magazines such as Martha Stewart Living and Better Homes & Gardens. "The whole point of the last 60 or 70 years of breeding has been to remove the undesirable traits [of the species] and get bigger flowers, double flowers, more unusual colors and manageable foliage, the things that you see in the modern hybrids that you don't see in species."

             

He used dog breeding to emphasize his point. "It's like a dog breeder who has the perfect dog," he said. "They probably wouldn't go back to the species and breed with the same dog."

             

If, on the other hand, you ask Jeff Smith, principal of the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities on the campus at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, you'll get a very different answer. Smith is a trained botanist and research scientist who has studied the genetics that control the flower color of African violets. He uses a strong species influence to breed award-winning African violets, and he thinks the species still have a very important role to play. That's because, he contends, some species' traits haven’t been fully developed or appreciated.

             

One of those is cold tolerance. African violets, he pointed out, grow at different elevations, from sea level to more than 5,000 feet above it. "If you are breeding with the upper mountain species, it may well be possible to create plants that have the colors, forms and other traits that the current breeding lines have but are able to withstand colder temperatures," he said. This is important because many people are keeping their homes colder in the winter to reduce heating costs. He believes that could expand the market for commercial growers within what he calls the grocery store market and also bring commercial growers substantial savings on heating costs in their greenhouses.

             

He also cited other desirable traits species could bring to breeding lines that might also have commercial applications. "There are some differences in foliage, such as the shininess of the foliage that aren't well represented in the modern cultivars," Smith said. "These differences could possibly be picked up and and be found attractive by certain people if you had decent flowers. There are some species that have foliage that will change color depending on the light condition, and we've not captured that potential at all. There's a couple of plants that, as they're exposed to longer days, their foliage will actually become almost striped by the end of the day and then revert back to dark green overnight. That's an attractive trait in my mind, but we don't have it in the cultivars at all. There's some species that have leaves with very short hairs so the texture is very velvety to the touch — very different from what we have in the modern cultivars."

             

Commercial growers have one goal, creating plants that will appeal to the homebuyer, he said. "I'm more of a mind of a geneticist or a scientist. There's a lot of potential to doing things we haven't even tried. It may be that not all of the stuff would be worthwhile. But I wouldn't want to see the plants go extinct before we have a chance to find out."

             

There's another reason not to discount the value species can have on Saintpaulia breeding, Smith said. "There are people in the African violet world who are always on the lookout for what's different, what's unique, what's weird; the more so the better." Count him in that group, he said. Commercial breeders, however, most often concentrate their thinking about new hybrids toward what will create the perfect show plant — which, not coincidentally, is the same type of plant that appeals to the general consumer market. That's because the foliage of these plants and the color and presentation of the flowers represent what many think of as the ideal "look" of an African violet.

             

But there are people who don't care about that, Smith said. Those people are looking for a weird shape, different types of blooms, different growth forms and different foliage types. Those people, he readily acknowledged, are a niche market. But, he added, some people in that group would like to see the African Violet Society add a competitive show category for the more unusual plants. "If that effort gains some momentum, it could be that the genetic material from these wild species could become important feeding into that," he said.

             

There's something else about the species that concerns him. He believes it's possible that species not known to science are waiting to be discovered in remote areas of Kenya and Tanzania, if villagers don't destroy them first as they clear the forest to grow food and other crops.

             

Several groups are working hard to make sure that doesn't happen. These include the University of Buffalo, which is crowdfunding a project to sequence a Saintpaulia genome, likely beginning with Saintpaulia ionantha; the African Rainforest Conservancy in New York City; and the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

             

Against the backdrop of the two schools of thought on the impact of disappearing Saintpaulia habitat, both Robinson and Smith said they are not aware of any group that is collecting seeds of Saintpaulia species for possible restoration projects in the future. "Everything is basically live plants, and we trade clones of them," Smith said. That's interesting, he added, because the original collections were probably by seed. "Growing from seed now is something that people just don’t do. For one thing, the seed viability is only several years." Besides, he said, African violets can be easily reproduced from a leaf cutting.

             

Don't know how to do that? Well, here you go.

             

To start a plant from a leaf cutting, choose a healthy leaf, remove the leaf and stem from the plant and place the stem in a glass of water. After roots have formed, simply pot the plant in a small pot (2 1/2 inches). The best time to do this is in spring. The process will work with most African violets and produce exact genetic replicas of the "parent plant." The process does not work, however, with the Chimaera type of violets. Be sure to put a label in the pot that gives the name of the plant. If your plant were to ever be passed on to a collector, it would be of little value to them without a name.

             

Here is a basic guideline to growing African violets courtesy of The Violet Barn.

             

Light. Try to provide bright, but not direct, sunlight. If growing under artificial lights, place a two-tube florescent fixture about 12-18 inches above plants for 12-13 hours each day.

             

Watering. Use room-temperature water. Water when the soil feels dry to the touch.

             

Feeding. A balanced formula with each watering following label instructions is best (relatively equal amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium). Avoid bloom boosters.

             

Atmosphere. African violets like the same conditions you do: moderate temperatures and humidity.

             

Soil. Use a peat-based, "soilless" mix consisting of at least 30-50 percent coarse vermiculite and/or perlite. Brand name "violet soils" are not necessarily good for African violets. General rule: the wetter you keep the soil, the more perlite it should contain to help avoid root rot. The goal is to match the structure of the soil where the plants grow in the wild, which is very loose and fast-draining.

            

 Grooming. Except for trailers, do not allow extra crowns (suckers) to develop. African violets should be grown single crowned. Most African violets look best with no more than five rows of leaves.

             

Potting. Repot all plants every 6-12 months. Most standard African violets, grown as a houseplant, will require a 4-5 inch pot at maturity. For minis and semi-minis, use a pot no larger than 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

             

Old wives' tales

             

Robinson said there are some old wives’ tales about growing African violets that aren't true. Here are some that have gained currency and his responses to them.

             

Have to water from the bottom. "I always tell people Mother Nature always waters from the top. Rain always falls from the sky."

             

Can't get water on the leaves. "It's not the water that hurts the plants; it's the temperature of the water. Water plants with room-temperature water."

             

Have to use a blossom-boosting fertilizer. (See feeding, above.)

             

Have to use self-water pots. (See watering, above.)

             

"More people kill African violets because they are going by things they have been told they have to do," said Robinson. "In other words, if you use an African violet pot, and African violet soil and African violet fertilizer, you are going to be calling us [to] ask us what went wrong with your plant."

10 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Your Garden

By Lauren Piro @ http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/

             

1. A sunflower is not just one flower.  Both the fuzzy brown center and the classic yellow petals are actually 1,000 – 2,000 individual flowers, held together on a single stalk.

             

2. There are more microorganisms in one teaspoon of soil than there are people on earth.   It's aliiiiive! OK, in all seriousness, that fact might make you itchy, but microbes are important for keeping your soil full of nutrients.

             

3. Plants really do respond to sound.  Talking to plants to help them grow is a well-known old wives' tale, but studies have shown vibration (like music, or perhaps even the sweet sound of your voice) can affect plant growth. Plus, the Myth Busters (in an admittedly not-so-scientific study), compared a silent greenhouse to one where they piped in a voice soundtrack, and found that plants in the latter grew more.

             

4. Butterflies might be more attracted to your weeds than your flowers.  Colorful blooms aren't the chief reason these insects love your garden – it's more about the fragrance and nectar. According to the Smithsonian Institute, new cultivars of popular flowers have been bred for enhanced color and size, but have often lost their fragrance in the process. So everyday weeds, like dandelions and clovers, might actually be the most appealing things in your yard to butterflies (they hate pesticides, too). Taking care to choose heirloom flower seeds can get them to also fly your way.

             

5. A little baking soda can help you grow sweeter tomatoes.  A regular sprinkling of this kitchen staple into your plant's soil can help reduce acidity, which sweetens up your crop.

             

6. Some of your favorite fruits are actually in the rose family.  Apples, pears, peaches, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, and more are rosaceae, making them cousins to the long-stemmed Valentine's Day variety.

            

 7. The right orchid combination can smell like your favorite dessert.  Did you know that the vanilla bean comes from a orchid varietal? And it's not the only sweet-smelling kind: "An oncidum hyrbrid called Sharry Baby smells like chocolate," says George Hatfield, president of the Santa Barbara Orchid Show. "It's 'baking cookie' aroma has made it a winner." And that's not all: The cymbidium Golden Elf smells lemony, and the phalaenopsis violacea has a cinnamon scent. "Just like you'd combine Jelly Belly beans to create new flavors, you can combine orchids to create a garden that smells like a dessert buffet," says Hatfield.

             

8. You can change a hydrangea's color by altering the pH level of the soil.

A more alkaline soil will result in pinker blooms, while more acidity will produce blue blooms. To coax your plant to the blue side, add more organic matter to your soil, like egg shells and coffee grounds (though the acidity in used coffee grounds can vary greatly, so you might try a high-acid fertilizer, too). The change won't happen overnight, but eventually you should succeed in manipulating your soil's pH level.

             

9. Deer can jump eight feet high.  They might require a running start to reach such heights, but a tiny fence often isn't enough to keep these garden nibblers away. Try a taller one, plant thorny or pungent plants as a natural barrier, or scare them off with lights or wind chimes.

             

10. You don't need to be a dedicated composter to reap similar benefits.

Call it cheating, but applying used coffee grounds, eggshells, chopped-up banana peels, and other organic matter directly to your soil (no composting required) can offer plants nutrients as they decompose. For already-growing beds, scatter and bury the items within the first few inches of soil.

Horti-Culture Corner

By Rosalie Muller Wright

"January is the quietest month in the garden.  ...  But just because it looks quiet doesn't mean that nothing is happening.  The soil, open to the sky, absorbs the pure rainfall while microorganisms convert tilled-under fodder into usable nutrients for the next crop of plants.  The feasting earthworms tunnel along, aerating the soil and preparing it to welcome the seeds and bare roots to come."

Rich Diet?

             

One afternoon a rich man was riding in his limousine when he saw two men along the roadside eating grass. Disturbed, he ordered his driver to stop and he got out to investigate.

             

He asked one man, 'Why are you eating grass?'         

           

'We don't have any money for food,' the poor man replied. 'We have to eat grass.'

             

'Well, then, you can come with me to my house and I'll feed you,' the rich man said.

             

'But, sir, I have a wife and two children with me. They are over there, under that tree.'

            

 'Bring them along,' the rich man replied. Turning to the other poor man he announced, 'You come with us, also.'

             

The second man, in a pitiful voice then said, 'But sir, I also have a wife and six children with me.'

            

 'Bring them all, as well,' the rich fellow answered.

             

They all climb in the car, which was no easy task, even for a car as large as the limousine.  

             

Once underway, one of the poor fellows turned to the rich gent and said, 'Sir, you are too kind. Thank you for taking all of us with you.'

             

The rich man replied, 'Glad to do it. You'll really love my place. The grass is almost a foot high.'