“The more help a person has in his garden, the less it belongs to him” W.H. Davies Derwood Demo Gardeners, Did you notice anything different this week? We did not freeze you to death, and we did not drown you! We had something called SUN! Hoping that everyone is looking forward to learning lots on Thursday. Maybe you will discover something interesting, educational and fun to try out at the demo garden. What a productive and busy work day this week was! Thank you all for the hard work and love you give to our garden. We are always grateful to come home with new knowledge however small it might be. Garden Reports: Compost Central: Denny May- Week of May 17 Since the composting process involves collecting food waste, coffee grounds and grass clippings irrespective of the weather, Susan Eisendrath and I met at the garden yesterday and turned and charged the various bins with the materials we had collected over the week. We were joined by a talented and energetic 2016 intern, Karen Kim, who joined us in the cold rain and worked steadily for about three hours. We recorded high temperatures in both the large food waste and garden waste bins, so we took the former off the weekly "charging" schedule and set it aside to finish off its composting process. We turned the garden waste bin, charging it with lots of grass clippings, and the resulting pile is nearly six feet high. We recorded lower temperatures in the two county Ecobins (with the food waste temperature significantly higher than the garden waste one), and we charged and turned both those piles. Despite the weather, we had an enjoyable morning of work and conversation. Herb and Fragrance Garden: Kathleen Tsai We were all finally blessed with a sunny day at the garden; what a welcome change! Team members spent their time trimming back some plants that had grown well with all the rain, mostly those in the containers (catnip, Jim Best oregano, and thyme) and nipped back some of the mint. We continued weeding, although it appears that we have finally gotten the upper hand on weeds. A few new basil plants were added to replace those that succumbed to the excess rain. The amsonia is blooming heavily, its ice-blue flowers a nice contrast to the coral of the crossvine on the gazebo. We were visited by Master Gardener Alberta Magzanian today, who had donated an heirloom rose from her garden. We were very happy to show her that the rose has put out new growth. The dead growth at the top of the rose was cut back in order to give it every chance of surviving and thriving. Last but not least, the black plastic edging along the brick walkway in two areas was dug up and re-set so there is no longer a tripping hazard. 100 Square Foot Garden: Mary Anne Normile After a week away from the garden, we were thrilled to return and see the garden in all its lush late spring glory. All the rain we've had in the last few weeks has been good for the spring crops. After spending some time admiring Mother Nature's handiwork (and giving ourselves a little pat on the back), we got to work. Today's harvest included arugula, chives, Oriental Giant spinach (finished), lettuce, Russian and lacinato kale, radishes (finished), and purple bok choy (finished). We pulled some of the onions as spring onions to make room for tomatoes, planting four varieties (Principe Borghese, Cobra, Cherokee Purple, and Mountain Magic). We also planted tomatillo 'Gulliver,' which was so productive last year, and planted cosmos to attract pollinators. We planted one pepper (so far), the fabled and fiery 'Scotch Bonnet.' and bush beans 'Blue Lake.' We added new, wider tulle row cover and higher support hoops to accommodate the rapid growth of the kales and broccoli. We were less thrilled to discover that the rabbit, which terrorized the garden last season, has reappeared, noshing on tender pea shoots, spinach, and pansy flowers (confirming that their edible flowers are favored by gourmets of all sizes). Battle plans are being drawn up (for mature audiences only). Butterfly Garden: Peggy Stanford Today was a "Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood" and the garden as well. Great to see the results of our efforts over the past weeks. Everything is looking good. The rain and cool weather has provided a lush array of foliage. We are looking forward to lots of blooms and color in the coming weeks. We planted more annuals, trimmed and tapered the Heliopsis and Hops. We will be working with Bill and Lily to trim back the Viburnum to make room for additional butterfly attractors both perennials and annuals. We are evaluating even more ways to make improvements to our space. Therapeutic Horticulture: Sandy Occhipinti Tomatoes and peppers and beans, oh my! The students enjoyed transplanting tomatoes and peppers in the perfect weather. They also planted a few more beans and harvested oregano, thyme and spinach. The carrots and Swiss Chard planted two weeks ago are up. The peas under the salad table have not recovered from the ravages of the resident rabbit. One unwelcome visitor was a black and yellow striped potato beetle which was quickly dispatched. Edibles: Erica Smith Wow, what a splendiferous veggie day. I can't believe how many seedlings we got into the ground. Huge thanks to the teams that worked on sorting and planting the tomatoes and peppers, and blessings on the labeling team for giving all of them names! I will let Dan give you the tomato statistics; for peppers I believe we have 25 plants in the ground, plus a few Solanaceae relatives in the same bed. While all that nightshade goodness was taking center stage, we also planted sweet potatoes, mouse melons, roselle hibiscus, pole beans, and basil. Another trellis went up on which we'll be planting cucumbers next week. And we did a lot of harvesting, plus some weeding and thinning. All the plants are very glad to see the sun, as are us gardeners! Tomatoes: Dan Ward Wow is right! What a productive day. We planted 32 tomatoes today, and probably 3-4 more tomorrow. A special thanks to Linda, Darlene and Muhammad (sp?) for their tireless efforts and help. Without them there is no way all of those plants would have made it into the ground. And a heart felt thanks to all who donated their seedlings. We have a wonderful assortment of tomato varieties. Although Joslyn has not been at the garden the past few weeks because of a family issue she has been instrumental in getting us where we are today. MANNA: Robin Ritterhoff 32 pounds of beautiful greens and a few radishes and herbs; Manna staff loved the lavender flowers topping the chives. Our 2016 total harvest donated to Manna is 48 pounds – not bad for May! African Keyhole Garden: Robin Ritterhoff Some of those greens given to Manna were large & gorgeous green mustard plants, lettuce and radishes, which must have loved all of the rain. We were glad to pull those out and replenish the sinking substrate with some top soil mixed with compost before planting compact tomatoes & peppers. Conversations with Derwood’s compost team led us to investigate whether we should add topsoil to the Leafgo we initially used exclusively for the top 8 inches of substrate. We learned that while Leafgro may provide enough nutrients including minerals for our vegetable plants, adding topsoil may improve the substrate structure in other ways. One of the greatest things about Derwood volunteers is that they ask such great questions that add to our research & learning! Bales: Robin Ritterhoff We planted a half dozen tomatoes in the bales, including some varieties that are in Dan's elegant tomato beds -- it will be interesting to see how those compare. We also planted peppers, herbs, and eggplants (protected with row cover against hungry flea beetles). We’re planning to add flowers and more herbs next week. Containers: Claude Allen Today was a glorious day to get into the Demo Garden to see how the veggies, flowers, and Master Gardeners are doing after weeks of rain that kept most of us away the last two weeks. Two MG Interns worked in the Container Garden. We removed all of the plants from their pots and transplanted them to the containers. We also, replaced several plants based on discussions with other Master Gardeners. Specifically, we removed the Tomatillo from the Latin container (as the collective wisdom is it needs to be paired with another Tomatillo and likely will need more room to grow), and we thinned out some of the lettuce and radishes from the Salad container to allow more space for growth. Additionally, we added another container with a single tomato plant to demonstrate how to grow veggies for the Manna give away program. Next week, we will add some marigolds to the Tomato containers and update the Container Garden diagram to reflect the new container and add additional labels for the new plants. At some point we will need to replace the sign for the Container Garden with one of the new signs to make it more uniform with the others as well as protecting the diagram which blows away frequently. Additionally, two 5 gallon buckets were planted with the Growing Gardeners tomato & jalapeño that will help track how the plants provided to Manna clients might fare. Bugs: Lily Bruch Aphids were plentiful and we were able to see ladybugs or lady beetles (coccinellidae) in action (playback) . If you wait for them they will come most of the time! Conservation Garden: Maria Wortman We are continuing to assess what we've got in this garden and what we'd like to add. In order to do so, we spent a lot of time painstakingly weeding out undesirable weeds from beneath the winterberry shrubs. We pulled out at least two dozen baby oriental bittersweets and a few more multiflora roses. Then we covered the area around the desirable plants with compost. Next week, we plan to judiciously use leaf mulch to help prevent further weed growth. We planted a group of Wintergreen, Gaultheria, plants as a ground cover. They have glossy, green leaves and form red berries. The climbing hydrangea at the entrance arbor has finally attained a noticeable size. They are usually slow to establish, but are doing well. A "Toad Abode" was placed next to the pond with the hope that it may attract a toad or two -- perhaps one of those who were so active in the pond a couple of weeks ago! Small Fruits: Bill Newman The 15+ shoots on the Issai Kiwi were pruned back to just 4 to form ‘trunks’ up to the trellis wires. The transplanted Siberian kiwi was loosely tied to the post to guide it upward as it tends not to tendril tightly. Rhubarb(green, not red) stalks were twisted off, not cut. The Aronia(black chokeberry) has small fruits and the thornless blackberry has flower buds. How do we know when the gooseberry is ripe? Therapeutic Horticultural Beds: Robert Loesche After missing last week's work day due to the rain, all the plants were finally installed today in the three TH beds. We have a combination of perennials and annuals, and the perennials have very much enjoyed our damp and cloudy spring. The Artemesia and the Yarrow seemed bent on world conquest, so one of our fist tasks this year was to trim them back and confine them to their proper beds. The Larkspur, Nigella, Lavender, Echinacea, Anise Hyssop, Fennel, and Garlic Chive have been much more well behaved and are growing nicely after we earlier moved them around as needed. Susan Kirby from the Children's Garden next door graciously donated six very healthy looking Shasta Daisies from her yard, which we installed today. With the help of Intern Kristi Hardy we also today installed several Feverfew plants from my yard. In the bright sun they quickly went into what Susan (accurately) described as dramatic drooping, but from my experience they will recover nicely. Two weeks ago we planted African Blue Basil plants and they are doing fine (with no drama). We don't have any perennials flowering yet, but the Nigella looks like it will pop in a week or so, followed closely by some of the Yarrows. For annuals, we earlier had planted Cut and Come Again Zinnia seeds but we have only tiny seedlings thus far. JoAnn Mueller patiently worked through the seedlings today to position the robust ones more favorably. Also earlier we sprinkled in a bunch of Ageratum seeds from dried heads from last year's plants. So far we have only a few tiny, hard-to-identify sprouts in the bed, but JoAnn is convinced they are Ageratum and that they will come back. We earlier planted Gomphrena seeds which didn't come up at all, so JoAnn installed plants that had been grown from seed for us. Today we also added a good number of other annual plants: Dianthus "Merlot Mix", Salvia "Vista Red", Marigold "Janie Deep Orange", and a good number of Zinnia "Lilliput" that Patty Neame grew from seed at home. Finally, I happened to see at Johnson's Crossandra "Orange Marmalade", which none of us had ever heard of before. But it has pretty orange flowers which look like they will be just the right size for TH projects, so we installed two. Shade Garden: Carol Martin -May 12, 2016 We had a great Thurs. in the Shade Garden. Started working on hillside next to driveway. Put in Chionanthus virginicus, Fringe Tree. Planted Skimmia (F), Paoenia obovata & Hay-scented fern in various beds. Did some cleanup work on the brick patio area in preparation for new bench. Also, noticed psyllid flies around 2 Boxwoods, so sprayed w/ horticultural oil as the last chore of the day. Had great crew of 7 & though it was cloudy it did not rain on us & the sun finally made an appearance about the time we were leaving. Closing Comments: Lily and Bill Did you know that a Tzimbalo (solanum caripense) is sometimes called a Melon Pear even though it is neither a melon nor a pear? When did you last test your soil? You can review the 2013 soil test results for DDG here: http://mcmgdemogarden.com/ “What is a widger?” by Mary Anne Normile
It's about a 7" long stainless steel tool with two kind of scoop-like ends (one narrow, one wider) that can be used to dig out seedlings from cells, plant, etc. Big thanks go to diligent demo gardeners who started seedlings for us. Not only did many of our volunteers go home with those treasures, but we were able to donate seedlings to other MG projects: Fairgrounds Demo garden, OASIS farm, White Oak. Demo garden was also a clearing house for “Growing Gardeners” leftover seedling grown by Sherwood High School, sending them to OASIS and White Oak.
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