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August 22, 2017 by Wendy Pettit

If you’re like me, you can use some tips for picking ripe cantaloupe, because it can be hard to tell when it’s ready to eat!

I find it disappointing to be preparing a cantaloupe for dinner, only to take one taste and it is bland and flavorless. I’ve learned my lesson and discovered how to choose or pick a cantaloupe that is ripe and ready to eat. Now when I’m either picking fruit at the store or from my own garden, there are three simple tips to remember to help you wisely spend your money and time.

Follow these simple tips to choose a melon that is ripe and ready to eat.

LOOK – Cantaloupe should be a nice golden yellow color. Don’t pick cantaloupe that are greenish. They are not ready! Don’t worry about rough spots that may be on the outside of your cantaloupe. They don’t mean anything as to the ripeness.
FEEL – You should be able to feel the edges of the outer skin. A smooth skin means it is not ripe. The flower end (the end not attached to the vine) is soft. You should be able to press it gently in. If it springs back out after pressing, your cantaloupe is ready.
SMELL – Place the flower end or the “button” of the cantaloupe just under your nose and take a whiff. A strong sweet aroma indicates the cantaloupe is ready. Sometimes you will smell the strong aroma without smelling the button. If it doesn’t have a scent, don’t pick it or buy it. It is not sweet.

Cantaloupe from the store or market can be yummy, but my favorite is freshly picked from my garden. Now when I eat cantaloupe, it is like a little slice of heaven. Picked right off the vine, it is heavy, fragrant, juicy, and still warm from sitting in the sun. I love to garden!

TIP FOR GROWING: Be sure to begin your seeds indoors early spring so you can have good healthy larger plants when it is warm enough outside. Melons like a long hot growing season!

August 17, 2017 by Vanessa Roush

Welcome Gardeners! Looking for a good shade tree?

With the heat of summer quickly approaching, check out our six favorite shade trees that will help you stay cooler as you enjoy being outside longer. These favorites are easy to care for and do well in our mountain desert climate once established.

Favorite Shade Trees List:

Autumn Blaze Maple (Acer x freemanii)

Our number one favorite shade tree Autumn Blaze Maple is a cross between a red and a silver maple. It is fast growing (up to 3ft per year), tolerates a variety of soils and is easy to care for. In the fall, the leaves turn bright red for which it gets the name “autumn blaze”. This maple variety can grow up to 50 feet tall and 40 feet wide and prefers full to part sun. This tree is a great option if you’d like a fast growing, easy to care for tree with show stopping colors in the fall. An easy pick for our top favorite shade trees list.

Japanese Zelcova (Zelkova serrata)

The Japanese Zelcova is an underutilized species that has started to become more popular. It is considered a shade tree, but also showcases an ornamental quality with its vase like shape. Zelvocas look similar to an elm, but are disease and pest resistant. Once they are established, they are also drought tolerant. Mature height is around 60 feet tall with yearly growth between 1-2 feet. It does best in full to part sun. Zelcovas are ideal for planting by driveways or side walks because their roots will not disrupt the concrete like other trees root systems. The leaves also showcase deep red and orange hues in the fall. A beautiful choice and will be part of your favorite shade trees to have in your yard.

Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos)

honeylocust leaves are small, light, and airy.

Photo by: David J. Stang – WikimediaCommons

Honeylocust, both thorn and thornless, is yet another tree that is fast growing and tolerant of many soil types. Mature height is between 30-70’ tall, and grows up to 2 feet per year. It provides lightly filtered shade. Honeylocust have small delicate leaves that turn a bright yellow in the fall and then blow away, leaving very little to rake up. They can also be used to stabilize hillsides and control erosion.

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

The Ginkgo is an underutilized species here in Utah, and has many unique characteristics to it. It is actually considered a living fossil, and some trees can live as long as 3,000 years! It grows 25-50 feet tall in maturity with a vase-like canopy reaching 25-30 feet wide. Yearly growth rate is 13’’-24’’ per year and tolerates a variety of soils. It is best if planted in full sun to part shade. This is another tree that grows well next to driveways and concrete. One of the unique features of this tree is its fan shaped leaf. Female trees do bear a fruit that can be messy, so ask your local gardening expert to pick out a male tree.

Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

The Eastern Redbud is the magenta flowering beauty blooming in spring. It’s the first tree we see in spring which makes people say, “Wow! Look at that tree’s color.” It’s unique green heart shaped leaf turns yellow in the fall. As a moderate grower, it will peak up to 20-25 feet tall and 20 feet wide. It is tolerant of most soils and likes even moisture throughout the season, being less drought tolerant than our other favorite shade trees. This native Eastern American tree offers four seasons of unique beauty, following up in winter with a beautiful branch structure and course bark.

Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

The unique Tulip Tree is another shade tree for your yard.

Photo: Pixabay

Another native North American tree, the Tulip Tree is a wonderful majestic beauty. Considered a perfect stand-out front yard tree, it also is often used for shade in the back yard. The wonderful shade tree is long lived, fast growing, tolerant of most soils, and very cold hardy. The yellow tulip like bloom opens in late spring and it’s leaves turn yellow in autumn. Be ready for its unique structure to reach 40-60 feet high and be 15-25 feet wide. Once established it is drought tolerant.

August 10, 2017 by Vanessa Roush

Welcome Tree Lovers! Want a green privacy screen in your yard?

Sometimes a six foot fence doesn’t provide the kind of a soft green privacy screen you’d like in your yard. You may want to block out an unwanted view like a neighbor’s second story. Or you just want to create a feeling of your own private retreat in your backyard. My mother’s favorite bumper sticker is “Trees are the answer.” A green privacy barrier can make for a beautiful soft addition to your yard while doing the job you create it for. Trees to the rescue!

First consider if you want a “green” fence year round (evergreens), or if you’re ok with a seasonal “fence” aka “deciduous” meaning that in the winter the trees lose their leaves and the barrier consists of trunks and branches. Below are some suggestions for creating a beautiful “green” fence to add interest, privacy and height to your yard.

Evergreens

Columnar Norway Spruces (Picea abies ‘Cupressina’)

These are one of my favorite trees, with dark green needles and a columnar shape. Mature height at 10 years is 20 feet with widths of 5-6 feet. Can grow to 30 feet tall. These are fast growing, and require full sun. Plant 5-6 feet apart for more of a hedge look. If you’d like the branching to stay tight, look for a “wellspire” variety of the Columnar Norway Spruce.

Hicks Yew (Taxus x media ‘Hicksii’)

These are an evergreen shrub with a slow growth rate. Mature height is 10-12 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide. These also do well as foundation plantings and require partial to full sun. They have delicate dark green foliage. In the above photo, the hicks yew add height and privacy to a 6′ iron and stone fence. Beautiful!

Pyracantha

This is a fast growing shrub or tree, that does well in sun, part shade, or shade. It has green foliage year round, and berries that attract birds. Be warned, it has sharp thorns that are great at keeping unwanted people/animals out. Pyracantha is fast growing and if you begin trimming it, you will continue painfully doing so every 4 weeks forever. Letting to grow naturally (without trimming), will quickly give you a high green privacy screen. The variety Yukon Belle grows to 8-10 foot high privacy screen. It grows 6-8 feet wide so be wise where you plant. Some varieties grow to be 12 feet tall and wide. Ask your local expert at Western Gardens what variety is best for your yard. There are several.

Berries of the pyracantha entice birds to your yard. Photo by: Pixabay

Deciduous

Hornbeam (Frans Fontaine or Fastigiata)

Another favorite tree for creating green privacy screens or hedges is the Hornbeam. It is a moderate growing, hardy tree with heights (depending on variety) of 30-45 feet in height and 10-35 feet in width. It does well in a variety of soils and isn’t too picky about sun exposure. You can plant this in a row and leave untrimmed or you can trim it into a neat hedge. The branching can get fairly dense, which provides a great privacy screen even in winter months. Once established, it is drought tolerant. The Frans Fontaine variety will stay more columnar in shape (30 feet tall and 10 feet wide) while the Fastigiata, also known as a European Pyramidal, has more of a triangular or pyramid shape. Some varieties get a beautiful golden fall color.

Swedish Aspen

Not to be confused with quaking aspen, Swedish Aspen are columnar fast growing trees. At maturity, these trees can reach 35-40 feet tall and 10 feet wide. They do well in full sun and have beautiful leaf colors in the fall. These are great for narrow spaces like lining a driveway, and they are quite hardy once established.

Planting your tree fence or hedge

Spacing the trees of your green privacy barrier depends on the type of tree or shrub you select. You must keep in mind the width and height at maturity. For example, you don’t want to plant a tree one foot from an existing fence. Chances are that eventually, sooner or later, either your tree or your fence will have to move! Your gardening experts at Western Gardens can help you decide how close to a fence or property line to plant as well as the spacing between each tree for your green privacy screen.

August 5, 2017 by Jenn Crookston

Hello! I’m Jenn from Housewives of Riverton and am so excited to be here with you today. Did you know that August 8th is National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day? I am absolutely loving these different national days and have so much fun coming up with ways to celebrate them.
The funny thing about National Sneak Some Zucchini onto your Neighbor’s Porch Day is, what person (who has a garden) isn’t going to be over the moon excited to celebrate this day. I mean, if you were to start putting some of your zucchini abundance onto all your neighbor’s porches on just a random Tuesday people might think you were weird BUT make it a national day that you can include on a fun note and it’s perfectly acceptable to share the zucchini love!As I was thinking of different ways to celebrate this fun holiday I started thinking of some of my favorite zucchini recipes. I think zucchini bread has to top the list, I like to pretend it’s completely healthy because it has quite a bit of zucchini in it, perfect for those days when I’m dieting. I don’t want to make National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day a chore for you so I am not suggesting that you make zucchini bread for all your neighbors but you could include a recipe for zucchini bread (or cookies, cupcakes, brownies…there are so many delicious zucchini recipes) along with the needed amount (or more) of zucchini. You may just introduce them to a new favorite recipe.

To help make this day and the giving easier for you, I’ve created this fun free printable for you to include with your bounty. CLICK HERE to print it off! I think that cute smiling zucchini would make anyone’s day brighter, he just seems to scream “Hey you, I was thinking about you today!” and everyone loves to be thought of.
I say plan ahead, don’t let this fun new holiday sneak up on you, collect your zucchini abundance, print out a few of our free printable and maybe a recipe or two and hit the neighborhood on August 8th and bring a smile to the faces of your neighbors!

If you’re looking for a fun new way to eat your zucchini you’ve got to try our Zucchini Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting or our Applesauce Zucchini Bread both are serious crowd pleasers and are sure to have your friends and family asking for more zucchini from your garden! Check out our National Zucchini Bread Day recipe as well.

August 3, 2017 by Marjorie Carter

Welcome Friends! Glad you are here.

Edible flowers from the garden are an often overlooked delicious treat. As a young child, each summer we would visit family living in California. In the yard was a giant honeysuckle with beautiful red-gold flowers. My cousins showed me how to pluck the flowers, pull off the green at the base of the blossom, and suck out the sweet nectar; hence, the name honeysuckle. My young taste buds looked forward each summer to that sweet taste.

As an adult, I have since learned that there are many kinds of flowers that are edible. For example, many people know that dandelion blossoms and greens are edible. However, there are a number of commonly grown flowers that are generally overlooked as a possible addition to a salad.

Recently, I’ve experimented with flowers that are not simply beautiful but are also edible, with some surprises along the way.

Important points to remember about edible flowers:

Pesticides – If you are going to eat any of your flowers, be sure you never use pesticides or other chemicals on any part of the plant that produces them. Your edible flowers could become not so edible.
Research – Before sampling something, please be sure you research whether or not it is safe to ingest. Not all blossom are edible flowers. Also, even if the flower is edible, it does not automatically follow that all other parts of that plant are also edible. Those honeysuckles blossoms I loved to taste as a child are safe, but the berries produced by the same vine are not.
Allergies – As with any other food, be aware that some people are allergic to some flowers. If you already know you are allergic to a particular plant, avoid eating the flowers.
Birds vs Humans – Just because birds can eat a berry, doesn’t mean that they are safe for human consumption.
Cleanliness – Remember to wash the blossoms before eating them. This will help remove any dust, dirt, or small insects that may be hanging out on the petals.
Environment – The flavor of flowers will be impacted by how much water the plant receives, the timing of when you harvest it, the soil conditions, and the variety (and sometimes even the color of the flower).

A few Edible Flowers to Try:

Chamomile – Photo Credit: Pixabay

Chamomile – These simple white flowers are lovely and they also make good herbal tea. I’ve grown them a few times and had to learn to harvest the flowers while the plant was young or the flavor became less to my liking. Plus, my home grown chamomile had a more “wild” taste than the product I buy in teabags at the grocery store. It was a bit of an adjustment.

Rose – Photo Credit: Pixabay

Rose – Roses are not only a beautiful and dramatic garden favorite, they are edible. I’ve heard of sugared rose petals, though I’ve never personally tried one. Rose water is a popular ingredient in a variety of dishes, from cakes to beverages.

Herb blooms like basil blossoms are edible flowers.

Basil Flowers – Photo Credit: Pixabay

Herbal Flowers (dill, basil, thyme, mint, etc.) – Eating the flowers from your herb garden can provide new options for seasoning your foods. The flowers generally taste much like the leaves but can be a milder flavor, or a spicier flavor, or different enough that maybe you don’t like it as much as the leaves. Give them a try and see what you think!

Sage blooms in salad – Photo Credit: Marjorie C.

I personally love the flowers from sage. They remind me of honeysuckle because of their sweetness, which was a surprise to experience. We add edible flowers to salads or eat them straight off the plant.

Sage – Photo Credit: Marjorie C.

Tulip – This spring we tried eating our tulips. They basically grow wild in our back yard. My daughter described the flavor perfectly, “sweet red lettuce”.

Lilacs and tulips are common flowers we can eat.

Lilacs and Tulips – Photo Credit: Marjorie C.

Lilac – I learned only recently that lilacs are edible, too! I have about half a dozen lilac bushes on my property (thanks to the previous owner). I love their scent and now look forward to trying out the taste next spring. I will have purple, pink, and white lilacs to sample. I think I’ll try a blind taste test to see if I can identify the color of the blossom from its flavor.

Squash Bloom – Photo Credit: Pixabay

Squash – The blossoms from pumpkin vines, zucchini plants, and all other varieties of winter and summer squash are edible. Everyone knows that we all end up with more zucchini than we know what to do with by the end of the summer. Consider plucking some of the flowers earlier in the growing season and stuffing them, frying them, or making them into soup.

Daisies – Photo Credit: Pixabay

Others – A few other varieties of edible flowers that are common across Utah include: lavender, pansy, peony, marigold, nasturtium, violets, hibiscus, dandelion, clover. Read about additional Favorite Edible Flowers.

Finally, just because a flower is edible doesn’t mean it will taste good to you! Some will taste better to you than others. Be safe and have fun sampling!

August 1, 2017 by Western Gardens

Welcome gardening friends, thanks for stopping by!

AUGUST GARDENING THOUGHT….

It is hot in August and with family vacations, it is more challenging to get out in the yard. However, here are some August gardening to-do tasks that garnish some attention during this sunny and sweltering month! Choose those items that apply to your yard and skip over those that don’t. Enjoy your months of past labor and stay cool!

2017 August Gardening To-Do List

➺PEST CONTROL: Keep after those spider mites, use water hose to power-squirt them off or use insecticide; Control worms in apples, last spray; Pick hornworms off tomato plants; Watch for and treat Peach Tree Twig Borer affects apricots, cherries, nectarines, and peaches; Grasshoppers are bigger and hungrier, use Nolo bait; Yellow jackets now want meat and have established nests, may need control. Come in for organic products.

➺PLANT: Starting mid-August plant your cool fall garden veggies like kale, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. Until September 1, plant radishes!

➺DEEP WATER: Shrubs & trees

➺HARVEST: Know when to harvest vegetables at the peak of quality; Pick cucumbers regularly for better flavor and stronger production; Harvest herbs before they flower and early in the morning; Begin placing excess zucchini on neighbor’s front porch!

➺MAINTENANCE: Check sprinklers for even coverage and damaged heads. Keep up on weeding; don’t let weeds set seeds.

➺EATING YOUR GARDEN: Discover new recipes for zucchini

➺FERTILIZE: Roses, last time for the year; lawn, see below.

➺FRUIT TREES: After harvest, cut back on watering.

➺TURF/LAWN: Fertilize lawn with “Basic Training” (see our store for product). Continue to water according to the stress test. (Turn off sprinklers after good rain storms.) Expect winds to disturb sprinkler coverage.

➺GARDEN DIARY/NOTES: It’s hot out there! Now is a good time to sit and relax in the shade to evaluate your gardens. While it’s fresh in your mind, write notes of which plants you want to move around in the fall. What plants do you wish to add to your landscape in the fall or spring? Which plants need to be moved to a better location for more success next year? Make the list NOW rather than wait until winter passes and you possibly forget the details of your yard plans.

➺SHOWTIME: Exhibit your garden successes at county and state fairs. Invite family, neighbors, and friends over for some fresh strawberry lemonade in the evening whens it cools off!

➺ENJOY your yard; you’ve worked hard!

Be sure to check out September’s list!

July 28, 2017 by Heather Leister

The calendar may still say “Summer” but believe it or not, it’s time to start thinking about planting your fall garden! I tend to think of planting my garden as a springtime activity but there are many plants that thrive in cooler conditions and will produce a harvest of healthy foods. Here are five green veggies that you can plant now and enjoy when sweater weather truly kicks in!

Broccoli- Broccoli is a cool weather crop that can take approximately 50-70 days to mature. It grows well in areas that get at least six hours of daily sunlight and have well-drained soil. Broccoli does very well when it is planted in late summer and allowed to grow through the fall.

Broccoli is one of our five green veggies for planting in your fall garden

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Cabbage – Another cool weather vegetable, cabbage varieties can take anywhere from 55-100 days to grow to maturity. When choosing your variety, it’s important to look at your growing window and the predicted frost dates for your area. Like broccoli, cabbage does best in locations with sunlight and well-drained soil.

cabbage is a good green vegetable with lots of nutrients

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Lettuce – Lettuce is a quick growing vegetable that thrives, and often tastes better, when grown in the fall. Lettuce plants will grow the fastest in full sunlight but unlike other fall garden vegetables, they can also tolerate shade. Lettuce can be grown in small spaces or containers but it’s important to make sure the soil is well-drained

five green veggies for fall planting includes lettuce

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Spinach – Spinach is another cool weather crop that does well in the Utah fall. Spinach plants prefer full sunlight but will tolerate partial shade. Spinach is a fast growing plant and will yield many leaves in the mild, cool, fall weather.

spinach should be planted in cool weather

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Swiss Chard – Swiss Chard is a plant that can be left in your garden without worry when light frost begins to appear. The leaves from Swiss Chard will add interest to your fall salads. Growing the plant in cooler weather, instead of in the high heat of summer, helps the plant avoid gaining a bitter taste.

swiss chard is a wonderful green veggie to plant in fall weather

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Your local independent garden centers, like Western Gardens in Salt Lake City and West Valley, Utah, will have the varieties of seeds and seedlings that will do well in the Utah climate. Plan now and come see us.

independent garden centers know the best

Shop your local independent garden center!

July 26, 2017 by Vanessa Roush

Welcome Friends! Glad you dropped in.

In Utah, spring and fall are the best times for planting new trees. Here are a few secrets to help you find success with your new investment that will beautify and make your yard and home more enjoyable for a long time.

Planting New Trees Begin With Buying an Appropriate Healthy Tree

The first step to a healthy tree is to purchase from a quality local independent garden center or nursery. Big box stores tend to get trees that look okay for a season but suffer down the line because of poor soil, crowding, root chopping, inadequate root ball size, rough handling, and poor care. Often these warehouse stores don’t own the plant inventory; it is on consignment, so less care is given to the material. A local independent store, like Western Gardens, also has experts who can help you pick the right tree for the conditions at your house and your growing Zone. Check for trees that have 10’’-12’’ of root ball per inch in diameter of the tree trunk. When selecting a tree, take into account the mature height and width. Material from a quality grower usually has a tag indicating the mature height of the tree. Some trees may look cute now planted a few feet from the house and close to another one, but after a few years this can become very problematic. Also consider planting a tree of an underutilized species in your area.

Transport Your New Tree Home

Local independent gardening stores can deliver your tree for a nominal fee, and you can have the peace of mind knowing that it was transported carefully. If you are transporting your tree home yourself, make sure that it is properly secured and avoid going on the freeway or driving at high speeds. It’s preferable to transport them on their side in the back of a truck so that the leaves aren’t taking the brunt of the air flow as you drive. This can desiccate the leaves and put the tree into shock. As the tree is lifted in and out, be careful to handle gently. Dropping or rough handling can also put your tree into shock.

Evaluate the Branching of Your Tree and Decide Which Way It Should Face

This is often an overlooked step, or an after thought most of the time. Every tree has different branching and some have a better side than others when it comes to aesthetics. First place the tree in the spot where you’d like to plant it and turn it until the branching is how you like it . Take a few steps back, walk around, and look at it from different viewing angles. Consider the main viewing point for the tree, or other things like proximity to fences, driveways, side walks, and power lines.

Dig the Hole and Fill with Water

Dig the hole twice as wide and twice as deep at the root ball. If you are planting a tree that likes well drained soil, but you have clay soil, then be sure to dig the hole much wider and supplement with some good soil. Bumper Crop mixed in with your soil is one of our favorite recipes. The hole should not be deeper than the root ball itself. Use your hose to fill the hole with water and let soak down a bit. This insures that there will be good moisture deep down for the roots of your tree to take hold.

Planting New Tree in Hole – Rotate and/or Straighten

If your tree came out of a bucket, check to make sure the roots are not root bound, or circling around itself. If they are, take a razor blade or knife and cut an X on the bottom and make 4 cuts along the sides. If it was wrapped in burlap and/or with twine, remove any plastic twine because this will not decompose. Loosen the burlap. These steps are important so that the roots do not become wrapped around itself causing the tree to girdle itself and die. Place the tree in the hole and backfill it around the sides. Around the trunk, mulch can be 1’’ thick and then increase in depth up to 4’’ toward the outer edge of the rootball. Check and make sure the tree is straight. Also make sure that you can see the flare of the trunk; it should not be covered.

http://www.gardeners.com/how-to/tree-planting/8741.html

Image Credit: Gardeners.com

Watering A New Tree

Planting new trees into the ground isn’t the end. Watering is very important. The amount of water varies on the type of tree and soil conditions at the planting site. If you are unsure, ask your local gardening expert. Trees should be watered when planted and also the following day. Then follow with every 3 days or so. The first 2 years of the tree’s life are the most important for establishing roots. When you water, try to do a slow drip so that it can soak down deep and encourage deep roots. Some sprinkling systems may provide adequate watering, but try to avoid high pressure sprinkler heads from spraying the trunk of your tree. It’s not necessary to fertilize trees during their first season.

Monitoring Tree Growth and Health

Don’t forget to monitor the health of your tree as time passes by. If you notice the leaves or needles look sick, take a sample of the problem or at least a photo to Western Gardens where their experts there can diagnose most problems just by examining your sample. They can give you suggestions for chemical and/or organic methods to resolve the issue.

Planting new trees is a wonderful experience because you are investing in the future.

July 20, 2017 by Heather Leister

Welcome Gardening Friend! Glad you dropped in.

Was 2017 the year that you planned to finally get your family garden up and running? Maybe now you’re realizing that it’s July and all you have is a bare patch of soil and good intentions? Not to fear! You still have time to enjoy a fall harvest and make it a family affair! Here are some ideas of vegetables to plant in July and August in your garden.

Here are four fruits and vegetables that are fun to grow, yield a quick crop, and make gardening with the family easy and fun!

Tomatoes: Since tomatoes need to be planted after the danger of frost has passed they’re a possible choice for mid-summer planting. When July’s summer heat kicks into high gear, you’ll want to take precautions to protect the plants from the hottest part of the day, plus plant on a cloudy day or in the evening after the worst heat. Shade coverings, mulch, and adequate & consistent watering will help your tomato plants take off. When starting tomatoes later in the summer it’s also important to select a “short season” variety, one that will be ready for harvest before the fall frost arrives. There are also some heat tolerant varieties as well, like Grape, Heat Wave II or Fourth of July.

Some varieties of tomatoes are good vegetables to plant in July and August in your garden.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Peppers: Although pepper plants take longer to mature than other vegetables, their fruits can be fun for children (and adults!) to watch as they grow and change color. You’ll find varieties of pepper plants that have Days to Maturity time of 60-70 days. Examples: Orange Blaze, Gold Standard, Jalapeno Gigante, or Big Guy. Chick here for more. Your garden center will also have some seeds and maybe some plants still available to browse through. Find one that your family will enjoy eating, as well as watching! Remember that some varieties of peppers must be handled with care as they leave a residue on the skin that will cause irritation.

Find a fast maturing pepper to plant later in the season.

Photo Credit: Wiki Media

Pumpkins: Plant pumpkin seeds now and reap some jack-o-lanterns in the fall! But you better hurry! Pumpkins generally require 75-100 days to maturity. Check the variety! Hopefully we won’t have a frost until late October. Your children can watch as the seeds grow into vines that will creep throughout your garden. When selecting your pumpkin seeds, think about the size of your available garden space. You’ll want to choose between between a variety of tiny pumpkins or larger ones that are best suited for carving jack-o-lanterns. No matter what you decide, pumpkins are fun and easy to grow and their seeds make a delicious, roasted treat in the fall.

Photo Credit: Public Domain Pictures

Radishes: Radishes are a terrific addition to the family garden because they are colorful, quick growers. Children can expect to pull up their first crop just a few short weeks after planting the seeds – a very quick garden turnaround! Your family will enjoy watching as the tops of the radish greens emerge from the soil. When they are about one week ole, radish plants should be thinned to approximately two inches apart a job that children can do after some instruction and coaching. Fast growing spring varieties of radishes should be planted when the weather is still cool. However, winter radishes can be planted later in the summer as late as mid-August. They take longer to grow but will still provide your family with the satisfaction of planting a seed in the ground and pulling a vegetable out of the dirt!

Radishes are great vegetables to plant in July and August in your garden.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

The 2nd Planting List: Come on in to Western Gardens for an extensive list of vegetables and herbs that can still be planted in July and August. To name a few on the list: arugula, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, and many many more.

July 18, 2017 by Marjorie Carter

Welcome, Friends! Glad you’re here for some tips to organically manage those pesky harmful garden insects so you’ll have produce left to harvest!

All yards and allotments will have harmful garden insects every year; it’s part of nature. These insects need to eat in order to feed the beneficial insects. Eliminating ALL the harmful insects from your garden would be time, labor, and resource intensive. You also run the risk of depleting the food source for beneficial insects and other animals that feed on the harmful critters.

Wise Goal – An important and wise goal is to control the harmful garden insects enough to reduce the damage to your garden to a manageable level. Meaning that by harvest time, there is something left for you to eat. Losing one or two tomatoes is manageable and probably hardly noticed, but an entire decimated crop means there’s a problem to address.

Aphids – One year we had aphids on our herbs which was easily treated by spraying the affected plants with neem oil, a wonderful organic product found at Western Gardens. This significantly reduced the number of bugs. They were further kept at bay by some helpful ladybugs, also found at your garden shop.

We were careful to thoroughly wash our herbs before eating them to remove any remaining aphids. Washing anything you harvest before eating it is always a good idea anyway.

Leaf Miner – Last year, our challenge was leaf miner larvae on our Swiss chard. In this case, we simply discarded any leaves that had been extensively chewed. Otherwise, we snipped off the parts that didn’t look as appetizing, like anything that had a visible egg attached to it (usually on the underside of the leaves), washed everything, and then enjoyed our tasty green salad.

This year, now that we know to look for the leaf miner eggs on the leaves, we were more attentive with our starts for our garden and inspected them daily, looking for them or other harmful garden insects. We found eggs on our pepper plants and did our best to remove them when the plants were small. We used a piece of duct tape wrapped around a finger to remove the eggs.

We found that using a gentle fingernail was still too rough for the tender young leaves, so gently touching the tiny eggs with the sticky duct tape easily lifted them off.

Once the plants were more mature and could withstand a little insect activity, we were less vigilant at egg removal, but still mindful of looking for eggs once in a while. Read more on homemade remedies for treating leaf miners by clicking here.

Squash Bug – This year, we planted pumpkins for the first time. We had heard of the dreaded squash bug and had been looking for them but hadn’t seen any damage to the plants. Then, just last week (late June), one of our pumpkin plants was nearly devoured overnight by something.

We assumed it was the infamous squash bug. This assumption was reinforced when, upon closer inspection of the plant, we found a mating pair of squash bugs with a third one waiting on the side-line and eggs attached to the underside of the remaining leaves and the stem. We posted photos of the damage to a Facebook gardening group and learned of some other likely culprits. That night my husband went out with a headlamp and a bottle of neem oil to investigate.

Earwigs – Someone suggested the damage looked like the work of earwigs. My husband found several earwigs eating on the plant and a swarm of them hiding in a nearby crevasse. Earwigs are a complicated insect in the garden. They are not only harmful, but also beneficial. They aid in breaking down organic matter (composting) and they also eat aphids and other harmful insects. However, when there are too many of them around a young susceptible plant, they can be very destructive. We could also see evidence of earwigs damage on a few leaves of nearby tomato plants. This minimal damage doesn’t pose a risk to a plant that has hundreds of leaves to perform. In comparison, the pumpkin plant had only a dozen leaves to start with and most of those were very damaged.

My husband sprayed neem oil on the earwigs on the plant, in the swarm nearby, and even in their nest. It’s still uncertain whether the plant will survive though it already shows signs of new growth. We monitor it closely to prevent another insect attack that would probably kill it.

Another organic alternative that works to kill earwigs is diatomaceous earth, which also now offers a nice dispensing bottle which helps cut down on waste and mess. Check it out at Western Gardens.

As for the squash bugs, not the main culprits to the pumpkin plant, they were probably snacking on it also. We’re still removing eggs as we find them (using the duct tape trick mentioned above) and killing any adults. Their numbers can quickly get out of hand. Again, diatomaceous earth works well to control squash bugs.

Beneficial vs Harmful Insects – Lady bugs, praying mantis, and birds are a few examples of creatures that feed on the harmful garden insects; hence, we like to see these around around the yard. When considering how to handle any harmful garden insects, the first reaction should generally not be total annihilation. Rather, try to reduce their numbers and also allow the beneficial insects and animals to do their part until the plant is mature enough to withstand the damage.

Good luck and happy hunting!

CLICK HERE to read about beneficial insects you want in your garden.