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Drought gardening: tips for growing food
As we head into what could become an epochal drought, despite recent welcome rains, vegetable gardeners are feeling the uncertainty. Will water restrictions snuff out the salad garden, bash beans and thwart tomato dreams?
We do know that it is typical for Central California to have great variations in annual rainfall. Our location between a wetter north and a desert south puts us at the mercy of small shifts in weather. Those of us who were living in California during the mid-’70s drought, which is about half the number of people living here now, remember the anxiety and water restrictions then. That drought did end, as did some smaller droughts later. But if climate change is under way, who knows how this one will turn out? While we can’t know what is in store, we can plan this year’s garden with care.
By all accounts, we’ve been, overall, very good at saving water in recent decades. Now it’s time to rededicate ourselves to conservation.
There are good reasons to grow your own vegetables and herbs. You can do so using much less water than the average large-scale farm; you save the Earth part of the carbon cost of transporting your food, and it will probably inspire you to eat more vegetables.
Here are some tips to help you plan a food garden in a drought:
— Start by conserving water indoors. Fix leaks, avoid running water wastefully and take advantage of whatever water-saving appliances you can obtain.
— Look to your soil. Add several inches of organic matter, compost or other amendment once or twice a year. This will greatly increase the soil’s water-holding capacity. But don’t add too much. More than 5 percent organic matter can create conditions that are not healthy for plant roots.
— Think about what and how much you will actually eat. If you gardened last year, think back to whether you wasted food that you grew, and use that as a guide to plan this year’s garden to better match your needs.
— Plant some crops in February or March to take advantage of any rain we get this season, as well as of the slower evaporation rate of cooler weather. Planting in August through November (depending on crop and location) can take advantage of cooler fall and winter temperatures and possible rainfall in the same way.
— Plant closely enough together that mature neighboring plants touch leaves.
— Apply an organic mulch, using a fine-textured material that can decay as time passes, rather than large bark chunks. Keep mulch back from plant stems to prevent their decay.
— If you choose not to plant some of your food gardening area, water it well, cover it with an organic mulch and, if allotments allow, water it well one or two more times in the summer to keep your soil alive.
— Water early or late in the day, when evaporation is at its slowest, and water at or near the ground rather than with a high, evaporation-prone spray.
— If you water by hand, once your crops are past the seedling stage, water crops deeply, then don’t water again until the top inch of soil is dry. Use a moisture meter to check soil moisture. Put a simple timer on your hose at the faucet so you can set it to turn off the hose automatically.
— If you choose drip irrigation, use a separate program for vegetables, which require more water than your drought-tolerant ornamentals. Pin drip lines to the ground to avoid water running unevenly along the lines. Provide manual shutoff valves for separate beds, so you can turn off the drip as you change crops – or to let onions or garlic dry out.
— Get a programmable irrigation timer with a rain sensor, and be sure it’s on, so you won’t waste water during a storm. Get friendly with the manual that comes with your timer, so you can reset it during the year to account for changing temperatures and day length, and know when and how to replace its battery. If you lose the manual, use the make and model to print out a replacement from the website of the manufacturer.
— Gray water, reused household water, can irrigate ornamental plantings and fruit trees, freeing clean water for your food garden vegetables, but is not recommended for use where it may contact edible parts of food. If you do consider installing a gray water system, be sure you find professional plans for doing so, as poorly planned systems can clog the plumbing almost immediately.
For more drought tips and news, go to www.sfgate.com/drought.
Pam Peirce is the author of “Golden Gate Gardening” and blogs at http://golden gategarden.typepad.com. Send garden and plant-related questions to home@sfchronicle.com.
Out & About: meet the UK’s best specialist growers at the RHS London Plant and …
Among the spring flowers on sale will be many different snowdrops, hellebores and early spring bulbs, including new plants and unusual cultivars.
And those interested in garden design can talk to experts from the Society of Garden Designers to get up-to-date advice for gardening projects.
Top garden designers will be leading a talks programme and many new contemporary garden products will be on sale.
Anybody interested in a career in garden design can also talk to representatives from the UK’s leading design colleges to discuss course options.
Tickets cost £5 and are available at the RHS website www.rhs.org.uk/Shows-Events where members can also get an early bird discount on tickets for RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and RHS Flower Show Tatton Park if they book by February 28.
Marshalls to join sponsors at 3D printed garden design show
By Sarah Cosgrove
Thursday, 20 February 2014
The first garden show to incorporate 3D printing, miNiATURE has attracted sponsorship from paving company Marshalls.
The show will feature 3D printed garden design models at The Strand Gallery, central London from 6 to 8 March. Designers from the UK, Australia and the Republic of Korea are all booked to show their creations.
Co-Curator Andrew Fisher Tomlin said: “Marshalls’ commitment to design and development through new technology and sustainability supports the shows aims to introduce new ways of presenting landscape design.”
Marshalls joins Hobs 3D and the London College of Garden Design as headline sponsors.
The show will feature an international line up.
The UK designers are John Brookes, Jamie Dunstan, Sarah Eberle, Adam Frost, Andy Sturgeon, Jo Thompson and Wilson McWilliams.
From Australia Myles Baldwin and Jim Fogarty will be exhibiting and from the Republic of Korea Jihae Hwang.
miNiATURE was created by British designers Tom Harfleet and Andrew Fisher Tomlin and Kajsa Bjorne, a landscape designer based in Sweden and Australia.
Students create video to promote nonprofit
N.C. State students collaborated with a nonprofit organization that not only contributes to the community, but pulls families out of homelessness.
The students helped Pan Lutheran Ministries Families Together to create a video about the importance of helping homeless families stay together, while other nonprofits split them up.
Zachary Swann, senior in communication, and Cameron McCarty, an N.C. State alumnus who also majored in communication, combined their skills to market the nonprofit organization’s involvement in the lives of homeless families in the Raleigh area.
Swann said PLMFT was in need of a video for an upcoming fundraising event and was having trouble contacting the professional who had done it the past three years.
“Videos in the past for PLMFT had the same sort of feeling to them, a sappy sad story with a black background.” Swann said. “They wanted something different to get the same sort of message across.”
PLMFT presented the video at an annual fundraising event in October and proved to be a success for the organization, according to Beth Bordeaux, executive director of PLMFT.
Swann met Bordeaux participating in a mission trip with the Appalachian Service Project. During a conversation, Swann said he impressed Bordeaux with his marketing ideas and communication skills and asked him to partner with her organization in making the nonprofit video.
“She saw the personality I had and thought it would match the program,” Swann said.
Swann recruited McCarty, his best friend since freshman year, to storyboard the video, conduct interview questions, interview a family for the video and edit it.
Shooting the video took an entire day, and McCarty and Swann spent many late nights in the editing room for two weeks, McCarty said. According to Swann, they brought the product to PLMFT for feedback and then made changes before submitting their finished project.
McCarty said he enjoyed being a part of the project because PLMFT really helps people and families. McCarty said he gained valuable media skills and learned about lighting and on-site set up.
“I have had hardships in my life, so it was only right to lend my expertise as a helping hand,” McCarty said. “What I learned from this particular project surpasses just video and audio editing.”
Though some nonprofits such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army only accept one homeless parent with a child, PLMFT is different because the family can stay together. However, PLMFT keeps the mother, father and children together, according to Swann.
The organization provides short-term housing in apartments and helps move families out of shelter programs or other situations into permanent housing, according to Bordeaux.
James and Jessica Barnes from Raleigh starred in the video, talking about their life before and after PLMFT assistance. James Barnes was an N.C. State student, but had to drop out because of family circumstances, according to Swann.
Swann said Barnes was recommended by PLMFT to be in the video. Barnes said he would love to talk about the program and how it impacted his life, according to Swann.
“Life before PLM was stressful and treacherous,” Jessica Barnes said in the video.
According to Swann, James and Jessica Barnes had applied to PLMFT two-and-a-half years ago, when he was laid off. They were living with Jessica Barnes’ mother but were kicked out unexpectedly, and they didn’t have a place to go.
Swann said the couple felt blessed about getting into the program as fast as they did.
“We could not have asked for a better person to talk to,” Swann said. “James was very articulate, very passionate and intelligent.”
James Barnes currently works full time and has his own landscaping business. Jessica Barnes also works full time.
According to Bordeaux, PLMFT can help 120 families at any given time. PLMFT also provides coaching, education on handling finances and children’s programs.
Bordeaux said the video showed how resilient and dedicated families can be.
“The story of James and Jessica was incredibly inspirational,” Bordeaux said. “Their story made me feel like that’s the reason why I do this.”
Bordeaux said she has a longstanding connection with N.C. State students because she has worked with Park Scholars and interns from the social work department. She said she’s excited about Swann working as their team leader for their annual campaign taking place on March 2.
Get up to £25000 to make your community project become a reality
We have teamed up with Together Mutual Insurance to offer up to £25,000 worth of funding towards a community project that will improve both the area and the lives of the residents.
The Better Together scheme aims to boost community spirit by supporting existing local projects, or kick-starting new ones, that bring people together for a better quality of life.
It is open to charities, community groups, action groups and neighbourhoods in the north west.
Whether it be landscaping a derelict area to create a children’s playground or providing equipment to start a communal vegetable garden, Better Together is open to all possibilities.
Depending on the entries received, the funding could be shared across more than one project.
Chris McElligott, head of marketing at home insurance specialist, Together Mutual, said: “Better Together aims to bring communities together and, in turn, improve lives.
“It is our philosophy to put people before profits and we have a long-standing heritage in charity projects such as this.
“We are seeing a worrying decline in community spirit with as much as half the country unaware of their neighbours’ names.
“Recent events highlight that, as a nation, we can achieve great things together – just look at the London 2012 Olympics and Diamond Jubilee.
“With Better Together, we are looking for projects and ideas that will make a real difference to people and encourage a greater sense of community in the area; even the smallest changes can have a really positive effect.”
The winning project or projects will receive both funding and labour to complete the required works, which will be carried out by Groundwork MSSTT – an environmental regeneration charity that works in partnership with people to deliver a range of projects.
Entries are open now and close on Friday, March 21, when judges will decide on a shortlist.
Readers will then be able to vote for the winner or winners.
Entrants need to submit a 200-word description of the project and how it will contribute to the local community, along with two or three high resolution photos. For further details, visit togetherinsurance.co.uk/better.
A fresh perspective
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When it comes to landscaping, a common mistake gardeners make is not looking at the big picture, says Jean Westcott, landscape designer and owner of The Artful Gardener on Mt. Hope Avenue in Rochester.
Gardeners often like to buy accessories such as a gazing globe or a new pot, but it’s important for a gardener to see the whole picture when adding ornaments to the garden, she says.
Westcott will be speaking about “Ornaments in the Garden — A Designer’s Perspective” at the Rochester Civic Garden Center’s 23rd annual spring symposium March 1 at the Memorial Art Gallery. Westcott will be joined by garden author and designer Julie Moir Messervy, who will talk about her book Landscape Ideas that Work (Taunton Press $21.95). Moir Messervy is well-known for her work on the Toronto Music Garden.
Westcott worked as a landscape designer in Philadelphia and New Jersey for many years before moving to Rochester eight years ago after her husband, Mark, got a new job.
The couple moved to the Highland Park neighborhood, and Westcott fell in love with history of the neighborhood as well as the landscape and architecture of the area.
She and her husband often would walk by a little floral shop at 727 Mt. Hope Ave. and admire the whimsical building.
As luck would have it, the building became available for sale in 2008. Westcott took a leap of faith and bought it, transforming the building that was in need of TLC into a garden retail shop.
“After 20 years of designing gardens, I still wanted to do that, but I also wanted to do something different,” Westcott says.
She tapped her savings and spent a year with contractors fixing the building, adding a staircase to create an office studio and brightening the retail space. Since it was 2009 and the economy was struggling, Westcott was able to hire contractors affordably.
“In a better economy, I couldn’t have done it,” she says.
The Artful Gardener opened on May 8, 2010, with a focus on hard-to-find garden accessories, as well as gifts.
“I knew I wanted to sell things that couldn’t be found in garden centers,” Westcott says.
Great Gardening: What to do about the cute bunny that’s ruining your garden
Manipulate the odds
I will not advocate hunting or trapping, and live-trapping and removal often just places the animal where it’s someone else’s problem – or puts it in a hostile, overpopulated environment anyway. My preference is to try to protect natural habitat wherever possible, in an attempt to balance the prey and predator populations. Give the rabbits a home, but also respect the needs of foxes, hawks and other predators.
For gardens and landscape plants, a few techniques can tilt the odds in favor of plant survival, with the goal of sending Cutie Bunny to eat something other than our plant collections. They all work, to some extent, depending upon our persistence and the rabbit population.
• Fencing: For rabbits, a 2-foot chicken wire fence usually suffices, the bottom buried a few inches into the soil – but remember that in winter the fence must reach well above snow level. In spring, a chicken wire or screening/mesh hoop or tunnel over bulb plantings – edges well buried – can protect the buds of young bulbs or plants. Take the wire off in time to enjoy the flowers or when guests are coming. (Having written this, I know that many gardeners will be quick to tell me about the time they took the fencing off the just-blooming tulip display, only to have every stem chewed down overnight.) Wire tree-guard cylinders with ½-inch mesh, sold in many garden centers or home supply stores, can protect young tree trunks.
• Shrub Coats and Covers: I wish I had covered a few more precious shrubs, including dwarf conifers, with one of the Shrub Coat line of products this year. Plants under the green teepees or sacks (UV-treated, knitted shade cloth) emerge from winter bright green and undamaged by deer, rabbits, wind and salt. The product is much better than burlap, that easily turns ragged and is readily chewed by animals. Shrub Coats were invented by a WNY professional landscaper, Steve Bakowski, and can be viewed or checked out online or at some local garden centers.
• Repellent sprays and sprinkles: I have observed good results with most commercial repellents as long as I repeat the applications often, especially after rain or snowfall. (There’s the rub – will we get to it often enough?) Many contain coyote or fox urine, and the product Thiram – well tested for effectiveness in deterring both rabbits and deer. Apply these just when you plant something new, because deer are creatures of habit; it helps to convince them early that a certain planting is not good. Similarly, I think it helps to persist with deterrents in spring and early summer when young deer are beginning to explore what they like and don’t like.
• Homemade products: Testimonials abound, claiming that deer or rabbits shun the odors of mothballs, dryer strips, human or dog hair, strong smelling soaps, garlic and human urine. Some folks report success with motion-activated light or sound systems, or scary props that resemble owls or snakes. These can’t hurt, but I just can’t promise they will save the hydrangeas.
You can’t take the garden out of the gardener
Cambria gardeners are licking their wounds. The Cambria Community Services District adopted the Stage 3 conservation measures and restrictions on the use of potable water at a special meeting last month.
Across the board, both residences and businesses have been hit hard on strict conservation measures because of a three-year drought and the fact that, over decades, our CCSD board has been unable to find an alternative water source.
Residents of this town have always supported businesses and even more so in the past few years when events have been created in the hopes of keeping businesses alive and well. Yet, there has been little vocal support for homeowners when it comes to maintaining the physical beauty and value of their property.
After Mother Natures gentle blessing this last week, my spirit is rejuvenated. Our gardens have relaxed and plant cells have swelled with recent hydration. Gardeners, who are restricted from using potable water on landscaping, are not about to dry up and blow away. Some of us have a rainwater catchment system that will sustain watering as long as there is a bit of rain. But many of us believe that you cant trust rainfall to be the provider of all our water needs, no matter how large the storage facility. Nor should the CCSD rely on rainwater-dependent wells to continue to supply water in a severe drought. Trusting that this board will do what it takes to provide us with water, Ill do my part.
In order to have any garden at all this year, Ill start by reducing the water requirements of our landscape. To begin with:
- Ill remove plants that require excessive amounts water: hostas, foxglove, columbine, primula and wallflower, among a few.
- My four vegetable boxes will be out of commission this year. Ive filled them with dry leaves and a dash of chicken manure in hopes it will create compost by next fall.
- Shallow potting bowls will be washed and stored.
- Hanging pots will be taken down, cleaned, and stored.
- Small potted plants will be planted in the ground in a shady area and Ill water them with grey water.
- Potted plants of any value, including succulents, will be put in a semi-shady place.
- Ill make deeper furrows around plants and shrubs to catch run-off from rain that is sure to come.
- Well read our water meter several times a month so we can monitor our water use.
It would be a lovely thing if the rain continues to moisten our soil but, if we are left high and dry, Im going to pull myself up by my rainboot straps and hope for a wet and soggy summer.
You can take the gardener out of the garden, but you cant take the garden out of the gardener.
Lee Oliphants column is special to The Cambrian. Email her at cambriagardener@charter.net; read her blog at centralcoastgardening.com.
Pennsylvania Garden Expo opens today at Farm Show Complex
The
flowers are blooming, the water features are flowing and some 120 exhibitors
are ready to talk gardening as the 2014 version of the Pennsylvania Garden Expo
gets under way today at the Farm Show complex along Cameron Street in
Harrisburg.
Did
it scare away the cold temperatures?
Maybe
not quite, but this year’s 3-day show features 11 very spring-looking display
gardens covering more than 55,000 square feet inside the complex’s Northwest
Hall.
Blouch’s Landscaping of Harrisburg,
for example, built a covered pavilion that houses an outdoor kitchen, patio and
fire pit, all surrounded by a stream and blooming rhododendrons, azaleas, witch
hazels, daffodils and tulips.
Earth Tones Hardscape of New
Cumberland has a backyard retreat with a fireplace and twin basalt fountains
gently oozing water. The landscaping around it, designed by Ruth Consoli,
features a mix of yellow, white and green spring perennials, evergreens such as
spruce, holly, cypress and boxwood, and flowering woody plants such as dogwood,
cherry and winter jasmine.
And last year’s Best in Show winner,
Hummel’s Landscape of Harrisburg, is back with a display that includes an
outdoor kitchen with travertine paving, a koi pond, two styles of overhead
shade structures and beds of blooming bulbs, perennials and shrubs.
Other landscaper firms that have
built gardens include: The Greenskeeper of Palmyra; Levendusky Landscape of
Mechanicsburg; Nature’s Way Nursery of Lower Paxton Twp.; Utopian Landscapes of
Harrisburg; Strathmeyer Landscape Development of Dover; Dreamscapes
Watergardens of Lebanon; Daniel J. Reed Landscape of Harrisburg; Davis
Landscape of Harrisburg, and GoldGlo Landscapes of Millersburg.
Most
of the display gardens include landscape lighting for when the show dims the
lights periodically to show what the gardens look like lighted in the evening.
Many
also include water features.
Some
of the other highlights at Garden Expo 2014:
*
A judged, 2,400-square-foot flower show within the show called “Musical Magic,”
presented by the Garden Club of Harrisburg and the Penn-Cumberland Garden Club.
*
Some 120 vendors and exhibitors, offering such fare as bonsai plants (Nature’s
Way Nursery), herbal products (The Rosemary House), garden books (St. Lynn’s
Press), plants (Stauffers of Kissel Hill), gardening accessories (Lewisberry
Gardens and Gifts) and more.
View full sizePa. Garden Expo shoppers in action.
*
Dozens of gardening talks and seminars throughout all three days at three
different show-floor venues.
* Central Penn Parent Family Night, slated
for Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m., which features hands-on family activities
throughout the show.
The
Pennsylvania Garden Expo runs Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22, from 10 a.m. to
8 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tickets
are $13 at the door and are good all three days of the show.
Senior
citizens (ages 55 and up) get in for $8 on opening day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
then all active and retired military, police, firefighters and first responders
get in at no charge opening day from 5 to 8 p.m. (all other adults get in for
$5 during those hours).
For
Central Penn Parent Family Night on Saturday, adults are admitted for $5
between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Children
12 and under are free at all times during the show.
Farm
Show parking is $8.
Harrisburg-based
Journal Multimedia, best known for publishing the Central Penn Business Journal
and Central Penn Parent magazine, operates the Garden Expo.
PSECU
is show sponsor, and Watson Supply Inc. sponsors the display gardens.