With spring just around the corner , optimism abound . Red Sox fan think World Series ; school day kid trust for square A ’s ; and gardener dreaming of their vegetable , fruit , and bloom to come .
My seed catalogs are dog - eared , the dilly beans are gone and it ’s too early to plant much in the windowsill . So , what else is there to do butplan for the best gardenever ? draw a blank last yr ’s weather condition suffering and pest problems . Optimism is the locomotive engine of horticulture in Vermont .
These are my predictions for the come season . The last rime in early April will be followed by unfluctuating warming until summertime temperatures shoot 75 to 80 degree fluorine – and stay there . Rainfall will be uniformly distributed . An column inch or two every hebdomad , between Mondays and Fridays , with full sun on weekend .
There may be hail , flood or drouth in other states , but we ’ll have none of that . The time of year will stretch on into autumn , the first Robert Lee Frost holding off until after a bumper crop of declivity hiss has been picked .
Japanese beetles and European Indian corn borer will elevate international harmony by doing no damage on these shores . blight , wilt , blackleg , and smut will not live up to their name . Bronx cheer and bunny rabbit will find enough food in the wild . And the local cervid herd will enjoy a menu that does n’t include cultivated crops .
Just in case these phantasy do n’t number honest , I am make some practical design , too , hear a few newfangled thing in the garden this year to angle nature ’s counterbalance in my favor . I ’m attaching a drip irrigation scheme to the out-of-door faucet . For a hundred long horse I can get all the component part , including a filter , pressure regulator , tube , connectors and oodles of drip tape . Another 60 dollar bill buys a programmable body of water timer . This system will save many hours of dragging hose and standing around like a human sprinkler . Plus , my plants are travel to get the regular supply of H2O they need to grow well . And since leave of absence wo n’t be stupefy blotto as often , foliar fungi like tomato early blight will be hold on at bay .
Once my crop are growing like Jack ’s proverbial dome stalk , they ’ll necessitate plentifulness of nutrients . Instead of applying lime and fertilizer base on intuition , this yr I ’m going to prove my soil and utilize only what ’s recommended . I ’m rely - off manure that ’s not fully composted , since it usually stop immense quantities of weed seeds , and it has the electric potential to induce illness if it splashes onto food crops . Instead , I ’ll be mixing a couple of inch of mature compost into each seam before plant yearbook or spreading a stratum around my perennials . However , I ’ll still get my payload of manure – to make next class ’s compost .
My fatherland securityplan for the gardenemphasizes censure to manage the onslaught of flea beetles , potato beetles , and cabbage maggot flies . I ’ll be covering many other - season crops with a drift dustup cover like Remay , a lightweight fabric that lets sun and water in , but keep pests out , as long as the edged are covered with stain and weighed down with rocks . The moment vernal caterpillar pests arrive I ’ll be ready to with B.t . biological insecticide to keep them under dominance , without harmingbeneficial worm . On my apples , I ’ll use a non - toxic insect powder made from kaolin clay , call Surround , to bottle up plum curculio .
For noxious weeds ( Is there another kind ? ) I ’m planning on mitt - to - hand armed combat . I ’ve sharpened my trusty old hoe , and even ordered a special ‘ collinear ’ hoe , designed by horticultural guru Elliot Coleman . It has a exceptional slight blade for cutting off small locoweed in fuddled places , before they become big weeds .
Of naturally , the pleasure of gardening amount not just from triumphs over disobliging weather and edacious critters . There ’s also the joy of try new crop , cultivar , and growing technique . This year I ’ll be trying out edamame , also known as vegetable soya or butter bean . I ’ve order multicolored Raphanus sativus , red and yellowish Daucus carota sativa , and imperial tomatillos . Like many commercial-grade agriculturalist , I ’ll try out with planting strawberry plugs in the fall and harvesting fruit the following leap , rather than growing the plants for a whole year before harvest .
Some of my plans will bear fruit , and others may droop , but one thing I know for trusted . By the end of next wintertime I ’ll be dreaming of the perfect garden once again .
by Dr. Vern Grubinger Vegetable and Berry SpecialistUniversity of Vermont Extension
