Pepper Tip

Peppers do well in containers and the containers can be placed in the garden beside the other plants but when it begins to cool a little they are easily brought in overnight. Peppers hate the cool and will stop growing or not fruit if they get chilled, but they can fruit through November if brought to a sunny location inside.

Water Conservation and Vegetable Plants

Watering plants that are long season varieties like tomatoes and peppers, mound up the soil in a circle around them creating a dam under the plant. This will hold the water allowing it to seep deep down instead of running away.

Another idea is to take a plastic bottle and cut the bottom off, take the cap and pierce or drill a few little holes in it and place it back on the bottle. Stick the cap end in the ground close to the plant and fill with water. This will allow the plant to slowly take in the water and let it soak deeply. I also take a bit of nylon or cheesecloth and lay a square over the open bottle end and secure it with an elastic band. This will stop bugs, dirt and leaves from getting in and plugging up the little holes.

Springtime Arrivals

Each spring I look forward to the spring peepers, little frogs that belt out a lot of noise in early spring evenings. When I hear the peepers I know spring is here at last. I like to keep track of first sightings and compare them to last year.

Each year 5 starlings arrive in my yard, in 2010 they were here March 14th and this year March 17th. The butterfly that flitted by March 15th 2010 did not appear until April 22nd this year. I looked forward to the woodcocks which called, flew up and then plummeted down in the dusky evening March 19th 2010 but were not seen until April 6th 2011. The call of the sandhill cranes can be heard long before you see this large beautiful bird gliding over, they came on March 31st last year and, April 11th this year. Juncos were 10 days later from April 10th 2010 to April 20th 2011. The Spring peepers I enjoy so much hollered their little hearts out April 3 2010 but since this year the ponds were still frozen over on April 3rd and we had 5-6” of snow on the 20th they were pretty brave to poke their noses out on April 22nd .

It seems most arrivals have been over 10 days later than last year it would be a good idea to keep a close watch on temperature forecasts before planting the garden.
It may be the end of May before we can safely place out seedlings in the ground to give them the best advantage. Especially so for pepper plants, if they get a chill they may not grow into a nice sized bush or they will bush but not fruit.

Always best to keep an eye on Mother Nature before taking a chance and just going by the calendar.

Early Weeding

The weather is finally turning and this is a great time to get a first step into the garden. I like this time of year to start weeding the beds and preparing for the upcoming season.

In the fall the ground gets damp then it freezes over expanding in the soil as ice crystals do, in the spring the ice melts and leaves air spaces in the soil that makes it nothing short of fluffy. This is the perfect time to weed. The soil is loose and a quick pull can relieve a long root from the ground quick and easy. This is my favourite weeding time, the easy weeding time. It will not take long for rains to pound the ground and the sun to dry it out until it is pretty packed in again. So take advantage of the nice weather and start some early season weeding. You won’t regret it.