New England Gardener

Children are fascinated by the life cycle of butterflies, so when two Swallowtail caterpillars were discovered munching on dill in our community garden over the weekend, we decided to hold on to them in hopes of sharing their metamorphosis with the kids in our Garden Explorers program. My friend Christine thrust the dill stem swaying with the weight of two fat caterpillars into my hand saying “just put the stem in some water. They’ll be fine.”

Now, I know caterpillars aren’t as complicated as children or puppies, but so far, I’ve failed completely in butterfly rearing. First of all, they ate through the dill stem in about two hours, sending me back to the garden in the dark feeling around for the right kind of dill. Second, they’re finicky. They wouldn’t touch the basil, carrot greens, or oregano, instead craning their heads away from my offerings like a one-year-old faced with a spoonful of strained peas. Third, like heck they stay put! I found one half way across my dining room floor before I (by “I” I mean my husband) got smart and built a box with a viewing window.

Here’s when things got sad. I found one, not sure if it was Henrietta or Sinclair, hanging off the outside of the box. Those of you who have reared caterpillars are shaking your heads at my stupidity, but I ripped it off the side wondering why it was sticking so firmly to the box. YES, I KNOW THIS INFORMATION IS ON THE INTERNET, but I didn’t know last weekend. Duh. Henrietta was starting to pupate and I interrupted the process. I tried to put her back on a leaf, apologizing profusely, but she wouldn’t attach. Now, she’s laying at the bottom of the box. Sinclair, seems to have attached himself to a stick in the “J” formation so he may be on his way.

Here’s my question for you butterfly pros. Should I assume Henrietta is dead, or as I told my son tonight, is it possible she’s just sleeping, meaning in the early stages of pupating?

What an ordeal!

Keep An Eye Out For Late Blight In Your Garden

In order to keep your plants safe, the experts say it’s ESSENTIAL to apply fungicide PRIOR to infestation. That means now is the time to treat your plants. The Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association offers some organic options. The Cooperative Extension Services also provide good fact sheets Here’s another helpful link from the UMass Extension Office.

–Amy

Here Comes The Sun!

Question:

I just planted outdoors two tall – about 12-14 “- sunflower seedlings I grew from seed. The next day i saw that one of them was knocked over near the ground, the stem almost severed. I watched for a couple days, and the leaves stayed green, so I thought it might be salvageable, but then, after a couple days, I saw that all the leaves were gone! The same thing has happened to me other years with sunflowers. Other plants, right next to it were not harmed, and the other sunflower I planted at the same time, also was not harmed.
Is there some critter – bird or squirrel, or ?, that’s especially fond of sunflowers?
And, how can I protect them?
I have several more that I want to plant outdoors.
thanks.

Ann,

Thanks for your question. I’ve grown quite a few sunflowers because of my involvement in a Children’s Garden in my town, so I can offer a few thoughts. First of all, sunflowers prefer to be directly sowed from seed rather than transplanted. You don’t have to give up on your transplants, just stick some seeds in at the same time. You can also germinate your seeds for a few days indoors to get a head start. Just wrap your seed in a damp (not soaked) paper towel and seal in a plastic zip lock bag. Maintain moisture and after a few days you should see a small root curling out of the seed. Pop in the ground and watch it grow.

Now, to your question about something eating your small seedlings. This could be cut worms, slugs or some other garden pest. Start by planting more seeds than you need. The critters won’t eat everything. You can also protect your shoots by cutting the bottom out of paper cups and putting them over the seedlings. When the plants are as tall as your hand remove cups and watch your sunflowers flourish. Don’t give up. There’s really nothing more delightful than watching a mammoth sunflower sway in a late summer breeze.

–Amy

Edible landscaping certainly isn’t a new idea, but I’ve always considered it to be a backyard pursuit, quietly tucking strawberry plants, herbs and pea structures into my ornamental beds. What exactly was I trying to hide? The fact that my family likes homegrown fresh food? Finally, this spring a light went on as I was lamenting the state of a diseased row(leaf spot) of red twig dogwood shrubs along my front fence.

My local YMCA branch in Freeport, Maine has a lovely hedge of mature high bush blueberries right next to the parking lot and I thought…I can do this at home.

I chose three high bush (cultivated) plants, 2 Bluecrop and 1 Patriot, and 5 low bush (wild) blueberries. I went with Brunswick on the low bush because they’re supposed to provide a dense ground cover. I think blueberries are a great bet in New England because they’re extremely hardy, provide delicious kid-friendly fruits, require little maintenance, and hold their own in the looks department. The leaves turn bright red in the fall which should look just great against our white fence.

The key to happy blueberries is acidic soil…requiring a ph of 4. to 5.5. A more dilgent gardener would have tested the soil before planting, but I decided the blueberries would be ok because they’re planted in the same stretch of soil as my acid loving Rhododendrons. I did, however, augment the soil with an organic compost that’s well suited for berries.

Other great options for front yard foundation plants might be gooseberries and currants. Or, if you’re hoping to keep animals (or neighbors) at bay, you might try growing a thorny hedge of blackberries or rasberries.

This latest adventure reminded me to question my preconceived ideas about gardens. Somewhere along the garden path, I decided food plants belonged in the back yard. Nonsense. Another advantage to front yard edibles…the deer are less likely to go there.

Alyson H wrote in with a great question that I’m posting here so that all may benefit.

QUESTION: “I am wondering if there is a single resource- like a big chart maybe- of when to plant different crops in New England. I am in southern NH and never know when to start things or what to put in next, etc.”

ANSWER: Hi Alyson,
Thanks for your question. For region specific information about planting windows, time to maturity, frost dates etc. you can’t do any better than your local Cooperative Extension service. The Cooperative Extensions were created to make sure the public has access (usually free!!) to information and resources from their state universities. I checked out UNH’s cooperative extension website and immediately found what you’re looking for. Just download the “Planting and Maturity Dates of Vegetables in New England.” Cooperative Extensions are also a wealth of information when it comes to pest problems too. Happy Gardening,

Amy

The Season's First Peas-Germinated indoors in a moist paper towel

If you are new to vegetable gardening, I encourage you to check out The Just Add Water layout and seed list on the New England Gardener homepage.
It’s a variation on the 10′ by 10′ plot I grew last year in my local community garden in Yarmouth, Maine. You can copy it seed by seed or improve on it with your own great ideas.
I’ll offer a few simple suggestions for those of you who are growing food for the first time. Start small. Draw a simple plan and stick to it. Leave space (at least 18″) for rows. Work some compost into the soil. Weed and water.
As for what to grow, it’s entirely up to you. I grow food my family will eat and emphasize produce that is expensive or bland at the grocery store. You’ll always find plenty of herbs and tomatoes in my garden.
Other “easy to grow” suggestions include lettuces, carrots, peas, bush beans, tomatoes (from purchased seedlings) and spinach.

The Just Add Water design is similar to last years with a few notable exceptions. I’m growing lettuce, spinach, chard, radishes, tomatoes, cukes and beans again, although in different spots for crop rotation.
For fun, I’m trying melons in the squash patch. I’ve never grown them successfully because of the short season in Maine, but spring is early and I plan to break out some black plastic to heat things up. I also waited much too long to start carrots last year, planting them as a replacement crop after the peas were finished. This year I’m planting carrots early and often.

My first planting of peas, both snap and shell, went in the ground last week. (April 18th) If you haven’t started yours yet, I highly recommend germinating them indoors first in a wet paper towel.
This will save you a few days and ensure better production. My carrots and spinach went in the ground before supper tonight. (April 25th.) I hope to get some lettuce, radishes and chard in, in between the raindrops later this week.

One quick word about the dreaded Late Blight that took out so many tomato and potato crops last year.
The disease does NOT winter over in New England EXCEPT on potato tubers. Check out this fact sheet for details.

Salad days are ahead.