High Elevation Gardening Web Log "Blog"

We would like to thank our usual core of master gardener and hospice volunteers (David Hockman, Karen Kent, Nancy Palmer, Marcia Lamkin, Leslie Penick) , several 2nd year volunteers Crys Wells, Linda Guarino, Carol Lease, and Joe Harte, and a handful of new master gardener trainees (Julie Holmes, Barb Phillips, Charlotte Honga, and Judith Chaddock). For the 2nd year we had a volunteer from FMC - Bethany Page.

We honored Karen Kent, one of our long time volunteers before she left Flagstaff to begin setting up a summer home in Michigan. This year she painted several mailboxes for us that contain educational materials for the garden and help create a Rock Garden. Laura Davis, the original coordinator, returned to help us expand the Tea Garden and enter the Native Plant Contest. Joe Harte left to work in landscaping and returned to help us at the end of the season. Cynthia Katte worked at Walnut Canyon this year, but she managed to finish a Scavenger Hunt for children, and loaned us her husband Al to make some much needed garden repairs.

In addition to individuals we had several groups - Earthday /Community of Flagstaff, AmeriCorp, Upward Bound (young people from around the state) and the Grand Canyon Youth/Honor Society from Northland Prep. These groups helped us keep ahead of the weeds, water, feed the birds, create a new walkway, stain benches, and participated in spring/fall clean-up and planting. The Flagstaff Fire Department came by and took down some dangerous snags in the canyon below the home and gardens, and Larry Phillips of Supertree came with his crew and cleaned up the dead material on trees, took out some small trees to open the canopy, and left us a nice pile of mulch for the garden. Joanie Abbott and her crew from Foxglove Gardening made sure our drip kept running.

Several large and many small donations were made along with the usual memorial bricks for those who have lived in the home. We are beginning to replace our redwood benches that are struggling with the Flagstaff's weather and are labor intensive to maintain. They are being replaced with "green" benches made from recycled milk jugs that are very sturdy and require little maintenance. The benches and gliders were donated by Ray & Joan White and Dave and Terri Hill. Dave and Zane, his therapy dog, are in the gardens each week with many of the residents.

Last but not least we had several dedications in the garden. At the beginning of the season a bristlecone pine was donated by the gardeners to our long time gardener and benefactor to the garden, Norm Ericson. He started the garden before the home was built and retired this year. The Soroptomists Mountain Morning dedicated a walkway to a beautiful handcrafted arbor bench donated by the Mickleson and Filleman families. Many volunteers at Hodge Podge donated funds to build a special garden for Ginny Kadel who worked with them. A Butterfly-Hummingbird garden was created with several special features - butterfly water bowl, hummingbird feeder and a dedication sign.

The community of Flagstaff continues to amaze us with their generosity and support. Thank you for all you do to make these gardens "a place for the heart". It takes a village!

Loni Shapiro
Volunteer Garden Coordinator

Posted by maxmaddy at 6:36 AM

November 7, 2009

A Remembrance of Tomatoes Past

Master Gardener Column 11/7/09

In his sonnets, when Shakespeare summoned "up remembrance of things past," he longed for "the lack of many a thing I sought." (30). He was speaking of the Dark Lady, the elusive paramour he swore was "fair" and "bright," yet was "black as hell, and dark as night" (147).

Such has been the sorry tale of many tomato paramours with anticipations of luscious, full-fleshed, lip-locked ecstasies right off the vine but who instead got the cankered mold of late summer blight. Just as Shakespeare was "frantic-mad" and "past cure" (147), the tomato paramour, too, grieves for those tomatoes once sought, turned "black as hell" and "dark as night." However, there are lessons to be learned. In today's limited lexicon, Shakespeare had the "hots" which often produce undesired consequences, such as "buzz off," "yuck," or the Black Lady's, "not you" (145).

After lavishing their tomatoes with love and affection, care and tender-mercies, tomato paramours may suffer betrayal, caused by their hots for "too much of a good thing," such as, commercial, synthetic fertilizer with too much nitrogen. The result is luscious foliage, miraculously grown with little or no fruit, a passion unconsummated. As they say, "Read the label," with its three dead giveaway letters.

They are N-P-K: N for nitrogen, P for phosphorus, and K for potassium. The best ratios for tomatoes are 5-10-5, 5-20-20, or 8-16-16 with nitrogen the lowest. The reason is simple: nitrogen stimulates the growth of the plant, phosphorous the production of fruit, and potassium overall plant health. Ironically, much of commercial synthetic fertilizer is counter-productive to tomato plants because it's nitrogen heavy.

The best fertilizer is compost which isn't primarily a fertilizer. Paradoxically, synthetic fertilizer doesn't do any good and may even do harm if the soil isn't chock full of mychorizzae. They are fungal facilitators clinging to the plants' roots which enable the roots to take up nutrients from the soil. Compost is a source of and stimulates the development of mychorizzae as well as providing natural nutrients.

Long before tomatoes are planted, the soil should be prepared with lots of compost and organic fertilizers. They need nutrient and organically rich soil before being planted, as well as, being watered regularly and deeply.

The cankered mold of late summer blight which has swept the East
and Middle West is best fought by preparation. Three years should pass before using the same soil, or the soil should be sterilized. The fungus, Phytophthora infestans, a water mold, may remain in the soil from years past. It's been thought useful in biological warfare.

The easiest way to sterilize the soil is to put it in a black container enshrouded in a black plastic bag and let it sit in the sun cooking for several weeks. Safe soil is more easily controlled in containers. Finally, plant premium seeds because they don't carry the fungal spores which are carried by air and ground on fruit and plants. The fungal spores that caused the blight in East and Middle West were probably carried on plants from the South.

Since late summer blight occurs chiefly in hot, humid climates, it isn't "a clear and present danger" in Flagstaff, save sometimes during the monsoon, by humidification from overhead watering, or importation. Tomatoes like dry leaves and regularly well-drained wet roots. In addition to clean soil as a bulwark against soil borne fungal attacks, tomato plants should be widely spaced so that air can circulate freely to ward off air borne infestations.

A frequent complaint, in addition to lack of fruit, is blossom end rot, an affliction aptly named, because dark spots of rot slowly consume the tomato at its blossom end. No lip-locked fruit. More like yuck. The culprit is a lack of calcium as the fruit sets caused by too much nitrogen and uneven watering. The remedy: throw away the fruit and deep water.

Painful are the remembrances of tomatoes past which were "lov'd not wisely, but too well" (Othello, V, 2, 344). Growing tomatoes from seeds in clean soil, compost, and balanced organic fertilizer, with regular, well-drained deep watering are the ways to love tomatoes well and wisely.

Dana Prom Smith, a Master Gardener volunteer, is coordinating editor for the Master Gardener Column. He can be contacted at stpauls@npgcable.com. For gardening questions, please call the Master Gardener Hotline at 774-1868 ext.19 or visit the Master Gardener Web Site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.

Posted by maxmaddy at 6:57 PM

November 1, 2009

Dill: Herb of the Year

Master Gardener Column 10/31/09

The International Herb Association has designated dill as the Herb of the Year for 2010. This decision coincides with the best time for planting this ancient herb - generally in late fall and winter in zones 6 & 7. In Flagstaff at zone 5, it's an annual so that the seeds sown in the fall won't come up until the ground thaws in late spring.

Dill (Anethum graveolens) is a cool season plant, needing to be planted in full sun. Although dill plants purchased locally did well in my garden this year, it generally does not like transplantation. Growing quite tall, 3 feet or more, dill plants need to be staked along with being watered regularly, weekly during dry spells. The plant seldom develops more than one, smooth, shiny, hollow stalk which displays fragrant feathery, fernlike foliage. Attractive to butterflies, the flowers resemble clusters of umbrellas characteristic of all umbellifers, such as parsley and parsnips. After flowering, the plant develops the crescent shaped seed for which it is famous.

Dill is easy to cultivate in loose, fairly rich soil and full sun. Some gardeners start seedlings in a cold frame or greenhouse and transfer them outdoors after danger of frost is passed. If the seed is sown directly into the plant's permanent bed, drills should be spaced 10" apart. Dill seed can take up to 12 weeks to ripen in our climate. Dill will often reseed in the garden if the flowers are left to go to seed.

The leaves, called dill weed, and seeds provide a distinctive flavor and aroma to a wide range of culinary favorites, including pickles, breads, potatoes, fish, dips, and spreads. An excellent and healthy paste for salmon is dill weed mixed with olive oil. A cousin to fennel, dill has many herbal medicinal uses as well as culinary ones. Don't gather dill leaves until the plant has established itself well. Then you may pick small portions of the leaves from each plant and either use them fresh in cooking or dry them for 2-3 days in a warm dark place. More drying time than that may lose their flavor and color. Harvest dill seeds when they are light brown.

Dill has many ancient ties, particularly to the Egyptian civilizations. Records found in Egyptian tombs suggest that physicians considered the herb a powerful digestive aid even in those long ago times. The Greeks believed dill bestowed good luck and fortune and could ward off hexes. Dill is native to the Mediterranean region and Southern Russia, where it is used extensively in their cuisines. Today, Europeans use dill with fish and wild game. Norwegians use dill with a variety of sauces and fish dishes. In India, bunches of dill weed (leaves and young stems) are cooked as a vegetable in dishes that feature potatoes, garlic, onions, and Indian spices. In America the prime use of dill seeds is in pickling.

Dill seeds, like fennel seeds, are considered a carminative, a reliever of flatulence, and have been used to sooth the stomachs of babies and adults alike. Colicky babies respond well to a teaspoon of seed crushed between two tablespoons and then gently simmered in 8 oz of water for 10 minutes, cooled and strained into a baby's bottle. The infant drinks the tea, burps, and falls asleep. Adults can crush two teaspoons and simmer, as done for babies, and then sip the strained tea for relief of gas (flatulence), heartburn, and stomach cramping. Leaves can be used in place of seeds for similar effect.

Dill seeds and leaves have been used by herbalists for increasing mother's milk and treating breast congestion which may come with nursing. It is also considered a stimulant to the appetite and a simple tea may be taken several times a day for these reasons.

The Herb of the Year has been an official project of the International Herb Association for the past two decades. For those interested in past and future herbs of the year may check the IHA web site www.iherb.org/hoy.htm, as well as, herbalist Jim Long's extensive coverage in The Herb Quarterly, Winter
2009, www.herbquarterly.com.

Susan B. Collins is a Master Gardener volunteer. Dana Prom Smith, a Master Gardener volunteer, is coordinating editor for the Master Gardener Column. He can be contacted at stpauls@npgcable.com. For gardening questions, call the Master Gardener Hotline at 774-1868 ext.19 or visit the Master Gardener Web Site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.

Posted by maxmaddy at 7:14 AM