Coping With Club Root

Club Root is a universal problem for brassicas:  cauliflower, broccoli, kale, mustard, etc. You notice it when your leaves turn yellow and wilt.  The plant eventually loses its structure and dies.  When you look  at the roots, there will be small ball like structures on the roots.  Once you have clubroot on your plot I'm afraid you are stuck with it. The good news is that you can, in most instances continue to grow brassicas successfully with careful cultivation and crop rotation. (I have heard it suggested that crop rotations start at four and be as much as seven years for large gardens) It is a bit more difficult for raised bed growers.

First practice good hygiene. When your brassicas are finished carefully remove all the roots and do not compost them, either treat as household waste or incinerate. Remember that the affected family includes radishes and mustard, do not use a mustard green manure and remove radishes that have gone over promptly and do not compost them. This will reduce the reservoir of the organism in the soil.

Start your brassicas off in modules using bought in composts to which a small amount of lime has been added and pot up to 3" and then at least 5" pots before planting out. This allows the plant to develop a good root system prior to infection.

Clubroot thrives best in acid wet soils so ensure your brassica bed is well dug adding grit if need be to keep the soil free draining, Take the pH up to 7.5 or even as high as 8.5 by adding lime (see the information on garden lime). Before planting, dig a hole at least 30cm deep and in diameter and then dust with lime to whiten the soil in the hole. Fill the hole with bought in multi-purpose compost and then plant in this.

This method has been proven to work and enable good quality crops to be taken - even prize winning cauliflowers. It is a lot of work and you may feel that just growing completely in containers is your best solution.

May Planting

This is the month to sow broccoli, beets and beans...cucumbers under cover, and spinach, and definitely all salad crops.

You can successfully transplant brussels sprouts and cauliflower and plant early potatoes.

Winter cabbages and carrots should have been planted in April, but you might try them now in early May.

Some folks are setting out their tomato plants.  If they have good growth they will probably be OK if protected from wind and too much rain.  You can build a mini greenhouse around them until the weather is less unpredictable.

We now have a lending library at Real Food Co-op.  We are collecting any books on sustainable living.  Most books have been donated.  Please sign them out with your name and phone number.

If you have a chance, Masanobu Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution has been reprinted.  Anyone with acreage should read this book.  It nicely describes natural farming, in which there is no cultivation or use of fertilizers other than chicken manure, and no pesticides.  Much of this philosophy can be translated into personal spaces and variations in crops, perhaps, with some thought, even into micro climates like raised beds.

Outdoor Planting Table for Florence

I hope the following information helps to get you off to a productive spring and summer.

If you are into planting by moon phases, The Farmer's Almanac Planting Guide suggests that above ground crops be planted during the light of the moon (new to full).  Below ground crops should be planted during the dark of the moon (from the day after it's full to the day before it's new).  More or less gravitational pull is the idea behind it.

Here are the Farmer's Almanac's suggestions for planting in March in generally good climate areas. I'm assuming that means us:

March 19th-20th are favorable for planting seeds which yield above the ground. From the 21st to the 23rd seeds will tend to rot.  The 24th and the 25th are the best days for planting above ground crops, especially peas.  But also beans and cucumbers.  Plant seedbeds during this time.  The 26th through 29th is a barren period, and the 30th to the 31st are good days for planting root vegetables and flowers.

In March, in the Florence area, one can plant early peas and broccoli, early beets, brussels sprouts, cabbage starts, early carrots, early cauliflower starts, early celery, early collards, early kale, leeks, lettuce, onion sets, parsley, parsnips, radishes, swiss chard, and early turnips. Our climate is fairly favorable.

But if you put in tender starts or have small seedlings emerging, you may want to be safe and use crop covers on cold nights until the end of April, at which time we should be done with frosts.  There are light (not plastic) crop covers available at all the nurseries.  I think each package will cover at least one, and probably two beds.  They let in the light and the rain, but keep your soil a bit warmer.  I used them last winter on a bed in another location and had greens all winter.

To plant by the Moon Calendar for areas where the climate is favorable, the following list can be useful for April, if you have not already planted these in March:

"April 20101st-3rd. Good days for planting Beets, Carrots, Radishes, Turnips, and other root crops. Also good for Cabbage, Cauliflower, Lettuce, Kale, Celery, and other leafy vegetables. Start seedbeds. 4th-5th. Barren days. Do no planting. 6th-8th. Favorable days for planting Beets, Carrots, Turnips, Radishes, Onions, and other root crops. 9th-10th. Excellent time to kill weeds, Briars, Poison Ivy, and other plant pests. 11th-13th. Favorable days for planting root crops, extra good for vine crops. Set strawberry plants. 14th-15th. Poor planting days. Break ground or cultivate. 16th-17th. Favorable for planting Beans, Corn, Tomato starts, Peppers, and other above ground crops. 18th-19th. Poor days for planting, seeds tend to rot. 20th-21st. Plant tomatoes, beans, peppers, corn, and other above ground crops on these most fruitful days. Plant seedbeds. Start flower gardens. 22nd-25th. Grub out weeds, briars, and other plant pests. 26th-28th. First two days good for planting corn, melons, squash, tomatoes, and other above ground crops. Last day favorable for planting root crops. All days favorable for planting flowers 29th-30th. Good says for planting beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, and other root crops. Also good for cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, kale, celery, and other leafy vegetables. Start seedbeds."

I would love to find out how this works for our gardeners who use this guide.  Feedback would be helpful and interesting.

Garden Help

The Community Garden needs gardeners to help with pulling grass and covering the remaining ground with bark mulch.  Five or ten minutes of your time when you're in the garden would be wonderful.

Fwd: Specials from Honeyman Nursery & Landscaping!

Honeyman Nursery & Landscaping March 20th & 21st  2010  Well it's that time of Spring that we have our annual sale. On March 20th & 21st all Trees, Shrubs, Annuals, Perennials, Pots, and Home Decor will be on sale. The savings will be from 10 to 75% off.               " What to do to get ready for Spring"                                SEMINAR                       Saturday          March 27th       10 to 11am          We will focus on pruning, fertilizing, planting, what amendments to use for preparing the ground for planting, spring & summer bulb care & lawn care.  No cost, but please call and and sign up for the Seminar. We want to make sure we have enough chairs, so no one has to stand this time.

Free Plants

Attention all gardeners,

Free plants will be placed on the sidewalk under Rev. Ruth's porch roof.  This is a temporary site for exchange of plants.  We are looking for a better solution.  In the meantime, if all those strawberries are there, PLEASE help yourself.  Some things will be given to Food Share if not used by us, and anything left beyond a reasonable time will be composted.  Thank you!