Greg’s Garden – March 17th, 2014


Some Plants Are Up…Some Aren’t, Why???

When we planted in February our first 6 plots of our plot garden, we seeded Lettuce, Spinach, Bok Choy, Carrots, and Sugar Snap Peas.  We have two plots that are showing a good growth of plants right now, the others are very small and sporadic seedlings. This is not cause for alarm due to the different germination tables to the various seed varieties. It is always a good practice to keep your seed packaging in a drawer or a storage location so that you can refer back to the information printed. Referencing this information can tell you if your seeds are past the suggested rate of germination. Since we are still in the early spring planting cycle, it is not uncommon to have to replant seeds into this style of plot gardens. You need to use your own judgment as to how long past the recommended time of germination you will allow before you replant. Most generally, we allow an additional 2 weeks past the printed date to make sure that the weather patterns may have played a role in the delayed germination. Pictured below is one of our plots that have lettuce in it. By the time of our next issue we should have quite a lot more vegetation to look at. Don’t despair; just be patient for all those seeds to grow!

Make sure you check out our PDF format Newsletter this week!  Click here to download this edition of Greg’s Garden in a full color newsletter:  20140317_gregs_garden

“Backyard Gardening: Getting Down to Basics”

The Vance and Warren Counties NCSU Cooperative Extension offices sponsored on Saturday, March 8th, the Kerr Lake Extension Master Gardener Volunteers’ Symposium “Backyard Gardening: Getting Down to Basics”. There were more than 60 attendees from the surrounding area. Those in attendance were treated to a morning and early afternoon of speakers on topics ranging from the values of “Vermiculture” to the fullest use of containers in the creation of your backyard garden. A homemade vegetable soup lunch was an added treat. A little something for everyone and enjoyed by all that attended!
   
Best Buys in Local Produce

Here are two local Henderson food market savings you may want to add to your table. These prices are directly out of the stores weekly ad.

Food Lion:  ad expires March 18th
Green Cabbage                        .49 per lb.
Roma Tomatoes                     $1.39 per lb.
 
VANCE COUNTY/HENDERSON FARMERS MARKET
OPEN HOUSE
APRIL 3RD 2PM UNTIL 4PM
 
 
In our next issue on April 7th:

· How to decide on what plants to purchase for our garden
· Adding hanging pots with vegetable plants to our plot garden
· What fruits and vegetables to purchase now at our local stores for our freezer or pantry
 
See you in 2 weeks!

– Greg’s Garden is written by Greg and Mari Miller