The day after: First aid for damaged plants, gardens following Wednesday's storm

Last night we had three strong hail storms move through Fort Collins, and Tim and I spent hours putting tarps over our garden to protect them.  Minutes before the first wave, Weather Underground showed potential hail of 2.5".  Fortunately, we only reached about 3/8" in size in our garden, but the amount of rain that fell was almost equally damaging - over 3" for us, and near 8" in a town just 10 miles north.

Below is an article from the Coloradoan about how to recover from this kind of storm.

Our garden suffered only damage to one blueberry bush - and that was due to the weight of the tarp above breaking two main branches.  It's quite sad, but relative to the damage that could have occurred, we are pleased with our efforts.

Written by

Colorado State University Extension

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When assessing hail damage to plants and landscaping, Colorado State University Extension, offers this information:
Hail damage is an ongoing concern for Colorado gardeners. Successful first aid for a hail-damaged garden depends on the type of crop, plant maturity and recovery time left in the season.

Early in the season, vegetable root crops with destroyed leaves are only good for the compost pile. Allow leafy crops at least a week to recuperate after a hailstorm, then replant if you see no signs of regrowth.

Late in the season, root crops may be mature enough to survive and be harvested. Remove damaged parts of leafy crops and hope for some recuperation and continued growth. Replace plants lost to hail with fall cold crops.

Flowering annuals with no leaves may not recover. Plants, such as petunias, that normally require dead-heading, may survive if some leaves remain on the plant after a hailstorm. Clean-up and a light application of fertilizer may help them recover.

Herbaceous perennials stripped of leaves need to have good root and top growth for winter hardiness and spring vigor. To achieve this, remove all flower stalks, cut back to viable leaves, lightly cultivate the soil, and apply a light dressing of low-nitrogen fertilizer.

Remove flower stalks, because they use energy that plants need to overwinter and grow vigorously the following season. Allow biennials with buds, such as foxglove, to bloom, and enjoy them, because they won't return next year.

Inspect woody plants for bark wounds and exposed live tissue. If severe wounds exist, you may want to treat the plant with a fungicide to help prevent canker diseases.

Application should occur within 24 hours. If wounds are less severe, allow natural callusing to occur.

Garden Update 6/7/11: Lettuce, Chives, and other Early Season Stars

Delicious Early Greens

Many gardeners are disappointed to find that their first season has not produced much by June.  This year, with April and May being cold and wet, things are off to an even later start than normal.  Even our use of Wall O' Waters to extend our tomatoes and peppers into the early season to get a jump has not resulted in anything remotely edible.  And, with temperatures still struggling to stay above 70 after the first week of June (we have one day in our upcoming forecast that is a high of 69!), we have left the Wall O' Waters on many of our smaller tomatoes - particularly after my Pepper Disaster.

In past years, we've definitely become used to waiting until July and August for the majority of our garden bounty.  And, it's often September for many things to truly peak.  But this doesn't mean we aren't getting anything at all - it's just that you have to tailor your expectations to meet the timing of the plants that thrive at this time of the year.

So, what's ready to eat in our garden?

First up is Lettuce and Spinach.  We actually got off to a late start this year, planting in early May.  We often try to plant in April, which would give us fresh greens in even Mid-May, but the forecast just kept predicting quite cold temperatures, so we would put it off week after week.  By the first week in May, however, our secondary fear starts to take over - early bolting.   When the hot temperatures arrive in June, Lettuce and Spinach can start their process of producing seeds, which makes their leaves taste bitter.

Add to this yet a third concern - once soil temperatures are consistently are above 70 degrees, it's difficult to get them to germinate at all.  This is called thermal dormancy, and it results in the seeds going into standby mode until lower temperatures persist.

One way to overcome this is to plant the seeds indoors, and then transplant.  This is something we've never done with lettuce, but I may try this season to see what we can get going in late June and early July.  One thing we've never had is garden lettuce in August, and I'm not entirely sure if it's possible or not, given the heat we experience at that time of the year.

Chives are huge this year, with abundant flowers

What we have done in the past is plant seeds in late July, and by using things like protective UV fabric to cool down the soil, we have been able to get lettuce that harvests in September.  That is definitely a treat we hope to replicate this year.

Second in our early season harvest schedule is Chives.  Once a Chives garden is established, it's really quite difficult to stop it from taking over.  The raised planters we use help contain the chives to one section, but we regularly find sprouts coming up in adjacent planters.  We are weak in the "thinning" department, mostly because we have a hard time killing something that can still produce, so often we allow the early chives that come up in the wrong place to grow for the early season, and then just harvest them completely in April, May, and June.

One of the things about Chives that many people don't know is that the flowers are not only edible, they are quite tasty.  Using a Chives flower as a garnish for dishes at this time of the year is a great way to make a dinner plate, or even a soup or salad bright and vibrant - just for putting a little flower on it!

But, here is a little-known fact (at least to me, before Deb pointed it out at dinner last night): The stem that has the flower is NOT good for eating.  It's quite stiff, and while having some of the flavor you'd expect from Chives, the texture is not pleasant at all.  When harvesting, do NOT cut off the flowers, and then cut out swaths of your chives, as you will then have to pick out these stiffer stems later on!

Glowing Green Cilantro

Next up in our early garden tour is Cilantro.  While we are still looking at plants in early June this year that are just a few weeks beyond sprouting, you can still harvest plenty of greens from these plants for any sized dish.  We only have a section that is about 18" x 24", but it produces dozens of plants that give us far more than we could eat.  This is just another reason why our visitors love stopping by at this time of the year - bonus produce that they get handed when they leave.

Cilantro is another plant that you only have a few weeks to harvest before they bolt.  We tend to harvest about half of our crop, letting the rest become Coriander.  Does the plant morph into yet something else?

Nope - it's just a fancy word for the seeds produced by this plant.  When dried, the seeds can be ground into a powder that is more familiar to the average home cook.  We did this in 2009, and the seeds from that season were still germinating quite well (as evidenced by the photo).  If this continues, I'd estimate we produced enough seeds to last us 5 years.

Last on our tour is Broccoli.  Yes, you guessed it, this too is an early-bolter, and you have to watch it carefully.  When planted early enough, heads can get very large in May if you plant in late March and have a lucky spring.  For the rest of us, getting planted in late April or early May is more likely, and that June heat is the threat.

When you are eating Brocolli, did you know that you are actually eating the flowers?

Well, since the flowers eventually produce seeds, it's important to harvest before the flowers open up, as they no longer resemble tight clusters that we call heads.  Instead, they stretch out, become stringy, and lose their flavor.  To ensure that you are getting them at their peak, it's important to judge where they are in this process vs. waiting for them to get to a specific size - as you can often miss harvesting in time by just 2-3 days.

Our Broccoli is off to a good start, but I am frankly hoping that June cools off a bit (our 10-day forecast is favoring this) so that they can mature enough to produce big heads.

Once the plants create their main central head, it's pretty much over for them for the season.  We did have one crop back in 2001 that kept producing decent sized heads after the main center one was done, but that was a fall crop that benefited from a late frost that didn't come till Thanksgiving.  In most cases, once you harvest the center head, you might as well cut down the whole plant.  We generally do this by July, and then replant either Broccoli or another fall crop for the 2nd half of the gardening season.

In the coming weeks, we should see many more veggies (and BERRIES!) mature and become edible.  I hope to hear from some of you about how your gardens are going so far, and what you've been able to eat!

Finegardening.com: How to Grow Raspberries

A friend sent me this article today, and it is full of detailed advice for creating a great raspberry garden.  After reading it, I am hoping that we have adequately planned for our soil needs, watering needs, and overall space for them in our design.

by Darlene White

"Select an everbearing variety, practice a few trellising and pruning tricks, and pick berries from July through fall

You may think the sheer gustatory pleasure of wolfing down ripe, juicy raspberries, whose flavor explodes in your mouth, is reason enough to grow them. Well, think again. Raspberries are not just another tasty berry; they are loaded with healthful attributes. They're high in fiber and contain vitamin A, folate, antioxidants, and numerous minerals; the juice contains vitamin C; and those sometimes-annoying little seeds contain vitamin E. And, of course, if you have a raspberry patch, you have endless dessert possibilities."

Read the rest of the article by clicking here!

Jason & Julie's Peaceful Diesel Garden Gets Built!

Garden area after tilling

It was very exciting to see Jason & Julie's garden convert from the planning to building stage last week.  Both had busy schedules, and the weather in Colorado this May has been more like late winter than mid-Spring.  But, they overcame the challenges, and on May 22, got the planters installed in their garden.

Let's first review the space they were building this garden into.  It is an open corner of their expansive yard, with a triangular shape.  It has plenty of Southern exposure, but trees and shrubs to the North and West will give planters near their fence some relief from the late afternoon sun.

Jason and I had a last-minute conversation to confirm the construction methods and ideology of my 2x12 and 4x4 design, and sourced the materials from Home Depot.  In addition, because their design was not focused on custom dimensions aligning planters with each other, or any mitered angles, they were able to give a cut list to the people at Home Depot.

As a result, the on-site project didn't include milling of the wood, and didn't require renting a trailer or truck to get the materials to their site.  It essentially came down to an assembly project.

The whole family helped with assembly

Posts secured by digging holes into the soil

The Simpson Strong Tie A34 angles were used to hold the 4x4s together, and as you can see from the photos to the left, it only required one person to hold the board to get the boards to be fastened to each other squarely.

The photos also show a design aspect that Jason and I discussed before the final dimensions were given to Home Depot - whether or not to secure the posts by digging holes.  Obviously, with the extra material sticking out the bottom of the frames, the decision was to secure them.  But, I should give a not to the notion that these planters will eventually be filled with hundreds of pounds of soil - they aren't going to blow away in the wind under any circumstances.

One of the challenges, however, with Colorado's notorious clay soils is that they react strongly to moisture.  They can be as hard as concrete when dry, but once there is enough moisture, the soil tends to swell, with some interesting consequences.  Without getting too bogged down on this point, suffice it to say that the soil has the ability to move even heavy objects - like your house.

While the original planters in The OctoGarden are actually sitting on top of the soil, leveled by adding wood underneath the corner posts, the bean/cucumber trellis, and the new Berry Garden have all adopted the technique of securing the corner posts into the ground.  It's certainly something that leads to a cleaner overall look once the planter is in place, and gives me confidence that the soils won't allow the boxes to move around much, even in the presence of excess moisture.

Another forward-thinking element of this garden design is the high corner posts.  At first, I sent a message to Jason asking if they were there to allow for throwing tarps over the planters when hail storms come.  Colorado is also notorious for storms that can lay waste to your garden in a matter of minutes.  We learned the first season, with 5 major hailstorms, that you need something solid to put a tarp over a planter so that the plants beneath don't get crushed by the weight of the tarp, particularly if rain or hail accumulates on top.

But, no, the actual reason was for future expansion.  Jason and Julie wanted to make sure that they were able to get their crops in this season, but eventually want to expand the planters to be taller.  The corner posts are then in place to hold the next level of 2x12, when they want to get to that project.  As Jason and I have discussed, taller planters are much easier on the back, and put the plants at eye level for tending throughout the season.



Their forward-thinking isn't limited to just the vertical changes they will make in coming years, but also in terms of the layout of the planters themselves.  Knowing how to live within your budget doesn't mean you can't plan for the ultimate.  For this year, they wanted to get installed as many planters as they could afford, but in future years, they will add additional planters.  When we first discussed the layout, one of my suggestions was to fill the garden in from the back, and leave the area closer to the house open for future development.  That way, the existing garden doesn't interfere with access to the next construction project.

In the end, they followed the triangular shape of the back corner of the yard, and oriented the boxes so that there would be a sitting area in the back corner.  I think one of the the elements of garden design that is often overlooked is the place for the humans (and cats and dogs!) to sit and enjoy their surroundings.  Having a bench, or a place to put chairs is something that is often forgotten, and as a result, most people just have walk-through tours with those they want to impress.  They forget that a garden needs lots of work, and those hours spent working need break-times.  What better place to take a break from your labors than in the garden you've created.

The planter alignment creates a sitting area

The design they have used also takes into account the need for accessing the boxes from all sides for planting, weeding, and picking.  These are fairly large boxes overall, and as a result, getting to the center will require reaching from the longer sides.  Note that the space between these planters is large enough to get a cart or wheel barrow between - something very important when you will be needing to transport thousands of pounds of soil into these planters!

Last but not least, I wanted to mention something that is often overlooked in garden design - art.  While the design itself is clearly part of the artistic endeavor, sprinkling a garden with art objects is always recommended.  And, for many, having a protector to watch over the garden while you are looking away is peace for the soul.  While a gargoyle may not be as effective on squirrels looking to feast on your fruits and veggies, you can always add one of those owls to do that job.

The garden protector

Hardening Off Seedlings to Avoid the Dangers of Late Spring

So, now that we are safely in June, I can confidently say that I believe that we are well beyond days with highs in the 50s.  And, I can only pray we've seen the last of lows in the 30s for a few months.

"Before": The peppers looked SO good planted on 5/17

I felt pretty good the last week of March, with several weeks of warm temperatures, it seemed that April and May would make it feel like an extended spring.  Instead, it was one of the coldest and rainiest Springs we have had in Northern Colorado since we moved here in 2000.  And, it took it's tole on our early garden.

"After"

This was the first year in in 11 years we had successfully grown plants from seed indoors, and had them reach a size that was able to be transplanted outdoors.  Usually, we blow it from sprouting to the first transplant, letting the plant get too stringy to survive.  But this time, we had a nice tray of about 24 peppers that got planted in mid-May that just didn't have the strength to survive.

This didn't need to happen.

Deb kept harping on me to "harden off" the plants, but I insisted.  My motivations were good.  I wanted to make sure that we got the plants in the ground early enough to mature before it was late September.  This is a problem we have had in the past.

But, here is the flaw in my logic - their time to maturity is kind of programmed in.  Whether they are still getting light indoors, in a greenhouse, or whether they are planted in their permanent spot outdoors, they are still on the same schedule.  Rushing them into the ground, no matter how strong they looked, was a big mistake.  When we buy at the farmer's market, or from our local organic grower, they've done this work for us.

Pepperocini was our pride variety this year.

I kept watching the 10-day forecast from May 1 on forward, and it was perpetually 5 days until the good weather arrived.  After two or three of these storms just followed on each other's heels, it was kind of like playing black or red in roulette - if you see a streak, sooner or later you get confidence that the next one HAS to break the pattern.  And, like roulette, you can bet and lose the greenhouse with this logic.

It was the 17th of May, and while the first half of May had been quite chilly, with most days struggling to get above 60 degrees, the 10-day forecast showed that by Friday the 20th, it was going to be in the 70s and 80s for the rest of the forecast.  The Wednesday and Thursday were going to be rainy, and probably more of the same temperatures.

In reality, it rained about 5 inches in 2 days, and the temperatures were mostly in the 40s - just barely peeking into the low 50s for a couple hours each day.


The poor peppers were being drowned and over-chilled.  As a result, they whithered up the first sunny day, and it was over without a chance.  These kinds of moments are gardening's punch in the gut.  The time and energy, not to mention the emotions you put into caring for these plants since they sprouted, all feels like a personal loss.  And, it's one of the reasons some choose to give up, and not garden again.

The Killing Field of Pepper Sadness

This is why you have to grow in larger numbers, and hope that your best season results in you giving away your extras, and not having to use them.  When you multiply seeds in your original sowing, you are rarely even adding a penny per seed.  So, the cost is nil.  And, when tending to them, assuming space is not at a premium, it takes about the same amount of time to water them.  The first transplant into a 2x2 container takes some time, but that's about the only additional time.

In our case, I have a second batch of peppers that are in their tray, and since they are the last of this year's crop, I am taking the advice to harden them off for a week or more before putting them in the ground.  But, because I didn't grow quite enough, we may have to get some peppers from the store.

Hardening Off Veggies the right way

The good news is that in Tomato Land, we have had 100% success with our seedlings, and we are going to be giving a few away.  We are going to try a Flambeau Gardens upside down patio planter with 4 plants - on the front porch!

Flambeau Gardens
 Upside Down Patio Planter