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At the end of the growing season, garden cleanup, lawn renovation, and leaf gathering provide excellent opportunities to add organic materials to garden soil without the time and space of composting. You can add organic materials, till them in, and compost the organic materials right there in the soil. In a few weeks, repeat the process. Continue this into late November or early December when soils usually start to freeze.
For best results, finely chop or shred organic materials by running them through a lawnmower and catching them in the bag. No shredding is necessary for finely textured materials such as lawn renovation residue, but coarse leaves or garden refuse needs to be shredded.
Add organic materials to a depth of about 3 inches and till the area well with a rototiller. Make sure soil is not excessively wet when you till. With the warm soils we have now, decomposition will begin to occur in just a few days. In about 2 weeks you can repeat the process by adding more organic materials. (CWM)
Sweet potatoes are a warm-season vegetable that do not tolerate freezing temperatures. As long as the weather remains warm, sweet potatoes will continue to grow. They do not become 'tough', woody, or inedible when they get large, so the longer you can let them grow, the more sweet potatoes you can harvest. Dig them when the first frost is forecast or when the vines turn black after the first freeze. Do not leave them outside and exposed to cold temperatures. Sweet potatoes need to be kept above 50 degrees at all times.
Immediately after digging, sweet potatoes have a starchy flavor. Surface scratches from digging make the potatoes vulnerable to rotting. Curing is a process that encourages sweet potatoes to form a second skin that heals damage spots and makes them resistant to rots. Curing also converts starches to sugars and improves flavor dramatically. Curing is done by placing the sweet potatoes in a warm, humid place for 5-7 days after digging. A temperature of 85-90 degrees is preferred. Place them in a small closet or enclosed area with a 'space heater' and use damp towels or pans of water to make the area humid. The warmer the temperature, the shorter the curing time needed. Immediately after curing, reduce temperature to 50-55 degrees for long-term storage. (CWM)
When you carve a pumpkin, you eliminate other uses and reduce it's 'life-span' to about a week because it dries out quickly around cut surfaces. And carving pumpkins is dangerous- especially for younger children. An alternative is to paint pumpkins with brightly colored paints. This way the pumpkin can be used later and is kept fresh for the entire fall season. Your local art supply store has a variety of painting materials available. Many newer pumpkin varieties have been developed with smooth surfaces that are especially good for painting. (CWM)
With proper care, amaryllis will bloom year after year. Bring the pot in before the first frost and place in a dark ocation. Withhold water so leaves have a chance to dry completely. Then cut them off close to the top of the bulb. Amaryllis needs to rest for at least a month before the plant is started back into growth. It takes an additional six to eight weeks for the plant to flower.
When you are ready for amaryllis to resume growth, water thoroughly and place the plant in a warm, sunny location. Do not water again until the roots are well developed because bulb rot is a concern. Amaryllis needs temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees during the period before flowering. Higher temperatures can weaken leaves. The flower bud may start to appear right away or the plant may remain dormant for a period of time, but eventually all mature bulbs do bloom if they have been given proper care during the growing season. Keep the plant in a cool location and out of direct sunlight when the flower buds begin to show color so that the flowers last longer. Amaryllis can remain in bloom for about a month. (WU)
Black walnuts are ready to be harvested when the hull can be dented with your thumb. You can also wait until the nuts start falling from the tree. Either way it is important to hull the walnuts soon after harvest. If not removed, the hull will leach a stain through the nut and into the meat. The stain will not only discolor the meats but also give them an off flavor.
Hull walnuts by running them through a corn sheller or pounding each nut through a hole in a board. The hole must be big enough for the nut but smaller than the hull. Wash hulled nuts by spreading them out on the lawn or on a wire mesh and spraying them with water or placing them in a tub of water. If you place them in a tub, the good nuts should sink. Those that float are probably not well-filled with kernels. Next, dry the nuts by spreading them in layers no more than three deep in a cool, shady and dry place such as a garage or tool shed. Drying normally takes two weeks. (WU)
Contributors:
Ward Upham, Extension Associate; Chuck Marr, Vegetables
Horticulture 2006 E-mail Subscription
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