February Planting, Frost, Hail and Fertilizer

Dear Folks,

FEBRUARY PLANTING:
[Pictured: Poor Man's Cloche]

VEGETABLES, FRUITS & HERBS TO PLANT

Artichoke; Asparagus; Basil; Bay; Bean, Lima; Beets; Bok Choy; Cantaloupe; Carrots; Chard; Citrus Scented Marigold (Tagetes Nelsonii); Collards; Corn; Cucumbers; Epazote; Fruit Trees; Jerusalem Artichoke; Lavender; Lettuce & Greens; Marigold; Marjoram; Melon, Musk Melon; Melon, Winter; Mint; Mustard; Onion, Sets; Onions, Green; Oregano; Peas; Peppers; Potatoes; Purslane; Radishes; Sage; Savory; Spinach; Squash, Summer; Strawberry; Thyme; Tomatoes; Turnips; Watermelon

EDIBLE FLOWERS TO PLANT:

Bee Balm (Monarda Didyma); English Daisy ; Hollyhock; Jasmine Sambac (Arabian); Pansies; Primrose; Purslane; Safflower; Scented Geraniums; Snapdragons; Sunflower; Sweet Alyssum; Tangerine Scented Marigold (Tagetes Lemonii)

Frost/Freeze:  Average last frost day is approximately February 15th, however frost and hail has been seen as late as the second week in March.  It is best to have your frost covers handy.

GARDEN TIPS for February

February is the transition time for the garden from Winter to Spring sowing, transplanting and harvesting.

There is still time to get a last batch of carrots, sugarpeas, lettuces and similar in the ground. Choosing short maturity varieties, particularly of the root veggies, will give you more harvesting success as the weather jumps to heat in a couple of months.

February is also the time to start your warm season plants like tomatoes, basil and peppers, to name a few.  But they may need some initial frost protection.  Keep in mind that they may actually stop growing if there is a cold day or several, which chills the soil.  Then they resume when the soil heats back up (an interesting phenomenon I finally caught on to several years ago).

The weird weather of the last couple of years in February/March with high temps followed by overnight chill/freeze (Global Weirding as Karis over at the Valley Permaculture Alliance put it so well), makes for some required diligence in the garden in February and March.  It pays to remain more mindful of what the weather will be rather than just sow and try to grow.

February is the end of the primary perennial best planting time in the valley (October - February).  What this means is that to ensure the best success for your perennials like rosemary, oregano and fruit trees, it is best to have them in the ground before the end of February and the beginning of our temperature increases.

New to-the-valley residents can be surprised by the common spring joke of "when is spring here?" and the answer is "do you remember that period in early March when it was about 78-83 or so degrees for about 2 weeks? - that was it!"

This of course is due to the sudden rise of temperatures from balmy mid 70s in late February / early March to the 90s by April 1st (or higher - we have had the rare 100+ degree days in late March or early April).

The plants just can't take the stress of dealing with putting down roots while the temperatures soar into the 90+ range in just a few short weeks.

Fertilize fruit trees now -- Use Valentine's day as the target -- (and again in late May (Memorial Day) and early September (Labor Day).
    Pecan trees need zinc sulfate, applied at the rate of 1 pound per trunk inch width.


ABOUT FROST
    The last frost date averages around February 15th, although we have had frost as late as March 1st or 2nd (usually the result of a late winter storm with hail).
    Frost in the Valley at the 1100 or lower elevations is usually limited to ‘soft frost’ where simple sheets or paper placed over sensitive plants (or moving potted plants beneath patios or trees) is sufficient to protect them. Hard/Killing frosts are rare particularly in February/March.
    For every 1000 feet over 1100 in elevation the last frost day is moved back 10 days and the possibility of hard (killing) frosts starts to occur.  At 2000 feet or lower, this is still a rare occurrence.
    Getting your edible seedlings in the ground as early as possible provides longer-produce seasons - especially with plants like tomatoes.
    Use homemade 'cloche' covers to protect seedlings -- cut the bottom of gallon milk containers or 2 liter soda bottles - clean very well to avoid mold -- place over plants each night until frost danger is past, remove during the day, or if you need to be gone for several days remove the cap to allow excess heat and humidity to escape.
    How do you know if we are finished with frost?  There are some examples in nature, but you still need to be prepared to cover sensitive plants through the 2nd week in March.
        a. Ant activity in the garden indicates the soil has warmed up sufficiently for them to start gathering food again.
        b. If the mesquite trees have started to bud out, it is unlikely to frost after that
        c. Be aware that a warm storm can contain some hail through March.

HAIL
    Here in the Valley we can have Hail on an expected basis in Spring, early Summer and Fall.
    The perfect conditions for Hail are warm OR WARMING soil, cool air mass coming in AND wind.

    February and March have the perfect combination of warming soil and a cool system moving in.  If you add wind you will generally get hail.
    So, while actual frost may not happen keep your frost protection covers and jugs handy in the event of hail to safeguard your new seedlings and transplants.

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

My calendar can keep you on track for planting veggies, fruits, herbs and edible flowers at the right time through out the year. http://www.herbs2u.net/gardening.html

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The Great Caper Caper Update aka Growing Capers in the Desert

Dear Folks,

If you love capers, hopefully you have been following my updates on the Great Caper Caper Mystery aka how to successfully germinate seed and grow caper plants in the desert.

The prior post on the project is here.

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Suzanne Vilardi and I started this about 3+ years ago and we have been successful in our goals.  Growing a mother plant, harvesting seed, germinating seed and growing young plants.

Fast forward to this spring and summer when I planted some of Suzanne's first generation plants in various locations in my gardens to trial where they do best.

The good news is they did outstanding in full sun with minimal watering after they were established.

The bad news is this was THE year of the flea beetle which thrived in the soil because of our mild winter last year.

FYI - this year's cold winter should inhibit their activity in our gardens.  Purchase neem sprays or you can try BT powder if you see activity in the spring and summer.  STAY on it by doing daily bug inspection particularly around the broccoli family plants and greens like arugula (my arugula looked terrible until the invasion was over - then I pruned it back and new growth was delicious).  These pest are active at night and early morning hours before the sun hits the plants.

Established plants weather the infestations okay, but a young plant can struggle or die.

July, September, December, 2015

In the picture I show the healthiest of the young plants just going to town in July, then being attacked in September and what the poor thing looked like on December 31, 2015.  I have hopes of the plant making it through to spring - we will see and I will keep you posted.  I did try both BT and Neem Spray, but the infestation was too quick to try and keep up with the beetles - and they fly so you have to be really good at catching them in the sprays.  The BT is probably more helpful if you can target the plants when the weather is dry.  I had less success because the pests came out when we were getting some monsoon rain and it just washed the BT off. almost immediately.

I was particularly excited about this planting area because 1) it is in FULL sun, and 2) during the summer, after it got established, it was ONLY watered once a week (deep watering for about 2 hours), except for the summer rains, which are always hit and miss.  This area is also slightly recessed (the best way to set up gardens in the desert) so all moisture was held in the beds.

The Other Transplants and The Mother Plant

4 other plants did not make it past the first month or two after transplanting in April and it was just one of those things.  Not enough sun or the soil stayed too wet.  Capers are high drainage Mediterranean plants which love growing out of rock crevices in full hot sun.

The two other thriving transplants are in a more typical garden set up some folks may be using.  An established area with over head trees BUT with a West and South facing orientation, which means they got a lot of sun during the day, but were aided by a lot of duff mulch on the soils surface.  They are just under the drip line of the tree canopy.  This entire area, including trees was sprinkler watered every 2 days for an hour during the summer   Don't be mislead by the hour aspect sprinkler watering works but distributes the water over a larger area not focused only on the root system.

The Mother plant has been thriving for about 3+ years in a North West exposure, in the same duff/mulch conditions and has just loved it there.

On December 31, 2015, the Mother plant is now about 6 feet across and the two youngsters are 2 and 2.5 feet (the plant in between them is an artichoke).  The center picture in the collage is one of the young plants in July at about 7 inches tall.

This past fall I again supplied Suzanne with fresh harvested seeds and she just reported some spouting activity.

We have a facebook group page on the project.  It is a closed group you can ask to join.  We check for trolls before accepting group participants, so you can comfortably participate on the group once you are accepted.

Check out the facebook page devoted to this.

I am so happy this project has succeeded.  Perhaps one of the local farmers may choose to grow capers in the desert for commercial harvesting and it would be do in no small part to Suzanne's asking me about 4 years ago if I wanted to try and see if I could get a plant or two to grow - happily - here in the desert.

THANK YOU, Suzanne Vilardi  (Vilardi Gardens on Facebook) for asking and trusting me to partner with you on this - it has been a fun experiment that succeeded.

We expect plants to be for sale in late spring through Vilardi Gardens.

GARDENING

Through the rain.

This series of storms is just dumping a LOT of water on the valley and it is both an opportunity and a benefit (hopefully no flooding).  We are going to save at least a month's worth of watering bill because we turned off all of our auto watering features AND the property is totally bermed except for a small driveway, so we can capture up to 3 inches of standing water (and there was standing water in some of the gardens yesterday) before the berms over-flow.

SOW after the rains have finished otherwise you risk them being washed away.

PLANT  before or during rains because it helps the soil seal well around the plants.  If the plants are small cover with a poor man's cloche (gallon plastic jugs with the bottom cut off) to keep the tender growth from being pounded, but still taking advantage of the rain.

Seasonal Planting

Sowing and planting here in the desert is all about timing for best success.  We are at the end of the winter sowing and planting and getting into the beginning of spring sowing and planting.

That means you can still plant sugar peas, carrots, beets, lettuces and similar short maturity vegetables, along with bare root strawberries and asparagus, but you can start tomatoes, peppers, basil, eggplant and similar warm weather lovers inside for transplanting out on February 1st (using the cloche for the last few frost night protection.

My gardening wall calendar provides month by month planting info, gardening tips and maintenance help and, while dated, can be used as a perpetual reference - with pretty pictures from my gardens :-)

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-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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