News and Happenings
A Rainbow of Beets
Gardening Book Reviews and Amazon Links
What About Our Pollinators?
Question of the Week: Defining Shade
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New and Happening at NationalGardening.com
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First Harvest
For June, the NationalGardening.com homepage celebrates the first
harvest. For gardeners who’ve been eating vegetables from the grocery
store all winter, this event is as anticipated as is Christmas to a child.
Early beets are the foundation of the coming cornucopia. Their sweet,
crisp, and spicy accents make them a boon in the kitchen, as does their
high nutrient content. If that weren't enough, the color of beets—various
shades of burgundy red, red and white stripes, even golden—dress up any
dish of which they are a part. Beets are easy to grow if your soil is
loose and fertile. You can plant varieties with staggered maturation dates,
and harvest all season long. It seems odd in a way that the most beautiful
parts of these plants are underground. But that just makes harvest more
like unearthing buried treasure.
Be a Beet Meister
Fresh home garden beets are a flavor delight well beyond anything you
can buy. For a quick-maturing and nutritious vegetable, you simply
can't beat beets.
http://www.nationalgardening.com/articles/scripts/articles.taf?id=540
After harvest, how should you use them? Some ideas:
Beets, barbecue style
http://www.nationalgardening.com/articles/scripts/articles.taf?id=1419
Baked beets
http://www.nationalgardening.com/articles/scripts/articles.taf?id=1428
Borscht
http://www.nationalgardening.com/articles/scripts/articles.taf?id=1548
Summer Beet Salad
http://www.nationalgardening.com/articles/scripts/articles.taf?id=1552
Here in Vermont we start sowing beet seeds about a month before the last
frost, meaning late April or early May. That's because beets grow well in
cool temperatures and seedlings can easily handle a light frost. We sow
again every three to four weeks into mid summer and harvest fresh beets
into fall. In the South and mild winter West, sow in February and March,
then again in October and November.
Purchase beet seeds from mySEASONS here:
http://www.nationalgardening.com/gardenwire/beet.html
New Regional Reports
It doesn't get any better than this—spring, that is. Now is the absolute
height of the gardening season. If you’re curious about what's happening
in the gardens of your regional reporter, now's the time to find out.
All 14 of the new reports were posted Thursday, May 24. Go to
http://www.nationalgardening.com/regional/
Seed Swap
Now that your garden is planted—or very nearly so—consider sharing your
leftover seeds with others. Go to
http://www.nationalgardening.com/seedswap/
In the previous issue of GardenWire we told you about our "new books"
page. We've reviewed more new books, and added easy shopping links
to Amazon.com. Check it out at
http://www.nationalgardening.com/special/newbooks/
What About Our Pollinators?
===========================
Our honeybees are dying. Parasitic mites and honeybee diseases have
devastated domestic hives and wild colonies. But other serious threats
to honeybees include habitat destruction and pesticides. These are more
insidious because the harm they cause seems beyond anyone's control.
In years past, most of the honeybees in your garden were wild ones,
but today, odds are the honeybees you see belong to a beekeeper. To
ensure optimum pollination of your crops—and to harvest a crop of
honey—consider keeping a beehive or two yourself.
Keeping Honeybees
http://www.nationalgardening.com/articles/scripts/articles.taf?id=804
The attention given the besieged honeybee has spurred a new awareness of
hardy wild bees. Wild bees in your garden might include the carpenter bee,
bumblebee, squash bee, leafcutter bee, mason bee, sweat bee, alkali bee,
and mining bee. Whether you are aware of them or not, they are there,
and more often these days are responsible for the majority of crop
pollination. See…
The Other Pollinators
http://www.nationalgardening.com/articles/scripts/articles.taf?id=73
What can you do to ensure good pollination of your garden crops? First,
use pest control materials and methods that are not harmful to bees,
then do what you can to encourage wild pollinators. Bury flowerpots
upside down in the corners of your garden to attract and protect
bumblebees. Drill blocks of wood with 5/16-inch diameter holes, 3 to 6
inches deep, and ¾-inch apart. Secured in a protected location,
these bee blocks make an inviting site for leafcutter and mason bees
to set up housekeeping.
Ready-made homes for solitary bees are also available. See
http://www.nationalgardening.com/gardenwire/beecondo.html
Question of the Week
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Q: How are the terms Full Sun, Partial Shade, and Shade defined?
-- Bettendorf, IA
A: Here are some rough guidelines for the different levels of light
exposure. Full sun usually means full sun all day long, or for at least
6 or 7 hours a day including the afternoon. Partial shade includes full
morning sun or perhaps dappled light all day, or the bright but diffuse
light on the north side of a building. Shade refers to truly shady areas
that receive only reflected light all day from trees, shrubs, or structures
blocking light from several directions. Such definitions should be used as
a place to start, since your plants' response to growing conditions provide
the only real definition of what is enough light. Success in the garden
comes from experience, so be prepared to experiment!
We have answers to 25,000 gardening questions. Find the one you've
been looking for...
http://nationalgardening.com/qanda/
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