84-Lanct»ty Farming, Saturday, Octobar 7, 1995
I’m confused. But then, as my
family would probably tell you, it
doesn’t take much...
For the umpteenth time in the
last two months, fallen leaves are
piling up around the house.
They’ve been tumbling for weeks
now, ever since the Sahara-Desert
weather set in back there in
August. Raking leaves? In
August? And, they didn’t turn gol
den yellow like our maple leaves
normally do in late October—just
shriveled up and plopped to the
ground. Heat stroke, no doubt.
By mid-September, we went
digging under an accumulation of
those sickly-looking leaves for a
few leftover pieces of firewood.
An early start-up of the woodstove
was needed when overnight temp
eratures shivered down to the low
forties. Our shaded, dampness
prone, brick house took on all the
welcoming warmth and coziness
of a cave.
A couple of days and a half
inch of rain later, the lawn was
greasing up like it does in April.
And the drought-victim lawn
mower, out of use so long it’s
slow-leak tire had gone totally
flat. Before tending to the tire, The
Farmer dumped the load of fire
wood he had hauled in from the
woods on the front-end loader
tractor, against continuing hints of
near-frosty mornings.
My pansy seedlings are sturdy
and thrifty, the young geraniums
started from seed have just begun
to bloom, a small row of string
beans is full of blossoms—and the
tomato plants have cheefully
pushed out a whole new genera
tion of growth. And I’m potting up
all sorts of little surprise volunteer
seedlings turning up around the
flower beds, like impatiens and
wax begonias.
Is it fall that looks like spring,
or spring when the calendar says
fall? I’m not the only one
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-MAL
confused.
A few weeks ago, our dwin
dling guinea flock (two) tripled
when a friend donated four of the
noisy birds residing on his farm.
However, his four newcomers and
our two long-time residents
shunned associating with each
other. Birds of a feather do not
always flock together—regardless
of what you’ve heard.
Our two long-timers hang out
around the house and calf bams,
screaming and screeching their
way to roost in the old bam every
evening about calf-feeding time—
so they’re easy to track. The four
new guineas, however, are more
shy. They homesteaded around
the tall, grassy a;eas near the pas
ture pond, and manure lagoon. I
rarely saw them.
But apparently, they’re con
fused by what season it is, too.
Three weeks ago, they collective
ly hatched out more than a dozen
chicks. Chicks? In September?
Guineas normally hatch in early
summer.
“Have you seen the guinea
chicks lately?” asked The Farmer
about a week after the reported
hatch. Pact was. I hadn’t seen
them at all. just heard about them.
“The foxes must be at it again,”
he guessed. Just a few weeks
before. I’d watched two beautiful
foxes hunt through a newly-cut
hayfield .below the house, on a
bright, sun-washed morning. Bra
zen foxes have come right into the
back yard more than once to snag
a nesting guinea mother and her
babies.
But a few days later, he spied
the flock of IS brown-stiped,
orange-legged chicks and three
guarding adults, scratching around
on the dirt field road. The one
guinea still missing we speculated
might be standing tight some
where on another nest.
Yesterday, I discovered a hand-
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COLLEGEVHJLE (Montgom
ery Co.)—There are quite a few
herbs we enjoy growing that are
considered tender perennials
which means in plain English that
they will not overwinter. Herbs
-such as sweet marjoram, scented
geraniums, lemon verbena, coris
ca mint, lemon grass, pineapple
sage and rosemary are a few of the
“tender” perennial herbs that need
to be repotted or dug from the gar
den and brought in for the winter.
If the herb was planted in the gar
den, cut back the root system as
well as the top by about one-third
so that there will be minimal
shock when bringing it inside.
COLLEGEVILLE (Montgom
ery Co.) —Although trees and
shrubs can be successfully planted
just about anytime if done correct
ly, planting in the fall gives the
plants certain advantages. When
trees and shrubs are planted in the
fall, the roots are able to begin to
become established without a lot
of demand from the tree canopy
for water and nutrients. Woody
plants are not putting on growth
above, but sending manufactured
carbohydrates down to the roots
for winter storage. The roots will
continue growth until the ground
freezes much later in the season.
Thus the roots get off to a good
start before the demand of new
spring growth is upon them.
Many of the tree-planting tech
niques practiced in the past have
been found to be detrimental to
tree health. Deep, highly amended
planting holes have resulted in
sunken plants with trapped roots,
leading to early decline of the tree.
Current recommended practices
include a planting hole that is wide
as opposed to deep—with a mini
mum of 3 times the diameter of
the rootball; loosening and mixing
existing soil without adding
amendments; setting the tree on
solid ground in the center of the
planting hole at the same depth as
ful of guinea feathers scattered
under the wash line, barely 20 feel
from the house. Reminding us
again that, while the goofy weath
er confuses us, there is only one
season when it comes to fox and
fowl.
Hunting. r
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Herbs Before Frost
When you cut back the herb to
bring inside try making stem cut
tings about 2 to 4 inches long so
that you have something to fall
back on if the mother plant doesn’t
survive. Make a stem cutting by
cutting about 1/4 inch below a
node (where the leaves are
attached to the stem). It is sug
gested to use a rooting hormone
with a fungicide added because it
encourages quicker rooting, a
healthier root system and it helps
you sleep better nights knowing
you done your best When repot
ting your herbs, choose a contain
er only slightly bigger than the
root system and use a sterile, soil-
it was planted in the nursery, or, in
the case of heavy, clay soils, an
inch or two above the soil line. In
this case, build up the soil to the
root collar. Apply two to four
inches of mulch to cover the entire
prepared area. Do not put mulch
within 6-8 inches of die tree trunk.
Water newly planted trees once a
week, thoroughly soaking the
Fall Garden Clean-Up
COLLEGEVELLE (Montgom
ery Co.) —After seeking that last
bit of production out of the veget
able garden, don’t forget to do
those last few chores that will
make getting started again next
year somewhat easier. Remove
any diseased plant material from
the garden. Most disease organ
isms overwinter quite nicely on
garden debris and if left and tilled
in will provide plenty of innocu
lum for next year’s crop. Can dis
eased plant material be corti
posted? If you maintain a hotWW
post, most disease organisms will
be killed. The compost should
reach a temperature of 140
degrees F in order to accomplish
this. Clean plant debris may be left
in the garden and tilled in to
organic matter in the soil.
A rough fall tilling is often a good
idea. Winter freezing and thawing
action will break down the large
soil clods somewhat. Fall tilling
also allows for better drainage and
is helpful in getting into the gar
den a little earlier in the spring fol
less mix instead of garden soil.
Often, herbs brought inside suf
fer from inadequate light, high
.home temperatures and low
humidity. To remedy this prob
lem, consider growing your herbs
under florescent lights that you
have put on a timer for 12-16
hours of light per day. Rosemary
is a very difficult herb to over
winter because it needs cool temp
eratures and is unforgiving if you
forget to water it. Most homes
during the winter months are too
warm, the humidity is too low and
the light is minimal; so growing
under lights is a very desirable
option.
entire planting area.
Remove any trunk wrapping or
protective tape, unless the tree’s
bark has been broken or disturbed
Only if needed stake the tree with
a flexible wood or metal stake so it
can bend with the wind. Use a
small section of rubber inner tube
to hold the tree for the first six
months.
lowing the snow melt.
This is also a perfect time to
have your garden soil tested. A
soil test will show you exactly
what nutrients need to be added to
your garden, and adding them in
the fall allows the nutrients to be
fully incorporated Soil test kits
can be purchased at your county
cooperative extension office.