- Author: Alison Collin
Reading books about pioneer families I noticed that ground cherry pie often played an important role in fall festivities. Priding myself as a "fruitarian" I was surprised that here was a fruit I had never seen or tasted. That had to be rectified!
Ground cherries belong to the genus Physalis and are closely related to Cape gooseberries (Physalis peruviana) and tomatillos (Physalis ixocarpa) which they resemble. Many Physalis species are described as ground cherries, but I chose to grow one particular variety — Physalis pubescens var 'Pineapple' — since it was said to have a superior flavor. Two other highly recommended varieties are “Aunt Mollie” and “Goldie” which are said to have good flavor and are a little larger than “Pineapple”.
I sowed the seeds indoors six weeks before the last expected frost and had no trouble germinating or transplanting them. The plants grew slowly at first but more rapidly once soil temperatures had warmed up. At this point the foliage became laced with tiny holes which looked consistent with flea beetle damage. I used some insecticidal soap with little affect before deciding to let them take their chance without any further intervention. The plants quickly developed into a lax, multi-branched, 18-inch high, sprawling shrub with many of the stems running along the ground. Numerous tiny yellow flowers developed into husk covered fruits. None of them approached the promised ½-inch diameter but were more like the size of a large green pea. Toward the end of the season the husks turned brown and the fruits inside became bright yellow/orange before dropping to the ground. Harvesting was accomplished by raking up the fallen fruits.
Unlike tomatillos, the bottom of the fruit does not protrude through the husk, so there is no way of telling if the fruit is ripe until the husk has been removed. Green fruits should not be eaten since they contain a toxic alkaloid. There are numerous very tiny seeds inside the fruit, and occasionally this can give the impression of eating grit! The flavor is hard to describe, but ripe fruits are sweet, pleasant to eat out of hand and add interest to fruit salads, but they really come into their own for making preserves since they produce a wonderful, unique-flavored jelly or jam. One great advantage of ground cherries is that they have a tremendous shelf life, and can hold for up to 3 months if left in their husks and stored in a cool place.
It was four years ago that I planted my first crop and although I was not smitten by this fruit and had no intention of growing it again, it has volunteered in my garden ever since, so I usually leave a couple of plants to mature and welcome the change of flavor from the eternal grapes and pears!
You can find ground cherry seeds in many gardening catalogues.
It's now been more than three months since I wrote the “Test of the Removal of Lawn
and Use of Newspaper to Eliminate Remaining Grass” - published June 3, 2015 - so an update is long overdue. As the summer and growing seasons end I can report that the test has been an unqualified success.
Very little grass has grown into the new garden bed. None of the original grass that was once under the new bed has come through the newspaper barrier although a little managed to bridge across the open trench we left between our existing lawn and the new bed. Any sprouts that did show up posed little problem and were very easy to remove by hand.
The new bed proved extremely successful and produced prolific plant growth. We grew three plants that produced zucchinis by the boatload, some of which grew larger than a loaf of bread while were away on vacation. We also grew lots of cucumbers, two healthy basil plants, red peppers and a beautiful dahlia.
Since the use of newspapers has proved to be so successful in the elimination of grass we
are now considering expanding the existing area and/or doing another section in a
different location in our yard.
The following photographs were taken on August 20, 2015
/span>- Author: Dustin Blakey
A friend of mine in Arkansas who is knowledgeable about these sorts of things once told me that if he were going to be stranded on a tropical island and could only bring one thing it would be a sweet potato. They are nutritious and easy to grow when it's warm. Myself, I'd rather skip the stranded part and just eat sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes are not hard to grow in the garden, but I rarely see them attempted. They're not only nutritious, but their vigorous growth habit works well to smother summer weeds in your garden.
To grow sweet potatoes you plant transplants (called slips) once the soil has warmed and nights are consistently above 50°F. Other than water, they require little care and thrive in poor soil. (Alkaline soil, such as in Chalfant, will need to be amended to lower the pH.) Sweet potatoes' growth rate is based on the heat accumulated in the plant over the season. In our climate, it will take about 100 to 120 days to raise a crop. You will probably be setting slips outside in June and harvesting after the kids have started school again.
Harvest sweet potatoes gently and allow them to cure for about 1 week to improve their storage life and flavor. To cure a sweet potato, ideally it should be stored at 85°F and 85% humidity. (We might have a hard time with the humidity here!) A greenhouse, sunroom or sunny bathroom works well for this, but keep them out of the sun. Once cured, they will store well at 55°F.
The only challenging part of growing sweet potatoes is obtaining slips. There are dozens of mail-order sources for slips; however, almost all source their slips from growers in the Southeast. California doesn't allow importation of sweet potatoes from this region to keep out pests and diseases. This leaves us three options to obtain slips:
- Order from a mail-order nursery that's not shipping from the Southeast. I am aware of only one: Sand Hill Preservation in Iowa.
- Obtain slips inside California. There are some growers around Merced that do this, but we have a hard time getting to Merced from here. Any garden centers you encounter that have slips for sale would be fine, too.
- Grow your own slips.
It is not hard to grow your own slips, but there are as many ways to grow them as there are sweet potato growers. With heat and moisture, sweet potatoes form shoots and grow roots easily.
Some gardeners use moist, heated sand beds. Sweet potatoes are placed in these beds and when the tops emerge, the slips are harvested. This is a good way to grow a lot of slips.
An easy way to just grow a few slips is to suspend a sweet potato above a mason jar partially filled with water using toothpicks just like you would start an avocado from seed. I've also seen people lay sweet potatoes down in a glass baking dish filled with about 1” of water. Either way, keep the bottom ½ wet and warm. Once the sprouts emerge, break them off the sweet potato root, and set them in a clean jar filled with about 1-1/2 inches of water to form roots. This whole process takes about 20-30 days depending on temperature.
In order to ensure this sprouting process works, you should buy Organic sweet potatoes so that they haven't been treated with any type of shoot inhibitor.
It's important to have warm soil to plant sweet potatoes outside. If the soil still needs to warm up but your slips are ready, you can plant them in containers filled with potting mix while you wait.
You shouldn't have too many problems with this plant, but even if you have a few, its rapid growth rate usually makes up for any damage. As an added bonus, they are a fantastic part of a crop rotation in the garden as they are unrelated to most other things we eat, including Irish potatoes.
No endorsement implied for businesses or products mentioned.
by UCCE Master Gardener Volunteer Viv Patterson
Around the end of March, I noticed that some of my garlic plants were completely dead while others were alive, well, and growing straight up. I checked the water, exposure, and soil. All seemed ok; I couldn't imagine what had happened. I decided to dig up the dead plants, turn the soil a bit, and plant something else. Lo and Behold....the Garlic wasn't dead; it was done growing! According to my plant label, I had planted a bit of Sonoran Garlic in this spot. I went back to the catalog and studied the description for Sonoran Garlic. The description joggled my memory as to why I purchased this variety in the first place. It read:
Hardneck variety named for the Sonoran desert that harvests extremely early. Sonoran is very early harvesting so you have garlic before anyone else. It grows well in the great American Southwest from Austin/San Antonio all the way to San Diego. Harvests VERY early - late spring to early Summer - stores until around November-December.
Sonoran Garlic is beautiful - Purple with medium-sized cloves. Tonight I plan to enjoy my first Aglio e Olio of the Season: Linguini with Garlic and Olive Oil tossed with Fresh Spring Herbs and topped with Parmigiano Reggiano. Recipe follows.
Sonoran Garlic
Image: Burpee Seeds.
Viv's Aglio e Olio
Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
- 6-8 ounces dried Linguini (I like DeCecco or Barilla)
- One Head Garlic Chopped (yes, the entire head)
- Lots of really good Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
- One-Half teaspoon Crushed Red Chile Pepper
- One-Half teaspoon Kosher Salt or a good finishing salt like Maldon Sea Salt Flakes
- One Cup Minced Fresh Herbs
- Use at least four or five types of herbs. Tonight I will use whatever looks the best from my herb garden: Probably Oregano, Tarragon, Thyme, Rosemary, Italian Parsley, and Cilantro. They all are at their tenderest moment.
- Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated
Directions:
- Bring big pot of water to a rapid boil.
- Drop in Linguini and start timer for one minute less than the directions call for. Try Linguini when timer goes off. It should be al dente … not quite done.
- Meanwhile, put Garlic and Olive Oil in a large sauté pan. Sauté Garlic until it is just done. Don't let the Garlic get brown. Add one-half teaspoon of Kosher Salt and Crushed Red Chile Pepper at this time. Remove the pan from the burner.
- When the Linguini is al dente, drain the pasta in a colander.
- Put drained Linguini into pan with Garlic and Olive Oil. Put on a burner with medium heat and toss Linguini until done (but not overdone). Turn off heat.
- Add Herbs and tossed until pasta is coated.
- Add more salt to taste.
- Put on serving plates and topped with Parmigiano Reggiano. Drizzle with more EVOO, if desired.
Note: If you want this to look a little bit fancier, top the finished Aglio e Olio with Grilled Shrimp, Scallops, or Chicken. Make sure you coat the Shrimp, Scallops, or Chicken with Oil, some minced Garlic, Salt, and Pepper before grilling.
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- Author: Lori Plakos
Conducted by Master Gardener Volunteer, Lori Plakos.
I planted a 10'x10' test garden using different mulches to compare their effect on the production of bell peppers.
The test crop was bell peppers. Each plot was planted with three specimens each of red and yellow varieties which were purchased from a local nursery. These were planted on April 25, 2013. Unfortunately, the plants were subjected to a heat wave the following week, while I was out of town, and the housesitter had a difficult time keeping the plants moist, with the result that the control plot and the straw plot each lost a plant, and two died in the pine needle section, while those in the vermicompost all survived.
Variables to consider:
- Automatic sprinkler irrigation may have been inconsistent through the bed.
- Proximity to a fence may have influenced sun exposure. The straw and pine needle plants were furthest from the sun protection of the fence.
- Difficulty determining when to harvest. Waiting until peppers changed color appeared to be too late - they often rotted on the plant. I wasn't sure if I should consider all fruit, particularly toward end of season when fruit wasn't completely ripe. I included fruit of a particular size from all plants, even though I personally try to eat only colored peppers that are fully ripe. I know a lot of people eat green peppers.
Observations:
The non-mulched section (5 plants) grew weeds. The largest grasses were removed to prevent spread.
The straw mulch plants (5 plants) had problems with pests, mainly slugs. These were controlled using Sluggo 11. All of the plants had their share of pests, but the straw mulch was the worst. I've read that is a problem possibly due to the less dense nature of the straw harboring the pests. I have used a lot of straw mulch due to the fact it's readily available in my area and economical. I plan on running it through a shredder to make it more compactable and not using it where pests are a concern.
Those mulched with worm compost (6 plants) produced the strongest plants. The nutrients in the vermicompost helped the health of the plants. My preference would be to use that, but it is expensive to be able to use it over large areas. I do a lot of regular composting (mostly grass clippings and leaves), but I worry that working compost that isn't fully composted into the soil will compete with the plants. However, using it as a mulch will allow it to work in the soil over time when it is fully composted and giving the plants nutrients along the way.
The pine needle plants (4 plants) produced the largest crop per plant and overall in spite of the early plant losses and being furthest away from the fence's sun protection.
Results by Total Crop Weight rounding off to the nearest oz.
- Non-mulch: 52 oz.
- Straw mulch: 35 oz.
- Worm compost: 129 oz.
- Pine needles: 161 oz.
Conclusion:
The biggest thing I learned with this test is to MULCH. The most effective thing I learned about mulching during a drought is the resultant reduction in weeding and watering, which is very significant. The less attention you have to give to a particular plant, the more attention you can give to other parts of your garden.
The vermiculture mulch was the most expensive but those plants were the healthiest looking and best grown although they did not produce the heaviest crop. Those under pine needle mulch produced the best yield, far surpassing those grown either under straw or with no mulch at all.
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