Spring Planting

Now is the time for East Tennessee gardeners to plant cool season crops. It will soon be too late for transplanting cabbage and broccoli, so if you are growing those this year, you'd better get busy. These days, it gets hot enough in May to stop the growth of most brassicas. Your cabbage may not head up, and your broccoli may not bloom.

This is an ideal time to direct seed most leafy greens. Lettuces will take about 75 days, but many mustards, such as arugula and radishes, will be ready in about 6 weeks. Follow the instructions on the seed packages for proper sowing depth, water the seedbed every day if it doesn't rain, and expect most things to germinate within one week.

You can also direct seed beets and carrots, both of which take a little longer to germinate. Carrots can take up to three weeks. Either vegetable should be thinned to the correct spacing (see the back of the seed packet) as soon as most of the seedlings have emerged. Delay in thinning will slow growth and might even limit production. A pair of plastic tweezers is useful for thinning, if you have large hands like I do. Beets will benefit from the addition of wood ashes to their bed, which raises the pH. A cup of wood ashes is sufficient for a ten-foot row of beets. Don't put the ashes directly on the seeds. Instead, work ashes into the soil a few days before planting.

This season, I am growing some vegetables in containers as part of a photography project. If you plan on a container vegetable garden, I suggest using nothing smaller than a twelve-inch diameter pot. Five gallon buckets make good vegetable containers, too, but you will need to drill drainage holes in the bottom. Cover the holes with plastic window screen before filling the container. This keeps snails, slugs and insects from taking up residence in the pot. Remember that container vegetables need frequent watering and fertilizing in order to perform well. You can use soluble fertilizer, time-release fertilizer added to the potting mix, or a granular organic fertilizer.

If you are starting your own transplants, now is as good time to sow tomatoes indoors. Wait another couple of weeks before sowing eggplant or peppers, as these two need more heat. Most transplants will be ready about a month after germination, so plan accordingly.

Full Tilt Springtime

Many thanks to everyone who stopped by our table at the UT Gardens Spring Plant Sale last Saturday! It was a pleasure to meet our fellow gardeners, readers, and listeners of the radio show.

April is the biggest gardening month here in the Tennessee Valley. If you have not already planted cool season crops like lettuce or mustard, the window for success is rapidly closing. Your best bet is fast maturing greens, such as mizuna or arugula, and heat tolerant lettuces. Jericho, Anuenue and most romaine varieties are heat tolerant cultivars. Another good one is Black Seeded Simpson, a local favorite since the 19th Century.

You can also plant beans, potatoes, onion sets or plants, scallions, beets, radishes, carrots and cabbage plants with success. Broccoli and cauliflower may or may not produce a crop if planted this late.

Even though tomato and pepper plants have appeared in the garden centers, hold off until at least May 1 to plant. We will still have some cold nights that can set these plants back if they are not protected. You have plenty of time to obtain a crop even if you wait.

It is still a bit early for cucumbers and squash. Plants in cold soil have more disease and pest problems. Wait until after Mothers Day to plant these veggies.

Here's a great idea for growing lettuce, which does not need a lot of root space. Slap a coat of white primer on a citrus crate. These little crates were full of mandarin oranges or clementines when we bought them. I saved a bunch (we love citrus in the winter) and we planted them with an assortment of smallish lettuces. The result is shown in the photo. If you'd like one of these, Sweet Pea in Bearden is carrying them. Besides interesting plants, Sweet Pea stocks a wide selection of high-quality garden art and accessories.

For those who would like to purchase our hardy orchids, they are available at the following local independent garden centers:

Stanley's Greenhouse
Ellenburg's Landscaping
Mayo Garden Centers in Powell, Bearden and Farragut
Sweet Pea, on Carr Street in Bearden

Hardy orchids will be available until mid-May.

Please support your local, family-owned garden centers this season. Not only will your dollars remain in the area, you will get better plants, better advice and an overall better value than you will find at any big box retailer.

Time for Early Plantings

Although the frigid temperatures outside may not be encouraging, now is the time to plant some slow growing crops for spring transplants. Leeks, celery, celery root and seed onions should all be started indoors by mid-January, in order to have plants ready for moving into the garden by the first week of March.

Gardeners with a coldframe should also think about starting lettuce and spinach indoors for moving to the coldframe in about a month. Other good early crop choices for coldframe production are corn salad, mizuna, bak choy, scallions, and mustards.

Free-standing coldframe

I have been experimenting with artificial light gardening for a number of years, and this season I am using an LED lighting system originally designed for aquarium illumination. While it is not ideal for plant production, it is certainly a far cry from the fluorescent shop lights I once used. The LED unit is compact, runs cool, uses only 15 watts of electricity and is producing a fine crop of microgreens and herbs for the kitchen.

If you are thinking about growing windowsill herbs this winter, start with chives, chervil and cilantro. They all grow easily from seed, do not mind crowding in the pot, and develop flavor at a young age. They all also tolerate light shade, and so will grow in a sunny window or under artificial lights more readily than more sun-loving crops. Cilantro microgreens only a couple of inches tall will brighten up your Latino or Asian dishes during the gloomy months. Chervil is almost too pretty to eat, but it adds a note of tarragon and parsley combined. Use it on vegetable or fish dishes, in particular. Chives can be used to bring a hint of onion flavor wherever you need it. If you start a few pots now and have some plants left over, you can transplant them to outdoor beds around the first of March, and they should grow and produce more herbs before the weather heats up. Chives is perennial, and clumps started from seed this spring may bloom next fall. They will certainly bloom when they are in their second season outside, especially if placed in full sun. Chervil will go to seed in May or June, as soon as the weather warms. Gather the needle-like seeds for a fall planting, and compost the rest of the plant. Chervil does not germinate well, so be sure to save a lot of seeds.

Harvest Time

September is the month of the Harvest Moon (which arrives on Monday the 8th) and with good reason. From late tomatoes and squash to fall favorites like pumpkins to"second spring" lettuce and scallions, in September the Tennessee Valley has it all. No wonder the Tennessee Valley Fair has traditionally been held in September. If you are interested in agriculture at any level, the fair is worth a visit. There will be exhibits of home canning, various cooking demonstrations, horticulture exhibits, fruit and vegetable competitions, and showings of all kinds of domestic animals, from rabbits to cattle. The fair is a great starting place if you think, for example, that you might like to have a few chickens. You can get up close and personal with numerous breeds. Take advantage of the opportunity to talk to the exhibitors, too. You will never find better advice.

September also marks the time of the big Fall Plant Sale at UT Gardens. If you are looking for special plants for your landscape, you can find some great choices at the Fall Plant Sale. It begins at 9:00 AM, Saturday, September 27th. UT Gardens Members get a sneak preview on Friday, September 26.

You still have time to plant fall greens. Members of the mustard family, turnips, bak choy, and arugula, will all mature a crop from seeds planted now. We have about a month before we can reasonably expect frost, and two months before a hard freeze. Fall greens can take a bit of frost, so plant away. The warm soil will result in speedy germination.

This is also the month for warm season herbs in great abundance. If you find yourself with an excess, make an herb jelly. Here is a master recipe that works with mint, basil, tarragon, lavender, rosemary and probably most other herbs.

Herb Jelly
2 ounces herb leaves, stripped from the stems (about 1 quart loosely packed)
2 1/4 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups granulated sugar
1 drop food coloring (optional)
3 ounces (one pouch from a 6-ounce box) liquid fruit pectin

Have ready four half pint canning jars with lids. I like to keep them warm in the water bath canner.

Place the herb leaves in a saucepan and pour the boiling water over them. Stir to thoroughly wilt all the leaves, crushing some with the spoon to release the aromatic oils. Bring the liquid back to a boil, cover, remove from the heat and allow to steep for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve. Measure out 1 2/3 cups of the herb infusion and place in a large pot. (Use any remaining to flavor iced tea.)

Add the lemon juice, sugar and food coloring (if used) to the pot, place it over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. When the liquid is at a rolling boil that does not stir down, add the pectin all at once. Continue boiling and stirring for one minute.

Working quickly, skim any foam from the top of the jelly, using a large metal spoon. Ladle the jelly into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space, apply caps, and process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Herb jelly can be used as a condiment on roasted meats, and is delicious when served atop cream cheese on crackers.

Plant Fall Greens Now!

The coming week will be your last opportunity to plant fall greens. Some of the best performers for this time of year are kale, mustards, and turnips.

Kale and other brassica plants are showing up in the garden centers. It is too late to start broccoli and cabbage from seed, but kales, especially the really cold hardy ones like 'Red Russian' and 'Lacinato,' will be able to make decent growth before the first frost. The plants are sufficiently cold hardy to provide a harvest well into December.

With about 45 days remaining until the first expected frost, look for greens crops that will mature quickly. Top choices include the turnip variety 'Seven Top,' and various mustards. Mizuna, tatsoi and bak choy. These Asian mustards will all mature before it gets too cold, as will both curly and red European mustard varieties. Also in the mustard family, radishes will have plenty of time to mature before frost. You can get in 2 or 3 sowings, a few days apart, between now and the end of the month. Another good choice is arugula. Plant small amounts every few days for a succession of crops in October.

All these greens are good in salads when they are small, and can be used as cooked greens when they get larger.

Garden centers also have lettuce plants in cell trays. If you don't already have some lettuce seeds germinating, the commercial plants will give you a quick crop or two before frost reduces the quality.

While you are at the garden center, why not purchase a row cover tunnel for your garden? Using one of these tunnels will protect late crops from frost, and extend the growing season by a week or two at least. Given the cost of fresh salad greens, the small investment in a row cover is paid back the first season in our garden.

Vegetable Garden Basics

With the mercury hovering around 25 degrees, my thoughts turn to the warmer days ahead. I am refining my garden plan for 2014. If you have not made a plan yet, now is the time, before spring chores eat up most of your gardening time. Your plan need not be elaborate, but it should at least cover three things:

1. What am I going to plant?
2. Where am I going to put everything?
3. What is the best strategy for succession planting? 

Food garden at UT Gardens

Here are some tips for answering these questions. One of the best ways to determine what to plant is to ask the other people in the family. You may think growing salsify would be fun, but your kids may want tomatoes or strawberries. Make a list and let everyone vote. If you are a novice at food gardening, limit yourself to three or four crops until you get the hang of growing those, then branch out. My top four choices are beans, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. If I could grow only four vegetables, I would grow these, lettuce in spring and fall, and the others as summer crops.

Choosing a site for your vegetable garden can be the most critical decision you make, in terms of success or failure. Of primary importance is sunshine. Veggies need at least six hours of sun a day, and the more sun, the better. Don't locate your food garden in a low-lying spot where water stands for more than a few hours after a heavy rain. No vegetable likes wet feet, although they all need about an inch of water a week. Speaking of which, be sure you can reach your vegetable garden with a hose, or you will be toting water in buckets during high summer. Your soil should be well-drained, moisture retentive and organically rich. Work in composted organic matter in late winter, as soon as you can work the soil. For a small plot, you can buy compost, peat, or pine bark fines to work into the bed. I suggest adding 3 two-cubic-foot bags of this material per 100 square feet of growing bed, unless your soil is already in great shape. Add more each year, and in five years time you will have the best veggie beds on the block. Good soil is the key to great veggies.

Late winter is also a good time to incorporate organic fertilizers into your garden soil. Doing so gives the weather and beneficial bacteria a chance to decompose these materials into a form your plants can use. I add a cup of cottonseed meal per 10 square feet of growing space, along with a similar amount of bone meal and two tablespoons of pelletized dolomitic limestone. (I leave out the lime if I am growing potatoes.) These amendments are best added around the first of February, if you intend to begin planting in March. That allows a month for breakdown to begin. If you determine that plants need more nitrogen later on in the season, I suggest using a balanced organic fertilizer mix available commercially, rather than more slow-release amendments. When plants are really growing the nutrients will not be released fast enough.

I should also say that, although I prefer organic fertilization wherever possible, I see nothing wrong with using a soluble fertilizer, such as Miracle Gro(TM) in order to salvage a crop of veggies. Doing so is less likely to cause harm than allowing the plants to get stressed and attract insect pests.

Regarding succession planting, this is the key to growing a lot of food in a small space. The most important point to remember is that here in the Tennessee Valley, we have three growing seasons. Two cool ones in spring and fall, and a warm to hot season in summer. Once you have your veggie list in hand, divide it into cool season and warm season crops. The most popular warm season crops are beans, corn, cucumbers, okra, peppers, tomatoes and squash. Greens of all types are the easiest cool season crops, including arugula, lettuce, mustards and spinach. The cabbage family also needs cool temperatures, as do green onions and leeks. Plan on growing cool season crops from March 1 to June 1, warm season crops from June 1 to September 1, and cool season crops again around Labor Day. for the ones to be grown from transplants, either plan on purchasing them from a garden center (recommended for beginners) or start seeds about four to six weeks before you will need plants.

When your early crops of greens and scallions are done, remove plant debris and move in the summer crops. When these are up and growing well, fertilize. Start moving in the fall plants as the summer veggies start looking exhausted. Feed the fall crop when all the summer crops are gone and the fall plants are established. 

By following these simple guidelines, you should be able to grow enough food to eat, and perhaps have some extra to can or freeze this summer. 

Garden Season Begins

No kidding. The 2014 gardening season has already begun. Seed catalogs appear in mailboxes and inboxes, and despite the howling cold wind outside, some people will be starting plants this month.

If you have a small greenhouse or an indoor space with plenty of light, some of the vegetable seeds that should be started later this month include globe artichoke, celery, leeks, and onions. Cool weather ornamentals, such as snapdragon and stock, should also be seeded now. All of these are slow-growing as seedlings, and all need to be ready to transplant by March. Just remember you will need enough room to accommodate the plants as they grow. I have made the mistake of starting too many seeds more than once, and then run out of room to grow them to transplant size. If you find yourself in this situation, one remedy is to move everything outdoors during the day, as long as the temperature is high enough, and then bring everything back in before dark.

I look forward to receiving the catalog from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange every year. While I rely on Knoxville's own Mayo Seed Company for many old stand-by vegetable varieties, I choose most of the seeds for heirloom varieties from Southern Exposure. The company also has a seed rack at Three Rivers Market, for those who prefer to browse in person.

Several varieties have captured my interest this year. Here is a brief rundown.

Greasy Beans--Although several varieties are not available this year, the ones that are should be worth a try. 'Cherokee Greasy' is best as a dried bean, while 'Red-Striped Greasy' can be used green or dry. Both are pole beans. "Greasy" beans lack hairs on the pod, giving them a shiny, slippery look. They keep much longer after harvest than most other beans, allowing you to accumulate a "mess" of beans over several days, if you only have room for one or two vines. The flavor is excellent. Greasy beans may also be available from Mayo.

Cabbage 'Savoy Perfection'--This is an excellent cold-weather cabbage. I am experimenting this year with overwintering a couple of plants. The idea is for them to form heads for an early March crop. It grows well as a fall cabbage, also, and the heads are almost too pretty to harvest.

Open-Pollinated Corn--If you want to taste what "real" sweet corn used to taste like, you'll have to grow these varieties that have not had their genes tinkered with by plant breeders. Two that caught my eye are 'Country Gentleman,' in which the kernels are arranged randomly, rather than in rows, and 'Golden Bantam,' an old Burpee introduction that bears well on small plants that can be closely spaced. With either of these, however, the window for harvesting at the milk stage is very narrow. These are the types of corn that inspired the old saying, "Have the water boiling on the stove before you go out to the garden to harvest corn on the cob."

Greens--Seems like Southern Exposure constantly expands their offerings of greens. Cress, kale, mustards, Swiss chard, and more for the greens lover. Many greens are great cool to cold weather crops for the Tennessee Valley. I plan to harvest 'Lacinato' kale from an outdoor bed this afternoon, as soon as the leaves thaw. Of particular note, "Winter Bloomsdale' spinach, which has been unavailable for a while, is back.

Okra--Another veggie where the selection of heirlooms seems ever-expanding. For those with limited space, try 'Lee,' a 1978 release from the University of Arkansas that bears well on 5-foot plants. You might also want to consider one of several red-podded varieties. The contrasting color makes them harder to miss when picking. Leaving pods on the plant to mature reduces production.

'Polecat' Pea from Southern Exposure

Southern Peas--Depending upon where you live, these may be called cowpeas, crowder peas, field peas, or black-eyed peas. They are actually not native to the Americas, like regular garden beans, but made there way here from Asia via Africans who were brought here against their will. Well-adapted to warm southern summers, the numerous varieties of southern peas result from four hundred years of selection. In some cases, as with 'Piggott Pea,' the family who developed the strain kept it to themselves for most of its history. The ability of southern peas to thrive in poor soil (red clay!) is remarkable.

Squash--If your zucchini is plagued by squash borers, try growing butternut winter squash instead. The borers leave it alone. Three varieties to investigate are 'Burpee's Butternut' (bush), 'Tahitian Melon,' and 'Waltham Butternut,' the latter two both vining types that need plenty of room to run or a sturdy trellis.

Tomatoes--For tomato enthusiasts, Southern Exposure offers nine pages of listings. Have fun, but bear in mind that heirloom tomatoes may not be as productive or as easy to grow as hybrid varieties with multiple disease resistance. Every time I grow heirlooms, I have some successes and some failures.

Those are the high points, but I have barely scratched the surface of this one catalog. Many more will soon arrive, each with some irresistible new seed to tempt me. Perusing them is a great way to spend time while the outdoors is in the deep freeze.

Growing Sprouts

During the cold, damp and dreary days of late fall and winter, not much is going on in the garden. While cold-hardy greens can be produced under protection, growth slows with reduced light and cooler temperatures.

The accompanying photo, courtesy of Patrick Rakes, shows his abundant cold frame garden. Kale, spinach, lettuce and other greens are growing abundantly. The photo will give you an idea of how to construct a PVC support for plastic film, converting a raised bed into a cold frame.

One way to satisfy the gardening itch in winter is to grow sprouts. All you need is some simple equipment and a sunny windowsill or kitchen counter.  Seeds for sprouting are available in specialty food stores like Earthfare and Three Rivers Market. You can sprout leftover garden seeds, too, but just make sure they have not been treated with pesticide before you begin. Among the best choices for a beginning sprout garden is alfalfa.

While you can purchase a ready-made seed sprouter, all you really need is a wide mouth jar, a piece of cheesecloth, and a rubber band. To grow about two cups of alfalfa sprouts, place one tablespoon of seeds in the empty jar. Cover the mouth with the cheesecloth, securing it with the rubber band. Add enough lukewarm water to cover the seeds by an inch. Leave on the kitchen counter overnight. The next morning, drain, rinse well, and place in a warm, dark place, such as a cupboard. Rinse the seeds with cold tap water two or three times every day, and move the jar into the light when roots have developed and are over 1/4 inch long. Within about five days, you will have a jar of green, delicious sprouts. They will keep another week if placed in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Put a paper towel on the bottom of the storage container to absorb excess moisture, which will shorten storage life.

Many other seeds besides alfalfa can be used to grow sprouts. Radish, broccoli and mung beans are some of the most commonly sprouted seeds, but just about any vegetable seed can be tried. Commercial bean sprouts are grown from mung beans under special conditions. You will not be able to duplicate these conditions in the kitchen, but you nevertheless can produce acceptable bean sprouts.

Radish and other mustard family sprouts have a spicy flavor that perks up a salad. Try using a mixture of sprouts on a sandwich instead of lettuce. I particularly like sprouts with chicken salad and egg salad. Sprouts can also be used to garnish a variety of dishes, adding color, flavor and nutrition.

Sprouts have sometimes been cited as the source of bacterial infections in children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. Look for sprouting seeds that have been tested for contamination. This information will appear on the label. Observe proper sanitation in the kitchen when preparing sprouts, and you should not have any problems. It is worth noting that most reported issues have been with commercially mass-produced sprouts. Many producers now test each batch, so look for label assurances when you buy.

Discard the cheesecloth after each batch of sprouts, replacing it with a new one, or purchase perforated plastic lids that will fit a standard Mason jar. You can also purchase a complete sprouting system made from plastic. Either way, growing sprouts is a great way to garden when the weather outside is less than beckoning.

Perfect Days for Gardening

Our exceptionally pleasant fall weather continues. The low humidity has led to the need for some irrigation, but we will gladly buy the water in exchange for less mugginess. Already I am harvesting baby arugula, along with Sugar Snap peas, the last of the leeks and okra. The bak choy is coming on strong, and we will be able to pick a few leaves of kale within another week or so.

This weekend I planted out lettuce, cilantro, scallions and spinach that were started in cell trays September 7th. With rain on the way, the timing should be perfect. Mache growing in the greenhouse will soon be ready to transplant. I start the seeds in a 6 X 30 planter and transplant to thin them. The ones left behind in the planter will mature about ten days earlier than the transplants, extending the harvest to a month or so.

Many people do not transplant spinach, direct sowing instead. I find we get a bigger harvest with less work when we transplant and give the plants growing space. Japanese spinach farmers employ this technique.

We have been amazed at the productivity of the pond. In this year's experiment, we stocked two dozen immature tropical livebearers for mosquito control. By summer's end, we had harvested roughly 500 fish, which were sold to a local aquarium store as "feeders," for predatory pet fish. We moved 7 of the prettiest ones to a small aquarium where they will spend the winter and provide stock for next spring.

We have little interest in food fish, not wanting to have the trouble of cleaning them and dealing with wastes. Nevertheless, it is clear that even a small garden pond could theoretically supply some additional protein. Others who, like us, would prefer to sell live fish rather than dead ones, have the option of producing a small income from the pond by cultivating and harvesting smaller, tropical species. The key to this, of course, is finding an aquarium shop that wants to purchase your stock.

Next season, we intend to construct a growing bed that will filter the pond while providing space for additional crop production. This form of hydroponic growing, known as "aquaponics," uses the fish wastes to fertilize organic vegetables growing in an inert medium. Most of these culture systems rely on inputs of prepared fish foods and operate under the protection of a greenhouse room. Our interest lies in creating systems that can function year round in the local climate zone, with minimal inputs of fish food. By planting flowers and other plants around the pond and providing a diverse community of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants, it should be possible for the system to produce enough algae and insects to feed the fish. Stay tuned.

Rain Bodes Good Leaf Display

At my house, we have received almost a half inch of rain since darkness fell last evening. We sure can use it. Despite our record summer rainfall, we have had a dry month so far. The soaker we are receiving should go a long way toward making up the "water debt." Not to mention allowing us to turn off the hose and keep the water bill down. Abundant moisture at this time of year typically helps produce a beautiful fall color display.

September is the month for lawn care, the perfect time to aerate, feed, over-seed and otherwise spruce up your cool season lawn. This is also a great time to go after winter annual weeds by applying a pre-emergence herbicide. Both chemical and organic versions exist, and they really save a lot of work by preventing weed seeds from germinating. Weeds that do appear should be removed promptly, to prevent them from producing a supply of seeds for next year.

Planting fall vegetables can continue through the month if you choose varieties wisely. For example, all the Asian mustards, such as bak choy, mizuna and tatsoi, grow well here in the autumn, and they mature a crop quickly, typically in less than two months. Seeds sown now will be ready to harvest around Halloween. Spinach is another great fall crop. It takes around 70 days to mature, but owing to its cold tolerance will keep right on growing even after frost arrives. Lettuce, which takes around 60 days to mature, can also be planted now, but the window is narrowing, unless you have a coldframe.

American Beautyberry

Speaking of coldframes, now is a good time to put out snail and slug bait around them. The pesky mollusks start looking for warm places to spend the winter months, and will move into your coldframe, feeding on your tender crops. Place bait around the perimeter of the frame, not inside. You don't want to invite the slugs in, but rather to stop them at the border. As I have mentioned before, a copper barrier is also effective.

If you plant by the moon, now is the correct time for root crops, like radishes, carrots and green onions, all of which thrive in cool weather. Radishes mature in a month, and carrots and green onions can be left in the ground all winter for harvesting as needed. Choose fast-maturing carrots to plant now, however, as their growth slows dramatically after the weather gets really cold.

With the autumnal equinox arriving on Sunday, we have about 60 days before the weather gets really bitter, so better get those seeds out this weekend. The weather is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow, and after the rain, the soil will be perfect for sowing seeds.

Our Plant of the Week on Garden Talk this morning is a little know edible ornamental, American beautyberry. Botanically Callicarpa americana, this easy-to-grow native shrub produces abundant, glossy purple berries in fall. The fruits contrast beautifully with the golden yellow fall foliage, and they can be harvested to produce jam or wine. Bear in mind, however, that you need a lot of berries, as the amount of pulp on each one is quite small. They don't taste inspiring, but when juiced and mixed with sugar, the berries provide a tart, pleasant flavor. The juice also has mosquito-repelling properties.

Fabulous Fall

It is shaping up to be a fabulous fall, according to Dr. Sue Hamilton, director of UT Gardens. She and I co-host "Garden Talk" every Saturday morning at 8:00 on WKVL AM 850. We discussed the sudden cool-down (it was 49 degrees at my house in Powell this morning) and the recent rain, and concluded that we can expect a beautiful fall season.



Lettuce 'Jericho'

Now is the time to plant any of the cool weather greens crops, including lettuce, spinach and kale. Often overlooked are the various Asian greens, such as mizuna and bak choy, which perform far better here in fall than they do in the springtime. These Asian mustards are typically ready to harvest in about six weeks, and are ideal for integrating into planters or beds along with herbs and flowers.

Create a completely edible container for your front porch with violas, cilantro, parsley, mizuna, red mustard, Swiss chard, beets, miniature dianthus and various other leafy greens, edible flowers and cool season herbs. With so many good plants to select from, the container combinations are endless. One of my favorite herbs for fall and winter is chervil, a seldom seen member of the carrot family. It looks like lacy parsley, but packs a clean, fresh flavor with overtones of tarragon, and it makes a great substitute for tarragon in winter, when the cold weather keeps the tarragon from growing. It makes a good "filler" for a mixed planter and would look great with the bold, red foliage of beets and yellow and white viola blooms.

In the ornamental garden, various members of the huge Aster family dominate the show. Among the most popular is Michaelmas daisy or New York aster, Symphyotrichum (formerly Aster) novae-belgii. This low mounding perennial covers itself with blue, purple, pink or white flowers from September until frost, and is easy to grow in ordinary soil in full sun. The related New England aster (S. novae-angliae) offers a similar color palatte to its cousin, but on a taller plant more suited to the back of the border. These, along with most other fall asters, including chrysanthemums, will provide the best floral display and resist wind better if cut back hard before the end of July.

A less frequently seen choice is smooth aster (S. laevis). The cultivar 'Bluebird' covers itself with sky blue flowers in autumn, and tolerates dappled shade better than the other members of its genus. This and the two previous species are all native to the eastern United States and thus remain relatively free of pest or disease problems with minimal attention once they are established in the garden.

Numerous other native American asters put on a show along nearly every roadside this time of year. These include the sunflowers, black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, ironweed, Joe Pye weed, snakeroots, coreopsis, bidens, and several species of goldenrods. All these beautiful native asters are sometimes unfairly blamed for seasonal pollen allergies that many people experience. This is completely untrue. All the asters with showy flowers are pollinated by insects and do not release their pollen into the air. The real culprit is wind-pollinated ragweed (Ambrosia sp.), yet another member of the aster family It produces insignificant, yellow-green flowers and millions of grains of pollen from every plant. Ragweed is commonly seen blooming alongside its showier relatives in sunny, open sites with disturbed soil from late August until the first freeze. If you, like me, get itchy eyes and a runny nose this time of year, ragweed is to blame.