Fwd: March arrives with a wintry blanket

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herbgal wrote:Tue, 1 Mar 2005 09:53:02 -0500 (EST)

herbgal

angelprincessjo

March arrives with a wintry blanket

 

herbal greetings from Beagle Ridge JoAnn

 

As I write this newsletter, I am sitting in a hotel room

listening to the news about the new Winter storm warning

which is being predicted. Considering the weather and its

unpredictability, and that I had a meeting scheduled for

early Monday the 28th. several of us headed out early to

beat the snow. So, I sit here in a hotel room in

Charlottesville,wondering what Mother Nature has up her sleeve.

 

Just a few short hours ago, we were at the farm, cutting back

the vestiges of winters evidence. Even though it is still

officially winter, I am surprised to see so much sign of life

in the garden. As I walked around checking on plants and

making some notes for the spring chores list, I was thrilled to

see Daylilies, Lemon balm, Mums, Goldenrod, Primroses and

even Zeisa with a haze of green poking through the mulch.

 

The Centaura is making a statement, with its fuzzy grey

tips, this plant can be mistaken for lambs ear, or rose campion

at this time of year. Speaking of Rose Campion, this wonderful

heirloom plant can get a bit weedy if you let it. It reseeds

andwill come up all over. This may not be a problem if you have

a non-formal and expansive garden, otherwise this a great time

to remove any of the unwanted volunteers and share them with

friends. The plant also has the look of Lambs Ear, that Grey

fuzzy leaf makes a great foil for a busy bed and it also ads

interest in the evening garden.

Anything that is grey, Artemisia, Dusty Miller even some

Lavender will almost glow under moonlight. This gives a great

excuse to go into your garden in the evening and enjoy a

completely different view of your garden. You may be surprised

to find some plants that have a fragrance that you were unaware

of. Bats or moths pollinate some plants and so the only time

they will emit a fragrance is when the pollinators are out.

Sorry, flowers don’t emit the fragrance for you, it is their

way of making sure they are able to set seed and reproduce and

they want to be pollinated. How many of you ever venture out in

to the garden on a warm summers night? Try it this summer, you

will be glad you did.

 

I will present a program on gardening for Butterflies and Moths

at the Garden faire in Abingdon, VA. Saturday April 23. If you

would like a brochure to see all the other wonderful speakers,

let me know and I can send you one.

 

 

Update!

The classroom is just about done. I think you will be surprised

how just a bit of fabric and paint can make a drastic change. It

has changed a drab room into a wonderful place for an herbal

luncheon or a meeting place for your club. Why don’t you plan

your next club outing to the farm? Let us know what type of

program you would like and let us handle the rest. We have

groups planned this summer and will be scheduling everything

from a Mother Daughter Tea to a cooking program for Home Ec.

Teachers.

 

The playhouse is ready to be placed in the new Children’s

garden. I am afraid the plantings will still be a work in

progress by the time we open but there are all sorts of

changes, or should I say additions,for this spring. This

summer I will plant a Sunflower Fort, a Bean Teepee and

possibly a tunnel in the Children’s Garden. The trial

gardens will be slowly changed over to a cutting garden and the

ousted plants will be placed in the new borders over by the

woodland area.

 

Gregg has been busy cutting a path over to the back side of the

lake. The water thawed last weekend I got some great shots of

Salamanders in the lake and today the Wood ducks and Great

Blue heron were down there. It is amazing the variety of

wildlife that depends on the pond habitat for survival. I am

always so excited to go see what is visiting down at Hemlock

Cove. Be sure to go to the website and check out some of the

new pictures.

 

This issue is going to focus on planning and planting in

special situations. This month is Shade. So many of you have

asked about this problem and what to plant in your gardens I

thought I would share this with all of you.

 

Shade-how to deal with it and actually use it to your

advantage. Understanding shade is a subject in itself.

There are many degrees of shade: from a building, under

deciduous trees, under evergreen trees, or just that dappled

shade which is the ideal ( the best of both worlds).

Most of us think of herbs in terms of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary

and Thyme. These all require a good bit of sun and will not be

happy in the shade. However, there are several herbs, which

prefer some shade, Sweet cicely, Sweet woodruff, May apples,

Gingers, Ginseng, Goldenseal, Cohosh and Wintergreen. If you

have shade, instead of cutting down your trees, plan for a

woodland setting and work with what you have . Your plants will

be happier and your frustration level will be a lot lower from

trying to accomplish something that will not work.

 

If you have morning sun and afternoon shade your plantings

might include Foxglove, Bee balms, Mints, Variegated Lemon

balm, Valerian, Figworts, Catnip, Feverfew, Meadow sweet and

Lungwort. This will give you some color in addition to various

foliage patterns.

 

Understand that plants that require shade in the summer, can

thrive under deciduous trees because the winter sun will

benefit them and then the shade of the trees leaves will

protect them from burning in the summer.

 

If you have shade from a building it will generally change with

the position of the sun; higher in the summer and lower in the

winter. You will need to determine how much shadow, what time

of day, and what time of year to get a better idea of what you

are dealing with and then pretend the shadow is from trees.

Either deciduous ,if you have winter sun, or evergreen if you

have summer shade. Then plant accordingly, with mostly foliage

woodland plants under your " evergreen " conditions.

With a little planning, you can have a beautiful woodland herb

garden. A woodland planting basically concentrates on foliage

and can be stunning, and this same plan may be used in the

dense shade of a building.

 

For those of you who will end up with a woodland, you can place

containers of your Mediterranean herbs where you get the most

sun and move them accordingly as the sun moves during the

summer. Feed them, harvest them and they will produce for you

all summer.

*******************************

I have addressed site-specific plants and problems,

But along with that is soil preparation. Whether for a

perennial bed or an herb garden, soil prep. is the basic for a

long sustaining garden. Soil nourishes your plantings so if you

skimp here your plants will suffer. Remember a good start

builds successful results and the basic work involved is the

same. The first step is a soil test to determine condition of

the soil.

 

Begin by taking several samples, shovelfuls, from various

locations in your garden. Mix these to get a representative

sampling or your soil. Take this to the AG Extension office and

they will do the test and provide you with a print out listing

Ph, Nitrogen content and mineral content of your soil. You

will need to tell them what you will be planting and they

provide recommendations to correct the deficiencies.

 

Tilling in leaf mold, compost, peat moss, sand, turkey grit,

greensand, super phosphate or lime( the list seems endless),

will improve your soil. Amending your soil is always necessary

unless you have Martha Stewart dirt. Adding organic material,

compost, granite dust, well rotted manure, shredded leaves etc.

will improve drainage and soil texture. We farm organically

and believe in feeding the soil, amending and adding compost

and mulch every spring. Once you see the results to composting

you will become a convert. I will address composting in another

issue.

 

Most herbs prefer a range of 6.5-7.0. However, you need to

determine which herbs you wish to grow and address their needs.

I grow Mediterranean herbs; Lavender, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme and

Oregano ( the Herb of the year for 2005), which require an

alkaline soil so I prefer eggshells and wood ashes to correct

my soil ph. With these plants I also add some turkey grit or

small gravel to aid in the drainage they require. Peat moss,

though a wonderful organic amendment, should be used sparingly

in areas of Mediterranean herbs because it lowers the ph and

makes it too acidic.

 

Many herbs will tolerate a slightly acidic soil, however few

will thrive in a damp location.

Once your beds are planted, mulching and a seasonal top

dressing should be all your beds require. Check the

fertilization needs of your specific herbs, few require much at

all. Determining your herbs needs and providing them will

create a win- win situation. Sit back and enjoy the fruits of

your labor.

**************************************************************

Later this week our New Print newsletter “Herbs in the

Garden” will be on its way to many of your mailboxes. Thanks

to so many of you who have signed up for our new venture.

For those of you new to our newsletter family, I am putting

together another newsletter, it will be by subscription $12.00

a year, mailed quarterly. “Herbs in The Garden” will contain

lots more of the same great cultural herb and perennial

information we have been sharing with you for years.

We are already receiving questions for our Q & A

section (those of you who submit questions will get a gift

certificate). In addition, we will have a quarterly herb

profile,this issue will be Oregano Herb of the Year 2005,

gardening tips, recipes and each issue will contain a special

$3.00 certificate tooffset the cost of the newsletter- so it

ends up being free.

If you would like to receive Herbs in the Garden, send me an

email with “Herbs in the Garden” in the subject line.

 

You can either pay for the newsletter by sending a check for

$12.00 to PO 419, WythevilleVA.24382 or let me know and

I can send you an e-invoice. For those of you who have already

contacted me I will be sending you a confirmation that I have

you on the list. Feel free to send me another email if you

don’t here from me.

 

This email newsletter will continue as is and it will be added

to a link on the website along with an archive of old

newsletters. Go to the website at www.beagleridgeherbfarm.com

and click the newsletter link to read the February newsletter.

 

At the end of the month I will be at the Arboretum in Clemmons

NCfor an Herbal fair. I will be speaking on several topics and

there will be various other speakers and vendors. Hope to see

you there, if you need particulars, check the calendar page on

the website.

 

Well that’s all for now. I looked outside and huge white flakes

are falling with the moon in the background. Snow may be

beautifulbut I for one am anxious for spring and all it has to

offer. We heard spring peepers a week ago, which means spring

is right around the corner!!!

It will be here soon, for now we must be content to plan and

get everything ready for its arrival. By the way how many of

you started seeds for this summer. Let me know of your

successes, failures etc, and I will share with the rest of you,

 

Think spring, I know I am . Hope to see some of you at the

various fairs we will be attending,

Ellen

 

Visit our site here:

http://www.beagleridgeherbfarm.com/

 

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AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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