In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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« April 2007 | In the Garden front page | June 2007 »

May 30, 2007

Pole beans are blooming

Bee Photograph/Florence Low

A tiny flash of pink caught my eye as I walked past the garden today. I stopped in my tracks, backed up, and peeked under the canopy of bean leaves to find clusters of flowers. It won’t be long now before I’ll be harvesting beans. In fact, the beans can be ready to harvest within two weeks of flowering.

The trick is to harvest the beans before the seeds inside ripen fully (unless you’re growing them for seed). Harvest when the pods are pencil thin, firm and crisp, before you feel fat beans inside. The pods should snap when bent. Harvest frequently, even daily, to keep the plants flowering and producing beans.

If you let the beans get too ripe, they can get tough and stringy. If you think about it from the plant’s point of view, it wants to produce ripe seeds. That is its mission. We interrupt the process by picking the beans while young and tender, so the plant responds by producing more and more flowers and beans until fall weather stops it.

Another thing to remember about pole beans is that they are shallow rooted, so be careful digging around them.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 04:37 PM | Comments

May 29, 2007

Watering tips

Photograph: Linda George

Linda George of Placerville shared this watering tip: “For beginners, watering seems to be a big deal. I suggest a soaker hose and a timer to automatically do the trick (Home Depot 50' soaker $12, timer $25). Well worth it.”

I know as summer temperatures climb, I feel less inclined to spend afternoons in the garden. I want more of the chores done for me, and watering heads the list. And after talking to many gardening experts about the benefits of soaker hose watering versus overhead watering, I’m off to buy a soaker hose and timer of my own.

She also sent photographs of her raised bed garden, including a shot of watermelon seedlings with a soaker hose placed stragetically in the bed, and her pole beans twining themselves around the wire on the metal cage.

Last, she suggsted, next time instead of marigolds, try nasturtiums. They're very pretty, have the same colors as Marigolds, and the flowers are edible." They're easy to plant, she wrote, just soak the seads and press them into the ground.

Thanks, Linda.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 12:52 PM | Comments

May 24, 2007

Romaine just steps from the kitchen

The remaining heads of Romaine lettuce are safely stored in my refrigerator until I can turn them into salads. This was my first experience growing lettuce, and I was happy with the results. When I cut the stem off, and the outer leaves fell away to reveal a beautiful Romaine heart, I was thrilled.

The whole process, from planting to harvesting, took less than two months. I started with seedlings purchased at a local nursery. Other than a bit of water, they grew with little care. Of the dozen I origianlly planted, I lost three to unknown causes. The remaining nine grew dramatically, until at harvest time each weighed several pounds and I needed two hands to hold them.

Sure, I had to trim away some of the outside leaves that had gotten ragged. And the earwigs chewed holes in a few of the leaves. But I knew the lettuce was organically grown, so I was willing to forfeit a few leaves for fresh, organically grown produce. These days when a head of lettuce can travel 2,000 miles from farm to market to customer, knowing mine traveled a few feet made me feel quite smug.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 09:57 AM | Comments

May 21, 2007

Tomato tips

A recent conversation with Scott Meyer, editor of Organic Gardening for the last 18 years, shed some light on tomato culture:

Sunlight: Tomatoes need 10 to 12 hours of sunlight each day for best production.

Pinching side shoots on tomatoes: Organic Gardening studies show no significant difference in production whether side shoots are removed or left alone. Some gardeners prefer to take them off because the plants look neater, Meyer said, while others can’t be bothered.

Relatives: Tomatoes are related to potatoes and eggplant. They share some of the same diseases, so it's not a good idea to plant tomatoes in the same soil potatoes, tomatoes or eggplant grew the year before. That said, not everyone has a garden large enough to be able to avoid planting tomatoes and related plants in the same areas for three years. So, if you must plant tomatoes in the same spot year after year, or where potatoes or eggplant grew, add lots of compost to keep the soil healthy.

Watering: The most common mistake with tomatoes is watering. Too much water, too little water, too much or too little at the wrong time and you’ve got problems like catfacing, blossom end rot or cracking. It’s better to err on the side of too little than too much. How do you know how much is enough? An inch of water a week is plenty, Meyer said. If plants wilt a bit during the heat of the day, but recover easily at night, you’re OK. If they don’t recover, they need more water. Too much water can result in tomatoes that just aren't as tasty as those from plants grown with less water. Sometimes, a bit of stress is good. Water deeply once or twice a week to encourage plants to send their roots deeply into the soil.

Mulching: Keep the soil covered with mulch, like grass clippings, leaves, bark or straw. Meyer puts grass clippings at the top of the list. Just don’t put the mulch smack up against the plant's stems.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 01:48 PM | Comments

May 16, 2007

Tomato troubles

Several readers have asked why their tomatoes are blooming, but not setting fruit. Blossoms form, they write, but fall away. The problem is called blossom drop, and it happens early in the season. The reason: the temperature at night is too cool. Once night temps stay above 55 degrees, the problem should right itself.

Watering tomatoes is also the subject of lots of discussion. Everyone has a watering regime, and if you ask 20 people how they water their tomatoes, you’ll get 20 different answers.

The goal is to have plants that send their roots as deeply into the soil as possible so they are resistant to the vagaries of watering routines and the weather. If the weather suddenly turns boiling hot, the plants can withstand the heat without wilting, or dropping all of their fruit to stay alive. You want to get your plants used to a deep watering one to three times per week, depending on your soil and other factors, like mulching and how much sun the plants get.

So, that said, here’s what I do. When the tomatoes are young, I water them daily if the weather is warm, less if we have cool days. As they grow I water them longer, and less often. I’m watering every two to three days right now. I have to admit that I like watering the garden by hand at this early point in the gardening season. I find it relaxing, and it gives me the chance to look at every plant and to make sure everything is growing well. Once the hot weather is consistently with us, I’ll turn all watering chores over to the timer and the sprinklers.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 04:22 PM | Comments

May 15, 2007

Aphids and ants

There’s a sticky residue on some of the cherry leaves. Others are all curled up. The tender new stems of my Artemesia Powis Castle look black, and if I rub my hands cross some of the rose buds, they feel wet and sticky.

Yikes! I have aphids.

A strong shot of water from the hose will wash away the pesky little creatures. There are also insecticidal soaps that are safe to use that kill the aphids by smothering them. The trick with the soaps is to actually spray the aphids; you can’t spray the leaves to prevent aphids. Some gardeners use aluminum foil mulches around plants. The idea behind that is the sun’s reflection on the aluminum foil will confuse the aphids and they will fly away from the plants.

Tiny though they may be, aphids can cause more trouble than you think. If aphid populations are high, they can weaken a plant. They can spread viruses from plant to plant, especially on squashes, cucumbers, melons, chard, beans, beets, potatoes and lettuces. And if there’s one aphid, there are probably 100. Aphids can reproduce asexually most of the year. According to a UC Cooperative Extension handout on aphids, adult females give birth to as many as 12 offspring per day without mating. When the weather is warm, it says, “many species of aphids can develop from newborn nymph to reproducing adult in 7 to 8 days. Because each adult aphid can produce up to 80 offspring in a matter of a week, aphid populations can increase with great speed.”

Often, ants are often the real culprits because some species of ants tend aphids the way farmers do cows. The aphids suck plant juices out of stems and leaves, and produce a sticky substance called honeydew. The ants eat the honeydew. I’ve read that the ants will protect the aphids from other ants or insects by stinging or biting them. And when the aphids have sucked the plant juices dry, the ants will move the aphids to another location.

I’ve found washing away and spraying the aphids with insecticidal soap not only kills the aphids, but also discourages the ants enough that the problem goes away.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 11:03 AM | Comments

May 14, 2007

Your comments are welcome

Every Monday when I arrive at work I hold my breath for an instant as I log onto my computer to check my email. I always hope that there will be lots of garden questions from readers who have either read one of my stories in the Saturday Home & Garden section or who logged onto the blog to see what’s new in The Bee’s vegetable garden and my garden as well.

I’m happy to say readers have overwhelmed me with questions and comments, and I'm working to answer them all. Questions run the gamut of gardening activities: where to get soil tested, when to harvest garlic, why tomato flowers fall off without setting fruit, where to buy matilija poppies, what to do about moles and gophers, yellow leaves on gardenias, how to prevent sow bugs from eating the strawberries, what’s eating holes in basil leaves, planting willow trees and much, much more.

I want to invite readers who have answers to these questions or who have other valuable information to share to leave their comments online by clicking the word “comments” at the end of this article. If you do that, the blog item will appear again, and this time the selection at the bottom of the page will say “Be the first to add a comment” or, if someone has already started the process, it will say, “Add your comments.” Click on that link, and fire away!

My snail mailbox here at The Bee was jammed full of requests from readers who read the May 12 story about growing giant pumpkins, and answered the offer for free giant pumpkin seeds. What a sight it was to see all of those letters stuffed in the box. Pumpkin seed requests came mainly from Sacramento and surrounding areas, but also from as far away as Minnesota. Reader Paul Williams, who has subscribed to The Bee for 25 years, suggested in the future I offer seeds that don’t require so much space for gardeners who may not have the room to grow giant pumpkins. He suggested giant sunflower seeds. They get tall, but don’t take up a lot of room in the garden. Paul said: “My Bee Home & Garden claim to fame occurred last year (May 27, 2006) when I accurately described the Mystery Melon.” Watch for sunflower seeds next year, Paul!

I’m pleased beyond words that so many people are reading both the Home & Garden section and In the Garden.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 01:03 PM | Comments

May 10, 2007

A rose called Evelyn

For the last three or four weeks, and with no end in sight, I’ve been cutting blooms off of a rose called Evelyn. That’s pronounced EEEEvelyn, the way the British would, rather than EVVVelyn, the way we might.

She’s a David Austin rose, with masses of tightly packed pink petals. They have just a hint of yellow in them. The fragrance is sweet and light.

Austin has bred hundreds of modern roses that look and smell like old-fashioned roses. They have romantic, evocative names like Shropshire Lad, Fair Bianca, Jude the Obscure and Noble Antony. Another favorite of mine is one named for his wife, Pat Austin.

The trouble with many of them, however, is they don’t like our hot, dry summers. They prefer England’s milder weather. Evelyn, however, doesn’t seem to mind the heat at all. She throws up long, flower-laden stems that beg to be cut and brought into the house. Stick your nose in them, and I promise the fragrance will melt your troubles away, or at least make you smile and sigh.

Evelyn doesn’t seem to attract aphids, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen black spot on her leaves. My only complaint is with the weather: late rains beat down the heavy branches until they are laying sideways. To remedy the situation I have to keep cutting flowers for the house until I’ve trimmed the stems back to a length where they can stand alone.

So I'll just keep cutting flowers as long as Evelyn keeps producing them.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 11:54 AM | Comments

May 09, 2007

Tomato seedling volunteers

If you missed a few tomatoes when cleaning up the garden last year, chances are you have clumps of seedling tomatoes sprouting. You can tell they’re tomatoes: they have the same hairy stems, the leaves may be tiny, but definitely tomato, and often the skin of the tomato that produced the seeds is still on the ground nearby. The nurturing gardener in all of us wants to rescue them and plant them.

If you leave them to grow, what will you get this year?

If you planted hybrid tomatoes last year, which are the result of crossing two different varieties together, the seedlings will not be the same as the parent plant. It’s impossible to predict what the tomatoes will be like. They might be good, or they may be tasteless and pathetic.

If you grew heirloom tomatoes, also called old fashioned, purebred or open pollinated, and you grew just one variety, then the seedlings will probably be the same as what you grew last year. You could separate them and plant them. If you had more than one variety of tomato in the garden, or the neighbor next door had tomatoes, however, the seeds could be the result of cross breeding, and again, there’s no way to predict what they will produce or how the will taste. You could be starting a new hybrid variety of your own, or the crop could be a taste failure.

My advice is to toss them into the compost and start with fresh, positively identified seeds or plants.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 12:25 PM | Comments

May 08, 2007

Plant it now

The vegetable/herb selection at all area nurseries is at its peak right now. Capital Nursery, for example, has at least 50 varieties of tomatoes, dozens of types of peppers, and long rows of squash, melons and cucumbers. There were all sorts of herbs, including peppermint, cilantro, parsley, chives, rosemary, thyme and sage. There were onions: red torpedo, Walla Walla, yellow Bermuda. Leeks, chard, strawberries and artichokes round out the selection.

If you haven’t started the vegetable garden, now is a good time. Plants put in the ground now will quickly catch up with ones planted earlier when the weather was cool, wet and unsettled.

One word of warning, though. Buying a plant or two of corn won’t yield anything. Corn needs to be planted in blocks. In fact, a four-by-four foot block is probably the minimum plot size for good yields. The reason is that the pollen falls on the silks, and it takes quite a bit of pollen to produce fat, full ears of corn. The more corn you have, planted closely together, the better chances of a good crop. So unless you have the space to do it right, you’ll get corn stalks for Halloween, but no corn for the dinner table.

My quick stroll through the nursery turned into a bit of a buying spree. That’s the danger of a visit to any nursery: I find plants I must have, that I can’t live without, that simply must be a part of my plant repertoire. This time, however, I was able to limit myself to vegetables and herbs. I came away with eggplant, cilantro and chives.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 04:20 PM | Comments

May 07, 2007

Grilled steak and arugula salad

While thumbing through the May/June issue of Hallmark Magazine, a recipe with arugula in the title caught my eye. It was grilled steak and arugula salad. Hmmm. Sounds interesting. I made it recently, and can report with confidence that it is as good as it sounds.

All of the ingredients except the arugula were cooked, and the seasoning consisted of ancho chili powder, cumin, coriander and brown sugar for an interesting, yet delicious, taste. I used frozen green beans since I couldn’t find fresh. I also substituted the thinly cut carne asada cut of steak instead of using a flank steak. It’s an easy recipe to change according to your tastes.

Here it is:
1 ½ lb. small red potatoes
1 ¼ lb. green beans
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. ancho chili powder
1 tsp. plus 2 tbsp. light brown sugar
1 flank steak (1 ½ lb.)
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ cup ketchup
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. each cumin and coriander
5 cups packed arugula (about 5 oz.)

1. Cook potatoes in pan of simmering, salted water to cover until tender (about 15-20 minutes). Cut into ½ inch slices. In separate pan of boiling, salted water, cook beans until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes; add corn for last 1 minute. Drain.
2. Preheat broiler or grill. Combine salt with 1 tsp. each chili powder and sugar. Sprinkle on steak. Rub with oil. Cook to medium-rare, 8 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before thinly slicing.
3. In large bowl, whish together ketchup, ¼ cup water, vinegar, 2 tbsp brown sugar, mustard, 2 tsp. chili powder, cumin and coriander. Add arugula, potatoes, beans, corn and steak. Toss to combine.

Makes 6 servings. Each serving contains 404 calories, 12 g fat, 50 g carbohydrates, 30 g protein and 729 mg sodium.

The highest compliment I can give a recipe is to say I'd make it again, and I'll definitely make this one again.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 11:25 AM | Comments

May 04, 2007

The unpredictable weather

After a gorgeous start to spring we’re back to gray days, rainy nights. Friends who put potted tomatoes outside are bringing them back into the kitchen or greenhouse. All in all, though, said Bob Hamm, who runs the AIDS benefit plant sales, most things are ahead of schedule.

Fred Hoffman said the wind has been harder on his young plants than the rain. “I have hustled back into the greenhouse all the tomato and pepper pants that are still in three-inch pots. There are about 90 of them. It’s not the rain that is the concern; it’s the wind. Besides drying out those pots prematurely, gusts of wind tend to knock over those top-heavy plants, especially.” Hoffman notes soil temperatures are still between 65-70 degrees, which is ok for transplanting he said, but plants won’t really take off until the soil temp hits 70. The warm weather will be upon us soon enough, I know, so I’ll be happy that Mother Nature is watering of the garden for me a bit longer.

“Both the cool season and warm season crops can handle this weather,” Hoffman said. “But when we get several 90-degree days in a row, it’s goodbye snow peas and spinach.”

Posted by Pat Rubin at 02:56 PM | Comments

May 03, 2007

New arrival

This has nothing to do with gardening, but I couldn’t resist including this photograph of my newest miniature donkey, born May 1. He doesn’t have a name, yet, although “adorable” fits him quite well. He's about the size of a lamb, only 18 or 20 inches high, and weighs 15 or 20 pounds.

We name the females we keep after whatever flower is blooming when they are born. We have Marigold, Geranium, Poppy, Zinnia, Tulip, Daisy and Pansy. There aren't many flower names that sound masculine besides Sweet William and Johnny Jump-Up. Since we already have a herd sire, we don't keep the boy babies, so will just give him a barn name while we have him.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 02:04 PM | Comments

May 02, 2007

Ladybug larvae

Little alligators.

That’s what most people say this strange little creature resembles. You’ll see them all over plants this time of year. Not to worry, though, because their intentions are good.

They’re ladybug larvae, and despite their ferocious appearance, they do a world of good in the vegetable and flower garden. They feast on aphids. In fact they can eat about 25 aphids each day.

The larvae stage lasts for several weeks. Then comes the pupae stage where the larvae attach themselves to a leaf or piece of wood or stem. At this time it looks like a cross between its larvae and adult form. After about a week, the adult ladybug emerges. It lives about a month. During that time it also feasts on aphids, as well as mites and mealy bugs. If you see tiny yellow eggs on the backsides of leaves, chances are those are ladybug eggs.

To learn more about ladybugs, including how they defend themselves, where they live, how they got their name and more, visit the Ladybug Q&A.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 12:32 PM | Comments

May 01, 2007

White Grubs

A friend uncovers handfuls of white grubs every time she works in the soil. They’re scary looking little things with soft creamy white bodies, six squiggly legs and a dark head. They curl into the shape of the letter “C” when disturbed.

Grubs feed on roots, and seem to love almost anything you put in the garden, including lawn grass, fruit trees, shade trees, ornamentals, as well as decaying organic matter. They are the larvae of several kinds of beetles. The most common white grubs are those of June beetles, or June bugs. Grubs live in the soil feeding on plant roots for two or three years before they emerge as adults and begin the process of laying their eggs in the soil again.

A Clemson University Department of Horticulture fact sheet says if you have more than seven per square foot, you’ve got a problem. They recommend milky spore bacteria for control, although it can take several years. You can also pick and toss as many as you can find to the birds. There are insecticides that can be used, but it’s difficult to get them down into the soil where the grubs live.

Ten-year-old Valentina Couse-Baker, who helps her mother in the garden, took this photo.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 01:26 PM | Comments

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