Onions are a wonder in the Georgia garden. They are cool-season crops that require very little work. Ever wanted to try growing them? Now is your chance as Willie Chance gives us valuable instruction. Willie says….
The Cherokee rose is the state flower and the brown thrasher is the state bird. What is the state vegetable? The Vidalia onion!
Actually, most gardeners cannot grow onions and officially call them ‘Vidalia onions’. Production of certified Vidalia onions is limited by a marketing order to a specific area in south-central Georgia. However, gardeners can grow sweet onions by following certain practices.
Onions have two major flavors. Sugars make them sweet but pungent chemicals make the onions ‘hot’. A sweet onion has enough sugar to make it sweet but more importantly – it has a low level of the pungent compounds. The most important factor in making onions ‘sweet’ is having low levels of these pungent compounds. Levels of these compounds in the onion are controlled by proper variety selection, fertilization, watering, and time of planting.
Choose the mild weather during this period to plant or transplant: beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, collards, lettuce, mustard, onions, radishes, spinach and turnips. Plant your second planting of fall crops such as collards, turnips, cabbage, mustard, and kale.
Refurbish mulch to control weeds, and start adding leaves and other materials to the compost pile. Store your manure under cover to prevent leaching of nutrients.
Water deeply and thoroughly to prevent drought stress. Pay special attention to new transplants.
Harvest mature green peppers and tomatoes before frost gets them.
Harvest herbs and dry them in a cool, dry place.
And, most importantly, enjoy the cooler weather and enjoy your garden.
Congratulations to the UGA Griffin United Way Cardboard Boat Crew! The UGA Griffin Crew placed 2nd after the City of Griffin Fire Department.
In the final race, the City of Griffin Fire finished with a time of 1:10 and the Dawgs had a time of 1:10.5. Congratulations to the City of Griffin Fire Department! The Dawgs Crew featured:
Allie Futral
Bo Cavender
Jim Quick
Ben Fields
Ryan Hodgson
Ken Manley
Joe Hortz
Pictured above with the Dawgs Crew is Sara Jones, John Hamilton, and Dr. Randall Peters from Griffin-Spalding United Way.
There are many ways to start seeds for transplants. Using peat pellets is a popular way and has some advantages. The peat has a naturally occurring antimicrobial property that helps control fungal diseases. The peat pellets are also easy to handle which helps with transplanting.
The peat pellets are easy to handle.
To get the pellets ready for planting you need to add water. Warm water is best. Package directions will tell you how much water to add. You want the pellets fully expanded, but you do not want them any wetter. You don’t want water sitting in the bottom of the tray. Too little water is better than too much.
Dr. Gerald Arkin is a respected scientist in the fields of agroecosystems modeling and agricultural meteorology, Dr. Gerald Arkin became assistant dean of the University of Georgia Griffin Campus in June of 1987. He came to the campus from the Blackland Research Center in Temple, Texas where he had served as resident director for the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station since December of 1983. Prior to this, Dr. Arkin served as a research agricultural engineer at the Blackland Center. He earned his B.S. in Agricultural Engineering from Cornell University, his M.S. in Agricultural Engineering from The University of Georgia and his Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Illinois. Throughout his career as an agricultural scientist, Dr. Arkin has authored or co-authored numerous scientific publications. He fostered the creation of many management-oriented crop simulation models that are used worldwide.
Ann Autry was secretary to the director of the Department of Food Science and worked at the Griffin Experiment Station for 52 years. Of particular interest is her commentary on how life and working conditions changed over a period of two generations, and what she considers to be the most important developments in the history of the campus. Some of these views were unexpected after talking with a number of faculty members and other administrative assistants off the record. By comparing different perspectives through oral interviews, it is hoped that one can acquire a much richer and more inclusive view of the history and life of the campus.
September is Hunger Action Month. A 2014 Hunger in America study showed that 1 in 7.5 people in metro Atlanta and northern Georgia relies on food pantries and meal service programs. This includes over 164,000 children and 64,000 seniors.
As gardeners we may be in a unique position to donate fresh food to a local food pantry. Most food pantries are stocked with canned and dry goods. Fresh food for their clients could be life changing.
Is your community or school garden donating to a food pantry? Some gardens have specific areas dedicated to donation. The entire group is responsible for working those areas and someone is assigned to harvest and deliver the produce.
Some gardens were formed with the purpose of growing food for others.
Jewel Walker-Harps is President of the Griffin, Georgia branch of the NAACP and chairs the Educational Prosperity Initiative, a grassroots engagement and multi-institution initiative to fight poverty and provide a comprehensive system of general supports through services, programs, and activities for all ages. She is President of the South Atlanta Youth Association, a Library Media Specialist, a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Children, and a member of the executive committee of the Spalding County Collaborative Authority for Families and Children, Inc, which was created by the General Assembly of the State of Georgia and designated as the local decision making body for prioritizing the needs of families and children.
Lettuce is a great cool-season crop to grow in Georgia, especially leaf lettuce. Growing leaf lettuce means you don’t have to wait for the lettuce to make a head. You can begin harvesting as soon as the leaves are large enough to eat. With names like Firecracker, Tango, and Drunken Woman the expectations for flavor are high!
This week we have Wilkes County UGA Extension Agent Frank Watson as a guest blogger. Extension agents have gotten many calls about rabbit damage in the garden; gardeners are frustrated! Frank has some information that could be useful. Frank says….
While rabbits may seem cute and fuzzy, the common rabbit or eastern cottontail can do considerable damage to flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs any time of the year in places ranging from suburban yards to rural fields and tree plantations.
Controlling rabbits is often necessary to reduce damage, but complete extermination is not necessary, desirable or even possible.
No toxicants or fumigants are registered for use against rabbits. There are, however, chemical repellents available at local garden centers that may discourage rabbit browsing.
A rascally rabbit enjoying a carrot.
Repellents should be applied before rabbit-inflicted damage occurs and after a rain, heavy dew or the occurrence of new plant growth. If rabbits have already started feeding, their attraction to what they have been eating will most likely overcome their fear of the repellent.
Habitat modification and exclusion techniques provide long-term, non-lethal control. Remove dense, heavy vegetative cover, brush piles, weed patches and stone piles in or adjacent to the landscape.
Fencing made from chicken wire, with less than 1-inch mesh, can be placed around herbaceous plants. The fence must be at least 2-feet high and the bottom must be buried at least 3-inches deep. Quarter-inch wire hardware cloth made into 18- to 24-inch cylinders and buried at least 3 inches will protect trunks of young orchard trees or woody landscape plants.
In the winter months, live animal traps can be baited with corncobs, oats, dried apples or rabbit droppings. Traps can be bought at garden centers, hardware stores or from gardening catalogs. Place the traps where rabbits have been feeding or resting and close to suitable cover.
If the trap fails to catch any rabbits within a week, move the trap to a different location.
For more information about managing wildlife in the garden, search for wildlife on extension.uga.edu/publications. As always, your local UGA Extension office is a great source of information.
Frank hails from cattle country and while farmers use electric fence to keep their cattle in Frank uses electric fence to keep deer out of his garden!
