Eagerly awaiting seeds of the new year
It?s 2007, and I?m looking in my mail every day for the first seed catalogs of the year and the annual IRS mailing.
Christmas is done, and hopefully the sale circulars will lighten up some but hopefully the seed catalogs will occupy some of my spare time until spring planting time. The great thing about seed catalogs is the photographs. Never a crack in a tomato, never a stinkbug bite, just perfectly shaped red fruit. How can you look in a seed packet and envision having a luscious ripe tomato in July? It?s an act of faith. This early in the year you?ve got to know that everything is the home landscape will be better this year. That?s one of my many resolutions for the coming year.
Seed or bedding plants is where you need to focus your attention. There are many, many different seed companies offering everything from heirloom varieties to the newest selections. You want a yellow melon, blue potatoes, purple carrots or foot long beans you can grow it. The internet is a tremendous source of information and a great way for many different companies to sell you something for your garden. The biggest job will be sorting through all of it. Just hit Google search and go.
There are other things to take care of between now and spring in the garden. A soil test will tell you if you need to add lime and whether you need to keep fertilizing those beds with phosphorous and potassium. At my house there are several beds to clean out and add much to. The mulch will help protect plants from the cold and will also retard winter weed growth. You can kill a lot of weeds this time of year with an application of 2, 4-D. Watch the weather report. 2, 4-D works best if applied before three days of 55 degree weather. There are lots of things you can do this time of year to lighten the work load in the spring. Then again, there are lot of seed catalogs and ball games to get through as well.
If you?re looking for some information on some new flower and vegetable varieties you need to check out http://www.all-americaselections.org. This is the site for All American Selections. This group maintains gardens across the country at many university and garden locations where these varieties are grown and evaluated. If they don?t score well they don?t get to be All Americans. Some of the past winner that many of us enjoy today or from the Farmer?s Market include the Big Beef tomato, the Purple Wave Petunia, Celebrity tomatoes and many other vegetables and flowers. This is a great spot to look at what?s new. The 2006 listing has a beautiful purple, almost black ornamental pepper.
The Master Gardener class that starts on Thursday night, Jan. 11, is another place to learn more about seeds and plants and many other gardening and landscape topics. You also get to meet a bunch of fine folks. If you want more information or details give me a call at the Extension office (668-3197) after Jan. 1 or if you can?t wait that long call me at home (668-3197).
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MORE ON SEEDS
Warren County farmers need to take a look at the variety trial results from last summer county standardized plots. These trials all tested the same varieties in several different counties across the state. Then you can look at varieties tested at the UT Experiment stations across the state. The easiest place to look at this information is at the following website: http/www.utcrops.com
There?s lots of information on corn, soybeans and wheat varieties located at this site as well as production information. Due to the drastic changes in the market during the past year this year?s cropping season will offer some real opportunities. What you plant, when you plant it, and when and how you market your crop will all be important decisions over the coming year. Though lots of seed has already been booked take a look at the variety information located at utcrops.com. There also some information on disease resistance. We need to remember that soybean rust was found in Lincoln county and other Tennessee counties in late fall.
On Feb. 22 we will hold our second Grain Conference in Manchester at the Coffee County Fairgrounds. This event will combine production and marketing information for all farmers who grow corn, soybeans and wheat. We?ll have more on this event at a later date but mark your calendar now.