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Gardening Times

Gardening Times

Fred Nelson

Sat, Jul 11

Category:

Gardening Times

Here we are well into the month of July, and all that I have harvested from my vegetable garden is some lettuce that I had transplanted. Returning home in early May is a bit late for my normal gardening schedule. However, one must make do what one has to work with. One frustrating operation...
Your garden and your brain

Fred Nelson

Tue, Mar 25

Category:

Gardening Times

The more that one reads gardening articles from various sources the more that we realize that we surely don’t know everything that encompasses the horticultural world. As an example, an article appeared in the Sarasota Herald Tribune, was headlined: “Bacteria in soil studied for impact on brain...
Putting the garden to bed for the winter

Sat, Jan 4

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Gardening Times

As I look back, it was a great fall for outdoor gardening activities. There should be no excuses for not putting your vegetable garden “to bed.” My only problem is that I never did get a chance to gather any seaweed for a winter cover. For one thing, I couldn’t seem to find a significant amount on...
Caring for your Christmas poinsettia

Sat, Dec 21

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Gardening Times

The Christmas season is encircled with religious significance, as it should be. However, it appears that the decorations that abound throughout the environment enhance the joyous atmosphere. Specifically, the inclusion of several members of the plant field that includes the Christmas tree, the...
Late season tomatoes — ripened inside

Frederick H. Nelson

Fri, Nov 15

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Gardening Times

Late season delights — ripened tomatoes and fall colors This fall has, in general, been quite moderate in temperature and with ample sunshine (although there was rain and snow this past week). In spite of the good weather, my tomatoes had lost their foliage and all that was left were several decent...
Of violets, hedges and planting trees

Fred Nelson

Sat, Oct 19

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Gardening Times

It certainly is interesting to see how fast the season is changing from summer to fall. This is particularly true as I see my tomatoes decline due to diseases and dry weather. While the top of the vines are still green, the rest of the plant would be barren if all of the infected leaves should fall...
Gardens take on an autumn hue

Fred Nelson

Sat, Oct 5

Category:

Gardening Times

Finally, the season is fit for working outdoors in almost any endeavor — cleaning the vegetable garden, pruning, gathering seaweed and perhaps cutting a bit of firewood for that little extra comfort of warmth during the late fall and winter. I am ready to clean out my tomato plants. The crop is...
Gardening Times

Frederick H. Nelson

Sat, Sep 21

Category:

Gardening Times

It is always interesting to me how the weather seems to change from summer to fall around Labor Day. It certainly was a welcome relief from some of our recent suffering hot, humid days. Along with the change in the weather, the effect has also become evident in my vegetable garden. The squash vine...
We may not like it, but the wet weather is good for your garden

Fred Nelson

Sat, Jul 27

Category:

Gardening Times

There is seldom a summer that passes that we do not experience some hot, humid weather. However, if the pattern that has transpired this summer continues we’ll have a summer to remember for a few years. This type of weather certainly isn’t conducive to challenging activities in the garden. And, if...
Gardening Times: A new Wave of petunia

Thu, Jul 4

Category:

Gardening Times

Just as my column of May 24 reached the stands, I received some copies of Greenhouse Product News from my grandson, Dustyn, who is a senior at the University of Connecticut. He’s following his grandfather’s interest in horticulture. This is a professional magazine featuring articles...
Winter hardy camellias

Fred Nelson

Thu, Jun 13

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Gardening Times

About three years ago I purchased a “winter hardy” camellia. For those of us in the truly senior age bracket, the camellia was one of the main corsage flowers for presentation to our dancing partner for the prom of the season. The act of purchasing this evergreen plant was more for my intrigue to...
Of petunias and peonies

Fred Nelson

Sat, May 25

Category:

Gardening Times

Our Block Island weather certainly doesn’t lend itself to much outdoor gardening outside of cleaning up winter debris and a bit of pruning that you had put off from last fall. However, time is short for making plans; when the more pleasant weather finally arrives you’ll be ready to go to “work.”...
Gardening Times

Fred Nelson

Thu, Apr 11

Category:

Gardening Times

Our long-awaited gardening season is just around the corner — so the calendar tells us. Most Block Island gardeners are pretty well accustomed to the irregularities that are associated with our springtime weather. Besides the cool temperatures, often rainy, foggy days and unrelenting wind,...
Gardening Times: Inside and outside

Fred Nelson

Wed, Dec 19

Category:

Gardening Times

As of this past week or so, we have experienced some pretty nice weather for this time of year. We have not yet had a killing frost so most cold-hardy crops such as lettuce, cabbage, brussels sprounts, carrots and beets should be doing well. This certainly won’t continue much longer. In the...
Gardening Times: Deer and carrots

Fred Nelson

Tue, Nov 20

Category:

Gardening Times

The passing of Hurricane Sandy surely should mark the end of our long growing season here on the island, even though we haven’t experienced a killing frost as yet. By the way, that appears as frost on several trees along Ocean and Beach avenues is actually salt burn from Sandy. Regardless, we did...
Gardening Times: Looking ahead to next year's garden

Fred Nelson

Tue, Oct 9

Category:

Gardening Times

It’s hard to believe that the summer of 2012 is over and our fall season is quickly setting in. Since my gardening season didn’t start until the first week of July this year, I limited my endeavors to some tomato plants, summer squash, Kentucky pole beans, lettuce and carrots. These crops occupied...
The summer of the last-minute garden

Fred Nelson

Wed, Aug 22

Category:

Gardening Times

Well, as far as I’m concerned, the gardening season of 2012 will be one I shall be happy to forget. First, I found that you can’t hold off starting to tend to a vegetable garden until the end of June. While unforeseen circumstances brought this about, the calendar showed that a tremendous amount of...
Gardening Times

Fred Nelson

Thu, Jun 21

Category:

Gardening Times

Ordinarily I would be recounting how the gardening season is progressing around the island. However, as some folks know, Muriel and I have been detained here in Englewood, Fla., for an extended season due to a couple of medical calamities that have required continued care beyond our normal return...
Take care when planting a shade tree

Fred Nelson

Sat, May 19

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Gardening Times

Years and years ago I can remember sitting under the shade of a maple tree at home on a warm summer afternoon. Is there anything more enjoyable than that? As I look around at the homes here on Block Island one doesn’t see many mature shade trees gracing the home landscape. To start with, just about...
Gardening Times: Time to prep your gardens

Fred Nelson

Mon, Mar 19

Category:

Gardening Times

The weather this winter certainly has been exceptional, with so many mild days when compared with a normal winter. This occurred not only on the island but throughout the country, including the South. It will be interesting to see if it has any appreciable effect on plants in general. One effect...
Asiatic garden beetle is lawn problem culprit

Fred Nelson

Wed, Nov 16

Category:

Gardening Times

Last month I reported a problem with grubs in my lawn. Crows decimated the turfgrass as they were feeding on grubs that were feeding on the grass roots. Since these areas are virtually bare they will have to be reseeded. Normally, we associate grub damage to turf with Japanese beetle grubs, but as...
Tomato wilt strategies, grubs in the lawn, apples and a surprising lily

Fred Nelson

Tue, Nov 1

Category:

Gardening Times

While spring is the time thoughts naturally turn to gardening, the fall season offers its fair share of gardening experiences. Besides the traditional fall foliage and display of berries such as bittersweet, bayberry and winterberry, there are colorful roses downtown. Roses do very well in cool...
Winners and losers in the garden this year

Fred Nelson

Thu, Sep 29

Category:

Gardening Times

Hurricane Irene certainly did a job on the foliage of many island trees and shrubs, some more than others. The landscape over parts of the island looks more like winter than early fall. This is due to the salt spray that Irene’s southerly wind engulfed the island in all day. The only remedy to...
A look at invasive plants on the island

Fred Nelson

Thu, Sep 1

Category:

Gardening Times

It is difficult to determine whether this summer is different from our normal summers unless one keeps copious records, such as true horticulturists who record daily temperatures, rainfall, sunshine, etc. By recording this information, they then may compare production from each of their crops...
Garden vegetable season begins slowly

Wed, Jul 27

Category:

Gardening Times

Here it is the middle of July and I haven’t picked my first tomato yet; I could have, but it would have been a green one. The Early Girl tomatoes, living up to their name, appear to be ahead of the Better Boy and Big Boy. I expect a ripe one within the next week or so. Other than the tomatoes, all...
Arbor Day: spreading the Red Maple

Fred Nelson

Mon, May 2

Category:

Gardening Times

The last Friday in April is Arbor Day. This is a day to encourage the planting of trees. The Block Island Gardeners have been celebrating Arbor Day with the students of the Block Island school for the past 20 years or so. They provided each student in the primary grades with a seedling tree to...