*What it ‘Does Not Do‘ is forecast your first or last average frost dates in your planting zone! Find Your First and Last Average Frost Dates

Federal “plant hardiness map was updated for the first time in two decades, revealing many areas where the coldest day of the year isn’t as cold anymore.

For example, Des Moines, Iowa, used to be in zone 5a, meaning the lowest temperature on average was between minus 15 and minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Now it’s 5b, which has a coldest temperature of 10 to 15 degrees below zero.

A key change in the update is using average temperature records from 1976-2005 instead of the earlier 1974-1986. The nation’s average temperature from 1976 to 2005 was two-thirds of a degree warmer than for the old time period.

It’s important to recognize that the plant hardiness map represents the extreme coldest temperature a location experiences each year, averaged over a period of years. It is really an extreme cold map and doesn’t track average temperatures.

The more recent averaging period has generally caused a one 5-degree half-zone shift to the warmer side over much of the U.S.

USDA Undersecretary Catherine Woteki called it “the most sophisticated Plant Hardiness Zone Map yet for the United States” but made no mention of climate change. USDA spokeswoman Kim Kaplan distanced the map from global warming issues. Even though much of the country is in warmer zones, she said, the map is not a good instrument to demonstrate climate change because it is based on just the coldest days of the year.

At a time when the ‘normal’ climate has become a moving target, this revision of the hardiness zone map gives us a clear picture of the ‘new normal,’ and will be an essential tool for gardeners and farmers.

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

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Onion facts that I’ll bet you didn’t know.
They were grown in Ancient Egypt, and eventually arrived in Rome and became known as the word onion (from the Latin word UNIO, which means large pearl). In Middle English, it became UNYON. The status of the onion rose after French Onion Soup was made popular by Stanislaus I, the former King of Poland.

Selecting the Best Varieties for Your Area

When onions are first planted, their growth is concentrated on new roots and green leaves or tops. The onion will first form a top and then when a specific combination of daylight, darkness, and temperature is reached, bulb formation starts. The size of the mature onion bulb is dependent on the number and size of the tops. For each leaf, there will be a ring of onion; the larger the leaf, the larger the ring will be. The confusing part is that each variety needs a particular combination. For instance, a variety that needs many hours of summer light will not perform well in an area that receives fewer hours of light. Onion growers categorize onions in one of three ways: Short Day, Intermediate Day, and Long Day.

Tips for Successful Onion Growth
Onion plants are hardy and can withstand temperatures as low as 20o F. They should be set out 4 to 6 weeks prior to the date of the last average spring freeze. When you obtain onion plants, they should be dry. Do not wet them or stick their roots in soil or water. Unpack your plants and store them in a cool, dry place until you plant them. Properly stored onion plants will last up to three weeks. Do not worry if the plants become dry. As soon as they are planted, they will “shoot” new roots and green tops.

Before obtaining your plants, you may want to begin soil preparation. Onions are best grown on raised beds at least 4 inches high and 20 inches wide. Onions need a very fertile and well-balanced soil. Organic gardeners should work in rich finished compost, high in Nitrogen and Phosphorus with plentiful minerals. Spread lime if soil is too acidic. If using commercial fertilizer (10-20-10), make a trench in the top of the bed 4 inches deep, distribute one-half cup of the fertilizer per 10 linear feet of row. Cover the fertilizer with 2 inches of soil.

Cooking tips
To reduce tearing when peeling or slicing an onion, chill for 30 minutes or cut off the top, but leave the root on. The root has the largest amount of sulphuric compounds, which is what causes tears when the onion is peeled or cut. Remove the root prior to cooking or eating. Prolonged cooking takes the flavor out of onions. Cook only until they’re tender.

Nutritional Information
1 medium Raw onion contains:
60 Calories
1 gram Protein
14 grams Carbohydrates
0 Fat
0 Cholesterol
10 mg Sodium
200 mg Potassium
11.9 mg Vitamin C (20% of USRDA)

Onions are high in energy and water content. They are low in calories, and have a generous amount of B6, B1, and Folic acid. Onions contain chemicals which help fight the free radicals in our bodies. Free radicals cause disease and destruction to cells which are linked to at least 60 diseases.

When a person eats at least 1/2 a raw onion a day, their good type HDL cholesterol goes up an average of 30%. Onions increase circulation, lower blood pressure, and prevent blood clotting.

Variety Selection
The size of the onion bulb is dependent upon the number and size of the green leaves or tops at the time of bulb maturity. For each leaf there will be a ring of onion; the larger the leaf, the larger the ring will be. The onion will first form a top and then, depending on the onion variety and length of daylight, start to form the bulb. Onions are characterized by day length; “long-day” onion varieties will quit forming tops and begin to form bulbs when the daylength reaches 14 to 16 hours while “short-day” onions will start making bulbs much earlier in the year when there are only 10 to 12 hours of daylight. A general rule of them is that “long-day” onions do better in northern states (north of 36th parallel) while “short-day” onions do better in states south of that line. See the onion information resource page for more detailed variety descriptions and photos.

Onions From Seed
Mid to late October is the best time to plant seed of the super sweet, short-to-intermediate daylength onion types in Texas zones III – V (USDA Zones 8 and 9). Seeds can be sown directly into the garden, covered with one-fourth inch of soil and should sprout within 7- 10 days. If planted thickly, plants can be pulled and utilized as green onions or scallions for salads or fresh eating in 8-10 weeks. However, most gardeners want to grow an onion bulb as large as a basketball. To do this, the onion plants must be thinned by next February until they are at least 2-3 inches apart to insure adequate bulb expansion. The removed plants can be used for scallions or for transplanting into another area of the garden so that these too will have adequate space in which to enlarge into large bulbs.

Fertilization of onion plants is vital to success. Texas A&M research findings indicate that onion growth and yield can be greatly enhanced by banding phosphorus 2-3 inches below seed at planting time. This phosphorus acts as a starter solution which invigorates the growth of young seedlings. Banding phosphorus, such as super phosphate (0-20-0), 2-3 inches below the seed involves making a trench 3 inches deep, distributing one-half cup of super phosphate per 10 row feet, covering the phosphate with soil, sowing seed and covering lightly with one-half inch or less of soil. Once established, onion plants should receive additional amounts of fertilizer (21-0-0 – Ammonium sulfate or Ammonium nitrate) as a side-dress application every month.

Gardeners who tend to procrastinate should be warned that planting later than October could mean failure. Failure in onion production comes in two forms – - complete annihilation of the young seedlings during a cold winter or an abundance of spring onion flowers which decrease bulb size, weight and storage ability. Onion plants which are small and rapidly growing when the cold temperatures of winter arrive will probably not survive. Yet, if you plant earlier and the stem of onion plants are larger than a pencil when exposed to cold temperatures, the onion will initiate and produce a flower during the following spring. This flowering is termed bolting. Bolting requires low temperatures. Most rapid bolting is caused by temperatures of 40-45 degrees F. or below. Fall seeded crops are susceptible to bolting the following spring if warm fall temperatures, allowing excessive growth, are followed by low winter temperatures and slowed growth. Many gardeners believe that early removal of the onion flower stalk will cause onion bulb enlargement but this has not proven to be the case. Flowering causes a decrease in bulb size as well as a central flower stalk which enhances decay during storage. This is exactly what will happen to those who are planting onion transplants or sets in October or November with the hope of large onions next spring. The onion bulbs which produce a flower stalk may be large but they will be light-weight (one-half the weight of a comparable size, non-flowered onion bulb) and prone to decay.

Care Of Transplant Instructions
When you receive live plants, they should be planted as soon as possible. Should conditions exist that make you unable to plant these plants right away, remove the onion plants from the box and spread them out in a cool, dry area. The roots and tops may begin to dry out but do not be alarmed, the onion is a member of the lily family and as such will live for approximately three weeks off the bulb. The first thing that the onion will do after planting will be to shoot new roots.

Preparing the Soil
Onions are best grown on raised beds at least four inches high and 20 inches wide. Onion growth and yield can be greatly enhanced by banding a fertilizer rich in phosphorous (10-20-10) 2 to 3 inches below transplants at planting time. Make a trench in the top of the bed fours inches deep, distribute one-half cup of the fertilizer per 10 linear feet of row, cover the fertilizer with two inches of soil and plant the transplants.

Planting
Set plants out approximately one inch deep with a four inch spacing. On the raised bed, set two rows on each bed, four inches in from the side of the row. Should you want to harvest some of the onions during the growing season as green onions, you may plant the plants as close as two inches apart. Pull every other one, prior to them beginning to bulb, leaving some for larger onions. Transplants should be set out 4 to 6 weeks prior to the date of the last average spring freeze.

Fertilization and Growing Tips
Onions require a high source of nitrogen. A nitrogen-based fertilizer (ammonium sulfate or ammonium nitrate) should be applied at the rate of one cup per twenty feet of row. The first application should be about three weeks after planting and then continue with applications every 2 to 3 weeks. Once the neck starts feeling soft do not apply any more fertilizer. This should occur approximately 4 weeks prior to harvest. Always water immediately after feeding and maintain moisture during the growing season. The closer to harvest the more water the onion will require. For weed control a pre-emergent herbicide (DACTHAL) should be applied prior to planting. This will provide weed control for approximately one month after planting. Other products such as GOAL and BUCTRIL, can assist in weed control during the growing season. Always follow label instructions. For organic gardeners a rich compost high in Nitrogen should be incorporated into the soil. Unfortunately, there is not any product available to assist in weed control so the only method will be cultivation. While cultivating be careful not to damage the onion bulb. As the onion begins to bulb the soil around the bulb should be loose so the onion is free to expand. Do not move dirt on top of the onion since this will prevent the onion from forming its natural bulb. Start early with cultivation practices.

Disease and Insect Control
The two major diseases that will affect onions are blight and purple blotch. Should the leaves turn pale-green, then yellow, blight has probably affected the plant. Purple blotch causes purple lesions on the leaves. Heavy dew and foggy weather favor their rapid spread, and when prolonged rainy spells occur in warm weather, these diseases can be very destructive. The best cure is prevention: use only well-drained soil, run the rows in the same direction as prevailing wind and avoid windbreaks or other protection. Should conditions persist, a spray with a multipurpose fungicide such as daconil can be applied on a 7 to 10 day schedule.

The insect that causes the most damage is the onion thrip. They feed by rasping the surface of the leaves and sucking the liberated juices. They are light-brown in color and are approximately 1mm long. The most available insecticides are Malathion or Diazinon, or an insecticidal soap or biological insecticide may be used. Do not apply any insecticide within seven days of harvest and always follow label instructions.

Flowering — Abnormal For Onions; Normal For Garlic
Most folks want to grow onion bulbs NOT onion flowers! What causes bulb onions to send up flower stalks? Flowering of onions can be caused by several things but usually the most prevalent is temperature fluctuation. An onion is classed as a biennial which means it normally takes 2 years to go from seed to seed. Temperature is the controlling or triggering factor in this process. If an onion plant is exposed to alternating cold and warm temperatures resulting in the onion plant going dormant, resuming growth, going dormant and then resuming growth again, the onion bulbs prematurely flower or bolt. The onion is deceived into believing it has completed two growth cycles or years of growth in its biennial life cycle so it finalizes the cycle by blooming. Flowering can be controlled by planting the right variety at the right time.

What To Do About Flowering?
What can one do if flower stalks appear? Should the flower stalks be removed from the onion plants? Suit yourself but once the onion plant has bolted, or sent up a flower stalk, there is nothing you can do to eliminate this problem. The onion bulbs will be edible but smaller. Use these onions as soon as possible because the green flower stalk which emerges through the center of the bulb will make storage almost impossible. Seedstalk formation (bolting) of garlic is not induced by exposure to fluctuating temperatures, as is the case with onions, which means that a wide range of fall planting dates is permissible for this crop. Seedstalk formation is also not damaging to garlic since the cloves are arranged around the seedstalk and will be removed from the dried seedstalk. Conversely, the edible onion bulb is penetrated by the seedstalk which is hard when the bulb is harvested, but prematurely decays causing loss of the entire bulb in storage.

Harvesting And Storage
Onions are fully mature when their tops have fallen over. After pulling from the ground allow the onion to dry, clip the roots and cut the tops back to one inch. The key to preserving onions and to prevent bruising is to keep them cool, dry and separated. In the refrigerator, wrapped separately in foil, onions can be preserved for as long as a year. The best way to store onions is in a mesh bag or nylon stocking. Place an onion in the bag and tie a knot or put a plastic tie between the onions and continue until the stocking is full. Loop the stocking over a rafter or nail in a cool dry building and when an onion is desired, simply clip off the bottom onion with a pair of scissors or remove the plastic tie. Another suggestion is to spread the onions out on a screen which will allow adequate ventilation, but remember to keep them from touching each other. As a general rule, the sweeter the onion, the higher the water content, and therefore the less shelf life. A more pungent onion will store longer so eat the sweet varieties first and save the more pungent onions for storage.

Material source: Extension Service, Texas A&M University System

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More than most people care to know: Asparagus is low in calories and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium and zinc, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese and selenium, as well as chromium.

Asparagus is a useful companion plant for tomatoes. The tomato plant repels the asparagus beetle, as do several other common companion plants of tomatoes. Meanwhile, asparagus may repel some harmful root nematodes that affect tomato plants.

Ohio State University – Bulletin 826 – Asparagus Production Managemen

How To Cook Asparagus {Recipes}

Planting Asparagus – Do It Right The First Time {How To DIY}
Michigan State University Extension
Asparagus Plant Once For Years Of Fine Dining Easy to grow and harvest and a true luxury feel good food. Plant a few rows and you will be harvesting Asparagus for many years to come with a minimum of effort.

Preparing the Soil:
Any preparation for planting asparagus should begin no later than the year before you plan to plant. Begin with a soil test. Asparagus has some unusual nutrient requirements and it may take you a while to build the soil up. One of the crop’s most unusual requirements is a high pH (a “sweet” versus “sour” soil). We use a pH of about 7.0 here although a little higher doesn’t really hurt anything. That may be a problem if you are living in the southern United States where soils are generally naturally acid. It could take a lot of lime and more than one year to get the pH close to right. Remember when applying lime you want to work it as deeply into the soil as you can. Asparagus will grow at lower pHs, but research at Michigan State University shows that lower pHs are more conducive to the growth of the Fusarium fungi. Fusarium Root Rot is generally what eventually kills asparagus plants. For other nutrients follow recommendations based on a soil test. Although asparagus prefers sandy soil, anything you can do to raise the organic matter of the soil before planting will also pay big benefits. Compost is probably the easiest way to do this, but manure would be beneficial as well.

Choosing a variety:
Original plantings of asparagus in the United States are mostly one of the Washington varieties, Mary, Martha or Waltham Washington. These are unimproved, non-hybrid varieties. What hybrid means in the case of asparagus is “all-male” hybrids. In a non-hybrid bed you will have an equal number of male and female plants. You will not be able to tell the difference until berries appear on the female plants, unless you are a good enough botanist to tell the difference between male and female flowers. A hybrid asparagus variety will have something less than half female plants. This is important, because it takes a fair amount of energy to grow the berries. While female plants generally produce larger spears, they also produce enough fewer spears that the yield advantage in Michigan for hybrids is about 50% greater. Michigan grows mostly hybrid asparagus, chiefly Jersey Giant, Jersey Knight, Jersey Supreme and Jersey Gem out of the Rutgers University breeding program in New Jersey. Increasingly growers are planting more Canadian hybrids, especially one called Teissen, which our early tests show is more productive. The Canadian hybrids were produced out of a breeding program at Guelph University in Ontario. The Jersey strains are available in many garden catalogues, I am not sure that the Canadian ones are readily available to gardeners yet. Jersey Knight is what growers here generally use for fresh market. Most of the rest of the varieties I mentioned are mostly processing varieties. These varieties are bred for northern climates. I am less familiar with some of the varieties used in the southern United States, but UC 157 is widely grown in places like California and Mexico. It comes from the University of California breeding program.

Transplanting the asparagus:
Please notice I said “transplanting” not “planting”. I sometimes get asked about growing the asparagus plants from seed. That was tried many years ago in our area without much success. For one thing, the asparagus crown needs to be planted deeply so that you don’t have spindly spears, and if the seed is planted where it needs to be to germinate, the crown won’t be deep enough. I strongly recommend year-old nursery grown crowns. They are small enough that they don’t suffer so greatly from transplant shock. Even two-year old crowns don’t do as well as year-old crowns because they are so big that the transplant shock cancels out any benefit from the larger crown size.

I often get asked about transplanting or moving mature crowns to a different location. While technically possible, my advice on that idea is forget it! Crowns more than two years old are generally huge and it is very difficult to get them out of the ground in one piece. The transplant shock is correspondingly larger and the end result is that the moved crowns usually die. Even if they don’t die immediately, you are probably moving the Fusarium root rot organism, that has almost certainly infected the crown, with it, and in their weakened condition the crowns fall victim to the disease a lot more quickly.

As I’ve already said, asparagus needs to be planted in a trench. In sandy soil, that trench needs to be 8-10 inches deep. Clay soils should have shallower trenches, about 6 inches in depth. Rows in Michigan are planted from 4 to 5 feet apart to give fern room to grow in the summer. Crowns should be planted between 8 and 12 inches apart on center. A little phosphate fertilizer should be put in the trenches before the crowns are set. Be careful that the fertilizer you use does not also have enough potassium or nitrogen to burn the crown. I usually recommend triple super phosphate, also known as 0-46-0, if you are going to use dry fertilizer. I believe you can also buy liquid, high-phosphate, transplant fertilizer. We are not exactly sure why the phosphate is important, although we speculate that it enhances development of the root system and helps reduce transplant shock. This benefit seems to occur regardless of the phosphorus level already in the soil.

Do not fill the trenches in completely, although that is sometimes done successfully on very sandy soils. The best approach is to cover the crowns with about 3 inches of soil. Let the new plants grow through that soil for about 6 weeks and add another 3 inches of soil. Wait until the plants have gone dormant in the late fall or in the spring before growth begins to finish filling the trenches.

Commercial asparagus in Michigan usually lasts between 12 and 15 years, but in soil that hasn’t grown the crop before and is isolated from other asparagus fields the life expectancy can be longer. A few people have asparagus beds that are over 50 years old. However, spear diameter can begin to drop as the bed ages.
Harvesting Asparagus:

Do not harvest your asparagus the year you plant it or the year following planting. The asparagus plant needs to grow and establish a healthy crown and it will need all of its energy to do that. The third-year after transplanting we generally harvest the field for about two weeks. A better way to look at it is in terms of the number of pickings. We try to harvest fields 8 to 12 times the first year of harvest. Which number we use depends on the strength of the field. A picking is taken whenever the spears get tall enough to harvest, usually between 8 and 10 inches, which may be every day in warm weather or every four days in very cool weather. In warmer weather you will find that tip quality will be better if the spears are picked at the shorter end of this size range. The second year of harvest we will pick the field for about four weeks and the third year of harvest we will pick for a full season which is six or seven weeks. In terms of number of harvests for a full-season, figure 22-24 harvests. Harvests may be more or less than that depending on the strength of the field indicated by carbohydrate storage in the roots. However, most gardeners lack access to the modern tools needed to measure those levels. One thing you can use as a guide is the number and diameter of the spears you are harvesting. If the number of spears in a harvest drops off dramatically beyond 15 pickings or so, or if the spear diameter drops, you may want to consider ending harvest early. These yield drops are a good sign that the crown is beginning to experience stress.

Growers should harvest all of the spears that come up until the end of the harvest period, even the small diameter ones we call “whips”. You will find that whips are generally higher in fiber and tougher to eat than large diameter spears. That is because most of the fiber in asparagus is in the skins, making the larger spear the more tender. This is the exact opposite of what consumers assume when buying fresh asparagus, but is true nevertheless.

I also get questions on cutting versus snapping of asparagus. We see no difference to the plant whether the spear is cut below the soil surface, at the soil surface or snapped off above the soil surface. Most of the world cuts their asparagus, but in Michigan we snap ours. Snapping has an advantage to the home gardener in that you really don’t need to trim snapped asparagus because it generally breaks off above the woody, high-fiber section of the spear. You may have noticed that fresh asparagus purchased from other states usually requires a fair amount of trimming to get rid of the woody bottom section, even if the white “butt” is trimmed off before you buy it. Snapping generally eliminates this problem.
After the end of the harvest season, the spears should be allowed to grow. A spear is really just a plant shoot, and the shoots will grow into the mature fern that re-charges the crown for the next harvest season.
Managing the asparagus fern:

It is important to remember that the asparagus fern is the “factory” that supplies the energy to the crown and storage roots for the next year’s crop. Anything that a gardener can do to keep healthy, green fern throughout the post-harvest growing season will increase yield and quality the next season. Fern should never be pruned or cut back. Competing weeds and insect and disease pests should be controlled throughout the growing season. However, it is not a good idea to encourage excessive fern growth late in the season, August and September in Michigan. That means that fertilizer and irrigation water should be stopped after August 1st. It takes a great deal of energy from the crown to grow new fern, and after that date there may not be enough day light and warm weather left to allow the plant to make enough new photosynthate to replace the energy lost in growing the fern.

Weed Control:
Weed control is very important in successfully growing asparagus, especially in the first couple of years after transplanting when the young crowns are at their most vulnerable. Commercial growers use a variety of herbicides to control weeds. Most of these are either unavailable to gardeners or are too expensive to use on less than a commercial basis. If you are really curious about herbicides I suggest that you visit the following web site, http://www.msue.msu.edu/vegetable/weeds.htm, which is part of the Vegetable Area of Expertise web site at Michigan State University. A question I often get is using salt for weed control. This was widely practiced in the United States in the 19th Century. Asparagus is very tolerant to salt and most weeds are not. The sodium in salt can actually replace some of the plant’s potassium need and there may be some small benefit in Fusarium suppression from salt. But, it takes a lot of salt! In one disease control study by Dr. Mary Hausbeck at Michigan State University in the 1990s, salt was applied up to levels of 1000 pounds per acre. At the 1000 pound per acre level, some weed control was observed. Better weed control would probably require even more salt. As you can imagine, applying salt at amounts over a 1000 pounds per acre has a few side effects. On a clay soil it could result in the complete loss of soil structure causing the soil to take on a concrete-like consistency. On sandy soils this effect wasn’t observed, but that is probably because the salt was washed away by rainwater percolates through the soil. Before you try salt as a weed control, you may also want to consider that very few other desirable plants can handle the salt levels of asparagus, so you are going to be stuck with a dead area in your garden for decades after it is no longer an asparagus patch. Tillage is another possible option. Commercial growers in Michigan have pretty much abandoned tillage because equipment can cut into asparagus crowns, opening them up to Fusarium root rot and thereby shortening the life of the field. If home gardeners want to till an asparagus bed, early in the spring before spears begin to grow from the crown is safest, although some people also till immediately after the last harvest is taken. The late tillage will certainly break off some of the spears that could have grown into new fern using up some of the crowns reserve energy. Remember to till as shallowly as your tiller will allow. While I have had no experience with organic mulches, I can see no reason why a leaf or straw mulch applied 3 to 5 inches deep after the fern has started to grow in the summer wouldn’t also be effective.
Insect control:

Asparagus is attacked by a number of insects in Michigan, and probably more in other parts of the United States. The first one you will notice in the spring is the cutworm. In Michigan, we see the white cutworm first. The white cutworm over-winters as a larva and can begin attacking spears as soon as they emerge in the spring. The usual damage that results is that they eat the tip off the spear.

The common asparagus beetle is the next major pest in our timeline. This beetle is uniquely colored with a black and white checkerboard pattern set on a field of maroon. Its chief damage during the harvest season is to glue black eggs to spears. These eggs, which can be numerous, are oblong and stick out from the spear. This pest lasts through harvest season and hatching larvae feed on growing fern, often browning the fern completely off if left uncontrolled.

Dark-sided cutworm also arrives during harvest, but usually a couple of weeks after the white cutworm, since in over-winters as an egg. This cutworm feeds on the side of the spear as it grows causing it to bend, often in a corkscrew shape. At present, carbaryl, the active ingredient in most garden dusts, is often used by homeowners to control all of these pests. However, carbaryl’s homeowner uses are being reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency and if that label is cancelled, a substitute will need to be found. For cutworms, carbaryl must be used as a liquid spray and it is best to apply it just before sun set as cutworms are night feeders. It is important to remember that if you use carbaryl you should wait at least 24 hours before picking treated asparagus. Follow all label directions when applying this or any pesticide.

Disease Control:
Diseases are often the most damaging pests to asparagus plants. There are two major foliar diseases in Michigan, asparagus rust and Stemphylium purple spot. Sanitation is an important tool in controlling these diseases. Since both diseases move from the debris of the previous year onto emerging spears and fern, it is beneficial to remove the debris of the previous year’s fern in early winter or early spring and destroy or compost it to kill the over-wintering structures of both of these diseases. Since both of these diseases need moist conditions to grow, another cultural practice can be to plant beds so that prevailing summer winds can blow the length of the row and dry out the fern rapidly. A slightly wider row spacing, perhaps 6 feet, and a wider spacing between crowns may also help in improving air movement and drying of the fern. Failing that, fern should be treated with a fungicide on a regular basis, two weeks is often used in preventative treatments, throughout the summer to prevent premature browning off of the fern. Fungicide treatments by commercial asparagus growers in Michigan begins when new shoots are fully ferned out up until the first week of September.

Purple spot and rust are often difficult for the ordinary gardener to tell apart. Purple spot often shows up on asparagus spears during harvest. At that point the disease, as the name implies, looks like purple spots and in severe cases may have a gray spot in the center. This disease is not generally a problem for gardeners, since cooking usually causes the spots to disappear from the spears. Purple spot during the fern season is more serious. Lesions have a brownish-purple color and are usually irregularly shaped and sunken.

Lesions on the lower stalk are not serious unless numerous enough to girdle the stalk, but on small branches or needles they can cause needle drop. Since the stalk generally remains green, gardeners often miss the onset of this disease, but if you notice a carpet of yellow needles below the fern, the disease has probably already done its damage.

Rust can be an even more damaging disease. It is very fast moving once it gets started. Unlike purple spot, it has three distinct lesions. The earliest lesions are large, ½ inch by ¼ inch, raised, eye-shaped and a creamy orange in color. They can appear on harvest stubble late in the harvest period. The mid-summer lesion type is a dark-red, rusty color, is raised and rod-shaped when the blister opens. Also unlike purple spot, these lesions are confined to stalk and branches, but when numerous can cause the entire plant to turn brown. In the fall these lesions transform into the third lesion type. Its characteristics are exactly like the summer version, only the color is black. This last stage is the over-wintering stage of the fungus. Commercial growers treat only the first two stages of this disease, usually with preventative sprays of fungicides containing the active ingredients chlorothalonil or an EBDC-type fungicide often found in combined insect/disease garden sprays. If you want details about commercial fungicides this address, http://www.msue.msu.edu/vegetable will take you to the f the MSU Vegetable AoE web site that lists various bulletins dealing with disease control in vegetables. Two other bulletins to look for on this web site are “Purple Spot Disease of Asparagus” and “Rust Disease of Asparagus.”

The major soil disease of asparagus in Michigan is Fusarium root rot, caused by fungi that exist in all soils at some level. Asparagus is an excellent host for this disease and populations grow steadily in your asparagus bed over time. At present the only control is to keep asparagus crowns healthy so that they can successfully fight off the disease as long as possible. Affected crowns will have a brick-red rot that works from the outside of the crown in until the crown is killed. This disease also explains why it is not a good idea to plant a second crop of crowns in an old asparagus bed. Because levels of Fusarium are already high, the yield and life expectancy of the new bed is much less.

Non-pathogenic asparagus problems: Gardeners also may see several other conditions that they may think are caused by a pest, but are really caused by something else. Sand blown by high winds is often one of these things. Wind blown sand can injure spears, usually on the windward side. This causes the uninjured cells on the other side of the spear to grow more rapidly causing the spear to grow bent toward the wind that caused the injury. Frost can also be devastating to asparagus beds, causing spears to first take on a glassy, dark-green color and then to shrivel and turn black. In both of these situations affected spears should be removed and new ones allowed to grow. Spears can also come up bent and twisted if they are being grown in rocky soil. There is very little that can be done about this situation and the bending does not affect the eating quality of the spear.

Fertilizer:
I generally do not give asparagus fertilizer recommendations unless they are based on a soil test three or less years old. In general, asparagus is a big user of potassium, uses very little phosphorus other than in the year crowns are set, and uses small amounts of nitrogen. Fertilizer types don’t seem to be too important, other than that there is some evidence that ammonium-types of nitrogen fertilizer may increase Fusarium problems. That means that nitrate-types like calcium nitrate may be better, although they are much more expensive. In some areas sulfur may also be necessary, and in very high pH situations some of the micronutrients like manganese may also be deficient.

Irrigation:
In Michigan and most of the eastern United States, irrigation is completely unnecessary. That is because asparagus is extremely deep rooted. In deep soils, roots often reach 10 feet in depth. In more arid regions some irrigation may be necessary, although overhead irrigation makes an ideal environment for foliar diseases.

Pickle some Asparagus

White asparagus:
Contrary to popular belief, white asparagus is not a variety. It is simply asparagus spears grown in the absence of sunlight so that chlorophyll does not develop. White asparagus does have a slightly sweeter taste and has less fiber than green asparagus. In parts of Europe, especially Germany and the Netherlands this is the primary way that asparagus is grown and consumed. Outside of Europe it is regarded more as a curiosity or gourmet item.

The traditional way to grow it is to plant crowns on the soil surface instead of trenches and to mound dirt up over the rows. During harvest pickers walk between the mounded rows and when they see an asparagus tip just cracking through the soil they dig the spear out of the dirt and cut it off. An alternate way to raise white asparagus was developed by Dr. Jim Motes, an Extension Specialist recently retired from Oklahoma State University. His system was to place bent iron hoops over flat rows and cover them with thick black plastic. The plastic blocks sunlight and the pickers can then just lift up the plastic and snap off the spears.

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GROWING LEEKS
Most leeks require a long growing season of about 120-150 days, and a minimum of eight hours of bright sunlight daily. Some newer cultivar’s require as few as 90 days to maturity, and these may be most suitable for northern U.S.A. short season growing conditions.
Leeks do best in a slightly acid soil, with a pH of 6.0-6.8, but will grow well in even a slightly alkaline soil.

In northern climates, start leek seeds inside in late February or March. For best results, transplants should be no more than 10-15 weeks old when set out in the garden. Harden off the plants for 5-7 days before transplanting by putting them in a cold frame. If you don’t have a cold frame, set them outside for longer periods each day while returning them to the shelter of your home or garage at night.

Transplant leeks as soon as early spring weather has stabilized and daytime temperatures are at least 45 degrees. Trim the roots of the transplants to 1” to facilitate transplanting, if necessary. Plant them 2-6 inches apart with 12-36 inches between rows.

Leek leaves consistently emerge opposite each other, directly above the previous leaf. Close spacing works well if plants are set out so the leaves will grow into the between-row space, rather than towards the plants on either side. This will make the best use of space, light and air circulation.

To produce long white shafts, some gardeners plant leeks in furrows. Set transplants at the bottom of a six inch deep furrow. As the plants develop, raise the soil level along the stems up to the leaves, gradually filling the furrow.

Another method is to hill leeks by planting them at normal soil level, then mounding compost or similar mulch material around the plants several times during the growing season. A transplant solution of half strength 20-20-20 or 10-10-10 fertilizer will get them off to a good start. In mid-summer, side-dress with a balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 at a rate of one cup per 10 feet of row.

Leek roots are fibrous and shallow, so take care not to damage them by hoeing close to the plant. Water the soil around the leeks thoroughly every week. Avoid excess watering since it promotes fungal disease.

HARVEST
Leeks are fully developed when the stem diameter exceeds one inch. Some smaller varieties mature at ½”-¾” diameter. A quality leek should have a firm, white shaft more than 3 inches long. Swelling at the base, called “bulbing,” is undesirable. Unlike their onion and shallot cousins, leek tops do not die back as the crop matures. The top growth, called the flag, should be dark blue green.

Harvest leeks by either gently twisting and pulling them from the earth or digging and lifting them. Trim the leaves to a more manageable length at harvest, if desired. Thoroughly clean leeks before cooking. There is often a small amount of soil held tightly between the leaves, so slice the whole leek lengthwise, separate the layers, and rinse to remove any soil.

Leeks are fairly frost tolerant, so you can delay harvest until after the first few frosts. Temperatures as low as 20F may not harm some varieties! Mound mulch around your leeks to protect them, and you can enjoy digging fresh vegetables out of your garden into late fall.

Although in milder climates leeks can be overwintered and will continue to grow again in the spring, this is not recommended in Northern growing areas.

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Onions easy to grow and ‘almost’ fail proof for the home gardener. They grow well in most parts of the U.S. and have many uses in the kitchen. You can grow them specifically for green onions or you can let them mature and harvest them for their large bulbs. You can also choose to grow onions and use a few early as green onions, harvesting the remainder as delicious bulb onions.

There are also special kinds of onions that don’t develop bulbs and that are used exclusively for green onions. Onions are a popular cool season vegetable and although they are considered a biennial plant they are grown as annuals.

The onion is exceptional in that it will thrive under a very wide range of climatic and soil conditions. There is perhaps no extended area in the United States, except for the mountainous regions, where the onion cannot be successfully grown. However, onions grow best in temperate climates without great extremes of heat and cold.

Onions grow in an unusual manner. They start growing the large bulbs we know as onions when the levels of daylight reach an appropriate level for them to start forming. The time that you plant the onions affects when they form bulbs. If you plant your onions too late in the season, they may not form bulbs properly.

One important thing to remember about onions is that there are two different classes of onions. Long-day and short-day onions.
Long-day onions are more appropriate for northern states because they are adapted to longer days. Southern states should use short-day varieties of onions.
When you go to your nursery, they will usually list long-day onions as L and short-day onions as S.
Short day onions develop bulbs with an average of about 12 hours of daylight. Long-day onions form bulbs with more sun, around 15-16 hours of daylight.
You should grow the kind of onion appropriate for your region to ensure proper maturation of the onion bulbs.

Shallots are related to onions but have a different flavor. They also have ornamental value as they produce attractive flowers during the summer. They can grow quite tall as well, about 1 ½ feet. French shallots (grey shallots) are quite popular. There are also red shallots, echalion shallots, and Dutch yellow shallots.

Bunching onions, These kinds of onions are appropriate for harvesting as green onions. Recommended varieties include Beltsville Bunching and Japanese Bunching. These onions work just as well if planted from seedlings, seeds, or sets. These kinds of onions are a good pick for colder climates and late fall to winter harvests. They will not form bulbs and indeed the entire plant with the root structure can be harvested and used.

Winter onions, These are onions that are planted during the winter in some areas and are harvested during the following growing season. Egyptian, Hill and Walking Onions are often considered winter onions. They are good for an early batch of green onions. Make sure to use a layer of mulch with these kinds of onions.

Cornell University has a great guide to growing Egyptian onions.
Cornell University – Egyptian or Walking onion growing guide

Cornell University – Common Onion growing guide

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I am going to build me one but on a much smaller scale. I simply don’t have the room for one as large as the one built by David LaFerney at doorgarden.com

Many seeds are hard to germinate because they need a high soil temperature for germination. Peppers, eggplants and tomato’s are in this list of hard to start from seed plants.

FAQ For Pepper Growers and Want To Be Pepper Growers

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Pickle for everyone

Pickle Ingredients:
3 Lbs of Kirby cucumbers
2 Medium onions
2 Large bell peppers (one red, one yellow if possible)
1 Lb of carrots
2 Oz. of kosher salt
1 Lb of ice cubes

Brine Ingredients:
32 Oz. of cider vinegar (5% acidity)
16 Oz. of water
8 Oz. of brown sugar (less if you prefer)
½ Bunch of lemon thyme
2 Tablespoons of pink peppercorns, cracked
1 Tablespoon of yellow mustard seed
2 Teaspoons of whole allspice berries, cracked
2 Teaspoons of coriander seeds, toasted and cracked
1 Teaspoon of fennel seed
1 Teaspoon of ground cloves
4 Bay leaves

Directions:
1. Rinse cucumbers in cold water. Trim tips and slice the cucumbers into fourth-inch rounds.
2. Peel skin off of onions and slice onions into fourth-rounds, then slice the rounds into half-moons.
3. Combine the cucumbers and onions with the ice and salt and mix thoroughly. Place in a refrigerator for at least one hour.
4. Peel the carrots and chop into half-inch chunks.
5. Rinse the peppers and slice them in half to remove the seeds. Cut into 1-inch squares.
6. In a large stockpot, mix together the cider vinegar, water, sugar, lemon thyme, mustard seed, fennel seed, cloves and bay leaves. Bring brine to a boil and then simmer over medium heat.
7. Crack the pink peppercorns and the allspice berries using a mortar and pestle and add to the brine pot.
8. Toast the coriander seeds over medium heat, shaking frequently until a little wisp of smoke appears, usually about two to three minutes. Set aside.
9. Remove the bowl with the cucumbers and onions from the refrigerator and rinse the contents under cold water to remove the salt. Place them in another bowl and mix well with the peppers, carrots and coriander seeds.
10. Pack the vegetable mixture evenly into 2 half-gallon or 4 quart jars.
11. Return the brine to a boil and pour the brine over the vegetables, making sure to completely cover them (you may have some extra brine). Screw the lid onto the jars firmly.
12. Allow the jars to come to room temperature and then place them in a refrigerator.
*Pickle Vegetables will be ready to eat in 24 hours and will last for a month or two under refrigeration.

**Notes on the vegetables: There are numerous varieties of heirloom cucumbers and kirbies that will be appropriate for this pickle. Smaller cucumbers (1 ½ inch diameter maximum) are preferred as they will be less seedy and typically have more firm flesh. What makes this pickle visually appealing is the play of different bright colors, which is why the red and yellow peppers are preferred to contrast the green kirby cucumbers. If you were using yellow lemon cucumbers, you might want to substitute green bell peppers.

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How to Make Dill Pickles at Home This also has a DIY – how to do that video

Ingredients:
6 Glass pint jars
4 Lbs of pickling cucumbers
3 Dill heads (or 1 tbs of dill seed and several fronds of dill leaf)
4 Garlic cloves
1 Tbs of pickling spice
6 Whole black peppercorns
3 Cups of white vinegar
6 Tbs of kosher salt

Directions:
1. Wash 4 pounds of pickling cucumbers.
2. In each of 6 pint jars, put:
– 3 Dill heads (or 1 tbs of dill seed and several fronds of dill leaf)
– 4 Garlic cloves, peeled and halved
-1 Tbs of pickling spice
– 6 Whole black peppercorns
3. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil.
4. Mix in 3 cups of vinegar and 6 teaspoons of kosher salt. (You may need more of this mixture and should have extra on hand.) Keep this liquid at a roaring boil when placing the mixture into the jars.
5. Slice the cucumbers into quarter-inch rounds. Discard the ends.
6. Pack the cucumbers tightly into the jars, leaving a half-inch for headroom. Adjust the lids.
7. Place the jars immediately into the boiling water bath.
8. Process for 7 minutes.
9. Tighten the lids.
10. The lids are good if they don’t “pop” when you press down on them the next day.
** Jars that fail to properly seal should be refrigerated and eaten within the next week or so.

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Italian Pickled Vegetables – Giardiniera
Giardiniera, or mixed pickled vegetables, is what most Italians think of when they hear the words Sotto Aceti, a collection of mixed pickled vegetables. The standard Italian antipasto misto wouldn’t be quite right without these, and they also work very well with boiled meats in the winter months. This recipe will make about 2 1/2 pounds, and though you might be tempted to put it all into one big jar, you’ll be better off using several smaller jars because the contents of an open jar loose their freshness.

Ingredients:
10 ounces (250 g) button onions, peeled and soaked in cold water for an hour
*Option: 3 or 4 small button mushrooms for each pint jar
*Option: 3 or 4 strips of red and or yellow bell pepper for color
*Option: 1 or 2 small long mild (sweet) red pepper
*Option: leeks cut into 1/2 thick round slices
*Option: 2 inch long young cucumbers
10 ounces (250 g) baby carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
10 ounces (250 g) white celery, stalks only, stripped of filaments and cut into short lengths
A medium-sized cauliflower
*Option: broccoli young and tender
1 quart (1 liter) white wine vinegar (have more handy)
A couple of bay leaves
2-3 cloves
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 tablespoon salt
Several sterile pint jars, with lids that seal well.

Preparation:

Bring the vinegar to a boil with the herbs, spices and salt. While it’s heating separate the cauliflower florets. When the vinegar comes to a boil, add the vegetables and cook them for about 15 minutes. Remove them to the jars with a slotted spoon and pour the boiling hot vinegar over them; have more boiling vinegar handy should that in which you cooked the vegetables not be sufficient.

Cover the jars tightly and let them cool. Store them in a cool dark place for a couple of weeks, and they’re ready for use. Expect them to keep for a year or more.

*Check lids for proper seal. After jars have cooled over night, the lids are good if they don’t “pop” when you press down on them.
** Jars that fail to properly seal should be refrigerated and eaten within the next week or so.

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If you are going to have a small number of chicks a homemade/improvised brooder may be all that you need. I have seen many things recycled into brooders. Everything from old aquariums, plastic and card board box and made from scratch wood brooders and wire. They all have one thing in common, they keep your chicks confined to a rather small area where you can provide a heat source to keep them warm and dry.

Hint: Wire in a light dimmer switch to your heat lamp. Use this to control your heat source for your brooder.

DIY Hatching Eggs

First Came The Egg Then Chicks!

Free Chicken Coop Plans and Brooder Designs And Plans

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