Damn this recession.

Earlier this year as the gas prices sped upward reaching $4.50 at some local stations, AAA reported a drop in gas consumption over the Labor Day weekend, as many families decided not to venture too far from home. As a matter of fact, so many stayed home that we saw a slight increase in sales. We were hoping that sales would continue as more and more people walked their properties and found areas in their lawns that could use some extra shrubs, perennials or other makeovers.

And then the bottom fell out, investment losses in the stock markets, the housing collapse, fuel prices see-sawing up and down, and the general fear of doom has caused some customers to rethink priorties, causing a slow down of our nursery sales.

But, thank the gardening gods, that not all customers are holding back on garden to-dos.

We have had those customers come in, who know how important the fall fertilization is to the trees and shrubs, to buy fertilizers. Pansies, kale and cabbage, as well as snapdragons and dianthus are now selling briskly as the cooler temperatures are reminding many of the upcoming holidays.

What has surprised me more, is the sales of vegetable seeds and transplants. For many years we have offered vegetables in hopes that we would sell out, or at least break even, usually we would lose money, but at least pleased the customers who wanted organically grown vegetables.

The surprise is that this spring, not only our nursery, but just about every nursery that I have spoken to here in Dallas, and as far away as Tennessee and Washington claim to have sold out of veggies this spring. And now in the fall we have sold more vegetable seed and transplant sales than in the past.

I love shopping at Central Market and at Whole Foods, not just because I see a lot of my customers there too, but I am always impressed by the selection of organic herbs, fruits and vegetables that have become available than in the past. The smells and the colors seem to have also increased since the start of the organic grocery stores.

Now you go in, and find multiple selections of specific herbs, several varieties of apples, grapes, potatoes and corn. The selection is so varied and you get so confused, that many fellow shoppers… knowledgeable shoppers, stop to give you suggestions, offering their results.

Until recently I did not cook a lot, but as I discover new recipes, and ways to tweak that new dish to allow the different flavors to disguise the basic same ingredients, I seem to be spending more time heading to the supermarket. As I go back more and more, I have become aware of the changing prices of all consumables. Once they started going up, it seems like they shot up to three times the price of just last spring, and then I understood why so many people are growing more and more veggies and herbs.

This has prompted us: Rohde’s coworkers, to try something new.

SOMETHING NEW! Sacre blu!!

We have been organic on our property for what is it, 14 years?

Whenever we dig out a tree, that is to be planted at a customer’s yard, we run into worms, lots and lots of worms. So we decided that our soil was too rich to let go to waste. Our store manager Karen suggested, she said, many months ago that we should start a community garden.

Well…in one ear out the other, or maybe I was not ready at the time. Or maybe she whispered this statement instead of screaming at me. I must admit that I seem to pay more attention to her when she shouts, in fact, that is the only time I hear her!

A few weeks ago, I was at lunch with some good friends of mine, and one of them suggested that we start a garden on our property, that would be open to anybody who wanted to grow veggies and herbs, but may not have the space to grow their own gardens, or may need occasional assistance or knowledge to help them along, as many may have always wanted to grow a garden but were afraid of loosing their investment due to lack of knowledge.

I came back to the nursery and presented my friend’s new idea.

Karen in a loud voice, reminded me that she told me about this great idea several months ago, and how if I would listen to her more often, I would probably be a rich man by now!

For once in a long time we did concur. This seemed like a good idea. Let people lease plots for their organic garden, at our organic nursery, we can offer years of expert experience and advise and organic products that will create healthy chemical free produce, tasty and medicinal herbs.

What do you think?

There is still time to plant a vegetable garden. We have transplants up and ready, spinach, multiplying onions, lettuce, cabbage, mustard greens, onions and garlic bulbs and more.

Make sure you add compost to the soil before planting and then mix the soil thoroughly. For extra benefit add lava sand and humate. These products will help improve drainage and add missing minerals to improve the soils health and the vegetable’s flavor and benefits.

Always mulch the soil after planting. Mulching conserves soil moisture and reduces winter damage by moderating soil temperature as it insulates the soil, and helps prevent weeds.

As mulches break down, soil fertility increases, this increase in fertility can lessen soil compaction by increasing microbial activity as well as worm populations, allowing quicker root growth and water percolation.

As you tend your garden, and walk on the mulch, your weight may be distributed sideways rather then straight down.

Mulches may shed excess water from penetrating the soil, causing root rot as well as reducing diseases caused by back splash during heavy rain or watering, which benefit plants that are susceptible to soil born diseases. Can you say tomatoes?

Mulches also control weeds by blocking sunlight and not allowing weed germination as well as catching the seeds as they are blown in and not allowing seeds to come in contact with the soil.

Mulching, as you have just read, definitely benefits vegetable gardens, but there are the same benefits for flowerbeds and landscape beds.

Add at least three inches of mulch to all beds for best results.

Mulch does not have to be purchased. With the upcoming fall of the leaves from trees, you can benefit from these free mulches. I do recommend running over the leaves and breaking them down just a little bit before you spread them on beds.

If you do not have enough leaves, from your own lawn, I can assure you that you would not have to go far to collect this precious commodity. After your neighbors have raked and bagged their leaves, go and bring these bags to your house. I know several people who do this and have wonderful, weed free beds and very healthy plants and soils. Just make sure those neighbors don’t use chemicals on their lawns.

Unfortunately, you cannot always just add leaves and or mulch to the soil, and just walk away thinking that your job is done.

Most of you know that there is a balance of nutrients and minerals needed in order to create perfect plants, and some of the mulches that you may apply over, or in some cases, into the soil may leach these nutrients, even steal these nutrients from the same plants that you are trying to protect.

Freshly pruned branches with leaves, from live plants have green cambium layers, therefore having Nitrogen in them. Once leaves and pruned branches dry they become Carbon. A certain amount of nitrogen is needed to help compost and break down green organic matter, so if you are not paying attention to this nitrogen carbon thingy you may notice some browning occurring, on healthy plants in just a few days after you applied mulch, or not thoroughly composted compost. A proper N/C ratio is about 22:1. I am not a chemist but I do always add nitrogen to compost piles and leaves during the fall months. The leaves fall because the trees that sustained them during the growing season have shut down for the winter. The leaves are brown. CARBON! A simple rule is to never work in any organic matter, that is not fully composted if you are going to plant soon, or already have plants growing in that area. ONLY till in fully composted organic matter!

When using organic fertilizers you can apply nitrogen to help counteract the lack of nitrogen, without worrying too much about causing new growth to occur on plants as we enter the cold winter months. Extra nitrogen should also be applied to vegetables as they grow to give them the needed nitrogen to produce foliage, flowers or fruit.

Other Garden Related To Do’s

Keep an eye out for Brown Patch.

Brown Patch starts out as small brown circles in your lawn and can spread to take on any shape it wants as it attacks your lawn.

Improper watering methods and scheduling can cause brown patch to attack your lawn. High levels of nitrogen always seem to bring out the unsightly disease. Look at newly sodded lawns and 99% of the time you can see the formation of small circles as the home owner diligently water his lawn in hopes of getting quick establishment. He may water two and sometime three times a day unaware of the amounts of nitrogen applied at the sod farm. I have even seen many people apply fertilizer on the new lawn hoping to get better results.

I quit using Corn Meal for brown patch control after getting quicker results with a product called Actinovate. The active ingredient in this product has is Streptomycin and works wonderfully on Brown Patch, Powdery Mildew and Black Spot. It also aids in new root growth of seeds and transplants warding off root rot.