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Archive for the growing tag

How to grow, harvest, and cook with basil

May 16, 2023 • Leave a Comment

Basil is the herb that has probably encouraged more people to become herb gardeners than any other. It is also likely that the most popular use for it is in Italian pesto sauce. But it is widely used in many other ways. For example, bunches of fresh basil can be used as fly repellents at entryways.

In folklore, bunches mixed with dill, artemisia, and rosemary were hung in the doorway nearest to the southwest corner of the house to repel evil spirits. If a young man wore a sprig of basil while courting, it meant that he was serious. Medicinally, it is used in teas, baths, and potions to mildly sedate, to aid poor digestion, to reduce fevers, to treat acne and insect stings, and to relax tired muscles. In the language of flowers, it can symbolize warfare and hatred, or love and best wishes depending on which reference you use (be sure the person to whom you are sending the symbolic bouquet is using the same flower dictionary that you are!). It is frequently planted among tomatoes with garlic and borage to repel the green hornworm.

**Basil is easy to grow in pots, providing you take care of the basic necessities of sun, fertilizer and water.**

Growing basil

Basil is an easy-to-grow annual needing sun, adequate water, reasonably rich well-drained soil, and warmth. It will show “frost” damage if the temperature falls below 40 degrees. Very cold water causes black spots to form on the leaves. It is commonly grown from seed, although seed-produced plants can contract a sudden wilt syndrome (fusarium) that turns the stems black and kills the plants in 1 or 2 days. Many seed companies offer improved varieties that do not have this problem.

Basil is easy to grow in pots, providing you take care of the basic necessities of sun, fertilizer and water. You can grow it on your windowsill if you have a sunny window. It is not a long-lived plant, so don’t bother to dig it up from the garden in the fall. Instead, start with new young plants to get you through most of the winter. The bugs that bother it include slugs, aphids and spider mites. If you get up one morning to find holes in the leaves, you most likely have a problem with slugs. Put sharp sand on the ground around the plants to discourage them. A strong stream of water usually washes the aphids and mites away.

Harvesting basil

When you are harvesting your basil to use fresh in the kitchen, cut the leaves and tender tips. Wash gently if necessary. When harvesting for drying, wait until the dew has dried from the plants and then cut only 1/2 to 2/3 of the plant at a time. Start harvesting in July when the plants are at least 12 inches tall. By harvesting early you avoid many of the insect problems, and the fresh leaves are still sweet and tender. Try to keep the plant from flowering, since once it flowers, the primary growth of the plant is done. However, the flowers are edible and make tasty additions to salads.

Basil turns black when it is frozen unless it is already processed. Make it into pesto and freeze it in an ice cube tray for easy wintertime use. To store the leaves dry, cut the whole plant before the first frost, rinse it if necessary, and pat it dry. Next, put a rubber band around the stems without making too large a bunch or it will turn moldy before it can dry, and hang the bunch in a dark and airy place until it is crispy dry. Store the dried basil in a bottle away from heat and light.

Basil varieties

There are about 35 varieties of basil in cultivation, and many more “named” varieties that are really duplicates of other ones. Herb nurseries carry a lot of them, and it is nice to be able to see and smell the plants before you buy them so there won’t be any surprises later on. Basil leaves have volatile oils that taste mainly of a mixture of anise, cinnamon, clove, lemon citrus, rose, thyme, and camphor. Plants and their oils can vary widely according to growing conditions. The varieties most commonly grown are categorized based on which oils are predominant, as in licorice basil, cinnamon basil, lemon basil, and holy basil (camphor and citrus). There are also basic basils, where the flavors and fragrances are quite evenly distributed including sweet, ‘Genovese,’ ‘Napolitano,’ ‘Nufar’ (probably the most resistant to fusarium wilt), Italian, pesto, spicy globe, and most of the purple-leaved varieties. Varieties can have large leaves, small leaves, purple or purple and green leaves, or ruffled leaves. There are small plants, tall plants, ball-shaped plants, and woody-stemmed shrubby plants, all of which are basils.

Basil recipes

There are many pesto recipes around—at least one or two in every cookbook or basil article. The basic recipe calls for 2 cups of fresh, chopped basil, 2 cloves of garlic, 3/4 cup of olive oil, 3/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and pine nuts as a garnish. We mix these ingredients in the blender or food processor. Use pesto over pasta, added to soups and salad dressings, and mixed with bread crumbs to stuff mushroom caps. At the farm we add 1/3 cup of lemon juice and pour it over fresh tomatoes, pepper strips, zucchini strips, cucumbers, and cooked and chilled cheese ravioli for a wonderful summertime salad.

You can make basil vinegar by stuffing a pint canning jar 2/3 full of basil leaves, filling it with vinegar, and letting it steep for 2 or 3 weeks. This makes a great addition to salad dressings and barbeque sauces. Using the opal basil leaves will turn the vinegar a lovely pink color. Basil makes a nice addition to herbal tea mixes. The spicy basils add a lovely fragrance to potpourri blends.

Basil is a great addition to any garden and is readily available as baby plants during the growing season at your local garden center and farmers market. Buy a pot of basil and give it a try!

Jean and Roxanne Riggs operated Sunshine Farm and Garden in Oakland County, MI.

Elsewhere: Start summer off with a sampling of fresh herbs

Follow these five steps to grow fabulous roses

April 4, 2023 • Leave a Comment

Roses are just like people—they need just five things to thrive:

Sun
Air
Food
Water
Love

Mother Nature can handle the first two needs (sun and air) by herself. But she needs your help with the second two (water and food) in order for your roses to survive. You are the sole provider of the last need (love). And it’s that one that spells the difference between roses that simply survive, and those that thrive.

Let’s consider each of these needs:

Sun. Roses are sun-loving plants. Typically roses need at least six hours of full, direct sunlight daily and will do better if they receive more.

For areas that receive between 4 and 6 hours of direct sun, select five-petaled roses. These are roses with a lower petal count and, in general, the lower the petal count, the more shade a rose will tolerate. As a group, hybrid musk and antique alba roses are fairly shade tolerant—mainly because they have simple blooms.

Air. Roses like good air circulation to keep their leaves dry and to prevent fungal diseases. However, avoid exposure to strong winds. Consider the most rugged roses, like rugosas and Canadian explorers, for your cottage on the Great Lakes. Otherwise, plant your roses where they will enjoy gentle breezes. Remember this if you plant near a wall or solid fence.

Remember, roses grow quickly, which means you should thoughtfully consider the spacing between bushes. Follow this rule of thumb: roses generally grow to be as wide as they are tall. So, roses expected to be four feet tall should be planted about four feet apart, as measured from the center of one bush to the center of the next.

Hybrid tea roses can be planted closer together, while antique and shrub roses should be placed a little further apart. Remember, too, that climbing roses need lots of room. Plant them at least 6 to 8 feet from neighboring climbers.

It’s a common misconception that roses shouldn’t be planted near other types of plants. In truth, they can be part of an integrated landscape provided neighboring plants don’t crowd them and prevent good air circulation.

Food. Roses are heavy feeders and appreciate richly amended soil. They are adaptable to soil type. They’ll thrive in sandy soil if you feed them frequently, and in clay soil if they have good drainage. The solution to sandy-soil and clay-soil problems is the same: organic amendments. Many municipalities produce wonderful compost from the grass clippings collected from homeowners. Usually this compost is free for the hauling.

Apply your first fertilizer in late April or early May. Slow-release fertilizers need only be used once or twice a year. Organic options should be used every 4 to 6 weeks. In any event, your last fertilizer application should be in mid-August, so that your roses ease into dormancy before the first heavy frosts.

The commonly available rose fertilizers with systemic insecticides should be avoided because they will kill earthworms. Treat insect problems as they occur—you don’t need to “nuke” your entire garden to eliminate a few aphids or budworms when targeted attacks will be sufficient. Also, foliar-feed fertilizers give your roses a nice snack, but they are too quick-acting and transient to be used exclusively.

Water. Roses like lots of water, but not wet feet. In other words, be sure the plants are in a well-drained soil. We simply do not receive enough natural rainfall in Michigan for roses to thrive, which begs the question, how much is enough? Some will tell you 1 or 2 inches per week. However, it really depends upon your soil type and drainage. The goal is to keep the soil near the rose roots evenly moist. This means you’ll need more water in sandy soil than in clay. Try installing a rain gauge near your roses so you can see exactly how much water they are receiving.

The belief that you shouldn’t permit rose leaves to get wet is a myth. In our nursery, we watered our roses exclusively with overhead watering. We found that it helped wash off powdery mildew and insects. It helped that we watered early in the morning so that the leaves dried as the day came on. This prevented fungal diseases that can form when leaves are wet for an extended period or overnight.

Most residential in-ground irrigation systems are optimized for turf grass and do not provide enough water for roses. You can supplement these systems by hiding a soaker hose under the mulch around your roses. Your irrigation contractor may recommend a special drip irrigation circuit for roses, but be prepared to check the emitters frequently—clogging is a common problem.

A good organic mulch, such as finely ground pine bark, pine needles or garden compost will help the soil retain moisture and reduce the need for frequent watering.

Love. Spend a little time with your roses, deadheading spent blooms and checking the moisture content of the soil at their roots. That way, while you are enjoying their beauty, you’re likely to notice “conditions” before they become “problems.”

Roses can be the stars of your garden, so plant where you can admire them frequently—their blooms are abundant and fabulous. Follow the guidelines presented here, and you’ll be amazed at their display!

Nancy Lindley was the co-owner of Great Lakes Roses in Belleville, MI.

Elsewhere: Downy mildew control on roses

Ask MG: Growing apples in Michigan

March 7, 2018 • Leave a Comment

What are the causes of apples dropping from trees prematurely while still very small? Is malathion a safe, readily available treatment for apple trees after the petals fall? Can you recommend a book for growing apples in Michigan? D.E.

Premature fruit drop can be natural, environmental, or pest-related and it takes some careful observation to determine which category yours falls into. An early apple drop before the fruit has matured may be the result of an overproduction of fruit by the tree. The plant simply cannot support the continued nourishment for such a vast number. Profuse flowering and extensive pollination can cause this overproduction beyond what the tree can sustain. Subsequently, it “sheds” a few pounds of excess fruit to conserve energy in a natural thinning process. Some fruit tree growers will even manually thin a tree to increase the quality and size of the final product, beating the tree to the punch.

Premature fruit drop can be environmentally stimulated by unfavorable conditions like frost, excessive heat or cold, or drastic changes in humidity. Living in Michigan, any of those conditions are quite possible in the flower to fruit cycle. Since symptoms can also be soil-related, it is important to check your regularity of watering and that the proper nutrition is offered the tree at the root zone. A soil test geared toward fruit tree production would zero in on those nutrients and their correct proportions. You can obtain a soil test kit from your county’s MSU Extension.

Another environmental occurrence is herbicide drift. Never apply herbicides in windy or dead calm conditions. Dead calm is often associated with a phenomenon known as temperature inversion. Contrary to popular belief, spraying under such conditions can actually increase drift distance. The culprit spray may be several yards away, making it difficult to pinpoint the source.

Pest-related fruit drop occurs much later in the season, when the fruit is very near maturity. So insect pests are probably not the reason for your premature drop.

As for the application of malathion, a readily available insecticide for homeowner use, proceed with caution. Make certain you correctly identify the pest, that the insect pest exists on your apple trees and that it is doing damage before arbitrarily applying any insecticide. Malathion is particularly effective against leafrollers and codling moths, which can damage apples, and must be applied at specific intervals. All label instructions and cautions should be followed to the letter if applying it yourself. A better choice would be to contact a certified arborist for an accurate diagnosis and treatment. Oftentimes beneficial insects can be eliminated from nature’s cycle in the homeowner’s fury to protect their plants.

For Michigan apple growing information, contact the your county’s MSU Extension and obtain how-to bulletins on tree fruit. For a nominal cost, you will get targeted, science-based information on Michigan climate, the best apple varieties, and proper techniques to successfully grow apples in Michigan.

A guide to growing and harvesting vegetables in the fast lane

April 25, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Cherry Belle radishes. (Flickr / Ripplestone Garden)

The Salt at NPR.org:

Yes, it is true that gardening requires patience.

But face it, we live in an impatient world. And gardeners everywhere were depressed by the brutal and endless winter.

So we are understandably eager to get sowing. And to see results by … well, if not next Thursday, then maybe mid-May?

There are two ways to make this happen. Some garden varieties naturally have a short germinate-to-harvest cycle. Then there are the hybrids developed at universities and seed companies. They take two plants with great traits (like early arrival or cold tolerance) and forge an even hardier offspring.

For guidance on the world of speedy plot-to-table vegetables, we turned to Ryan Schmitt, a horticulturist and garden blogger in Longmont, Colo., and Weston Miller, a community and urban horticulturist for the Oregon State University Extension Service.

Read the rest of the story…

Tips for Overwintering and Growing Raspberries in Michigan

November 20, 2010 •

I am growing raspberries a small patch of raspberry bushes. I have cut them back for the fall. I would like to know what I need to do to care for these plants. What should I amend the soil with and in what season? I have a lot of clay in my soil, but have amended it with my compost over the years.

Since you have already cut your raspberry canes back, I presume you have autumn-fruiting varieties. Their annual cycle is maintained by pruning all of the canes to ground level each winter. If not cut back, they fruit again. A bigger crop is gained from strong new canes. Generally it is best to do any pruning in late winter, when the plant is dormant. A sheltered site is advisable, but one that also has good air circulation. Walls and fences do not provide that. Raspberries are very prone to viral diseases, although there are new varieties more resistant to these inherent problems. There is no cure for viral diseases. The plants must be dug up and discarded. Any suckers from overlooked root fragments must be removed and the bed not replanted with raspberries for at least five years.

If your canes survive the winter, apply a general fertilizer along the rows in March. Water it in and apply a mulch layer of well-rotted compost, which will keep the soil cool and moist in the summer and hold down weeds. Peat and bark are less effective than good compost. Raspberries are a thirsty crop and must be watered regularly, especially when fruit is swelling. Although your soil has considerable clay, your amendment with compost is right on track. Amended clay is a far more preferable soil base for raspberries than a sandy loam. A sand-based soil drains too quickly for this fruit crop’s needs. Opt for a drip hose to avoid excessive water on the leaves. When cultivating out weeds, avoid hoeing too deeply and damaging roots growing near the surface. This will stimulate the plant to sucker, a survival technique, since it thinks it’s under attack.

Elsewhere: Recommended storage and use tips for your fresh raspberries

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Archive for the growing tag

Growing basil

Harvesting basil

Basil varieties

Basil recipes