Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Choose chrysanthemums in a variety of colors now. They are hardy perennials which will brighten your garden each fall.

• Cool season vegetables should be planted right away to grow fresh produce this fall.

• Holland flower bulbs are now available for fall planting. These lovely gems will bloom for you next spring.

• Fertilize lawns now to build up root systems for a healthy lawn.

• Fruit trees can be planted in the fall from containers to get a head start on next spring.

Cover Crops to Improve your Garden

Healthy plants begin with healthy soil. Often, the best way to improve your soil is to increase the amount of organic matter in it. Doing so will improve the soil structure and increase the activity of microorganisms that help create a rich, productive soil.

Organic matter is usually added by hauling in truckloads of manure or other compost. But there is an easier way. By seeding green manure crops in the fall and letting them grow over the winter, you are growing your own compost which can be turned into the soil next spring, about three weeks before you are ready to plant the summer garden. These “cover crops” also protect the soil from erosion, decrease the leaching of nutrients, and reduce compaction caused by winter rains.

There are two kinds of cover crops: grasses and legumes. Grass cover crops germinate quickly and put on enough growth in the fall to protect the soil over the winter. Annual ryegrass is the best plant for breaking up hard soil. It sends down miles of tiny roots adding pounds of humus to the soil when it decomposes. Winter rye, or ryegrain, is also an annual grass which is very hardy. It can be planted from late summer to late fall and will grow in poor soils.

Legumes include fava beans, crimson clover and vetch. Legumes are slow to develop in the fall but grow rapidly the following spring, providing nitrogen and biomass for the summer vegetable crop. These important crops are able to take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form that is usable by plants, thus adding nitrogen to the soil. At the same time, their root systems loosen and aerate the soil, improving the soil structure.

Crimson clover is an annual which blooms with beautiful red clover flowers in the spring. It likes well-drained soils and has a dense root system. Purple vetch prefers loam soils and should be planted before the weather gets too cold. Hairy vetch is the most winter-hardy of the vetches. It tolerates wetter soils and can be planted with ryegrass.

Fava beans come in two types: horse beans and bell beans. Horse beans can be grown to maturity and eaten. Bell beans are used strictly for a cover crop. These plants grow three to four feet tall and it is best to compost the stalks in the spring and turn in the stubble.

Mixed cover cropping with bell beans and ryegrain has long been used by farmers. The ryegrain produces large amounts of biomass and suppresses weed growth while the bell beans add nitrogen to the soil. Studies have shown that this combination actually increased the soil nitrogen more than the bell beans alone.

As soon as summer crops come out, cover crops can be planted in their place. The sooner they are planted, the more they can grow before the weather turns cold. Plants grow through the winter and are tilled into the soil in early April. By enriching your soil through cover cropping each winter, your garden will become increasingly fertile, reducing the need for fertilizers and soil conditioners, and providing you with bountiful harvests every year.

Apples. Red, round, crisp and cool. The list of adjectives doesn’t have to stop there. An apple can be much more flavorful than the few you’ve tasted from the market.

The orchards of North America have produced well over a thousand named apple varieties, each one with its characteristic color, aura and flavor. These antique apples are worth exploring to rediscover the remarkable variety of flavors hidden inside the modest apple.

Ashmead’s Kernel is an apple that has been around for over 200 years since its discovery in England. This is widely regarded as one of the all-time best-flavored apples. It is one of the best cider apples and a good one to store for winter eating since it becomes sweet, juicy and aromatic as it ripens a few weeks after harvest.

Calville Blanc has a name that sounds like wine, and indeed it is the best known dessert apple in France. It has a lively flavor, smells like banana, and is good for pies, sauce, cider and cider vinegar. This is one of the most sought after antique apples.

Of all the old-time sweet apples for cider, Golden Russet was the favorite. It is an early American apple with yellow flesh with a bright and sweet flavor. The apples can also be used for cooking and drying. The russeted skin gives an odd look, but the flavor is sure to please.

Another russeted apple is Hudson’s Golden Gem. Though it doesn’t win any beauty contests, the sweet, juicy flavor can be compared to a pear. It is one of the largest and best-flavored russet apples. The fruit keeps well and can even be left on the tree into winter.

Thompkins King is a beautiful red apple with classic apple flavor. The yellow flesh is rich-tasting with a sweet-tart flavor. It is an excellent cooking variety and will be enjoyed fresh by those who like a strong flavored apple.

The dark, waxy skin of Arkansas Black encloses a golden flesh that is juicy, and crisp with a nice aroma. It is a late apple that keeps for many months, and is excellent for cooking and making desserts.

The Snow apple is named for its pure white flesh. It comes from France where it is prized for its spicy, tart flavor. A good dessert apple, it is also used for cooking and cider.

Tantalize your taste buds with one of these old-time favorites.

The job of a fruit tree is to produce seed. The fruit is merely part of the package, from the tree’s perspective. But seed development requires pollination which can be done either by wind or insects. The cross-pollination required by most fruit trees is performed by bees, wasps and hover flies.

Some trees are called self-fruitful. This means that their blossoms can be fertilized by pollen from another flower on the same tree. They will produce fruit even if they are far from any other tree of their kind. Most peaches, apricots, sour cherries and some apples, pears and plums are self-fruitful.

Partially self-fruitful trees will produce a crop on their own , but they will produce a larger crop, up to twice as many fruit, if cross-pollinated. Many apples and pears are partially self-fruitful.

Some fruit trees only set fruit when they receive pollen from another variety. Their own pollen is defective or sterile. Most sweet cherries, some apples and plums and a few peaches fall into this group. Pollinating trees must bloom at the same time as the sterile blossoms for cross-pollination to be successful. Blooming time does not necessarily correspond to fruiting time. A late apple can bloom early, so check to be sure you are planting the correct varieties together.

A fruit tree that needs a pollenizer needs it close by. The maximum recommended distance is 100 feet between trees, but the closer the better. This is because the bees that carry the pollen must visit both trees on the same trip.

To ensure good pollination, either plant two trees fairly close together, or plant a combination tree with several varieties grafted onto the same tree, or graft a branch of a variety with fertile pollen onto a tree that needs pollination.

When you plan your orchard or decide to add a new tree to it, be sure to check on pollination requirements so you’ll be able to enjoy fruit and not just blossoms a few years from now.