How to Harvest Carrots in Your Basement by Gardener Cumax

What a great storm this is. Being a weather geek, I got busy 2 days before this storm hit. I usually wait until the last minute to harvest my summer carrots. With a spading fork to loosen this up, I put them in the trash, tops, dirt and all and filled it up with water. I let it soak overnight. The next morning, as the storm started dropping snow, I drained the water out, cleaned the bottom and brought it down to the basement. Thus the basement carrot harvest began.

October’s Scary Themes by Gardener Dave

Here are three little Haikus to remind us
it’s Halloween time again.
Just in case you didn’t remember, ha!…

Toothy pumpkin grins
Ghosts and goblins everywhere
Halloween is here

Bedsheet ghosts abound
Kids in costumes on my porch
Trick or treaters rule!

Zombies beg for “brains”
Vampires search for toothsome necks
Chills run up my spine!

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Beyond The Usual Fall Gardening Chores by Donna Duffy

When the days become shorter and the leaves start to fall, most gardeners go about the business of doing the routine fall tasks – pruning, mulching, garden clean-up, planting bulbs. Here are four additional fall chores that you might not think about.

1. Get a garden journal. Use it to record what worked this summer, what you want to change, new plants you’d like to try…anything that is fresh on your mind at the end of the gardening season.  Be specific rather than general: for example, “eliminate Primrose and Valerian in front garden” will be more helpful than “get rid of invasive plants.”  If you are like many of us, those details get lost in the hustle-bustle of the holidays and the long, cold days of winter. In the springtime, your journal will be a bridge between fall and spring, and will help you jump start the new gardening season.

Master Gardener Calendar Sale

Want a unique and one of a kind gift? Need a calendar for 2010 (which is right around the corner)? Jefferson County CSU Extension Master Gardeners are conducting a fund raiser with their Master Gardener Calendar sale. The calendars are available at the Extension Office for $12 each or by mail for $14.50 . The calendar consists of beautiful pictures taken by Jeffco Master Gardeners and features some of their beautiful gardens. Included with the picture of the month is a monthly "to do list", a pest watch, Plant Talk tips and fact sheets that pertain to that month's information.

The money raised will go into the Jeffco Master Gardener Fund which helps fund a scholarship for a CSU Horticulture student and helps purchase books and other items for the Master Gardener Call Center.

For more information and a copy of this beautiful calendar, please call The Jefferson County Extension Office at 303-271-6620.

San Francisco starts mandatory composting this week | MNN - Mother Nature Network

San Francisco starts mandatory composting this week | MNN - Mother Nature Network

Denver's aquaponics project aims to turn

I saw this article, Dear Gardener, and thought of all the studies I have read of the real change that gardening can make in the lives of people.  I can't imagine living in a neighborhood where one can't get fresh food and yet, in our very own Front Range, there is such a place.  This article made me think of what an important place we gardeners might take with some vision and promise in the lives of people. Kudos to the visionaries and kudos to the neighborhood!

Denver's aquaponics project aims to turn "food desert" into an oasis of health - The Denver Post

Sudden Aspen Decline

It seems that a lot of the posts lately have been concerning the dire state of many of our trees.  Aspens also are dying at an unprecedented rate in Colorado. Here's an attempt to treat and reverse "sudden aspen decline" with fire.


Next victim: aspen trees | SummitDaily.com

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Scientists Race to Save Ash Tree

The emerald ash borer has devastated ash trees in fourteen states and threatens to make the ash tree extinct.  An effort to save seeds and save these trees is underway.  The National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado is storing the seeds.

 Click here for this story.

Scientists race to save ash tree - The Denver Post

 
In addition, these two articles, one about pine beetle moving into urban areas and one about moving firewood in general should alert us to heed this wise bit of advice: DO NOT MOVE FIREWOOD!

Zinnias; The Work Horse Annual of the Garden by Tallgrass Toni

Early October and my zinnia garden still had flowers. These annuals are the true work horses of any garden and provide the gardener with cut flowers from late July until they are killed by frost.

The zinnia is a member of the Asteracease family and is a native of Mexico. It was named for the German botanist, Johann Gottfried Zinn. Who knows what he was doing in Mexico at the time. It was called "mal de ojos" which means ugly to the eyes in Spanish because the bloom was very small. The bloom was later improved upon by the Burpee Company who now advertises seeds with giant blooms.

Mountain Pine Beetle Different in Urban Areas by Mary Small

For about three years, mountain pine beetle has been found in the urban corridor.  Arborists and city foresters have been watching the hit trees carefully and are taking steps to keep the pest contained. What they’ve learned is that MPB behaves differently in the city than in the forest. In the urban setting, most of the trees with beetle hits are Scotch pine. A much smaller percentage include ponderosa pine and other pine species. Even with lodgepole or ponderosa pine nearby, the insects heard for Scotch pine!

Wasps in October

I have noticed a number of very slow moving yellow jackets bumbling around my house this week. There are probably thirty wasp carcasses on the window sills.  Now, dear gardener, I am not much of a housekeeper but this particular problem is driving me nuts.  I did some research and discovered that I must have a yellow jacket nest in my walls! Because it turned cold, they found a "back door" in their nest and are coming into the warmth.  There's not much to be done but swat them; eventually they will all die. In the meantime, the carcass count continues to rise and I am a maniac with the fly swatter!

Click here for complete information about this problem.

Smell Has Cities Ripping Out Ginkgo Trees

Smell Has Cities Ripping Out Ginkgo Trees

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Early Fall Review by Heirloom Fan

This summer certainly posed its challenges in my garden and for many of you as well. We had the cold, wet spring. Then things warmed up and the flea beetles and aphids began chewing on everything. And of course the devastating hailstorm in July.

Arvada Gardeners Taste Test! by Dusty M

What's a really cool and unique way for gardeners to entertain friends and colleagues at the end of summer? How about arranging a tomato-tasting and cider-pressing party? That's what Arvada gardeners Tom and Char Gottlieb did on a recent Saturday afternoon. It was their 12th annual gathering, held despite the July hailstorm that flattened their garden and destroyed all their apples. So this year, particularly, the guests were asked to bring their favorite tomatoes and apples to share.