EARLY SPRING COLOR IN THE GARDEN

It’s that time of year again -- many of us are weary from the cold winter winds and long for beautiful color to brighten up our beds and containers. Pansies and Violas are just the plants for the job and can be planted outside as soon as they have been hardened off (adjusted to the cooler temperatures).

Here at Ashcombe we have eighteen varieties of pansies and six varieties of Violas as well as a nice selection of hanging baskets. We suggest you plant your pansies in late March or early April so that you can enjoy them longer before the hot weather of June reduces the size of their flowers. A good sunny place is recommended. Any reasonably good garden soil will work for Pansies.

OTHER COOL LOVING SPRING ANNUALS

Available in April these lovely additions to the pansies are available and tolerate light frosts. Calendulas come in orange and yellow, Stocks in blues pinks, whites and reds. Nemesias are blues, whites and pinks and all combine well with Pansies in your garden or container

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TIPS FROM ASHCOMBE
Local produce is best...and organic is even better! Pesticides and other chemicals
can be difficult to remove from fresh produce -- grow your own for the best quality fruits and vegetables.

In the event you don’t have time or space to grow your own PA has some good
sources you may want to investigate. The web site: localharvest.org has a myriad of
places you can buy from including farms, farmers markets, grocers, and
restaurants as well as farm markets like Ashcombe, where seasonal local produce is
sold from May to October.

Square Foot Gardening

A square foot garden generally is a raised bed filled with good earth and compost mix so that packing and erosion from rain don’t affect your vegetables or small fruits. It can measure three feet wide or four feet if you prefer and as long as you want, since you can reach in from either side to plant, tend and harvest your crops. The height can vary from 6 inches to 12 inches depending on how deep you want your roots to grow.
A plant or seeds can be sown in each square foot depending on the habit of the plant you want to grow. For example lots of carrot seeds will fit into a square foot, but it may take several feet if you decide to grow a squash or pumpkin in it. The nice thing about this type of garden is that is easily tilled and watered and is accessible even for the handicapped.
In 2009 here at Ashcombe we had our first square foot garden made with 2 by 12 inch boards. A special corner piece holds the boards together. These can be purchased here or at a home improvement store.

We were amazed at the amount of fresh vegetables we were able to harvest all season long from our square foot garden and as early crops came out later ones were put in. The carrots lasted well into November and were very tasty. It was a very efficient way of growing our own. We later in the year planted three beds with strawberries that we hope to harvest in 2010 as well as raspberries and blueberries. Enjoy your own square foot garden in 2010.