Welcome veggie gardeners! VCE and MGNV support local gardeners with a host of resources, including free classes, plant clinics and this newsletter.
Want to know more? Subscribe here to receive future issues.
Missed out on past issues? You can get them here.
|
|
|
April To-Do List
- Thin seedlings (greens, carrots, beets) when plants reach 1-2 inches tall or have two sets of "true leaves" to thin out any crowded plants and give the them room to grow.
- Side-dress cool-season crops with compost, and mulch around the base of plants to keep their roots cool and moist.
- Continue to direct sow cool-season crops that mature quickly, such as arugula, chard, endive, lettuce, spinach, mustard, and radish.
- Direct sow other crops: beets, kale, leeks, carrots, parsnip, turnips, peas, potato, and herbs (parsley, chervil, sage, lovage, thyme).
- Start indoors: cucumbers, squash, pumpkin, melons, bush and pole beans.
- Set out purchased transplants or plants started from seed indoors to "harden off" (or get used to the outdoors); water frequently until planted so they don’t dry out.
- Transplant sprouted potatoes started indoors.
- Avoid late plantings of some transplants, such as broccoli and cabbage that may be on sale at local garden centers, since approaching warmer weather may prevent these crops from reaching full maturity before going to seed.
- Make sure to trellis vertically-growing plants, such as peas, cucumbers, beans, and other climbing plants before the plants grow too big and become unmanageable.
|
- Hold off planting warm-weather plants, such as tomatoes and peppers, until well after the last average frost date (check recommendations specific to your growing area).
- Start sweet potato slips indoors before planting slips outside later in the summer.
Plant, Pest or Other Garden Questions?
Contact the Extension Master Gardener Help Desk. Even during the pandemic, knowledgeable Virginia Cooperative Extension volunteers are available to answer questions!
RSVP for April 2021 Classes
|
|
Now is the time ... for thinning and watering
If you planted cool weather vegetables, make sure these plants have enough space to grow. Crowded crops will not produce to their full size or cause root crops to warp or fork. Thin out out your plants. Follow spacing guidelines specific to each plant. It's usually best to cut unwanted seedlings at the soil line, rather than pulling, to avoid disturbing plant roots.
Make sure to observe the VCE's recommended planting dates and avoid planting before the average last killing frost dates in the Spring. Along the coast of Northern Virginia (Tidewater area), the average last killing frost date is between April 10 to April 21; more inland (Piedmont area) the average last killing frost date is between April 20 to April 30. Avoid common vegetable gardening mistakes caused by putting some plants in the ground too early. Continue to look at the recommended planting times that were included in the March newsletter.
Water is essential to plant health. It is recommended that vegetable plants receive at least an inch of water a week. Try to water early in the morning rather than the late afternoon or early evening. Morning watering helps to reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation, and gives a plant’s leaves a chance to dry. Plants are more susceptible to disease if their leaves are wet after dusk. Plants also do best when watered deeply and infrequently. By contrast, light, frequent watering encourages plants to develop shallow roots. Follow these recommended watering tips.
 Mulching with organic compost and/or layering straw at the base of the plant will help to retain moisture in your soil and reduce evaporation. An inch of compost and/or bedding around your plants also helps keep weeds from growing. Straw (or the dried stalks of grain without the grain heads) is generally considered more suitable (and is less expensive) than hay for use as mulch and bedding in vegetable gardens.
If you are using seeds stored from previous growing seasons, you may want to test the germination of your seeds to see how well they will do when planted this year. Most seeds can last for years, if stored properly, but some seeds have a relatively short life and may no longer be viable. Learn how to test your stored seed for germination and about storing seed. Continue to harden-off tender transplants before planting outdoors.
Sweet potato slips refer to the shoots that can be encouraged to grow off a mature sweet potato. There are many online resources on how to sprout your own sweet potato slips indoors from available tubers. Here is an excellent video from the University of Maryland Home & Garden Center, as well as their complete article on
These archived VCE/MGNV classes will be of special interest:
|
|
|
 Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture (FOUA)
FOUA has started making short gardening videos to help urban gardeners. Follow them on YouTube and check out their collection!
- Growing Potatoes in Buckets
- How & Why to Test Your Garden Soil
- A Few of Our Favorite Tools!
- How to Read a Seed Packet
Their YouTube channel also highlights several of the school gardens that they have been working with since last year.
Don't forget that Farmers' Markets are opening! Here is a list of all Northern Virginia Markets - providing fresh produce despite Covid-19 Restrictions.
|
|
Beating the Bugs
A monthly column on pest control in the vegetable garden by VCE Agent Kirsten Conrad
Illustration © Melissa Joskow
Pests of Beans, Peas, and other Legumes
April in the garden brings warmer temperatures and the pleasure of seeing earlier sowings of peas mature and start to climb up their supports and of getting the soil ready for first plantings of beans.. You can select from garden pea, snow pea (flat edible pods), or snap pea (edible pods) varieties. All are cool season crops that prefer a soil acidity of pH 6.5 or higher and soil temperatures that are in the 65-70°F range. The lengthening days of spring favor flower and pod development. Because these are such early season crops, damage to peas are often done by rabbits and animals looking for some spring greens. Insect problems on peas are rare, but aphids, cowpea curculios, and grasshoppers can do damage in some years.
A phids are sometimes a problem because they feed on stems and favor the young tender new growth of many plants. Their piercing sucking mouthparts remove sap and cause stunting, puckering, and yellowing of plant tissue. Many organic products will give you good control over aphids, but you will have to alternate your products for continuing infestations. Oils and soaps give good control, as do pyrethrins, azadirachtin, and a biological agent called Beauvaria bassiana.
 Cowpea curculio is a small nonflying insect that feeds on the seeds inside the pod. About 5 mm in length, the adult is a black weevil that is a major pest in southern states. In gardens where this pest has appeared, crop rotation and using spinosad (an organic insecticide) is effective at controlling this insect.
Photo: University of Georgia
 Grasshoppers will feed on anything that is available but are uncommon in urban areas. Ragged damage from their chewing mouthparts can destroy crops; using a row cover will exclude these hoppers from your peas. Otherwise, organic controls, including insecticidal soap, pyrethrins, and azadirachtin can be applied up to the day of harvest.
 Seed corn maggots, also called root maggots, are small fly larvae that feed on decaying plant material. Infested crops may be stunted and show poor germination. A granular insecticide can be used at the time of planting, but cultural control is best—including the use of raised beds, which have warmer soil that promotes quick germination and rapid growth.
Photo: University of Minnesota
 Corn earworms grow to 1 inch in length and have an orange/brown head, but their color can vary from brown and pink or yellow to black. These worms feed on all parts of the plant. To control these, handpick them off the plants and use pyrethrins and spinosad for organic control.
 The most serious insect pest of beans is the Mexican bean beetle that damages pods and leaves that can be skeletonized by their feeding. Yellow eggs are laid in clusters of 40 or more. The adults are 1/4 inch long copper colored, oval bugs with 16 spots. The 1/3 inch long larvae are orange/yellow and appear fuzzy or spiny. They appear in June and July and remain active for the rest of the year.
One tactic is to plant beans very early and harvest them before the beetles become active in July. Beneficial predator insects include assassin bugs and a parasitic wasp. Treatment with registered Insecticides is recommended and organic products like pyrethrins can also get good results.
Sanitation can reduce populations and removal of infested plants after harvest is recommended.
Photo: Clemson University, USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, Bugwood.org
For general information on growing beans, see this VCE publication.
Happy gardening!
Next Month: Squash Family Pests
|
|
|
News from the Organic Vegetable Garden
April Gardening
There is much to do at the OVG in April. As in March, we will continue preparing beds to plant spring crops by cutting down cover crops and thorough weeding. We’ll focus on beds that we will use for planting in April. We will spread cuttings of cover crops over the beds to dry for a week or so and then fork them into the soil. The nutrients they provide will nurture our seedlings and transplants.
As MGNV volunteers work in the beds, they make sure to avoid directly stepping on the soil by using stepping stones or wood to distribute their weight. Stepping directly on the soil compacts it and makes it difficult to work. This is especially a problem in the spring when the soil is quite moist.
 April is a fickle month. Sometimes it’s wet and chilly, and other years it’s hot and dry. What will this April bring? Regardless, cool nights in April mean OVG gardeners will continue direct sowing of leafy greens such as lettuce, tatsoi, and kale and other fast-growing cool weather crops such as arugula, swiss chard, spinach, mustard, beets, carrots, and radish.
We recommend planting tatsoi in the home garden. An Asian green, it’s easy to grow and extremely tasty in salads. It’s also quite attractive – it is low lying with lovely rosette shaped leaves. Try planting tatsoi with your next batch of lettuce.
 Next on the list, we will be directly sowing turnips, collards, parsley, and cilantro. Turnips were grown extensively in Arlington during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We plant a traditional American turnip, Purple Top White Globe, and have had excellent results. Turnips are wonderful roasted or uncooked in crudités. Lebanese Taverna, a local restaurant, pickles turnips with vinegar and sliced beets for an addictive treat.
Thinning seedlings is an important task at the OVG. Seedlings that grow too close together will not have room to spread out and thrive, but instead will compete for limited space. Read your seed packets and be sure to thin to recommended spacing. You’ll thank yourself later. While tending to seedlings, OVG volunteers make sure they are getting enough water. Seedlings are very tender and can easily be damaged if they become too dry.
In April, we will harvest many of our cool weather crops. We usually have plentiful kale, lettuce, and arugula. In the past, we have donated our crops to AFAC, a local food bank. During COVID, AFAC stopped taking donations, and we began giving our produce to Rock Spring Church’s Victory Garden Project, which distributes fresh vegetables to the needy in Arlington. If you have extra crops this growing season, please consider donating them to the Victory Garden Project.
See you in the garden!
Stop by and visit the Organic Vegetable Garden at Potomac Overlook Park
2845 North Marcey Road, Arlington, VA 22207
|
|
|
For more information on Vegetable Gardening, check out Select On-Line References for Kitchen Gardening on the Master Gardener of Northern Virginia (MGNV) site. MGNV volunteers support the work of Virginia Cooperative Extension's public education outreach.
|
|
|
|
|
