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Avant Gardening with Sturtz & Copeland

Gardening ideas for Boulder, Colorado

Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category

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What’s New in Connie’s Garden in November 2011

Friday, November 11th, 2011

mom

Connie's Mom - Trish Smith

My mom said I’m behind on blogging.  So here I go…

Remember when cleaning out your garden in the fall to NOT put diseased or buggy plants in your compost pile.  I trash them or put them in the The City Compost.   Your compost pile or bin may not heat up enough to kill bugs, disease or weed seeds for that matter.

Now that we have had our first cold spell and the soil has cooled and the snow has cleared - It is a perfect time to plant flower bulbs for a blast of color in spring.

Best to mulch afterward to moderate the soil temp.    This will help prevent them from sprouting too early.

Plant your winter pansies now too.  You can plant them right over your bulbs for a show of color off and on this winter and a very early jump start to color in late winter / early spring.

Posted in Flowers, Gardening |

What’s New in Connie’s Garden - Week of October 1st

Saturday, October 8th, 2011

This fall I finally found what seems to be a good solution to the problem of squirrels eating my winter squash.  Apparently, they hate the smell of blood, so I sprinkled blood meal all around, on the leaves on the ground and it really worked.  EUREKA!

fall-harvest1Tonight 10/8 - looks like the first night it may freeze.  I will cover my tender vegetable plants like tomatoes, peppers and summer squash in order to eek out another week or two of harvest.  THe frost blanket we sell at Sturtz and Copeland is lightweight so it doesn’t crush the plants.  I find it works very well down to about 25 degrees F or so.  Below that not much helps.

Happy Fall Harvest!

Posted in Deer and Other Pests, Flowers, Gardening, Herbs |

Lets Talk About Fungus Gnats

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

You would not believe how often we discuss fungus gnats with customers.

They are pesty little guys that look like fruit flys that hang around your fresh fruit bowl, but instead are around your plants.

We have found that the best treatment has 2 steps:

  1. You must kill the flys with sticky traps (sold here) or a pyrethrin spray.
  2. You must also treat what you can’t see.  The gnats lay eggs in the soil and you must kill the maggots that result, (everyone squirms when I say maggot).  There is a home remedy that works very well as a drench for the soil as follows:

Fungus Gnat Remedysticky-strips

· 1 quart warm water

· 5-6 drops antibacterial soap

· 3 drops ammonia

· 1 teaspoon rubbing alcohol

· Pour ½ cup to 1 quart into soil depending on pot size

You must also use a topical spray contacting pyrethrins or sticky yellow stakes to catch the adults

Posted in Deer and Other Pests, Gardening, Uncategorized |

Food For Thought - Brought to You by Connie

Saturday, September 10th, 2011

smile

Now that it is September.  My choice of what to pick for dinner is affected.  I consistently choose Summer Squash, Cucumber, Tomatoes, and other frost sensitive veggies as their days are numbered.  My Kale, Chard, Beets and Carrots will be fine even with the snow covering them for a time and even get sweeter with the cooler weather.

Posted in Gardening, Tomatoes, Uncategorized, Vegetables |

New Fall and Winter Class Schedule - 2011/2012

Saturday, August 20th, 2011

Sturtz & Copeland 2011&2012 Fall and Winter Class Schedule

All materials purchased during class will be 20% off

Contact Sturtz and Copeland to sign up for classes (303) 442-6663 or email Hannah@sturtzandcopeland.com

9/28/11 Fall Gardening with Hannah Learn about Planting bulbs, perennials, veggies, and winterizing your garden. $15 lecture class. 6:15-8pm

10/06/11 Beginner Orchid Class with Candace Learn the basics of growing and caring for your orchids! Bring in your own orchids for repotting. $15 lecture. 6:15-8pm

10/19/11 Creating Halloween Fairy Gardens with Hannah–All ages A great class for kids! Design your own creepy fairy garden with our plants and other little fairy furniture. Maybe we’ll even see some fairies, witches and goblins! You are welcome to bring your own planter and materials. $15, not including materials. 6:15-8pm

10/26/11 Creating Gourd Creatures with Hannah- for older kids and adults Design fun creatures for holiday centerpieces out of gourds and pumpkins. $15, not including materials. 6:15-8pm

10/31/11 Trick or Treat at Sturtz! Come in and show off your costumes, talk to Lindy and feed the fish. We’d love to see all the fun Halloween Costumes. FREE!

11/10/11 Seasonal Decorating with Ashley and Hunter Learn terrific fun and unique holiday decorating techniques with our design experts! Make the easy transition from Fall to Winter in your home décor. $20 lecture class.

11/17/11 Beginning Floral Arranging with Emily Come join us for our very popular floral arranging class. Sign up now as slots are limited! Learn the basics of creating your own gorgeous arrangements just in time for the holidays! $15 not including supplies. 6:15-8pm

12/1/11 Wreath Decorating with Becca Learn gorgeous wreath decoration techniques! Bring your own ornaments and trinkets or buy ours! A fun way to make a unique wreath for your holiday décor! $15, not including materials.

12/14/11 Creating Holiday Fairy Gardens with Hannah A great class for kids! Design your own fairy garden with our plants and other little fairy furniture. Maybe we’ll even see some fairies! You are welcome to bring your own planter and materials. $15, not including materials. 6:15-8pm

12/15/11 Beginning Floral Arranging with Becca Come join us for our very popular floral arranging class. Learn the basics of creating your own gorgeous arrangements just in time for the holidays! $15 not including supplies. 6:15-8pm

1/12/12 House Plants with Candice Learn the basics of growing house plants including light requirements, fertilizing and pest management. $15 lecture class. 6:15-7:30pm

1/26/12 Beginner Orchid Class with Candace Learn the basics of growing and caring for your orchids! Bring in your own orchids for repotting. $15 lecture. 6:15-8pm

2/1/12 Creating Terrariums with Hannah Learn the fun techniques of planting terrariums for your home. Bring your own fun glass container, or use ours! $15, not including supplies. 6:15-8pm

2/2/12 Valentine Floral Arranging with Emily Come join us for our very popular floral arranging class. Learn the basics of creating your own gorgeous arrangements just in time for the Valentine’s Day! $15 not including supplies. 6:15-8pm

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Orchids |

This week in Connie’s Garden - Week of August 8th

Saturday, August 13th, 2011

powdery-mildewBarely time to blog between Zucchini Harvests!   Speaking of summer squash every year about now, it gets powdery mildew, along with my lilac bush, cucumbers among other things - … So over the years I’ve gotten smarter and done a preemptive spray with Safer Fungicide, which is best used as a preventive.  It makes a leaf surface acidic and mildew won’t grow there.  It is much harder to get rid of once the leaf surfaces are turning white and if you see mildew forming - avoid getting the leaves wet as it spreads it.

Posted in Flowers, Fruits and berries, Gardening, Vegetables |

This week in Connie’s Garden - July 14th

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Harvested GarlicLast week I harvested and dried my garlic which was planted last fall.  I knew it was ready for harvest by the leaves which bent over and started yellowing.  At that point I stopped watering them for about a week and then pulled them up and laid them out in the sun for a few days.   All this drying helps them store better and not get moldy.  I ‘ll have it now for a whole winter for use.

Now about Carrot Flowers - Some of my carrots from seed produce flowers each year and this renders the root hard and flavorless.  I found out it happens when spring conditions are just too cold.  The purple and white carrots are more susceptible to it.  Anyway, they are very pretty and one of the best to have in your garden to attract beneficial bugs that help keep the pesky bugs in check and we all know what a  problem bugs are this year!

Posted in Gardening, Vegetables |

This Week In Connie’s Garden - June 25th

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

shadeflea-beatleThis week it got so hot that I decide to shade my lettuce from the afternoon sun as you can see in my first picture to the left.  As many of you know, heat causes the lettuce to bolt (go to seed) and after that it gets bitter.  I find I can gain an extra week or two of harvest by shading during days over 87 F degrees or so.

The second picture shows tiny black flea beetle on my tomato plants.  They come every year and chew tiny holes in the lower leaves, but never seem to bother the whole plant enough for me to take action.  If you have a bad problem you can treat them with Wood Ash or Diatomaceous earth.  Dust the leaves and the soil around the plants

Posted in Deer and Other Pests, Flowers, Gardening, Tomatoes, Vegetables |

This Week In Connie’s Garden - June 18th

Saturday, June 18th, 2011

Well if it isn’t one thing it’s another - This week I needed to break out the organic BT pesticide to battle the cabbage loopers on my nice Broccoli and Kale plants as I was noticing holes in the leaves and the telltale little black droppings from the loopers.  In addition I noted that my warm season veggies like cucumber and squash was at long long last putting on some grcabbage-looperowth now that it is staying warm overall.

Now onto the topic of watering - I’ve been doing frequent shallow watering on the little seedlings.  When they finally do grow up, I’ll water less frequently but give them a really good soaking - Maybe twice a week in normal summer weather.

Posted in Gardening, Vegetables |

This Week in Connie’s Garden - June 11th

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

Hi - Connie here,

leafminerThis week in my garden I took action against the Leafminer in my Beets, Swiss Chard and Spinach.  leafminer2First, I picked off all the effected leaves and threw them in the trash. To identify  the Leafminer, look for brown trails in the leaf.  In bad cases it looks as if the almost the entire leaf has browned.   I sprayed thoroughly with Spinosad.  The only organic insecticide with systemic action.   Funny _ I never had Leafminer in my garden until a few years back.  Now these crops get it ever year.

Posted in Gardening, Vegetables |

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