April Vegetable Guide

Vegetable Gardens Start This Month!

April is a great month to start planting your vegetable garden. We have seeds, seedlings, and four-inch plants to help get you going. Once the danger of frost has passed you can set out tomatoes, eggplant and pepper starts.

As temperatures warm plant watermelon, cucumbers, pumpkins, beans, and more. Melons, cucumbers, basil are very cold sensitive. We have a great selection of tomato cages, organic snail and bug baits, and vegetable fertilizer along with tips for good growing. Stop by and see us soon!

Vegetable Plant Time Amount
Family of 4
Special Notes Plant Now
Artichoke Year ’round 3 – 4 plants Permanent, perennial. 4″ Pots
Beans, String April – May Then later again in July and August 15 – 25 ft. row Suitable for a small garden. Can be planted more than once/year for a continuous harvest. From Starts or Seeds
Beets February – April then later again in August 10 – 15 ft. row Suitable for a small garden. Can be planted more than once/year for a continuous harvest. From Seeds
Cantaloupes/Other melons April – June 5 – 10 hills Soil must be warm. From Starts or Seeds
Carrots Year ’round 20 – 30 ft. row Suitable for a small garden. Can be planted more than once/year for a continuous harvest. From Seeds
Chives Year ’round 1 clump Suitable for a small garden. From Starts or Seeds
Corn, sweet April – July 20 – 30 ft. row Can be planted more than once/year for a continuous harvest. Soil must be warm. From Starts or Seeds
Cucumbers April – July 6 plants N/A From Seeds or Starts
Eggplant April – June 4 – 6 plants Suitable for a small garden. Ok in morning sun From Starts
Parsley Year ’round 1 – 2 plants Suitable for a small garden. From Starts
Peppers April – July 5 – 10 plants Suitable for a small garden From Starts
Pumpkins April – June 1 – 3 plants N/A From Starts or seeds
Radishes Year ’round 4 ft. row Suitable for a small garden. Can be planted more than once/year for a continuous harvest. From Seed
Squash, summer April – July 2 – 4 plants Suitable for a small garden. From Starts or seeds
Squash, winter March – September 2 – 4 plants Known as winter Squash because it stores over winter but it grows in summer-fall. From Starts or seeds
Strawberries March – September 12+ plants Bare root in November – 6-Pack arriving in Feb. 6-Packs
Tomatoes March – July 6 – 10 plants Suitable for a small garden. Weather permitting, starting in March is possible. From Starts
Turnips February – August 10 – 15 ft. row Suitable for a small garden. From Seeds
Watermelons April – June 6 plants N/A From Starts or Seeds

Remineralize Your Soil

California’s alluvial soils of the Central Valley are rich and friable because centuries of seasonal flooding have deposited minerals from the eroding Sierras into the fertile lowlands.

Alluvial soils are so full of minerals and nutrients making them perfect for growing crops.  Adding minerals to your soil using Azomite® – which is volcanic rock dust – is similar to centuries of valley flooding. Spread a box of Azomite® around your vegetable garden or backyard orchard three to four times a year. Gardeners doing so have achieved noticeable improvements, not only in leaf color and vigor but in fruit and vegetable flavor and production as well.

Nutrient Source

Where do you suppose vegetables get their nutrient content?  From the soil!

Azomite® replenishes and enhances the soil. Azomite® rock dust is a natural mineral product with 70 micro-nutrients rarely available in one place. It is odorless, won’t burn your plants and won’t restrict aeration or water penetration. Unlike some products, Azomite® rock dust is not a manufactured, chemically prepared fertilizer. It is 100% natural with no additives, synthetics or fillers.

Azomite® has been shown to loosen hard soils, build healthy, more pest-resistant and drought-tolerant plants and promote lusher growth. Use Azomite® rock dust to improve all your gardening and landscape areas from lawns and vegetable plots to compost piles and enjoy:

  • Increased fruit and flower production
  • Increased vitamin content in your fruits and vegetables
  • Better tasting fruits and vegetables
  • Increased pest and disease resistance and greater cold tolerance in all your plants
  • Lawns with better color while using less fertilizer

Best of all, Azomite® rock dust is easy and economical to apply 1/2 pound per 100 square feet.

Prevent Wormy Apples – Controlling Codling Moths

coddling-apple
damage from codling moths and larva

If you have apple trees and want to monitor codling moths to determine the best time to spray, use our Codling Moth Traps.

Periodically looking into the trap in search of captured moths will alert you as to when the moths are present and therefore when to spray.

When codling moths first appear (usually when about 3/4 of the flower petals have fallen from the tree), wait one week and spray every 10 days with Captain Jack’s, (Spinosad) for 3 applications.

Replace traps monthly and repeat spray regime after additional generations of moths are trapped.

Check out the UC Cooperative Extension Service website for more detailed options.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7412.html.

Flavor Your Garden with Herbs

Now is the time we find ourselves dreaming of summer vegetable gardens soon to be planted. Consider adding an herb garden to round out the flavor palate. Herbs can slip into a small pot or a corner of the garden, they require very little growing time before they are useful and they add a lot of pop to barbecued meals, salads and side dishes.

Try grilling chicken with an oregano, chive, and basil marinade or filling a roasting chicken with rosemary, garlic and oregano. Potatoes take on an entirely different flavor when roasted with a basting of olive oil and rosemary, chives or dill. Take a few minutes and add herbs to the vegetable garden. You’ll find that their magic can add a savory taste to all your cooking!

BASIL (cold sensitive – plant outside when the weather warms, late March or beyond)
Basil adds zest and color to bottled vinegar, use this when preparing a fresh salad dressing.  Basil is great for salads, marinades or fresh fish dishes. The most popular basil is sweet basil with its fragrant leaves. Use it in pesto, sprinkle it with chopped garlic on prime rib, and use it liberally in Italian dishes. Basil also makes a bright accent in the flower garden. Basil plants have the added benefit of repelling flies. Enjoy as “window sill basil” to get the season going.

CHIVES
This spiky plant looks like a cluster of onions. In late May it is crowned with lavender flowers. Clip and chop handfuls of it to season potato dishes, salads, dressings, egg dishes, and soups. It is one of the most versatile kitchen herbs. You can flavor white vinegar with a few stems of this herb and enjoy it splashed over garden ripened tomatoes.

DILL
Used for pickling, dill is also wonderful in salads, sauces, soups or breads on vegetables and fish. Special tips: Try pickling green beans, carrots, new potatoes or peppers with a bit of dill.

LAVENDER
The addition of culinary grade lavender in tiny amounts can jazz up dishes as diverse as grilled pork chops, to scones, cakes, and even candy.

MARJORAM
Like oregano but sweeter, this flavor is perfect in Mediterranean dishes, meats, and vegetables.

MINT
The flavor of mint is refreshing, cool and sweet, especially good in iced drinks and teas, with lamb or in salad dressings. Special tips: Minty sun tea: Put 8 tea bags, ½ c. of fresh mint leaves and 1 gal. of water in a clear glass jar. Set in a sunny spot for several hours. Serve over ice, or simply make iced mint water. It’s so refreshing! Mint tends to overgrow its neighbors and proliferate in the garden – consider a separate pot to contain this enthusiastic grower.

OREGANO
This pungent herb is no foreigner to cooking. Use it in marinade; grind it to add to pizza, spaghetti sauce or salad dressings. And one summer favorite is to add it with fresh basil to an oil and vinegar marinade for fresh from the garden flavor.

PARSLEY
For a clean sharp and peppery taste, add to vegetables and salads as a garnish. Include in sauces, soups, stews and stuffing. Special tips: Parsley is high in Vitamins A, C and B.

ROSEMARY
Wonderful flavoring for chicken or any barbecue. Evergreen, woody shrub has aromatic foliage (It’s actually related to mint.) The flavor of rosemary is bold and piney. Use it in pickles, jams, preserves and sauces, as well as meats and soups. Special tips: Use a branch of rosemary as a basting brush at your next barbecue, or put some on the coals for a great aroma. Plant in full sun.

SAGE
Warm, slightly bitter, this flavor is a must for turkey stuffing, as well as pork, duck and sausage seasoning. Special tips: Dried sage leaves are used as a substitute for coffee or tea.

TARRAGON
A spicy, sharp flavor with licorice and mint overtones, tarragon lends itself to French cooking, egg dishes, fish, and salad dressing. Special tips: Tarragon vinegar: Pour a qt. of cold vinegar over ½ c. fresh tarragon leaves, cap and store for 4 weeks.

THYME

Thyme is another popular herb known of its culinary and medicinal properties. It has a concentrated herbal flavor with sharp grass, woody and floral notes. Thyme leaves can be added, whole or chopped, to a dish at any stage of cooking although the longer they cook, the more flavor they’ll provide.

pH Adjustment for Citrus

Citrus plants and other acid-loving plants often suffer from yellow leaves. Yellowing leaves are usually related to low fertility, alkaline soils, or low levels of available iron. Now is a good time for corrective measures.

Citrus food can address the fertility, Iron Sulfate or Soil Sulfur can improve the soil pH by steering alkaline soils toward acid, both make the existing iron in surrounding soil more available to the plant.  Iron Sulfate also adds additional iron for quicker nutrient uptake.

Our citrus grower recommends a little bit of citrus fertilizer each month of the year. We offer Master Nursery Citrus Food or EB Stone Citrus Food (the organic option).

We also recommend treating the soil with either Soil Sulfur or Iron Sulfate 3 to 4 times a year.  Now is an ideal time because remaining rains will carry these products down into the soil. The impending spring growth will benefit immediately from this nutrient blast. Iron products such as Iron Sulfate help prevent yellow leaves on citrus, blueberries, azaleas, camellias and also keep a lawn greener with less mowing.

Most products containing iron can stain paving. Take extra precautions to be sure you don’t stain your patio or driveway.  Iron Plus will not stain.

Plants take nutrients up from the soil most efficiently when soil pH is neutral or slightly acidic. pH Adjuster Plus gently acidifies the soil and allows nitrogen, iron and other essential nutrients and elements to be released for uptake by plant roots. Apply these granular products over the soil surface and let the rain water them in. The result is a healthier, more beautiful plant with brighter, greener foliage.

pH Adjuster Plus is a pelletized soil sulfur that is much easier to apply than more conventional soil sulfur (no annoying dust).

Almost all plants will appreciate 3 to 4 applications per year, but those plants that respond most dramatically to a pH adjustment include citrus, blueberries, camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons, gardenias and other plants that develop a seasonal yellowing of the leaf related to iron deficiency. Most likely you can think of at least one plant you have around your home that suffers from leaf yellowing. Apply and then water or time your application to let winter rains do the watering for you.

Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salts) has also shown to have a great greening effect.  A little bit goes a long way and should only be applied twice a year; once in early spring and again in early fall.

Dormant Spray for Fruit Trees

Clean Up Your Garden

Debris will harbor insects and diseases. A good general garden clean-up, removing leaves, spent flower heads, old fruits, nuts, dead and broken branches eliminates insect and disease hiding places. Although a potential problem in the garden, these materials are perfect candidates for the compost pile as long as your compost pile generates sufficient heat to kill insects, their eggs, and diseases. For more information, visit www.stopwaste.org

February into Spring (About Valentines)

coppersoapsm[1]Apply Bonide Copper Fungicide. The timing of spring sprayings for various fruit trees can be crucial.

Leaf curl on nectarines and peaches is controlled with another application of Bonide Liquid Copper Fungicide or Monterey Liqui-Cop when flower buds swell but before they show any color.

To control brown rot and shot hole fungus on stone fruits, spray with Bonide Liquid Copper Fungicide or Monterey Liqui-Cop when the buds crack and show color, then again 2 weeks later.

dormant-control

Pluots – Delicious Fruits for your Backyard Orchard

pluot-clusterPluots are amazing hybrid fruits that are part plum and part apricot in heritage. These fruits were initially developed in the late 20th century by Floyd Zaiger in neighboring San Joaquin Valley and are now happily grown commercially and in backyard orchards in parts of Washington and California.

Pluots have a majority of plum parentage and therefore, have smooth skin like plums. Some varieties of pluots are sometimes called interspecific plums or dinosaur eggs.

Check with us about varieties for cross pollination.

The pluot is often confused with the aprium which is another plum and apricot hybrid with mostly apricot heritage. Like apricots, apriums have a slightly fuzzy skin. Pluots and apriums are known for their sweetness and flavor; the sugar content of these fruits is much higher than that of a plum or apricot alone. Each of these varieties requires another pluot or a Japanese plum to pollenize.

Flavor King
Taste test winner. Unique plum-apricot hybrid with a sensational bouquet and sweet, spicy flavor. Reddish-purple skin, crimson flesh. Naturally small tree.

Dapple Dandy
Taste test winner. Ranks with Flavor King Pluot® among the all-time top five best-flavored fruits at Dave Wilson Nursery tastings. Creamy white and red-fleshed freestone with wonderful plum-apricot flavor. Skin greenish-yellow with red spots, turning to a maroon and yellow dapple.

Splash
Small to medium size red-orange colored fruit with very sweet orange flesh. Round to heart shaped fruit is excellent eaten fresh, dried or in desserts. Upright tree sets large crops once established. Chilling requirement 400 hours or less.

Multi-Grafted Pluot Tree
Enjoy 3-4 varieties of pluots on one tree. These trees have several grafts from different varieties on a single trunk.  Pluots taste amazing, but a multi-graft tree brings the benefit of progressive ripening through the season. Some are ripe early, and some are ripe late…Plus, the different varieties pollenize each other.

goldrush200We recommend Gold Rush planting amendment when planting fruit trees. Gold Rush is a blend of Fir Bark Compost and 15% Chicken Manure.

As a compost, fir bark holds up well over time. The addition of chicken manure provides a needed boost of nitrogen plus other trace nutrients.

Mix Gold Rush with existing soil at a ratio of 50/50.

Grapes & Berries

Grow grapes and enjoy big bunches of beautiful berries! Dormant season planting allows roots to get a head start so the plants can take off during the growing season. Our young grape vines are here as well as blueberries, and cane berries. 

GRAPES: Plant in the sunniest spot in your yard to help ripen the fruit and keep the foliage dry. Vines are vigorous and need sturdy support to grow on, and something for the tendrils to twine around.  Train them beginning at planting time to encourage one main cane, which with time will become a sturdy trunk. Yearly pruning in January will keep your grapes fruiting for the long term.

TABLE GRAPES (seedless):

  • Princess – large, sweet, light green grape. Fruit holds well on the vine and in storage
  • Ruby – medium-sized, dark red, firm grape. A vigorous grower and heavy producer
  • Black Monukka – medium-sized, black with excellent, crisp, sweet flavor
  • Come in to see our additional varieties!

WINE GRAPES:

  • Cabernet Sauvignon – excellent producer in our area of small, round, seedy, purple-black grapes.
  • Zinfandel – a solid red wine grape related by DNA to the Italian Primitivo.
  • Chardonnay – a popular selection for white wine with flavors of plum, apple and pear.
  • Merlot – Black berry, used for distinctive red wines. 

BLUEBERRIES:

Healthful, beautiful and delicious! Find an afternoon shady corner of your yard to grow a few of our Southern Highbush Blueberries, and enjoy snacking straight from the bush. Or plant a couple of varieties in a large pot or half wine barrel. Either way, blueberries thrive in acid soil. In a pot use, 3/4 E.B. Stone Acid Planting Mix and 1/4 Potting Soil. For in ground planting combine 1/2 E.B. Stone Acid Planting Mix, 1/4 fine or medium orchid bark and 1/4 native soil. All Organic Cottonseed Meal further lowers the pH and adds nutrition. A mix of varieties aids pollination and can increase yields.

  • Jewel – one of the leading California varieties yielding lots of high-quality berries
  • O’Neal – early ripening with lighter blue fruit; arguably the best flavor of the Southern Highbush
  • Reveille – wonderful flavor and a crisp texture on an upright bush that does well in hot climates

Cane Berries:

You know you want some warm from the oven, mixed berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream melting on the top. May we suggest the following varieties.

  • Blackberry Marionberry – medium in size and tends to be longer than it is wide with a somewhat tart flavor, fairly earthy with traces of sweetness
  • Boysenberry Thornless – really big, reddish purple berries popular for flavor and high June yield
  • Canby Raspberry – summer bearing with large bright red berries on thornless canes
  • Olallieberry – much requested, and they are here! A hybrid that is about 2/3 blackberry and 1/3 raspberry and 100% delicious.

Multi-Graft Fruit Trees add Flavor in Less Space

multi graft fruit treesMulti-graft fruit trees include several varieties of fruit on the same tree. They save both space and effort while giving you variety and successive ripening in a small yard.

The multi-graft approach is practical. You don’t need to have multiple trees when just one tree will do the job of several. Each fruit variety grafted branch grows independently from the others on the same tree, and the different fruits always retain their characteristic flavor, appearance, ripening time, etc.

Many multi-graft fruit trees have been deliberately crafted to give you a staggered fruit harvest. By combining fruit varieties that bloom at different times, and harvest at different times, you get the added advantage of an extended fruit harvesting season. As one goes out of season, the next one comes in! This feature also means you get the benefit of a long-term fruit harvest without the “glut” of too much of a good thing all at once that you might have with a single species fruit tree.

Multi-Graft fruit trees are perfect for today’s smaller yards. Trees grow on semi-dwarfing rootstock; small size means anyone can have their multiple fruit harvest within a 10 x 10 patch of yard or less. So even the smallest of gardens can be a source of fresh homegrown fruit. It is not the fruit that is small, but rather the tree.

Come in for more details on how multi-graft fruit trees can give you the satisfaction of having your multi-variety fruit orchard in a smaller space than you might have thought possible.

Grow Potatoes in Grow Bags

Growing potatoes is easy in well-prepared soil. Spring rains give the potatoes a head start without effort. We’ve harvested potatoes that volunteered in a compost pile!

Growing potatoes in a planting bag filled with potting soil is rewarding and simple. Potato grow-bags have several advantages over conventional garden growing. They drain well, and they are easy to harvest.

Grow your Potatoes the Easy Way!

Prepare
Cut seed potatoes into chunks having at least two eyes each. Allow the pieces to be dry at least overnight or dust with sulfur. 

Fill the container about 1/3 full with a 50/50 mixture of Master Nursery Bumper Crop and either garden soil, or Master Nursery Potting Soil. Add Masters Tomato Vegetable Fertilizer or Master Start.

Plant
Plant one seed potato for every 3 gallons of fabric pot capacity. For the #10 container, for example, plant three to four seed potatoes. Place the seed potatoes evenly in the pot.

Water the soil thoroughly. It should be moist but not soggy.

Care
Soon, you will see little stems pop through the soil. Mound up more soil/compost mix, on the stem without covering the top set of leaves. The leaves need sun and air exposure.

As the potatoes continue growing, keep adding the soil/compost mix around the stem until you reach the top of the container.

In June, when the plants begin to bloom, you can harvest “new” or young potatoes. Or for larger more mature potatoes, wait until mid to late summer the potato leaves and stems will begin to turn yellow. Timing will vary somewhat depending on the potato variety.

When the foliage has died back, stop all watering about two weeks before harvest. The leaves and stems will turn almost all yellow. You are ready to harvest.

Harvest
Don’t use a spade or sharp instrument! Pull out all the stems and leaves, wearing gloves. Dig in and find your hidden potatoes or simply dump out the “potato bag”.

Store
Arrange potatoes in a single row for a day and allow to dry. Then brush off the soil. Store potatoes in a cool, dry area with ventilation. Do not store potatoes in the refrigerator!

Bag Care
Potato planting bags are reusable! Shake out any extra soil and allow the container to dry. Store in a dry location until you are ready to start again next spring.