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The INDEPENDENT, May 16, 2012
Can You Dig It?
By Schann Nelson
Columbia County Master Gardener
“May, May the merry month
of May” the old song sings and
if variable weather makes you
merry, May would be your
month for sure. From a snowy
day indistinguishable from No-
vember except by the green-
ness to blazing sun when the
clouds clear, we have it all.
This makes if difficult for the
lowly gardener to determine what and when to accom-
plish certain tasks. One of the most important things to
remember is that plants can thrive on the sun’s rays
that penetrate a thin cloud cover (even though it may
not do much for your mood, especially if you wind up
with a bad sunburn) as long as it’s not cold.
The list of things that can be done in May is seem-
ingly endless, with a big payoff later in the season if
accomplished. I loved Tera Wolin’s (2010 Master Gar-
dener) article on slug control. [Why IS it that our most
pernicious pests come from Europe? I sure hope we
gave a few back!] I’ve had ducks and they are vora-
cious eaters of slugs – they also enjoy worms and, if
given free access, will trample the heck out of your
garden. They have no respect for young plants. How-
ever, even a short fence will control them. I like the
idea and have ducks mostly in another area, letting
them in to the garden for dinner at dusk. Our biggest
problem was that the ducks would discover the drive-
way while searching for small rocks, which led to them
spying the neighbor’s lush lawn. This would be OK ex-
cept they have to cross the road to get there, and
ducks are not smart about cars and trucks. As to her
grandmother’s method of hand control, YUCK! Slug
slime is one of the hardest things to get off your hands
– of course she would not have had access to our
modern iron phosphate, spinosad, and nematodes
(new to me but I’d like to try it) I will have to look up
the article http:www.slugcontol.rothamsted.ac.uk/
Slugs Brochure/pdf to find if there is a specific nema-
tode and where to get it. I can’t mow all around my
garden, so slugs continue to migrate into the rich feed-
ing area of the garden, making it a continuous battle.
I not only made it to the master Gardeners Plant
Sale but I managed to keep my blinders on ( helped
by the fact that I was supposed to be here, not in St.
Helens). I spent less than $20 total and came out with
six tomatoes for me and a gift tomato, 3 squash
plants, 2 sprouted potatoes and a pound of seed po-
tatoes. The tomatoes: 2 Oregon Spring for slicing, 2
San Marzano for cooking and salsa, 1 Gold Nugget a
short season cherry tomato and 1 Isis Candy a 1-1/2
inch tomato that is the sweetest I’ve ever tasted and
worth growing, even if it is a later season tomato, plus
a patio tomato I planted for my Dad’s new apartment
lifestyle. Gone are the days of planting 12 to 14 differ-
ent varieties. I never could keep track of what was
what and they always ended up squished together.
The potatoes: Russian Banana, one of the most
prolific potatoes I’ve ever planted and the best tasting
when completely unadorned, and seed for Yukon
Golds. The squash: a Trombocino, that when staked
will produce two foot (or longer) squash that has a de-
licious white meat and a very small seed cavity; a
Rondo, another Italian variety new to me that is sup-
posed to produce round, small zucchini; and a plain
old acorn for later in the season. The squash are the
only thing that remains under cover, everything else is
taking its chances that we are DONE with tempera-
tures below freezing.
After seeing the results of adding a bit of woodstove
ash after planting last year, I decided to get the stuff in
the ground underneath the plants. I’ve also added a
bit of blood meal for the spinach and broccoli (but
NOT the tomatoes). Splitting up the six-packs into in-
dividual plants means I can work these amendments
into each individual planting hole. My measuring tool
is my thin trowel and I use a full scoop of ash and a
small half scoop of the blood meal. The climbing peas
got the same treatment, though worked throughout
the soil with a rake.
Waiting for a prescription and reading the American
Horticultural Society magazine I was astonished to
learn
t h a t
Plant & Garden Sale
Vernonia Senior Center
Two Days Only!
June 1st & 2nd
From 9am to 4pm
Herbs, Annuals, Perennials,
Planted pots, Baskets,
House plants & More.
446 Bridge St. Vernonia
glyphosate (Round-up) has a lower toxicity level than
organic soaps and vinegar-based herbicides. I don’t
have it in front of me but, according to the author,
glyphosate breaks down into amino acids that are tru-
ly harmless. After all we are all a specialized collection
of amino acids so it’s unlikely that any single one could
have any effect.
I’ve just had my first spinach salad so I’ve already
paid for that six pack. We have some 12-15 small ro-
maine lettuce and at least that many broccoli pur-
chased for less than $2 per six-pack. Even with the
purchase of seeds, plants, slug bait, fertilizer and
mulch, the economics still come out far in my favor,
though I would garden for the taste and the joy in any
event.
I have bush peas up about 4-6 inches and climbing
shelling peas coming up. Prewarming the soil and
keeping the bed very warm (under those shower cur-
tains I talked about) has been tremendously success-
ful. This year I’ve bought all my seed locally – several
stores have seed racks – and generally been pleased
with the results. The prices are the same though I
don’t think the quantity of seed is the same as Territo-
rial Seed Company’s typically generous one, or more,
ounces. Still I have a very small garden so the small-
er quantities are OK.
Our biggest problem has been keeping my daugh-
ters huge cat out of the garden. The darn cat had
adopted the broccoli as her private bathroom so steps
had to be taken. After adding a couple of inches of
compost mulch (purchased unfortunately) I added a
series of thin bent-over metal stakes – the kind used
to mark various underground or field lines. Bent in half
they look like croquet wickets, and I hoped they would
keep her sinuous self out. This did not work by itself,
evidence showed. However, the addition of several
largish rocks to prevent the scratching motion seems
to be more effective.
Get out and enjoy the varied weather. Remember
your sunscreen, stretching before and after just like
any exercise and try to keep up with the lawn.
Church Directory
V ERNONIA F OURSQUARE C HURCH
C OVENANT C HURCH V ERNONIA
P IONEER B APTIST F ELLOWSHIP
Carl Pense, Pastor
850 Madison Avenue, Vernonia
503 429-1103
Sunday Worship Service: 10:30 a.m.
Children’s Sunday School
Pastor John D. Murray
359 “A” Street, Vernonia
503 860-3860
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Sunday Worship Service 11:00 a.m.
Wednesday Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m.
John Cahill, Pastor
939 Bridge Street, Vernonia
503-429-1161
www.pbfalive.com
Sunday School 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 a.m.
Thursday Prayer 7:00 p.m.
S EVENTH D AY A DVENTIST
Larry Gibson, Pastor
2nd Ave. and Nehalem St., Vernonia
503 429-8301
Morning Worship, 11:00 a.m.
Sabbath School 9:30 a.m.
A SSEMBLY OF G OD
Wayne and Maureene Marr
662 Jefferson Ave., Vernonia,
503 429-0373
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Morning Worship 11:00 a.m
S T . M ARY ' S C ATHOLIC C HURCH
Rev. Luan Tran, Administrator
960 Missouri Avenue, Vernonia
503 429-8841
Mass Sunday 12:00 Noon
Religious Educ. Sunday 10:30 a.m.
V ERNONIA C OMMUNITY C HURCH
Ralph Young, Pastor
957 State Avenue, Vernonia
503 429-6790
Sunday Bible Classes 9:00 a.m.
Family Praise & Worship 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday Prayer 6:30 p.m.
Thursday Ladies Study 7:00 p.m.
Nursery 10:15 a.m.
Vernonia Community Preschool
N EHALEM V ALLEY B IBLE C HURCH
Gary Taylor, Pastor
Grant & North Streets, Vernonia
503 429-5378
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Morning Worship 10:45 a.m.
Nursery available
Wednesday Service 7:00 p.m.
V ERNONIA C HRISTIAN C HURCH
C HURCH OF J ESUS C HRIST
OF L ATTER D AY S AINTS
Sam Hough, Minister
410 North Street, Vernonia
503 429-6522
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Sunday Worship 11:00 a.m.
(meets in Youth & Family Center)
Various Home Group Meetings
Marc Farmer, Branch President
1350 E. Knott Street, Vernonia
503 429-7151
Sacrament Meeting, Sunday 10 a.m.
Sunday School & Primary 11:20 a.m.
Relief Society, Priesthood and
Young Women, Sunday 12:10 p.m.