Farmers around the world grow cover crops to increase crop yields. Cover crops, also known as green manures, are an excellent tool for vegetable gardeners, especially where manures and compost are unavailable. They lessen soil erosion during the … [Read more...]
How To Plant Annual Rye, The Best No-Till Fall Garden Cover Crop Of All!
When it comes to planting a fall cover crop in your garden, it’s hard to beat the incredible benefits of annual rye. Cover crops are the single best method for recharging your garden’s soil each fall. Not only do they provide valuable … [Read more...]
October is Farm to School Month
Farm to School in Virginia is purposefully diverse and locally and regionally motivated. Programming encompasses local procurement for economic viability, nutrition education, environmental stewardship, food and agricultural literacy, school gardens, … [Read more...]
Fall Pruning: Think twice
Fall has always been considered the season of harvest. Images of corn, pumpkins and the bounty of Thanksgiving all create moving symbols of autumn. Fall brings to close another growing season, as plants prepare for winter by shedding their leaves or … [Read more...]
From The Bedford Extension MG Help Desk – October 2020
QUESTION Client wants to know whether hydrangea, azalea & miscellaneous shrubs can be pruned in the late Fall. DIAGNOSIS / RECOMMENDATION According to Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) publication A Guide to Successful Pruning: Shrub … [Read more...]
Tomatoes Not Ripening?
By: Rosie Lerner If your garden tomatoes look like they’ve been placed on hold, you’re not alone! Now it may sound like an easy excuse when we horticulturists blame such things on the weather, but I really think the extreme hot weather we … [Read more...]
Fall Flowering Plants
Just because summer is ending does not mean that it has to be the end of color in your home landscape. Several herbaceous annuals and perennials come into their full glory in the fall. The old faithfuls for fall color are chrysanthemums (mums) and … [Read more...]
Floating Row Cover
An organic gardening tool that improves plant growth and excludes pests. Floating row cover (FRC) is a white, light-weight, non-woven fabric made from spun-bonded polyester or polypropylene. It has a “gauze-like” appearance and resembles interfacing … [Read more...]
Sunflowers
Sunflowers are popular. It seems one can find a sunflower on almost anything, from throw pillows to towels to floor mats and rugs. I've also noticed more and more gardeners growing sunflowers for their beauty, their tasty seeds, or for wild bird … [Read more...]
From The Bedford Extension MG Help Desk
QUESTION The client needs to seed a large lawn area (about 5 acres) and was looking for information to help do so. DIAGNOSIS / RECOMMENDATION It was recommended that the client get a soil test first to determine the appropriate … [Read more...]