Late Blight: A Lesson in Buying Local?

If you have kept up with news in the Northeast, or the vegetable blogosphere, you may have noticed the term "late blight" cropping up in articles with overtones of desperation. My first exposure was an article by the New York Times entitled “Outbreak of Fungus Threatens Tomato Crop,” accompanied by a picture of some seriously sickly tomatoes (picture from NYT shown at left). Being the professed tomato enthusiast that I am, this headline immediately caught my eye as I scanned the homepage a few weeks ago. And it has only continued to infiltrate the news.

The fungus, called late blight, acts according to its name—it typically strikes tomato plants late in the season (around August or September) when conditions are cooler. The spores of this pathogen, officially titled Phytophthora infestans, are found in the soil and are incredible contagious, meaning that small outbreaks, while not uncommon, can be devastating. But this year the Northeast region, New York in particular, is experiencing a particularly wet June, which has caused a widespread outbreak that is both unprecedented and economically devastating.

In an area that typically sold locally-grown tomatoes at or below $20 a box (wholesale), consumers may soon be paying up to $40 a box. Doubling the price could be extremely harmful to area growers, and the farmers markets that display their wares. And with cases being reported as far west as Ohio, it is important that even mid-west growers are wary of this disease and its implications as the spread continues.

And beyond the statement of caution, what else can be taken from this article? Another reason to buy locally grown vegetables. Following is a quote from the original NYT article:

“Professor Fry, who is genetically tracking the blight, said the outbreak spread in part from the hundreds of thousands of tomato plants bought by home gardeners at Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, Home Depot and Kmart stores starting in April. The wholesale gardening company Bonnie Plants, based in Alabama, had supplied most of the seedlings and recalled all remaining plants starting on June 26."

Now, it is important to remember that big-box stores like those listed above, and even Bonnie Plants, are not responsible for the outbreak. This fungus has been around for years and the weather conditions have abetted its spread tremendously. But, the very nature of these larger stores makes it easier for pathogens, such as late blight, to spread more easily. Because, to echo the statements of Mr. John Mishanec (a pest management specialist at Cornell also quoted in the article) these garden centers are not required to undergo inspection by the Department of Agriculture, and their employees are not often trained to spot harmful diseases.

Having worked in my family’s greenhouses for over six years I can fully appreciate this statement. Each spring, John Day, who works for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, stops in to check out our Garden Center. Because he comes in every year he knows his way around, and usually just gives one of us the heads-up before meandering about the facilities. This visit results in a quick report and oftentimes a few updates concerning common “ailments” for the region (some years we are on the lookout for spider-mite on roses, some years its blossom end-rot, and some years it is simply aphids). His inspection, along with my Uncle Gerry’s degree in Horticulture, makes it possible for us to spot diseases/pests early on and treat them accordingly. This essential responsibility, to us, is simply another "given" when buying from local growers.

Unfortunately, this is the guarantee you won’t always get at a big-box store.

Now, I have done some checking around to see if late blight is something we ought to be worrying about in our region. After speaking with Tony Nye, OSU Extension Educator in Agriculture, and John Day, our Department of Agriculture inspector, it doesn’t look like late blight is cause for concern in our region just yet. This was reiterated by area farmer Brad Bergefurd, who reported similar symptoms in a few plants, but nothing that has been confirmed. (All three mentioned Blossom-End Rot as the larger concern for our region, for more information check out my earlier blog entry HERE).

To be safe, however, be on the lookout for symptoms of late blight, which include brown spots on leaves, fungal growth on underside of leaf (sometimes white), black spots on stem, and firm brown spots on tomato fruit.

For another grower’s perspective, and a personal account from the Northeast, check out the article Tomato Disappointment: A Farmer’s Perspective on Late Blight in the Northeast.

For a profile of the pathogen itself, check out this Science Daily article HERE.

Blossom-End Rot and Synthetic Fertilizers: Back to the Basics

I received this question via email late last week, and after doing some research, think that it will be very useful to those who have planted tomatoes and/or peppers, especially at this point in the season. Wanted to pass along what I found!

Brad Guindon writes:

Hi, I am a friend and follower of ECC and the garden blog. I started a mini patio garden this summer at my apartment west of St. Louis where I live. I have red peppers, zucchini and basil growing in one large container, and an upside-down tomato plant hanging by my front door. Everything has been growing great until recently. The pepper, which is green and about the size of a golf ball, probably a little bigger, has recently had a soft brown spot appear on a decent sized area of the pepper. I have been making sure to keep then well watered, especially recently with the high temperatures here. I have attached a blurry picture to help with your diagnosis. If you can, please help save my pepper!

Hi Brad!

Thanks for your question, and for following the blog! I did some research based on your description and ran the picture by my dad, and it looks like you are dealing with blossom-end rot. This is a calcium deficiency that causes the dry, sunken spots that you noticed. It is typically found on the first few fruits, and is evidence of fluctuations in the soil saturation and an irregular uptake of nutrients. It is likely that despite your noble efforts to keep the vegetables well-watered, that the high temperatures caused some inconsistencies.

Most of my suggestions are more preventive than anything:

• First off, next year I wouldn't put too many different vegetables in one pot. It often surprises people to learn just how much soil you need even for one plant, and with too many different varieties you will find that they compete for nutrients in the soil.
• Also, avoid using water soluble fertilizers (like Miracle Grow). These do not stay in the soil profile long and usually contain a higher concentration of synthetic nitrogen (synthetic releases too quickly to regulate the uptake of nutrients and leaches out of the soil--abetting nutrient deficiencies and thus problems like blossom-end rot). I would steer you more toward granular/organic fertilizers to help regulate the nutrient uptake. For more information on synthetic nitrogen, check out the Northeast Organic Farming Association article HERE. For general information on organic vs. inorganic check out a post from the Vegetable Gardener HERE. And if you need any help in selecting an organic fertilizer, just stop in to Swindlers and check out our selection of Espoma organic fertilizers and plant food!
• Make sure your pot has good drainage, and maintain a very consistent watering schedule.
  
• And to ward off blossom end rot in future gardens, you might try putting down some calcium nitrate about the time the plants start to blossom. The guys over at Wilmington College used calcium nitrate this year for this very purpose.

And for this year's garden there is good news. Discard the affected fruit and try out some of the above suggestions! Let me know if you are successful in saving the peppers!

Oh, and HERE is a link to an OSU extension fact sheet that I found useful (don't get too freaked though, they make it sound pretty ominous).

In fact, here is a sample picture they have included of a pepper affected by blossom-end rot:

Hope this information is useful to you as the season continues!

Local CSA

So all this talk of CSA had me asking around. Luckily, I didn’t have to go far to find out more. As I was sitting around the ECC office writing up my last post, Mark filled me in on a local CSA he and Taylor belong to: the Bergefurds family owned and operated farm. For $500 up-front they became a member for 25 weeks, receiving a bushel/basket of vegetables (or other specifically requested products) worth around $20 each week. I checked out their website (you should too) and the variety of produce available through membership is astounding! Just go to Bergefurd’s Farm Market to learn about membership, availability, and pick-up locations.

Because honestly, buying local produce is at the heart of a more sustainable economy, and besides that—it just tastes so much better.

Food for Thought

It wasn’t until a Wednesday lunch at Sugartree Ministries that I began to think more critically about sustainable food production. I met up with a good friend, Mike Snarr (professor at Wilmington College and rookie backyard gardener), to talk about his latest project. Along with his wife Melissa, Noah Campbell (pastor at the First Baptist Church) and his wife Allyson, and Don Troike and his wife Carol, Mike is experimenting with the economic benefits (and drawbacks) of small-plot gardens. By tracking the money/time spent from planting through harvest, and the relative sale cost of produce at the local Kroger, they hope to determine which plants are cost effective to grow, and which, surprisingly, may not be.

Their experiment stems from the emerging CSA practice. If you are like me when you hear an acronym you typically just nod along, hoping to eventually piece together its meaning through context. Now CSA is something that I have heard thrown around quite a bit lately, so as we sat munching on salads and watching the come-and-go of people in the kitchen, I finally admitted my own ignorance and asked what CSA meant to backyard gardeners. As it turns out it stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it’s actually not a new concept at all. Mike explained the idea behind a CSA; essentially it involves a farmer who, by selling “shares” of his crop, includes several families in his harvest.

He gave this example: Say you have ten extra acres. You pool money from a few supporters (perhaps 2-10 families). Their money early in the season contributes to your planting expenses, and in return they receive part of your harvest. You may pull a few bucks in profit, they receive fresh, locally grown produce, and together, you share the risk inherent to farming. Sounds pretty ideal, right?

Well that’s the goal for this project. Eventually. Right now the goal? Determine whether or not families benefit from growing their own vegetables. But this is where it gets tricky (and where I start to ask more questions). What does it mean for food to be “cheap?” Cheap is an artificial term really, as it does not factor in the production time, mileage, or entangled tax dollars for each vegetable. As Mike suggests, food is artificially inexpensive. There is a hidden cost to food production—oil, transportation obstacles, conflict, etc. But these costs are covered in taxes, so they are not typically associated with the food we eat. So really, it may not be at all cost-effective for you to grow your own onions. And I mean that honestly. Sometimes it is just cheaper and quicker to buy a few onions on sale at Kroger than it is to buy the sets, plant them, harvest them, prepare them, etc. But by doing so, you only continue to be a link in an unsustainable cycle of food production.

He then offered up this statistic, just think: the average bite of food has traveled 1500 miles. And do you think that when they charge you a few bucks for “fresh” tomatoes they have factored in the costs of transportation, pollution, etc. Nope.

This is where a CSA comes in. It is, once again, a way to be self-sufficient. To remove yourself from a production cycle that has lost its credibility. Now that sounds pretty cost-effective to me.

Just some food for thought.

June 19th: Food Preservation "Know-How"

If you are like me, you are getting to the point in the season where the reality of having an abundance of home-grown vegetables is starting to really kick in. Meaning: you are going to have to DO something with all of these veggies. Now cooking has never really been my forte, and after a year spent living in a university dorm my skills are limited to microwavable items and all things non-perishable. And freezing, canning, etc.? Now that is really out of my league.

I think that this mindset is true for many of us, regardless of our experience in the kitchen. My grandparents’ generation had it down—vegetable gardens supplied a family the whole year, not just for a few short summer months, and home-made goods (jams, jellies, etc.) were a staple. And in these times it is so important that we reclaim these skills, not just because it is another step in being self-sufficient, but simply because the quality of home-grown goods is unmatched. Just think back over the many tasteless tomatoes and bitter strawberries you have purchased in the off-season, picked out of a sparse selection of less-than-quality fruits available at a 24-hour grocery. There has to be a better way.

And this Friday, June 19th, you can learn the alternative. The Clinton County Extension Homemakers present: Food Preservation “Know-How.” Here they will cover the basic techniques of pressure canning, food safety, freezing techniques, and jam and jelly preparation. These demonstrations, held repeatedly throughout the day, will be supplemented by kitchen-tested recipes and confidence-building written instructions. Canner lids will be tested as well.
The event will be held in the Ohio State Extension Community Room on 111 S. Nelson Ave. in Wilmington. It is only $2.00 per person for the entire day.

And at $2.00 per person, you really can’t afford to miss out. Because to be informed and self-sufficient is priceless.

Hope to see you there!

Beets: A Versatile Vegetable

So I must admit that despite my Garden Center upbringing and vegetarian lifestyle, it wasn’t until an afternoon working the ECC booth at the Banana Split Festival that I actually tasted a beet. Random, I know. As we sat around the table Taylor began to hand off raw veggies he had recently harvested from the garden; he had a selection of turnips, beets (even beet tops), and fruit covered in a delicious basil pesto (also made fresh using herbs from the Denver Memorial Garden, recipe to follow). And it was surprisingly good!

I have to confess I was skeptical. I remember when my dad first started in on his Superfood health kick and began bringing home a random assortment of obscure foods from each grocery store excursion; the pomegranate juice, almonds, and flax seed were just a start, soon he had progressed to raw vegetables that neither my mom nor I had any clue how to cook. And this led to the raw beets. My father, at the time, knew only four recipes, and none of them included beets. So he simply ate them raw, and by this I mean he walked around holding them by the leafy tops and munching off the bulb.

My Dad, Phil Swindler, with fresh beets from our Garden

I have since learned that there is some real value to my dad’s actions, which at the time I considered absurd. Beets are in fact a “superfood,” meaning simply that they are high in fiber, antioxidants, and other “phytochemicals” (non-nutritive plant chemicals in plants that can prevent cancerous changes in cells and other forms of disease). And you can eat, literally, the whole plant. The leafy tops can be cut anytime (limit one to two snips per plant however), and chopped up for salads, sandwiches, etc. The tops are best when they are tender (which is before the root is ready to be pulled).The actual root can be pulled at about the time that it is the size of a ping-pong ball (this is about its half size, and the time when it is its most tender). If you are not sure how large it is, simply uncover the top with your finger (they grow relatively close to the surface). The roots, high in iron and B vitamins, can be baked, boiled, steamed, or eaten raw.

Leafy Beet Tops

Beets are incredibly easy to grow as well. They don’t transplant well so you will grow them from seed. Because they are a compound seed you can expect two to three shoots from each seed (meaning that you may eventually have to “thin” the plant). Simply plant the presoaked seed about ½ inch deep (your first planting can be as early as 2-4 weeks before the last spring frost). To keep up a continuous supply simply plant a new plot/square every three weeks. From seed to harvest it is about 8 weeks. They can be grown in the summer and fall as well (if possible, avoid the hottest part of summer around the middle to the end of July).

And, as promised, here is a quick and easy basil pesto recipe to start you off. Simply wash and cut up a selection of fresh beets, turnips, etc. and cover in this delicious topping (recipe taken from Simply Recipes: click HERE for full article).

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Special equipment needed: A food processor
Method
1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Makes 1 cup.

Enjoy! And of course, you can always eat them raw like Dad!

VHS Tapes: the new Scarecrow?

Another great question this week:

Dear Kelsey,

Thank you for your Garden Blog--such a great idea. I plan to check it often. My question--how do you protect corn seedlings from critters? I planted some seeds and they actually sprouted. A few days later, all the little sprouts were lying flat in the dirt and little holes had been dug exactly where the seeds were planted--I suspect squirrels. I would like to plant some more seeds, but want to protect them. Any thoughts?

Thanks again for your help,
Heather

First of all: the best advice I can give you is to plant twice as much. It may be squirrels that are digging up your seed, but it may also be birds. We have seen it many times before—birds will even dig up pepper plants just to pick at them. They don't eat the seed or the plant, they just dig it up (spiteful, I know). There aren't a lot of ways that you can protect seedlings from birds, usually we just have to replant. As my Uncle Gerry says, there is safety in numbers. Plan on having a few taken by the birds/squirrels/etc. and make sure that you will still have what you need if this is the case.

Because your corn seeds should germinate in as little as four days (meaning you will see the small seedlings you mentioned before), it will not put you behind in your gardening to replace what hasn't germinated. Even if it is 10-12 days after planting, just pop in more seeds.

But, there is another option, if you are up for it. You can protect your vegetables AND put those old VHS tapes to good use. I know that in the ECC garden we have surrounded the vegetables with video cassette tape, held up off the ground by stakes. The sound that the film makes as the wind blows is similar to that of a humming bird and can be disturbing to potential critters; also, the tape is reflective and will be startling to any incoming birds (because a bird’s brain is dominated by sensory perception even slight reflection/movement can be overwhelming). Traditionally people have used the tape from cassettes, but VHS tape—because it is thicker—is more effective.

I have also read that aluminum pie plates can be used! String them up in surrounding trees or from tall stakes; again, the movement and reflection will disturb the birds. They will, however, begin to ignore stationary objects (like scarecrows), so make sure there is sound/movement.

As always, let us know if you have any success!

Marigolds: Do they keep the critters away?

A question came to me the other day, and I wanted to share it with you all:

Hello Kelsey,

Love your blog on Energize Clinton County!!

I have a garden question - I've heard that marigolds help keep insects from vegetable garden plants. Really?

Thanks,
Kim
Sardinia, OH

Okay, so this is a really good question. Good, but tricky. Every year we have customers that come in to buy marigolds, specifically to keep insects/rabbit/deer away from their vegetable garden. They come year after year, always requesting a flat of this age-old, yet pungent, plant.

The evidence that these plants ward off insects isn’t firm, however. French marigolds (the variety commonly sold) are said to release a nematode repellent into the soil. Nematodes, worm-like creatures, destroy plant root-systems. There is research suggesting that certain species find the compound released by marigolds to be toxic. And in this respect, having marigolds can be helpful.

I also spoke with Tony Nye at the OSU Extension Office in Clinton County and was told that marigolds may be useful for keeping beetles away from bean plants. However, there is not a lot of evidence saying that marigolds are effective for other insects. Aphids, for example, are sometimes even attracted to marigolds. (Tony Nye did, however, mention another plant, Nasturtiums, that is said to deter not only beetles, but aphids and squash bugs as well.)

In regard to marigolds, I would say that their scent is a distinguishing characteristic. Many say that their odor disguises the scent of vegetables, either confusing insects or preventing them (and possibly rabbits/deer) from perusing around your garden.

Honestly though, despite conflicting evidence, marigolds are a cheap experiment. They are inexpensive (we are now selling them at Swindlers for only 49 cents apiece), hardy, and easy to find. We are trying them out in the ECC vegetable garden, and will have a better idea of their effectiveness as the season continues. My advice, try them out. No promises, but they certainly are cheap and easy. And as always, let us know if you have any success!

Some sites I found helpful while researching this question:
http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/4695/meet-the-magnificent-marigold
(Fellow blogger, appears to be a well-researched post)
http://www.aces.edu/dept/extcomm/specialty/marigolds.html
(Alabama Cooperative Extension System—article written by horticulture student and associate)

Some Insight into Buying and Planting Tomatoes

Tomatoes are by far our most popular vegetable in the Garden Center. And I certainly understand why. Tomatoes are (and you can even confirm this on my Facebook profile) one of my all-time favorite foods; I eat them like candy. Whether you are slicing them for a sandwich, using them in Spaghetti sauce, or simply eating them like you would an apple (believe me, it’s good), tomatoes are an easy source of nutrition. And considering the price of growing your own, an invaluable vegetable. At Swindlers we sell a four-pack of tomatoes for $1.79. Considering that each plant will produce (on average) about fifteen to twenty pounds of fruit throughout the summer, you will have an abundance of fresh, home-grown tomatoes for less than two dollars. Now think back to that sale at Kroger’s; $1.99 per pound (and a four pack for over two dollars) is starting to look a little pricey. And honestly, the quality (and taste) of a home-grown (and locally bought) tomato is hard to beat. It is by far a more reliable fruit.

The first thing to consider when buying a tomato plant is—which one? Usually when a customer comes into the Garden Center I ask them what they want from their tomatoes. Do you want something you can slice up for a sandwich? Or do you want an Italian-style tomato for sauces and salsa? Are you canning your harvest? When we refer a tomato we usually go by five different groups: standard, beefsteak, cherry, plum, and heirloom.

A standard tomato is your typical slicing tomato. The fruits are usually between 8 and 12 oz. (except in the case of Early Girl, in which case you should expect about a 4-6 oz. fruit) and can be red, orange, or striped (the common variety for this type is Mr. Stripey). These are our biggest sellers because they are the most common. As with all tomatoes you can get a determinate or indeterminate tomato, which, contrary to popular belief, does not indicate the height of the stem. Determinate means simply that the plant will reach maturation and the fruits will be produced at about the same time in the season (so that they can be mechanically harvested). Indeterminate will provide fruit all throughout the season. If you are looking for the height of the stem you should ask whether it has a restricted or unrestricted growth pattern. Common varieties of standard tomatoes are:

• Better Boy (indeterminate hybrid, more disease resistant than its predecessor Big Boy)
• Heartland (indeterminate, bush—restricted growth)
• Jet Star (indeterminate)
• Mr. Stripey (indeterminate)
• Early Girl (indeterminate)
• Celebrity (determinate)
• Golden Jubilee (indeterminate, orange fruit)

A beefsteak tomato can also be used for slicing, but is known for its “meaty” thick fruit. It typically has a large core and can reach 1-2 lbs. These have a great flavor, and are usually requested specifically by those who want a bigger fruit. Common varieties are:

• Beefmaster (indeterminate)
• Ponderosa Pink (indeterminate, heirloom)
• Supersteak (indeterminate)
• A cherry tomato has, as you can assume, a small fruit that is comparable in size to a large cherry. Fruits are typically only 1-2 in. in diameter. Common varieties are:
• Sun Gold (indeterminate)
• Sweet 100 (indeterminate)
• Yellow Pear (indeterminate, heirloom, yellow fruit)
• Tumbling Tom Red/Yellow (indeterminate)

A plum tomato is also known as an Italian tomato. These aren’t your typical round tomato—they are typically longer and more oval shaped. Plum tomatoes are usually used in salsa and in Italian-style sauces. Common varieties are:

• La Roma (determinate)
• Italian Gold (determinate, yellow fruit)

Heirlooms are an over-arching category. You probably noticed that some of the varieties listed above are described as being “heirloom” tomatoes. This simply means that they are older (some sources require they be in circulation over 50 years) and less disease-resistant than their hybrid counterparts. Based on this description you might wonder why we bother with them at all. The answer—they are delicious. These fruits have been around a while, just ask your grandmother, and are often requested specifically by name. Common varieties are:

• Brandywine (indeterminate)
• Yellow Pear (indeterminate)
• Ponderosa (indeterminate)
• Champion (indeterminate, often requested for canning)
• Marglobe (indeterminate)
• Mr. Stripey (indeterminate)
• Valencia (indeterminate, orange fruit)

After choosing a tomato plant the rest is pretty easy (I promise). Plan on planting your tomato so that half of the existing plant is underground (the ground level should be around the first set of true leaves). Believe it or not, tomatoes will root all along the buried stem, so this will help stabilize your plant and will give it a wider root system.

Caged and staked tomatoes in our personal garden at Swindlers

Now for stakes and cages (sounds intense, I know). It is often tricky for those new to tomato plants to tell when/if a stake or cage is necessary. You typically stake tomato plants with indeterminate growth. This helps keep them upright and gives them some more stability. Simply buy a four to six foot stake, stick it in next to the plant, and (now this is optional) tie the plant, carefully, to the stake. For cages, just simply buy a metal cage that can surround the plant (it will have long stakes at the bottom to keep it firmly in place). This keeps your tomato within the cage and controls it a bit (tomato plants can get pretty crazy).

Now, for truth about the acclaimed upside-down tomato pots. You have probably seen the commercials: brands like Topsy Turvy advertise up to 30 lbs of fruit and claim that the pots funnel water and nutrients straight to the plant because, of couse, they grow down out of the pot and not up. All the hype surrounding these cool infomercial pots inspired many avid customers to scramble into the Garden Center looking for such pots. So, of course, we tried it out. And my own personal advice—don’t do it to yourself. And I say this for several reasons. First of all, as my Uncle Gerry says, you can’t trick Mother Nature. A plant’s natural instinct is to grow toward sunlight, meaning that although the plant originally grows down out of the pot, it will vine back up toward the sun (creating a plant that is nearly impossible to move, as its weight increases exponentially throughout the season). And then, to keep up with the growth you will be watering two to three times a day. A third pointer—these pots typically do not have enough soil to support a healthy plant. And finally, the idea that hanging pots keep tomatoes away from ground insects is misleading. The insects that usually go after tomatoes, aphids for example, are airborne. Honestly, at close to fifty dollars a pot, it’s just not worth it. Porch pots are great—the ground is free—but be wary of upside-down hangers.

I hope that this quick buyers’ guide will help you not only as you select your tomatoes this year, but as you plan your garden in future years. As always, let me know if you have any further questions!

A New Voice in the ECC Garden Project

My name is Kelsey Swindler, and you will be hearing a lot from me as we continue to follow the ECC vegetable garden. I am (as many from my small town know) a lifelong resident of Wilmington. Usually when I introduce myself, the first question I get is “so which one do you belong to?”—referring, of course, to any of the (many) Swindler men and women that have lived and worked in Wilmington for generations. When I answer that I am, in fact, Phil’s daughter, I usually get a knowing nod, a couple of stories, and a question about how deep to plant a Beefsteak tomato plant.

I am the first to admit I don’t have all the answers. But, having grown up under the umbrella of the Swindler and Sons Florists and Greenhouse, I have naturally picked up some useful knowledge along the way. While still an “amateur” by family standards, many May days toiling in the greenhouses have taught me not only the basics of planting, maintaining, and harvesting vegetables, but also the many benefits that can be reaped from having a personal garden. My grandparents’ generation knew it all along—vegetable gardening is not only practical, but fulfilling. To see a plant from its seedling days to its fruition is remarkable, and guarantees the grower a vegetable that is safe, fresh, and cheap.

By continuing to follow the ECC vegetable garden, and the many others cropping up around town, I hope to learn more about the art to keeping a successful vegetable garden. And by passing along what I have learned, I hope you are inspired to try it out yourself.

As you start your own backyard garden, whether it is your first time or fiftieth, feel free to email any questions you may have to kmswindler@gmail.com. I will research your questions (running them through the Swindler family and other local resources) so that you get a knowledgeable response, and will post useful questions/answers here. And of course, let us know how your own vegetable garden is doing! This is your chance to contribute to the project—whether it is a few tricks you have learned throughout your years of gardening, or pictures of your own harvest.