The new Community Conversations program at First Presbyterian Church on Bissell Avenue in Oil City offered advice this week on gardening in small beds and containers.
Troy Hutchinson, a professional landscaper and grower and owner of Park Avenue Greenhouses, presented the gardening information for the second such program that has taken place in the church’s new community space.
Hutchinson started out the session by asking questions of the group, many of whom grow vegetables in the raised bed garden plots they lease from the church.
“With raised beds,” said Hutchinson, “the soil dries out very quickly.”
Along with mulching the beds, Hutchinson said gardeners should amend the soil in these small plots so it is dark and loamy.
“Real nice organic soil is dark,” Hutchinson said. “I would always put in peat moss and till other organic stuff into the soil. Use cow manure, fish emulsion or humus mixes. You can find them bagged. in stores.
Hutchinson said containers should be mostly filled with peat moss, with garden soil only used as a base if the container is large.
“You don’t have to buy brand new soil each year. Just clean it up a little and add some fertilizer,” he said.
The other issue that caused discussion was tomato blight. Hutchinson said that in all his landscaping work and also in his greenhouses, the tomato blight is very difficult to deal with.
“Twenty years ago, we could just put some plants in the ground and never think about it. You would get a plant full of tomatoes. Now all I hear about is the blight,” Hutchinson said.
He said “early blight is soil-born and late-blight is air born. I have not found anything to do to make sure you don’t get either of these,” he said.
Hutchinson touched on three things that can be done to fight the blight:
— Fungicides – Application means a commitment all summer because a the fungicide must be spread every 14 days. Along with slug bait and other pesticides, fungicide is a product that should be checked to make sure it is safe for pets.
— Watering – Water tomato plants early in the morning so leaves are dry by evening.
— Resistant plants – Try a plant that has been adapted to resist the blight, such as Rugged Boy.
Other suggestions Hutchinson made were:
— Tomatoes should be spaced from each other by two feet.
— Late fall crops can grow even in cold weather, if planted in late summer. These include cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, beans and beets.
— Apply granular fertilizer in raised beds on top of the soil around the plants for slow-release fertilization. You can also use organic blood and bone meal and till it in or rake in with hand. Then cover it with mulch.
— Mix the granular fertilizer in the soil for container gardens.
— Build raised beds at least 16 inches. They can be higher, depending on what will be planted in them.
— Raised beds built from the ground up do not need a layer of landscape fabric at the base of the soil. One audience member, however, recommended putting a layer of cardboard there to attract worms.
Community Conversations, which started in March, is offered one morning a month and is free.
The first program presented ways to reduce waste and was offered by Core Goods of Oil City.
The next program, scheduled May 15, will be on estate planning with attorney Gregory Merkel of Franklin presenting information.
