Lifestyle Gardening Program 304

Brad Mills Author

01/26/2016 Added

57 Plays

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Backyard Farmer Presents: Lifestyle Gardening program 304

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[00:00:15.594](soft indie music)
[00:00:42.355]Good morning and thank you so much for joining us
[00:00:44.642]again for Lifestyle Gardening.
[00:00:46.755]I'm Kid Todd and for today's program
[00:00:48.718]we'll be featuring peppers, dry edible beans,
[00:00:51.481]and protecting your trees in the winter.
[00:00:54.116]Also today we'll be focusing on raised beds
[00:00:56.659]by showing you a simple construction plan
[00:00:58.714]as well as how to install them properly.
[00:01:01.256]Our grad student Josh Resnicheck built
[00:01:03.218]a number of raised beds this fall
[00:01:05.517]and he's here to tell us how it's done.
[00:01:07.816](indie music)
[00:01:24.116]Alright so today we're gonna talk about
[00:01:25.660]the construction process of building
[00:01:27.123]and the purpose of raised beds.
[00:01:28.726]To start off with, raised beds are a great way
[00:01:31.222]to make gardening a little bit easier;
[00:01:33.091]a lot easier on the back;
[00:01:34.693]as well as get away from some of those pest problems:
[00:01:37.317]rabbits, voles, and array of different other things;
[00:01:40.556]and making soil amendments a lot easier and simpler as well.
[00:01:44.377]With the process of starting and constructing
[00:01:47.092]the raised beds, we're gonna start with acquiring materials
[00:01:49.719]and the right materials.
[00:01:50.857]There are right materials and there are wrong materials
[00:01:53.051]to be used in the process of construction
[00:01:55.652]of the raised beds.
[00:01:57.219]Since these are gonna be in contact with the ground
[00:01:59.251]and soil, moisture, and environment 24/7,
[00:02:04.220]they have to be able to last through that process.
[00:02:07.726]So we're gonna be acquiring treated material,
[00:02:10.826]treated lumber, specifically an AC2 treatment
[00:02:15.888]or a green-treated lumber
[00:02:17.792]for what's gonna be posted into the ground
[00:02:19.626]and that's what's gonna hold our base stable.
[00:02:22.691]You can use cedar products as well,
[00:02:24.758]four by four, six by six posts;
[00:02:27.684]there just comes in the question of price.
[00:02:30.122]Along with the four by four posts and the AC2 treatment,
[00:02:34.290]we're gonna get our runner boards,
[00:02:35.822]or our long boards that raise the bed up off the ground.
[00:02:38.915]For that, today we'll just be using a Douglas Fir product
[00:02:42.486]with a treatment of a clear varnish for water protection.
[00:02:46.817]You can use cedar boards along with maybe a composite
[00:02:50.288]or a synthetic material as well; but like I said,
[00:02:55.060]today we're gonna be using a Douglas Fir product
[00:02:57.359]with a treatment on it to protect it from water;
[00:02:59.855]the same kind of treatment you'd use say on
[00:03:01.422]your back deck or your front porch if you're using lumber.
[00:03:06.319]Along with that, we're gonna have a couple different types
[00:03:08.690]of raised beds we're gonna be doing today;
[00:03:10.815]one of 'em's gonna have a vertical vining structure
[00:03:14.054]along with it so it can adapt to a different
[00:03:17.503]plant material base;
[00:03:19.859]we'll have one that has a hoop structure so we
[00:03:21.984]can actually put some polyurethane plastic
[00:03:24.782]over the top of it and get those plants started
[00:03:27.324]a little bit earlier in the season and then possibly
[00:03:29.251]even stay a little bit later in the growing season as well.
[00:03:32.955]And then we're just gonna have your classic
[00:03:34.546]raised bed along with that.
[00:03:37.518]For construction of these, just your common saws,
[00:03:40.351]screwdriver, and then the screws that we'll be using today
[00:03:44.240]are galvanized screws; that's just gonna deter
[00:03:46.156]from deterioration throughout the elements
[00:03:49.541]and prolong the life of these beds.
[00:03:51.984]So for the construction on these beds today,
[00:03:53.853]we're gonna be getting a four foot by eight foot bed
[00:03:57.127]that's gonna sit about 20 inches off the ground.
[00:04:00.053]To use those, we're gonna be using, like I said,
[00:04:02.084]the four by four treated lumber as well as
[00:04:05.219]a two by 10 construction lumber for their side walls.
[00:04:10.327]With those, I got eight-foot sections of the sidewall beds,
[00:04:15.552]so that way we can just cut those in half
[00:04:17.688]and use those as our end walls, get those up off the ground.
[00:04:21.554]We'll just be screwing those into the four by four posts
[00:04:24.619]on the end square and level
[00:04:27.023]and then putting two layers of those sideboards on
[00:04:30.192]and raising that up, having a little bit of the four by four
[00:04:33.257]stick out from the bottom, like I said,
[00:04:35.254]to go into the hole for support
[00:04:37.147]so that way the bed doesn't shift over time.
[00:04:39.422](indie music)
[00:04:41.918]Like Josh said, raised beds have many benefits:
[00:04:45.157]making soil amendments can be easier,
[00:04:47.317]working in the garden can be a little less stressful
[00:04:49.825]on the knees, not to mention not quite as many problems
[00:04:53.017]with those darn critters.
[00:04:55.084]Later on in the program we'll be hearing from Josh again
[00:04:57.418]about installing the beds he constructed.
[00:05:00.494]Almost as popular in the home vegetable garden as tomatoes
[00:05:03.861]are those peppers.
[00:05:05.626]From the mild taste of an ordinary green bell pepper
[00:05:08.389]to the fiery-hot habaneros,
[00:05:10.525]we love fresh peppers from the garden.
[00:05:13.091]What you might not know is peppers have taken on
[00:05:15.227]a whole 'nother role in the garden.
[00:05:17.387]What used to be strictly for food can now
[00:05:19.523]be enjoyed as ornamentals.
[00:05:21.520]Let's take a few minutes to show you
[00:05:23.192]what's possible with peppers.
[00:05:25.340](indie music)
[00:05:42.487]Peppers are one of those vegetables that has actually
[00:05:44.786]morphed into something entirely more interesting
[00:05:47.375]than it used to be.
[00:05:48.722]We used to actually just eat the big green bell peppers;
[00:05:52.054]people love them or people hate them;
[00:05:54.318]and then from the bells came the orange ones
[00:05:56.489]and the chocolate ones and the lilac and the red.
[00:05:59.519]Now we have this whole bunch of peppers
[00:06:01.946]that are actually ornamental;
[00:06:03.792]and they are very beautiful in the landscape
[00:06:06.288]or in containers because the peppers themselves
[00:06:09.179]are shiny, small, red, round, pointed, dark.
[00:06:13.927]This one is actually one that is called Black Olive;
[00:06:17.120]and one of its parents was Black Pearl,
[00:06:19.651]which looked exactly like it sounds,
[00:06:21.787]like a little black pearl.
[00:06:23.691]These are not, however, peppers that you're going
[00:06:26.652]to just pop into your mouth and chomp on
[00:06:29.055]because they're sweet; they're not sweet;
[00:06:31.424]they can be very hot.
[00:06:32.991]You also see how prolific they are in producing
[00:06:35.487]their fruit as the season progresses.
[00:06:37.821]And the fruit on this particular one goes from
[00:06:40.317]a deep dark red to this beautiful brilliant black.
[00:06:44.775]You can pick these and eat these;
[00:06:46.517]but most people don't do that.
[00:06:48.722]A large bushy sort of a plant,
[00:06:50.824]this is one that is going to take a bit of space;
[00:06:53.691]and just like all the other peppers that we grow,
[00:06:56.722]it's one that you're going to want to start
[00:06:58.684]in the greenhouse or in a cold frame early in the season.
[00:07:02.260]These are most definitely warm-season plants
[00:07:04.791]just like tomatoes; you wanna make sure that you get
[00:07:07.252]a good sturdy seedling, get it in the ground;
[00:07:10.886]you may have to support it and that is particularly true
[00:07:13.324]of the larger bell types or the ones that carry
[00:07:15.391]big heavy fruit; but you wanna give it full sun;
[00:07:19.059]and like tomatoes, you also don't want to be
[00:07:22.322]sort of hit and miss on your watering;
[00:07:24.249]you wanna make sure you give peppers enough water
[00:07:26.884]to be able to keep them hale and hardy
[00:07:29.392]and stop that wilting.
[00:07:32.323]The difference in the aesthetics of the plants
[00:07:34.227]is pretty obvious between that Black Olive
[00:07:36.561]and some of these ones that are actually eating peppers.
[00:07:39.417]The jalapenos, the Anaheims,
[00:07:41.486]those little peppers that are Thai peppers
[00:07:44.093]that are just bite-your-tongue-off hot,
[00:07:46.856]the plants aren't necessarily quite as ornamental.
[00:07:49.584]You also might be noticing that this time of year
[00:07:52.057]as we go almost into first frost,
[00:07:55.459]the peppers are beginning to show a bit
[00:07:57.084]of a nutritional deficiency, a little bit of leaf rolling;
[00:08:01.020]and whether that is in fact because the plants
[00:08:03.191]are on their way out or because of high temperatures
[00:08:06.547]then dropping to low, because of skipping watering
[00:08:09.786]a little bit when the temperatures got hot,
[00:08:12.421]those are all conditions you'll see in pepper plants.
[00:08:15.242]They also can be a plant that is susceptible
[00:08:17.913]to blossom end rot; we see it mostly on tomatoes;
[00:08:21.651]but again, the same issues can occur in peppers,
[00:08:24.287]which are related.
[00:08:25.691]We also don't want to put peppers and tomatoes
[00:08:28.327]in the same vicinity year after year after year;
[00:08:31.821]so you wanna alternate but you don't wanna put
[00:08:33.853]peppers where tomatoes grew and vice versa.
[00:08:36.686]One thing we also will see on peppers is sunburn,
[00:08:39.786]or sun scald; and typically that shows up
[00:08:42.688]when we have gone from maybe cloudy period
[00:08:45.702]in the summer to blazing hot sun;
[00:08:49.085]it usually shows up more on the sun-facing,
[00:08:51.791]the south or the southwest side or the blossom side;
[00:08:55.285]so you'll see kind of this mushy or whitish spot
[00:08:58.095]on the pepper.
[00:08:59.256]You can actually trim that out and eat it if you choose to.
[00:09:02.658]Make sure you get that before it goes into
[00:09:05.084]kind of a moldy condition.
[00:09:07.058]Again, the peppers like it hot;
[00:09:08.950]they like consistent moisture.
[00:09:11.760]You are going to need to fertilize or consider fertilizing.
[00:09:15.127]And understand that once that season starts to wane
[00:09:18.586]and the temperatures get cool,
[00:09:20.386]pepper production is going to stop.
[00:09:24.589]Just as there are a wide variety of peppers
[00:09:26.725]to choose from to eat, there are plenty of great options,
[00:09:29.755]whether it be color, texture, or size,
[00:09:31.961]when it comes to the ornamental peppers.
[00:09:34.225]Keep that in mind for the upcoming growing season
[00:09:36.617]and try a few of those cool ones out.
[00:09:40.018]Another popular garden vegetable is beans.
[00:09:42.584]We love those wax beans straight from the vine
[00:09:45.115]because sometimes it's difficult to get that freshness
[00:09:47.727]from a grocery store.
[00:09:49.457]But we're going to take a slight detour from fresh beans
[00:09:52.360]and talk about dry edible beans.
[00:09:55.053]Did you know that Nebraska is one of the nation's
[00:09:57.422]leading producers of dry edible beans?
[00:10:00.185]It's very true and here to tell us more
[00:10:02.461]is extension educator Jim Schild.
[00:10:05.093](indie music)
[00:10:13.487]It's my pleasure to be talking to Jim Schild today
[00:10:15.623]about something called The International Year of the Pulse.
[00:10:19.292]Jim, I assume we're not talking about a heartbeat
[00:10:22.322]because I don't see any beef hearts sitting on the table;
[00:10:25.051]I see cans and I see packages and I see
[00:10:27.884]little Petri dishes full of beans.
[00:10:30.426]Jim, tell me what the significance is
[00:10:32.586]of International Year of the Pulse
[00:10:34.490]and what exactly is a pulse?
[00:10:37.218]Pulses are any legumes that are edible
[00:10:41.107]that the seed is edible.
[00:10:42.884]So when we usually think of pulses,
[00:10:45.261]we think of dry beans, peas, and lentils;
[00:10:50.218]those are usually the ones that get classed as pulses.
[00:10:53.527]And within Nebraska, we actually have
[00:10:56.453]a fairly big industry in the western part of the state
[00:10:59.855]where we produce dry edible beans;
[00:11:03.430]so we're really looking forward to
[00:11:05.645]The International Year of the Pulse
[00:11:07.793]and trying to promote dry bean use.
[00:11:11.055]Dry beans are a very healthy food;
[00:11:14.155]they're high in fiber; they're high in a lot of vitamins;
[00:11:19.484]and they're a fairly complete protein source.
[00:11:23.292]Why are dry edible beans important in Nebraska
[00:11:25.951]and particularly in western Nebraska, Jim?
[00:11:28.936]In the western part of the state around Scottsbluff,
[00:11:32.322]probably within 30 miles of Scottsbluff,
[00:11:35.514]one of the market classes that we grow
[00:11:37.453]is the Great Northern Bean; and over 80%
[00:11:40.716]of the nation's supply of Great Northerns
[00:11:43.850]are grown within 30 miles of Scottsbluff;
[00:11:47.322]which makes Nebraska the number one producers
[00:11:49.760]of Great Northerns.
[00:11:51.095]If you look at all different market classes
[00:11:53.057]of dry beans in the state, Nebraska ranks number three,
[00:11:56.552]North Dakota's number one, and we come in at number three.
[00:12:00.592]What are market classes, and are these beans used
[00:12:03.750]differently, and actually how does a home gardener
[00:12:06.490]differentiate between dry beans and the ones
[00:12:09.160]that you buy in a packet and stuff into the garden?
[00:12:13.030]Really what makes a market class is kinda the size,
[00:12:17.087]the shape, and the color of the seed coat
[00:12:20.454]determines the market classes.
[00:12:22.625]So like I said, we have Great Northerns
[00:12:24.622]which is a large-seeded, it's kind of a boxy-shape bean.
[00:12:30.620]And the one thing that makes Nebraska so unique
[00:12:33.477]is with our dry falls in the western part of the state,
[00:12:37.180]we can produce a very shiny-coat dry edible bean;
[00:12:41.093]whereas if you take a look at the navy beans,
[00:12:44.680]which are grown up primarily in Michigan,
[00:12:49.490]the color and the shininess of the navy is not quite there;
[00:12:54.127]and the reason for that is these go into the pork and beans
[00:12:59.851]when you buy a can of pork and beans in a tomato sauce,
[00:13:03.195]so when they're covered in the tomato sauce,
[00:13:04.785]you don't need to see 'em nice bright and shiny.
[00:13:08.098]So that's why they're predominantly grown there
[00:13:10.381]and not in Nebraska.
[00:13:11.879]The other bean that we grow quite a bit in Nebraska
[00:13:14.828]is the pinto beans.
[00:13:16.256]And the pinto bean goes into the re-fried beans
[00:13:19.756]that are so popular in the Mexican dishes.
[00:13:22.894]But a little-known fact is there is a yellow bean
[00:13:27.886]that is also used for that; and in Mexico
[00:13:33.552]this is kinda the preferred bean to use
[00:13:37.322]rather than the pinto bean.
[00:13:39.831]The wealthy people in Mexico cook with yellow beans.
[00:13:44.520]Then we get into some of the beans that go into chiles
[00:13:47.782]and things like that.
[00:13:49.443]We have both dark-red kidneys and light-red kidneys.
[00:13:54.191]And again, we grow both of these here in the state.
[00:13:57.384]We probably grow more light-red kidneys;
[00:13:59.984]and they're grown down around Imperial;
[00:14:02.655]that's the area that they're usually grown.
[00:14:05.557]One of the problems with the dark-red kidneys
[00:14:07.751]is if we have a freeze, we don't get the nice dark color.
[00:14:12.117]They're a little longer maturing
[00:14:13.661]than the other market classes.
[00:14:16.180]Then we get into some of the other ones that go into
[00:14:20.058]the red beans, the red beans and rice;
[00:14:23.568]and then the black beans for the Cajun dishes;
[00:14:27.752]and then the last one that we can grow in the state
[00:14:31.792]is a cranberry bean which looks a lot like a pinto bean;
[00:14:34.927]and these are kinda used in some French dishes;
[00:14:38.921]and they have a real sweet flavor to 'em.
[00:14:42.276]So not only do they have different sizes, shapes, colors,
[00:14:47.884]but they also have some different unique flavors
[00:14:50.717]that each of the different market classes have.
[00:14:53.828]And when we go to the seed catalogs or the nurseries
[00:14:57.590]and get the seed packs,
[00:15:00.527]usually what you're getting is wax beans
[00:15:02.524]and wax beans are a little bit different;
[00:15:04.149]they're for the fresh market; they're for the pods.
[00:15:08.457]These certainly have the pods;
[00:15:10.988]but if you would try to save the seed from these
[00:15:13.379]and cook 'em like you would a dry bean,
[00:15:16.681]you're not gonna get the same characteristics
[00:15:19.588]as the dry beans; but that's not to say
[00:15:22.109]a grower cannot get Great Northern Beans
[00:15:24.252]and plant 'em in their garden
[00:15:25.924]and then save 'em for dry use.
[00:15:27.875]And even you can use them for green beans
[00:15:31.950]when they're in that green-bean stage.
[00:15:34.225]So you can use the dry beans for home canned beans
[00:15:39.752]or home garden beans;
[00:15:41.992]but you really can't use these for dry beans.
[00:15:44.953]Jim, I wanna thank you a lot for making
[00:15:46.590]that long drive across the state of Nebraska again
[00:15:49.481]and for being involved in what is really
[00:15:51.652]a cool product for the state of Nebraska.
[00:15:54.392]Well, thanks, Kim.
[00:15:55.274]I'm glad that you're promoting a western-Nebraska product
[00:15:58.954]and it's been my pleasure to do this today.
[00:16:04.860]With Nebraska being known around the globe
[00:16:06.892]for its corn and beef production,
[00:16:08.727]you might be surprised to hear that dry edible beans
[00:16:11.025]are fast becoming one of our most valuable crops.
[00:16:14.392]And yes, you can grow some of these bean varieities
[00:16:16.993]in your home garden and eat them like you would green beans.
[00:16:20.627]Drying them is best left to the professionals.
[00:16:24.017]One of the most valuable assets in any home landscape
[00:16:27.326]are our trees.
[00:16:28.823]Properly cared for, they can add years of beauty
[00:16:31.154]and satisfaction as well as shade.
[00:16:33.894]During the harsh winter months in Nebraska
[00:16:35.891]they can suffer quite a bit
[00:16:37.458]and come out of the cold season weakened.
[00:16:40.279]For this week's Landscape Lesson we'll be turning
[00:16:42.288]your attention to helping your trees
[00:16:44.354]make it out of the winter in a healthy condition.
[00:16:47.222](indie music)
[00:16:56.684]We get a lot of questions about whether tree trunks
[00:16:58.890]should be protected from damage
[00:17:00.608]or any sort of interesting situations
[00:17:03.395]during the winter months in the Plain States;
[00:17:06.019]and the answer to that is both yes and no.
[00:17:08.886]First off, if you are transporting a tree
[00:17:11.452]or if one has been transported,
[00:17:13.983]it's really essential to make sure that there
[00:17:15.817]is some sort of covering protecting that trunk,
[00:17:18.615]not from the sun, not from the frost or freeze damage,
[00:17:21.785]but from bumping up against the back of a tailgate,
[00:17:25.175]bumping up even against a container
[00:17:27.892]of another tree in the same shipment.
[00:17:29.886]And oftentimes at the garden centers or the box stores
[00:17:32.394]you'll see those protectors already in place.
[00:17:35.226]We do recommend protecting the trunks of trees
[00:17:37.781]that are thin-barked; at least during the first couple
[00:17:40.927]of growing seasons or until they begin
[00:17:42.889]to develop their permanent bark.
[00:17:45.095]Maples fall into that category.
[00:17:47.162]We also suggest protecting the trunks
[00:17:49.948]of apples, pear trees, most of the fruit trees
[00:17:55.161]really for the same reason initially
[00:17:56.856]because they have pretty thin bark when they're young.
[00:17:59.422]Here's the deal on protecting the trunk of a tree, however;
[00:18:02.254]there are lots of different ways to do it;
[00:18:04.391]and some of them work better than others.
[00:18:06.957]What we're after is not only protecting from
[00:18:09.755]the damage from sun scald or frost cracking;
[00:18:13.087]we're also talking about protecting from rodents,
[00:18:15.722]rabbits, the decks of mowers.
[00:18:18.555]What you're after is something that is actually breathable
[00:18:21.922]and preferably white.
[00:18:23.942]And one of the really really good ones is a spiral tube
[00:18:26.647]like this that has holes punched in it
[00:18:29.120]that you can unwind and rewind as the trunk expands.
[00:18:33.659]That should go on the tree when it's young immediately.
[00:18:36.086]Go as close to the ground as you can.
[00:18:38.652]Pay attention to the fact that as the tree expands
[00:18:41.427]in caliper, this is going to get tighter
[00:18:43.551]and you want to unwrap it or unroll it.
[00:18:45.827]Craft paper is still available;
[00:18:47.951]it is an expandable material kind of like an ACE bandage;
[00:18:51.086]and you basically wrap it around the trunk
[00:18:52.851]and secure it at the top and at the bottom.
[00:18:55.254]And again, you wanna make sure that this is something
[00:18:57.460]that you take off after a season or two
[00:19:00.061]or even what we recommend is
[00:19:02.198]leave it on during the winter months,
[00:19:04.020]leave it on during the months when you are expecting
[00:19:05.993]the most damage to that trunk,
[00:19:07.886]take it off and put it back on again.
[00:19:10.184]Of course things like chicken wire and hardware cloth
[00:19:12.855]don't do anything to keep a trunk from freezing,
[00:19:15.850]sun scald, frost cracking,
[00:19:17.952]but can certainly keep marauding critters away.
[00:19:21.191]Chicken wire is not nearly as good as very small
[00:19:24.186]hardware cloth.
[00:19:25.788]And what you wanna be aware of is it has to be
[00:19:27.855]high enough on the trunk of the tree
[00:19:30.061]so that if we get a snow pile,
[00:19:32.092]those rabbits can't get over the top.
[00:19:34.252]It has to be fine enough and deep enough down so that
[00:19:37.340]voles and other critters can't get in from underneath.
[00:19:42.925]This is an example of one of the tree guards
[00:19:44.922]that I really like.
[00:19:46.152]It's got perforated holes in it
[00:19:47.754]and it's a spiral so you can unwind it pretty easily,
[00:19:50.854]put it on, take it off,
[00:19:52.317]and really protect those tree trunks.
[00:19:55.359]Let's take a few minutes now to answer
[00:19:57.158]our viewer emails.
[00:19:58.656]We'd love to hear from you.
[00:19:59.922]Perhaps you could share a picture or two with us.
[00:20:02.255]Just send those to email at byf@unl.edu
[00:20:07.422]and attach the picture as a JPEG file.
[00:20:10.185]Our first question actually comes from
[00:20:11.926]an Omaha viewer.
[00:20:13.552]They have a newly-planted Arctic Fire Dogwood,
[00:20:17.128]which is one of the new Redtwig dogwood selections;
[00:20:19.554]they're new to this area.
[00:20:21.319]They're about two years old;
[00:20:22.892]they have done absolutely beautifully;
[00:20:25.226]they have performed the way they should;
[00:20:27.490]which means that those extremely red,
[00:20:30.392]like go-big red stems, are shining in the winter months.
[00:20:34.885]And their question is whether they need to start
[00:20:37.126]caning them out, taking a third of the older canes
[00:20:40.690]already to keep that red color.
[00:20:43.256]I guess what I would suggest on this one
[00:20:45.195]would be let's wait a couple of years to do that,
[00:20:48.051]let them establish themselves really fully.
[00:20:50.454]We had a great growing season last year;
[00:20:53.287]hopefully we'll have the same sort of thing this year;
[00:20:55.226]but just in case it's droughty,
[00:20:57.687]it looks like the structure of these particular
[00:20:59.661]Arctic Fire Dogwoods is pretty good already.
[00:21:02.424]I'm not seeing a lot of development of the older
[00:21:04.859]darker-colored wood and I'm not seeing
[00:21:08.028]any cankers developing on the stems
[00:21:10.176]or even boreholes in this instance;
[00:21:13.148]so I'd say let's wait at least a year, maybe two,
[00:21:16.225]before you start trying to do the pruning
[00:21:18.280]that it takes to keep that good red color coming back.
[00:21:21.949]And enjoy them of course in the winter months.
[00:21:25.893]We have a question from the Imperial area,
[00:21:29.388]so we're way out west, about using cedars
[00:21:33.428]as replacements for pines in our windbreaks.
[00:21:36.528]And the question is a good one; it is:
[00:21:38.328]"Why should we or why should we not use
[00:21:40.751]"Eastern Red Cedar or Red Cedar as a windbreak tree?"
[00:21:45.325]First off, of course they're very popular;
[00:21:47.891]they're widely available as seedlings;
[00:21:50.991]I know sold through a number of outlets in transplant form
[00:21:55.147]so small windbreak size.
[00:21:57.295]A real concern with cedar is how rapidly it spreads
[00:22:01.985]and how difficult it is to manage.
[00:22:04.760]And one of our good scientists in our department,
[00:22:07.593]in agronomy and horticulture, Dirac Twidwell,
[00:22:10.553]has done a lot of research and is continuing to work
[00:22:13.293]with ranchers and farmers and people that are wanting
[00:22:16.393]to control the spread of cedars in the pasture.
[00:22:19.261]So I know it's really hard right now to come up
[00:22:22.523]with good evergreens as a replacement
[00:22:25.089]for Scotch Pines that we've lost,
[00:22:28.015]Austrian Pines that we may be losing as well,
[00:22:30.917]in a windbreak situation, but it's hard for us to recommend
[00:22:35.457]coming back in with a replacement
[00:22:37.791]that has the potential to become even more
[00:22:39.985]of a problem than some of the pines have
[00:22:42.191]with the loss of pines to pine will.
[00:22:44.115]So I would say no if you can possibly avoid it;
[00:22:47.923]let's not use Red Cedar as a replacement for windbreaks.
[00:22:53.890]This is a fun question.
[00:22:55.086]This is actually a viewer up in the South Sioux City area.
[00:22:58.592]They wanna know how to start micro-greens
[00:23:02.250]for the winter for their salads obviously
[00:23:05.524]or for consumption of something green and growing
[00:23:08.356]and good for you that is not having to come out
[00:23:10.911]of a high tunnel or out of a greenhouse
[00:23:13.488]or out of a bag in the grocery store.
[00:23:15.827]And the question is: "How do you actually do that?"
[00:23:19.124]It's pretty simple; it doesn't take very long.
[00:23:21.888]You need only about an inch or two of growing medium;
[00:23:24.860]so this would be a seed-starting mix.
[00:23:27.484]Ideally you use flats or at least a container
[00:23:30.491]that has been washed and sterilized
[00:23:32.290]so you're not bringing in all sorts of other
[00:23:34.090]odd kinds of growies that you don't want.
[00:23:38.780]And then you can actually buy the seed
[00:23:41.822]that is already mixed for micro-greens.
[00:23:44.155]So you seed it very very thickly;
[00:23:47.290]you wait until that germinates;
[00:23:49.647]give it a little bit of light;
[00:23:51.284]keep it moist but not too wet
[00:23:52.851]so you don't get damping off.
[00:23:54.674]And then what you should have,
[00:23:55.890]especially if you've either mixed your own
[00:23:58.154]micro-green kind of combination or you've bought one
[00:24:01.753]that is already premixed, you'll see this nice little
[00:24:04.527]carpet of seedlings emerge.
[00:24:07.593]You wanna wait until you have two true leaves,
[00:24:10.925]maybe four, then take a pair of scissors,
[00:24:13.920]chop chop chop, put those on your salad,
[00:24:16.323]eat them as fresh as you possibly can,
[00:24:19.156]and then they're going to regenerate another crop of leaves
[00:24:22.651]or you're gonna reseed and start all over again.
[00:24:25.193]So two to three weeks start to finish
[00:24:27.887]and you have your own little piece of micro-green salad.
[00:24:32.055]As we end our show today,
[00:24:33.390]we return to the topic of raised beds.
[00:24:36.153]Earlier today, Josh showed you a few useful tips
[00:24:38.719]on building your own raised bed.
[00:24:40.785]For our last feature, Josh returns to show us
[00:24:43.491]how to properly install those beds.
[00:24:46.242](bright lively indie music)
[00:25:02.949]After the design and construction of the raised beds
[00:25:05.584]comes the setting of them in the landscape.
[00:25:08.057]By measuring out the distance between your four feet
[00:25:11.053]into the landscape and digging those holes
[00:25:12.887]to appropriate depth either using a tape measure
[00:25:15.453]or the end of your shovel to guide you for the depth,
[00:25:18.495]you can then set those into the ground.
[00:25:20.352]As always, it's suggested for calling 811
[00:25:23.185]to mark any waterlines, power, or communication lines.
[00:25:28.259]But once you have those holes dug to depth,
[00:25:30.430]you're gonna wanna set your raised bed in there.
[00:25:33.213]And this is where it kinda comes tedious
[00:25:35.350]that you wanna get those raised beds level
[00:25:37.985]so it's gonna be putting the raised beds
[00:25:40.017]down into the ground and then removing them
[00:25:42.559]if it's not level by scraping out where the raised beds
[00:25:46.089]touch the ground on the sidewalls and the end walls.
[00:25:49.688]You can then level it and have a level surface
[00:25:52.695]on all four edges.
[00:25:54.587]The purpose of leveling the raised beds
[00:25:56.526]is that way you don't get any soil erosion
[00:25:58.593]through either regular watering or rain events.
[00:26:01.820]When your raised beds are unlevel,
[00:26:04.351]any time you water or you have a rain event,
[00:26:06.557]that water is gonna push all the soil
[00:26:08.281]on the surface to one way or the other,
[00:26:10.092]whichever way is the lower end of that raised bed.
[00:26:13.550]By making sure that those are level,
[00:26:15.751]you can then ensure that majority of your soil
[00:26:18.119]stays into those raised beds.
[00:26:20.523]Once those level surfaces have been acquired,
[00:26:23.657]you can then fill the bed.
[00:26:26.258]We'll be using a 50/50 mix between soil and compost
[00:26:29.695]for our raised beds.
[00:26:31.552]Any addition to that, potting mix possibly,
[00:26:34.884]of any sort as well as any soil amendments
[00:26:37.195]can be used, but we're just gonna go with
[00:26:38.924]a 50/50 mix of soil and compost.
[00:26:42.521]The variety of crops that can be grown
[00:26:44.518]are essentially endless, by either ornamental crops,
[00:26:47.618]vegetable crops, cut flowers;
[00:26:49.951]anything can be grown in those
[00:26:52.290]with the use of either a vining structure
[00:26:54.827]or even early or late-season vegetable crops
[00:26:57.419]through the design and construction of a hoop structure
[00:27:00.658]with poly covering over the top.
[00:27:03.886]So remember, the three key principles with raised beds
[00:27:07.787]are the design, the construction, and the installation.
[00:27:11.525]With the design, making sure it's an accessible
[00:27:14.416]as well as easily attainable and reachable area,
[00:27:18.294]not making your raised beds too wide
[00:27:20.418]that you can't reach the center
[00:27:22.218]or you can't reach some of the interior areas.
[00:27:25.550]The construction, using regular-grade lumber
[00:27:28.917]as well as treated lumber in areas that are necessary
[00:27:31.622]as well as using a water protectant
[00:27:33.387]so that way you get away from any potential rots
[00:27:37.485]or decomposition of the wood material.
[00:27:40.376]And then with the installation,
[00:27:41.792]ensuring you have a level surface
[00:27:43.394]as well as your raised beds are level
[00:27:44.950]so that way you don't have any soil erosion.
[00:27:47.458]And then it all becomes the fun of picking what plants
[00:27:50.151]go into that raised bed.
[00:27:55.024]I'm going to keep those tips in mind
[00:27:57.161]because I got a raised bed for Christmas
[00:27:59.390]and it's sitting waiting to be installed;
[00:28:02.095]so it's already built; I know the benefits;
[00:28:04.556]I'm going to install it properly.
[00:28:06.658]Of course there are kits you can buy
[00:28:08.155]and put together yourself.
[00:28:09.653]We think you'll get a lot more satisfaction
[00:28:11.987]of building your own.
[00:28:14.494]Thank you so much for joining us again
[00:28:16.584]for Lifestyle Gardening.
[00:28:18.221]We've got another great show for you next time
[00:28:20.590]as we'll be looking at the garden as art
[00:28:22.784]with the tour of a wonderful landscape here in Lincoln;
[00:28:25.756]and we'll focus on using boulders effectively
[00:28:28.090]around your home.
[00:28:29.518]So good morning good gardening.
[00:28:31.793]Thanks for watching.
[00:28:32.861]We'll see you all next time on Lifestyle Gardening.
[00:28:35.989](bright lively indie music)

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Lifestyle Gardening Program 304

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