Sep 1978 - On-Line Newspaper Archives of Ocean City

PAGE 8 — SECTION TWO OCEAN CITY (N.J.) SENTINEL-LEDGER
Agricultural agent report
Some seeds may be saved for planting next year's garden crop
By LARRY E. NEWBOLD
County Agricultural Agent
No matter how carefully you
select limited quantities of
vegetable seeds for the coming
growing season, there are
always some leftovers.
Although the cost of seed is
minimal, one is usually hesitant
about throwing out what's left
at the end of the gardening
year.
For best results, fresh seeds
should be purchased every
year. However, most seeds, if
fresh this spring and stored
porperly, can be reused next
year. Seed viability cnn also
depend upon the particular
season under which it was
grown. Some, however, do have
a fairly short storage life, even
when kept under ideal conditions.
Those seeds with a
rather short storage life include
sweet corn, onions, parsnip and
hybrid tomatoes. Beans,
carrots, celery, Swiss chard,
beets, peppers, tomatoes, peas,
and pumpkins will germinate 3
to 4 years after purchase, if
stored properly.
The seed of other crops such
as squash, cucumbers, turnips,
radish, lettuce, melons,
cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli,
and Brussels sprouts will
remain viable for nearly five
years. Any leftover seed that
has been stored should always
be tested for viability just prior
to planting next spring, and
planted (if sufficient germination
percentage exists) as
soon as possible after removal
from the storage container.
Even if the storage conditions
are optimum, always consider
this seed as a supplement and
not the complete supply for
next year's planned garden.
Although the subject is
similar, this message about
saving seeds deals with the
drying and preserving of seeds
from the ripened vegetables of
your garden. The results of this
effort during the next growing
season are usually very
disappointing. Most vegetable
AT ABOUT 15< A MILE
IS THIS TRIP
NECESSARY?
Phone ahead and save.
I New Jersey Bel
varieties are hybrids that have
been developed by. crosspollinating
under very complicated
processes that cannot
be duplicated by an Individual
pollinating vegetables in the
backyard garden. Important
qualities such as diseaseresistance,
flavor, and-or yield
are bred into hybrids. The seed
of the second generation (the
saved seed that is planted next
year) will not possess> these
essential qualities. The
desirable characteristics in
each hybrid variety last for
only one generation. If they are
important to you, you must buy
and plant new seed each year.
With certain types of
vegetables, sich as wiltresistance
of tomatoes and
virus-free peppers and melons,
it is imperative that the home
gardener select these hybrid
varieties.
If you have a pine, cherry,
apple, or some other kind of
ornamental or fruit tree
growing in your yard and find
neat rows of holes (about onequarter
inch in diameter) on
the trunk or main branches,
don't jump to conclusions that
they're caused by borers or
some other type of insect. Holes
of this sort in straight rows are
usually caused by a woodpecker-like
bird called a sapsucker.
The bird pecks holes in the
trunk to feed on the sap that
fills the holes. It has been
reported that trees can be killed
by this bird if it makes enough
holes. Personally, I would not
get overly concerned if these
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symptoms are present.
Countless examples of old
specimen trees exhibiting these
holes in the bark exist in
healthy splendor.
If a few of your trees have
this problem, and you're still
concerned about the pecking,
try placing teetanglefoot in twoinch
bands above and below the
row of holes. This is a very
sticky material and Just as
much of a nuisance to the birds
or other uninvited creatures
that desire climbing in the tree
as it will be to you trying to put
it on.
MAKING AND USING
COMPOST
What is compost? Compost is
a dark, friable, partially
decomposed form of organic
matter similar in nature to the
organic matter in the soil.
Why make compost?
Disposing of leaves, grass
cuppings, and other garden
refuse is often a problem for
gardeners, particularly in
urban areas: These byproducts
of the garden and landscape
can be turned into useful
compst with no more effort
than it takes to bag and haul
them away.
In many cases the compost
will serve the same function as
peat moss and thereby reduce
gardening costs. Returning
these organic materials to the
land. perpetuates natural
biological cycles and is an
ecologically sensible means of
using organic wastes.
The value of compost. Good
compost consists of a small
amount of soil along with
decomposed or partially
decomposed plant and animal
residues. As a soil amendment,
compost . improves both
physical condition and fertility,
uis especailly useful for Improving
soils that are low in
organic matter.
The organic matter in the
compost makes heavy clay
soils easier to work by binding
the soil particles together. Such
aggregation of the soil particles
helps improve aeration, root
INTERIOR PAINTING
Fall and Winter
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20 Years Experience
398-0265
penetration, and water infiltration,
and reduces crusting
of the soil surface. Additionally
organic matter also helps
sandy soil retain water and
nutrients.
Although compost contains
nutrients, its greatest benefit is
in improving soil characteristics.
Therefore, it should
be considered valuable soil
amendment, and not a fertilizer,
since, in most cases,
additional fertilization will be
necessary to achieve maximum
growth and production.
Compost is also valuable
mulching material to use
around garden and landscape
plants. It may be used as a
"topdressing" for lawns and,
when it contains a small
amount of soil, as a growing
medium for house plants or for
starting seedlings.
How compost forms. Composting
speeds natural
" decomposition under controlled
conditions. Raw organic
material is converted into
compost by the action of
microorganisms (fungi and
bacteria). During intiail stages
of composting, microorganisms
increase rapidly. As the
materials decompose, some
kinds of microorganisms
predominate. But as the
complete a certain function
these microorganisms decline
while others build up and
continue the decomposition.
As microorganisms
decompose the organic
materials, temperatures within
the pile approach MO to 160
degrees at the center. This kills
some of the weed seeds and
diseaseorganlsms in these high
temperature areas. However,
in cooler sections of the heap
such sterilization does not
occur.
Organisms that are largely
responsible for the breakdown
of the organic materials
require large quantities of
nitrogen. Therefore, adding
nitrogen fertilizer or materials
supplying large amounts of
nitrogen is necessary for rapid
and thorough decomposition.
During the Dreakdown period
this nitrogen is tied up, and not
available for plant use. It is
released, however, when the
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