Hi, thanks for joining us and
welcome to "The Family Plot:
Gardening in the Mid-South."
Today, we're going to have a
sneak preview of Memphis Area
Master Gardeners' big
event coming up this weekend,
Spring Fling.
We'll show you how to make a
humingbird feeder and Master
Gardener Tom Mashour gets our
garden started with a few cool
season vegetables.
And if moles have
taken over your yard,
stay tuned.
Mister D is here to show us
one way to get rid of them.
That's just ahead on "The
Family Plot: Gardening in the
Mid-South" so stay with us.
This is a
production of WKNO-Memphis.
Production funding for "The
Family Plot: Gardening in the
Mid-South" is provided by..
Good Winds Landscape and Garden
Center in Germantown since 1943
and continuing to offer it's
plants for sucessful gardening
with seven greenhouses and
three acres of plants plus
comprehensive
landscape services..
♪♪♪
Hi, welcome to
"The Family Plot."
I'm Chris Cooper.
Joining me today
is Callie Bolyard.
Callie is a Master Gardener
right here in Shelby County.
And Amanda Rideout.
She's also a Master Gardener
right here in Shelby County.
Okay Amanda, Spring Fling is
coming so could you tell us a
little bit about it?
Spring Fling is this Friday and
this Saturday at the red barn at
the Agricenter.
Okay.
It's a free event.
It's open to the public
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM each day.
And we will have
speakers, demonstrations,
plants, things for the
kids and a lot to do.
Today, we've got Callie here and
shes going to show us one of the
demonstrations that we're going
to have at Spring Fling which is
how to build a bird
feeder out of a wine bottle.
Okay.
Callie, we like
demonstrations.
(laughter)
Lets get to it.
Well, here are hummingbird
feeders that I've made already.
And I just want to tell you
that it's not my original idea.
I found this on Pinterest on the
internet but I thought that this
would be a really good
project because it's recycling.
It has to do with
our Spring Fling.
It was fun to make.
It was real crafty.
So what you're going to do is
you're going to take a wine
bottle and you're going to soak
it for a couple of hours to take
off the labels.
And then this is
what you come up with.
Either green or
white, doesn't matter.
Your wire is a 16 gauge wire.
You need your hummingbird
feeders that you can get online.
And glass and bead glue.
You need wire cutters, some
glass beads and we're ready to
start the project.
Okay, let's get it started.
Okay.
I cut this wire just to be, just
to work it out a little bit.
And what we're going to do is
we're going to wrap it around.
And the nice thing about this
wire is that it is bendable and
you can bend it.
You can make
whatever design you want.
And so whatever
you want it to be,
you can do that.
That's the neat thing about this
but you just tighten it up and
you just wrap it around.
And then we're just going to
wrap it around here again.
Okay.
And we'll call that done.
(laughter) And I'll
show you how it works.
The one neat thing with that
wire is you can maybe roll
beads.
If you didn't have
the glass beads,
you could add some beads and
kind of circle them around.
After you got
comfortable with that wire,
I'm sure.
Exactly.
And what I'm going to do is I'm
going to take a little piece of
wire and just
bend the ends here.
And I'm going to
put it on the bottom.
And then you've got
your handle like that.
And for time's sake, what we're
going to do is we're going to
hot glue gun the beads instead
of using the glass and bead
adhesive because that will
take about 24 hours to set up.
And what I'm going to do is I'm
just going to push some glue in
some areas.
And yeah, you can
do that for me.
And it just
sticks right on there.
Mhmm.
And the adhesive, the glue
adhesive will a take a little
while longer and you can just
keep putting beads everywhere
you want.
And the
hummingbirds love the color.
They don't have a
sense of smell.
They have a sense of sight.
Okay.
So, what you want to do is you
just want to make it nice and
colorful and there you go.
And add that red.
And then you put the bird feeder
stopper feeder on the top.
Alright.
And you make sure you fill it.
And there it is for hanging.
Alright, well we
appreciate that Miss Cathy.
Well, sure.
That's real nice.
Okay.
Alright Amanda, what are some
other Spring Fling events that
will be going on.
Well, we're going to have some
speakers that are going to be
talking about hummingbirds
and how to attract them to your
yard.
And flowers and
things that you can plant.
Also, just basic food that you
can feed the hummingbirds which
is generally the four
parts water to one part sugar.
We don't add any dyes to that
food because that is harmful to
the hummingbirds.
We'll also have a children's
area on Saturday from 9:00 AM to
4:00 PM.
And there we're going to have a
lot of hands-on activities for
the kids.
They're going to get to
plant seeds and eat celery and
carrotts and things that..
Stuff they don't want to eat.
Stuff they don't want to eat but
we're promoting it in a fun way.
And the volunteers that we
have are teachers and-or Master
Gardeners and they have a
love for kids and education.
And they mix it in
a fun, great way.
Good!
We'll also have our app Ask a
Master Gardner which is one of
my favorites.
Us, too.
Well yes, it is.
I do encourage everyone to
bring their gardening problems,
dillemas.
It may seem simple but there
might be an easy solution.
Sure.
And then of course, ask a Master
Gardener who loves a challenge.
So, I always encourage
people to bring that,
too.
Right, the can bring their weed
samples or whatever the case may
be.
Yeah, we'll have soil boxes
and all those other kind of
publicaitons.
Definitely.
We'll make sure we'll get them
the right answers that they're
looking for.
Is there a theme
for this year's?
This year's theme is Eat Up
and that's mainly for the kids.
And that's why we're going
to have root vegetables and
different parts of the plants.
Lettuce as far as the leaf,
the things that they can eat.
We'll also have our
junior daffodil show.
And so, we encourage the kids
to go out in their yard or their
neighbors yard if they allow and
pick a daffodil or two and bring
it in.
And there will be little viles,
little tubes with water that
they'll get to put their name
on and get to compete in the
daffodil show.
okay and I understand that
was a lot of fun last year.
That was a lot of fun.
I think we had almost 100
entires and just a long table
full of daffodils.
And the children really enjoyed
it because they get to see how
many different types there are.
It's amazing what's
in everyone's yard.
Good and daffodils are up
and blooming right now so.
Yes, yes, definitely.
Yeah, get those on
here for that contest.
This weekend
they're still there.
That's right.
We'll have lots of plants.
The Master Gardeners will have
their best plant sale where the
Master Gardeners have grown
these plants over the winter and
the fall and we
will be selling those.
Our vendors will also have arts
and crafts garden items whether
it's bird feeders, birdhouses.
And there will also
be food available.
There will be food.
We're working with the Memphis
Food Truck Alliance this year.
And they are having a couple of
food trucks there so we're going
to have some good barbecue and
just some different southern
food that will be great.
That should be good.
So you can shop all
at the same time.
And have a wonderful time.
Okay, now last year I understand
there weer over 2000 people.
Over 2000 people came so it
was a great two days and we're
looking forward to a
great time this year,
too.
Good, we just hope mother
nature cooperates with us.
(laughter)
Yes, we always do.
Hey we are prepared because the
speakers are inside a tent and
the gardeners, the
vendors that are outside,
they have tents and
they're prepared.
So, rain or shine, we're there.
We've got it all available.
Alright, so there you have it.
Spring Fling, come on
out and have a good time.
Up next, Master Gardener Tom
Mashour gets our garden started
with a few cool
season vegetables.
But first, here are a few
gardening events going in the
next couple of weeks
that might interest you.
♪♪♪
What we're doing today is
planting a cool season crop.
We already planted three
little hills of leaf lettuce.
And I plant them in the middle
so around the circumference,
I plant cabbage, broccoli and
cauliflower and hopefully they
will help shade the leaf lettuce
and they'll last a little bit
longer than they would be if I
just planted them by themselves.
Next thing we're going to
plant is bulbing onions.
Now bulbing onions..
What I like to do is plant the
onions very shallow so that when
they form the bulb, the bulb
will sit on top of the soil and
not in the soil.
And again like I
said, very shallow.
About three inches
apart is more than enough.
Don't even havwe
to use a trough.
Being a retired military
man, I like things in rows,
uniform.
These are called onion sets.
They look like miniature onions
but they'll get to be big boys
as they get a little bit older.
And by the way, any time
you put in new plants,
ones that you grow
or ones that you buy,
before you plant them you want
to make sure you water them in
their container to give them
that little extra drink before
they encounter the real world
where they'll spend the rest of
their life.
On this side of the bed,
we're going to go ahead on plant
cauliflower.
When you take it out, put your
fingers on both sides of the
plant.
Push on the bottom
and out it comes.
Now, if this was
really heavy rooted,
I'd want to take a knife and cut
those roots otherwise the roots
will just grow in a circle.
By taking a knife and
slicing down through the sides,
it forces the roots to grow out
and that's the way you want to
do it.
But this is not that bad.
Sometimes you see people take
and pulling the plant out of the
container.
That may or may not work but it
may also pull the plant right
off the roots.
There we go.
Good, a good root structure.
The same depth as it
was in the container.
Okay, we'll do the last one now.
Now this cauliflower came
with it's own little markers.
However, when you grow your
own you probably don't have a
marker.
One of the tricks that Master
Gardeners use is we use cut-up
mini blinds that's
probably in your attic.
And use a number two pencil.
It does not wash out, doesn't
fade in the sun whereas ink ones
do.
I like to write down what it
is and the date I put it in the
ground.
We're going to plant
some broccoli now.
And depending on how much space
you've got available in your
garden, preferrably
about two feet apart.
However, if you're kind of tight
like I am with a smaller garden,
then 18 inches is sufficient.
That'll work.
Now I did prewater the
plants before I put them in.
I want to give them the
best head start I can.
You want to plant them about
the same depth as you had in the
container.
Now these, I grew
from seed at the house.
When you take it out again, put
your fingers around the plant.
Flip it over, push on
the bottom or squeeze it,
comes out in a ball.
Put it in the soil about
the same depth it was in the
container and firm
the soil around it.
This one's going to be
about 18 inches apart.
I do reuse my containers
for starting more seeds.
Fingers, both
sides of the plant,
flip it over, push on the bottom
or the sides and it comes out.
You notice it's got good root
structure all the way around.
Firm the soil around it.
If you don't get it
exactly 18 inches,
I guarantee that no one's going
to go out there with a ruler and
measure it.
Well, my wife maybe.
Not very difficult.
Very fun.
And I go out and check my garden
everyday to see how much it's
grown from the previous day.
Alright, Mr. D is here and we're
going to talk about moles which
happens to be one of the
questions we get a lot this time
of the year.
Those moles.
How can we get
rid of them, Mr. D?
Can you help us out?
I can, I can help you out.
You know, unless it's changed,
it's the number one question
that extension
offices get nation wide.
The number one question.
And we always help
people that need help.
But the best way in my opinion
to control moles is by using a
trap.
We've got a couple of
examples here with us today.
This is the harpoon
style right here.
And you simply pull this
up, you set it over a tunnel,
a transportation tunnel.
And remember I
said transportation.
And you should have pretty
good luck of catching your mole.
And this is a
choker-type trap right here.
And im my opinion, this one.
Personally, I've had more luck
with this type of trap than I
have with the harpoon style.
As a matter of fact, I've caught
four in my yard this spring.
And my yard is not that big.
And so this is an
extremely deadly trap.
It's a choker trap.
You simply push this down in
to the ground over the tunnel.
And again, a
transportation tunnel,
not a feeding tunnel.
You step on this and it opens.
And when the mole
comes underneath,
it taps the trigger as
it raises the tunnel.
And these jaws come
together and it chokes.
It basically squeezes
the breath out of him.
It's bloodless.
This one however
is not bloodless.
But the key to being successful
with a mole trap is placing the
traps over a
transportation tunnel.
And let's explain
between the two,
the transportation.
You know, most of the tunnels in
your yard are feeding tunnels.
Okay.
A mole can tunnel over
200 feet in one night.
And you know,
I've got four moles.
That's 800, almost 1000 feet
of tunnels that I have stopped
happening in my yard
in the past few weeks.
There are two ways to determine
transportation tunnels.
There's a quick way that
works most of the time and then
there's a slow way that
probably works every time.
Okay.
The quick way is to try and find
a long tunnel that may be 10 or
15 feet long that doesn't have
braches off the side where it
look like it's been feeding.
The feeding tunnels, many times
they'll feed this way for a few
minutes and then they'll go back
this way and they'll go back and
forth.
And it's a lot of branches.
But if you can find a
long, straight line,
put this in the middle of
that long straight line and you
should be successful.
Another way is if you have a
lot of energy and need exercise,
you mash down all the
tunnels in your yard.
And go back and
do it before dark.
Go back the next morning and
flag or mark the tunnels that
were raised again.
Mash them down again and do
that two or three nights.
And then if you find a tunnel,
then you can identify the
transportation tunnel.
That's the slower way.
However, it's 100 percent
effective because and if you do
that, you will be
successful in controlling them.
Be careful with these traps.
And I've got a warning here on
this one right here because you
can get squeezed.
The springs are pretty strong.
These tines are pretty sharp.
You want to be
careful with them.
But you know, and
that works better.
I know you can purchase
toxicants and posions and things
like the poison peanuts
and things like that.
But moles are
primarily carnivorous.
Most of their diet
consists of insects.
Mostly grub worms
and earth worms.
That probably makes up probably
80 or 90 percent of their diet
is grub worms and earthworms.
They also will eat many, many
other types of insects and other
things.
but they're primiarily
carnivorous and I don't think..
I can't understand why a
mole is used to eating a nice,
juicy earthworm or grub would
bite in to a poisoned peanut.
I can't understand that.
Right now, they are giving birth
to young by March and April.
The average litter is
three to five moles.
So, you know, I probably..
I could have..
I'm assuming that two of the
ones I caught were males and two
were females.
So I probably saved myself from
having from six to ten more baby
moles running around my yard.
And as you're
saying all of this,
the ladies are just
moaning and groaning.
it's a cold,
cruel word out there.
You know, you either can
handle the tunnels in your yard.
And really, moles, you
know, they aerate your lawn.
But they actually can do
some damage to your turf by,
you know, exposing the roots
to air and things like that.
And you know, also, it can cause
you to trip and fall and break
hips and bones and
things like that.
I know if especially if
they're elderly people around.
So,it's something to consider.
But if you don't
have any of that,
you're not worried about that,
let them go because they're
probably not doing much
physical damage to your,
you know, turf grass and your
ornamentals and things like that
unlike voles.
We're talking about moles here.
We're not talking about voles.
There are a couple of really
good publications out there.
This is probably
one of the best.
This publication is in the
prevention and control of
wildlife damage
publication from,
I think, the
University of Nebraska.
And this tells you a little bt
about the biology of the mole.
Really, it will tell you more
than you want to know about the
mole.
It tells you how
much they weigh,
exactly what they eat and
everything that you want to know
about moles and a few
things that you don't.
And we do have that
publication in our office.
So come on by and get that.
This is about a 12
page publication.
Alright Mr.D, we definitely
appreciate that and hopefully
people can get
rid of their moles.
Happy hunting!
(laughter)
Alright, this time of
year we're getting lots of calls
from folks who are getting
their vegetable gardens going.
And one of the things they want
to know about is fertilizer.
So, what is the best
fertilizer for vegetables?
So Mr.D, how can we help them
out with the fertilizers now?
That is an easy answer.
The best fertilizer for
vegetables is whatever you the
soil test that
you've taken recommends.
With that being said, you
know, most vegetables need N,
P and K.
This is an example of a complete
fertilizer that is balanced.
It's triple-13 and it
has 13 percent nitrogen,
13 percent phosphorous
and 13 percent potassium.
Completely balanced and that's
perfect if that's what you need.
However, one example of where
this fertilizer would not be
suited is for a
lagoon like beans,
snap beans, peas,
english peas, southern peas.
Things like that are lagoons and
they don't need any nitrogen.
They take nitrogen from the
air and fix it in the soil.
So, this would not be suited
for those types of plants.
Another case is if you have
routinely used this complete
fertilizer year after
year after year after year,
I guarantee you
the middle number,
the phosphorous levels
in your soil are high.
And if you have extremely high
levels of phosphorous in your
soil, it can actually interfere
with the uptake of the nitrogen
and posttasium and
the micronutrients.
It interferes with the uptake of
the other nutrients and it makes
your plants look like they're
starving to death which in fact,
they are.
But it's not because you don't
have enough fertilizer in them
but because you have
too much phosphorous.
And it's tied up.
So, if you have routinely used
this every year and I have known
of folks that have used.
They put, you know, six pounds
of triple-13 out in my garden
and they tell me that.
And I know they're going to
have problems on down the road.
And you can't take
phosphorous out of the soil.
The only thing that will take
that out is time and plants.
You know, and it will take
years to get those levels down.
You only want them at, you
know, medium to high levels.
And if you've got medium levels
of phosphorous and potash in the
soil, you don't need a
complete fertilizer.
Becuase you know nowadays, you
can actually get fertilizers
without the middle number,
without the phosphorous.
15-0-15, you know,
34-0-0 is just nitrogen.
Muriate of potash is
just the last number.
And then Super Phosphate, if
that's the only thing you need,
you know, you can get that, too.
Yeah, people don't realize but
they use a lot of phosphorous.
Just think about
blooms, you know,
phosphorous for blooms.
Super phosphate is something
that a lot of people use.
Miracle-Gro, that's what it is.
And I've seen people
use that stuff everyday,
you know, in their gardens or at
least once a week and they don't
realize they're putting a lot
of phosphorous into their soil
beds.
The most important thing that
you can take from this is the
soil.
You know, check.
You're not
checking it every year.
And what does a
soil test cost now?
Seven dollars and that's the
best seven dollar investment of
your money.
You know, this bag of
fertilizer probably cost 10.
Yeah, 10 or 15.
Or 15 maybe.
And you know, chances are
this fertilizer will last you 20
years if you follow a soil test.
How often do we
need the soil test?
Every two to three years.
And I would
probably three years.
Would be the, you know, the
most often that I would do it.
So Linda, you've done it?
I've done a soil test and
it's amazing to me how different
areas in your yard, no
matter how close they are..
if you're vegetable gardening in
one and then you have shrubs and
just your regular landscape, how
much the soil varies and what
items it needs and
what items it has.
So, I definitely see
the benefit in it.
You can't beat the
recommendations.
They're from the state and
they've got the equipment to do
all of that.
Alright, well there you have it.
Be sure you put all the
plants that you want to.
Put everything,
blueberries, azaleas.
You know, if it's
20 different plants,
list them all and they'll
give you at no extra charge
recommendations on
each of those plants.
Alright, well there you
have it from the experts.
Alright, our Master
Gardeners and Mr. D.
That's all we
have time for today.
Don't forget, we love to see
some picture of your family plot
so send us an e-mail or letter
with some photos and let us help
answer your gardening questions.
I'm Chris Cooper.
Thanks for watching and be sure
to join us next time for "The
Family Plot:
Gardening in the Mid-South."
Be safe.
♪♪♪
Production funding for "The
Family Plot: Gardening in the
Mid-South" is provided by..
Good Winds Landscape and Garden
Center in Germantown since 1943
and continuing to offer it's
plants for sucessful gardening
with seven greenhouses and
three acres of plants plus
comprehensive
landscape services..