Todd Cislo –
Extremes of Growing in Flagstaff
Todd Cislo has been gardening in Flagstaff for more than
20 years, dealing with extreme cold, high intensity sun, poor soil, lack of
moisture, hail, and wind. Because our soils lack organic matter, he emphasized
that you should not be afraid to amend your soil – add a lot of organic matter and
keep adding it. Also, because our soils are very alkaline do not be afraid to
add pine needles. They take a long
time to decompose so they are best used as mulch to shade the soil but do not
worry if you mix some into your soil.
Todd gardens all year in Flagstaff. He does have a greenhouse, but he
mainly uses home-built hoop houses to garden. His beds are raised beds - either native rock or cinder
block. The rock and cinder block
hold heat. For the hoop houses, he uses ½ inch PVC pipe set about 12 inches
into the ground for the frame and heavier frost cloth for the covering. He uses sandbags or rocks at most of
the corners to secure the cloth. His beds are generally about 20 feet long and
about 3 feet wide so that they are easy to reach into from either side. To vent the hoop houses, he attaches a
length of PVC pipe to the frost cloth, rolls the pipe up the side of the hoops
and fastens it to a hoop. When it gets
really cold, he places a second layer of frost cloth on small hoops inside the
larger hoops. The small hoops are
closer to the plants and the two layers keep the plants warm enough. The hoop
houses are very flexible so they survive high winds by leaning over and
springing back up. When it snows, he just brushes the snow off.
He generally grows cold hardy greens, onions and garlic
in the winter. One advantage of gardening during the winter is that there are
no bugs, and you only have to water once every two weeks or so.
Todd also showed us the hail damage to the garden from a
storm in July. His garden was heavily damaged. If he had been home at the time of the storm, he could have
put the covers over the hoops and could have prevented at least part of the
damage.
A few more gardening tips he gave included the strategic
use of bird feeders to lure the birds away from his garden and using Neem oil
to kill bugs on the plants and to cure powdery mildew.
He based his winter gardening on Eliot Coleman’s “Winter
Harvest Handbook”. A garden tour
of Todd’s garden is planned for sometime in the not too distant future.
Thanks to Andrea
and Galen Guerrette for the refreshments!
Business Meeting –
Debi Stalvey
Financial report – Linda Guarino/Crys Wells
There are
now 87 members – two more joined at the meeting.
MG Program Happenings (class) – Hattie
Braun
Hattie reported that 11 people had already signed up for
the class. The class will begin on September 4. She can take up to 35 people in
the class.
Hattie will send out invitations for the Recognition
Picnic, September 8, 4-6 p.m., Ft. Tuthill.
Committee Reports:
Continuing
Education – Jim Mast
Programs are set through November. Loni Shapiro will talk about planting
fall bulbs in October. Deb Noel
will talk about historic gardens and gardeners of the United States in November.
Community Markets
– Sherline Alexander
The August Community Markets are covered.
Volunteer Support
– Crys Wells
July volunteer hours: 603.5 education hours: 102.25. Volunteer hours for 2013 to date: 2803,
education hours: 601
Epiphany Episcopal Church on Beaver Street has an
approved master gardener project.
They will be creating a garden based on biblical plants and will have
plaques containing biblical quotes. The garden will be open to the public and
volunteers are welcome.
Gardening
Questions?
Q. I have tons of lacewings in my garden – how do I keep them?
A. Provide food for the adults. Adults feed only on nectar, pollen, and
aphid honeydew. The larvae are the predators.
Q. Aphids – can you put them in your compost?
A. If your compost is working well at a temperature of at least 130
degrees Fahrenheit, it should kill them.
Q. If your basil blooms, can you still harvest?
A. Yes, pick off the blossoms and continue harvesting.
Q. What are all those seedlings coming up?
A. Mostly pine seedlings. The seeds sprouting now are from 2-3 years
ago. See the article in the August 9, 2013 Arizona Daily Sun (http://azdailysun.com/news/local/too-many-pine-seedlings-in-northern-arizona/article_cfdd26f0-00b5-11e3-81c6-001a4bcf887a.html).
A lot of the other seedlings are elms.
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