Patience Pays Off

As anyone who has shopped the retail stores lately knows, the garden sections are filling up with a lovely selection of flowers and vegetables just asking to be taken home and planted. I’m always tempted to purchase and plant both flowers and vegetables this time of year.Washington State University Vegetable Specialist Carol Miles had some good advice for would-be gardeners.Miles: “My general recommendation is look to see what the farmers are doing and go. They have a lot of money riding on these crops and so they aren’t going to be planting out when they think they are going to lose everything.”Another thing to consider examining prior to garden planting is your soil pH level.Miles: “For gardening we recommend that you check your soil pH at least every three years — once every three years. Certainly once a year is better.” Miles says an important thing to remember is to hardening off of your purchased plants before you transplant them.Miles: “What that means is just put them in a protected area. Reduce your watering to no more than once a day. You need to keep an eye on them so they don’t wilt and dry out. Basically you want to acclimate them to your temperatures where you are before you put them out in your garden where they will be fully exposed. So hardening off is usually a three to five day process and you’ll find that it is worth your while if you just acclimate them before you put them out in your garden.”