2022 Fall Home and Garden

Page 16 2022 Fall Home & Garden LINCOLN DAILY NEWS Sept. 23, 2022 Two of the most important things regarding vegetable gardening: 1) make sure that your garden plants get enough water, either from rain or from watering them via sprinkler or watering can. Plants that go too dry are going to suffer and may not develop the vegetables you plant them to produce. 2) Your vegetable garden needs to remain weed free. Weeds compete with your vegetable plants for water, fertilizer and sunlight. Weeds are your enemy. Pull or hoe the weeds and be diligent. Weeds also harbor insect pests. Your biggest challenge will be predatory insects. Each vegetable you plant will have natural pests that want to eat your vegetables before you do. You can manually treat for insects by picking the insects off the plants, or when impractical use natural products such as insecticidal soap to avoid use of commercial pesticides. Severe outbreaks often have to be eliminated by using more potent insecticides as a last resort. Google the particular pest and follow recommended procedures. Rabbits and deer like to raid vegetable gardens too. It is surprising how high rabbits and deer can jump, and so fencing needs to be adequate to keep them out. A mesh of netting over the top will help to keep all feathered and furry pests out of your valuable plot. Every vegetable has an estimated production period. Seed packets will indicate that you should be able to produce edible vegetables with a certain number of days. Watch your garden grow and anticipate your coming bounty. The best part of growing your own vegetables is when you daily go into the garden, watching the vegetables develop and grow on the plants, then finally pick the fruits of your labor and enjoy them at your family table. Encouraging this as a family project gets them all out into the fresh air, off their phones and screens, and helps bind the family together. Getting your hands dirty, producing food from the soil, and seeing it all come to fruition is one of the most marvelous accomplishments a person can have and is indeed a high calling. Getting the whole family involved will be an uplifting experience and be a source of memories for a lifetime that they can pass down to their children. It will be a source of pride: “Look what we have done!” Not only do the freshest picked fruits and veggies hold the most nutrients, the food tastes better too. [Jim Youngquist]