Articles by Dr. Francis Gouin

Fall Vegetables Start Now

Lots more good can come from your garden

For a feast-full fall garden, now is the time for planning and planting. On the other hand, if you want to take it easy after your spring and summer harvests, then simply plant a cover crop of winter rye in those areas where the crops have been harvested. If you like Brussels sprouts, now is the time to get the seeds in the ground. Brussels sprouts produce biggest yields when planted early so that the stem of each plant grows to its maximum height by mid-September, when the...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 7/21/11

Can Organics Feed the Nation?

Not until we compost everything, including Uncle Charlie

I’ve been chastised by a Bay Weekly reader for not supporting commercial organic farming. So I’m explaining my position. I have conducted research in composting and in compost utilization for more than 30 years, so I am very familiar with the limitations of organic farming. Under the present rules and regulations for producing organically grown crops and animals, it would be impossible for American agriculture to produce the wide variety of fruits and vegetables...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 7/14/11

Onions Are Bulbing

Starting now, you can harvest what you’ll eat

If you planted long-day onions this spring, you will notice that they are forming bulbs. If you accidentally planted short-day onions, you will be feasting on onion tails for the rest of summer. Right now, both long-day onions such as Copra and First Edition and day-neutral onions like Candy are producing nice large bulbs. You can start harvesting them now, but since they are not mature, they won’t store well. Harvest only what you can eat. In the Garden this Week Conquer Powdery...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 7/7/11

The Dirt of Buying Dirt

The buyer needs to beware — and to be aware

To get the topsoil you want, you’ll have to be precise in your order. Ask a sand and gravel company to bring a load of topsoil without any more specific instruction, and you may get more, or less, than you bargained for. In the Garden this Week Pick Your Bagworms While They’re Small Bagworms have hatched, and the young are already feeding. Until early July, the bagworms will grow slowly. But by the time they’re...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 6/30/11

Managing Last Year’s Mums

For fall flowering, first divide, then prune

If you purchased hardy flowering chrysanthemums for your garden last fall, most likely they have survived the winter, and the clumps are producing multiple stems. What was one plant last fall is now a plant with five to 15 stems originating from the stump. Some varieties of chrysanthemums produce from the root system, while other varieties produce multiple stems from above ground. Get down on your hands and knees to examine the base of the plant. In the Garden this Week...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 6/23/11

Watering Without Waste

If you are watering your lawn and garden with an overhead sprinkler during daylight hours, you are wasting water. Especially from 11am and 4pm, between 10 and 20 percent of the water you apply by over-head sprinkler is lost to evaporation. Plant Now Looking for something to grow in the garden this summer now that the peas, cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi and cauliflower are harvested? Consider growing Swiss chard, summertime lettuce and okra. Swiss chard is a great substitute...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 6/16/11

More Confessions of a Secret Boatbuilder

Even the Bay Gardener doesn’t thrive on vegetables alone

The latest addition to my fleet of boats I’ve built or restored is a 16-foot strip sea kayak. This was a two-winter project requiring some of the skills I learned when building my 16-foot strip canoe. However, this project required having to scarf all strips for added strength and building a deck to fit snugly over the hull. The deck was built on the same form as the hull, but the trick was maintaining the shape so that when attached to the hull, it could be glued and sealed. ...

Article - Good Living; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 6/9/11

Paying it Forward

Meet the newest winner of the Francis R. Gouin Undergraduate Research Grant

Sarah Zastrow, the 2011 recipient of the Francis R. Gouin Undergraduate Research Grant, is a senior at the University of Maryland Plant Science department. Sarah will be working on a very interesting project comparing the rejuvenation of a forest destroyed by a tornado to the rejuvenation of a similar forest harvested for lumber at approximately the same time. In her studies she will be comparing rate of growth, species, changes in species predominance if any, decomposition...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 6/9/11

Stink Bugs Are Feasting

Peaches don’t like them any better than we do

Perfect-looking peaches will be hard to find this summer. Stinkbugs are already spoiling the fruit. I started thinning peaches when most were the size of marbles. At the beginning of the peach-growing season, some of the fruit already had two to three sting marks on the skin. As the thinning period progresses, peaches almost the size of golf balls are showing three to four sting marks. Immature green and mature gray stinkbugs crawled on my arms and down my neck as I worked...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 6/2/11

Asparagus Is a Giving Plant

But you’ve got to keep the weeds out

It is surprising how many gardeners have approached me with questions regarding controlling weeds in their asparagus beds. I am glad to see a growing number of gardeners growing asparagus because it is a crop that you have to plant only once for many years’ harvest. It is a delicious vegetable that can be grilled, steamed, marinated or smothered with Hollandaise sauce or cheese. This year I planted a new bed of an only-male purple variety. Male plants are preferred because they do not...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 5/26/11