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Thinking about our garden/landscape soil, we have often heard the drill. Mulch for weed control, moisture retention and to add organic material. Compost helps govern the moisture/air balance. Fertility and pH requirements differ among plants but attention is most important with vegetables and grass. Water is needed but soggy is bad.

Recently my interest in what else is in the soil has increased. It’s crowded with microbes including fungus, bacteria, nematodes and protozoa among others. Some are good, some are bad. Since we live in a green world, I guess the good out duals the bad much of the time.

I recently had the opportunity to talk to a division winner from the Lancaster County Science Fair who was working with microbes. His goal was different but he made an interesting discovery. Testing garden soil, compost and livestock manure he found the most microbes in the garden soil. One report I read suggested that if we took an ounce of soil and started handing out microbes to each person on earth for a pet we would run out of people before we ran out of microbes. Coming from the internet it must be true. Maybe not, but you get the picture. Soil microbes let some plants fix nitrogen from the air to the soil. Others make nutrients more available, increase disease resistance, control insects, increase nutrient uptake to name a few.

Several commercial examples.More than 30 years ago, a bacteria based spray, called Bt, short for its 15 or 20 letter real name was released. Soil derived it was very effective for cabbage loopers and other worms if used as directed. More recent Bt introductions target other insects including potato beetles.About 10 years ago I heard the claims about a product called Root Shield. Before I got beyond what’s that my daughter took over the business and soon she was dipping starter plants in a Root Shield solution.  Fast forward a few years and she is now using soil already treated with Root Shield.

Root Shield is Trichodema harzianum, a fungus. Now that I got that out of the way, it coils around the roots releasing enzymes that dissolve the walls of fungal pathogens. The improvement in root and plant development is amazing.  (See picture above)

Gardening practices will give variation in microbe populations. Tillage and water are two such practices. Root Shield lies dormant until activated by water. Commercial Bt is active but has only a one season shelf life.

As we continue to unravel what’s in the soil we may move closer to the marriage of commercial and organic agriculture.

If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me if it was safe to plant tomatoes this last week, well, I’d have a large pile of nickels. Unless they lived in Delaware, I told them “no”.

Tomatoes are in the warm-season vegetable category. They do best when the following three criteria can be achieved:

Transplant into soil at least 55 degrees (not yet)Day time temps of 65-90 (getting there)Nights above 50 (almost)

If you are dying to plant a garden now, focus on broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, onions, lettuce, spinch, kale, radishes, Swiss chard and the like. But even early vegetables may need some protection. The neighboring farm has long rows of cole crop vegetables and onions planted into black plastic to warm the soil, and then covered with light frost cover suspended over the rows and held down at the ends and sides with cement blocks. This gives new transplants protection from drying, whipping winds. This is a great way to get young plants established, especially if they have not been hardened off outside first.

When I was a kid, the first time I saw a Wall o Water I was amazed. If you must plant your tomatoes now to ensure you are the first in your neighborhood with the delicious red treasures, I would try these. If nothing else, they are kind of fun.

Here is the general procedure: Fill the circular tubes half-full of water to make a tee-pee around where young plants will go for a week to warm the soil. Then plant the young tomato (or pepper) into the warmed soil. As soon as it grows out the top of the teepee, completely fill the tubes with water to form a circular wall. Remove the walls once the frost-free date is past and plants are filled in. The claim is the plastic water- tubes provide insulation and protection down to 16 degrees, and when used appropriately, will allow you to start tomatoes in the ground 6 weeks before your last frost date.

A heavy freeze will kill tomatoes, and a light frost will nip growing tips and flowers, but not kill the plant. According to the National Weather Service using temperatures collected around PA, Lancaster Countyon average, has our last freeze April 11th. Our absolute last frost isn’t until into mid-May. So what that means to me is I wouldn’t plant my tomatoes just yet. Dad always said check the 10-day weather forecast on the 20thof April and no nights below 45, you were pretty safe.

The number of days listed on the seed packets, or advertised at the greenhouse will tell you the length of time from transplanting until harvest. Early, small fruited varieties like ‘Early Girl’ or ‘Fourth of July’ are ready to harvest 45-55 days after planting. They often produce fruit by the end of June or early July. Cherry tomatoes usually take two months from planting, whereas the larger beefsteak types can take up to three months.

There are some vegetables you are just better off waiting on. Peppers wait to plant until Mother’s Day, and cucumbers, squash and melons even a little after that. Summer will be here before you know it. Let’s not rush spring.

Driving around town, I usually have one eye on the road and the other one on trees and flowerbeds. Some may say that makes me a bad driver, they are probably correct, but it does give me interesting things to think about.

Last week I noticed quite a few of the plants that jumped up in February and then got a foot of snow and ice dumped on them didn’t like it very much. Daffodils and hellebores seem fine, but daylilies seem to really have had their foliage damaged. This should not affect flowering, as most do not bloom until July and will have not started to set their flower buds yet. If unsightly foliage bothers you, go ahead and give them a trim, but they should grow out of it.

Forsythias. Some are blooming, some are not. It seems that the ones that were in more southerly facing directions, or were protected in a warmer microclimate and had started to bloom early are the most affected. Up here on our windy exposed hill, they had not started to crack their buds and show color in February, so were not damaged by the ice and snow. They are now blooming as usual.

The other funny thing I noticed was a dwarf Alberta spruce that has a “sport” of a normal sized spruce growing out of the side of it. Often times, dwarf plants are a result of a genetic mutation that causes the plant to not reach normal size. These mutations are purposefully selected by breeders and used commercially for their more compact habit and garden-friendliness.

Plants have growing tips, or meristems (basically stem cells) on their roots, tops and tips of the side branches. These rapidly growing cells occasionally have a genetic mutation. Often it is something not readily visible, but in this case, the dwarf gene got turned off on one branch and is now growing to normal size.

This happens a lot with variegated plants. Hostas are famous for “sporting” new varieties. There is very little actual cross-pollination breeding happening in hostas. It is mostly observation of random mutation and selection of the most interesting ones.

We have a variety of sedum in our greenhouse that has a very unstable variegation pattern. Some plants are nicely variegated, others revert to solid green, some almost solid white. The white ones are very week or die, due to lack of chlorophyll and inability to photosynthesize and make their own food. The green are pretty boring and end up getting chucked over the hill.

The cherries and Bradford pears are starting to bloom. I haven’t seen redbuds or locusts popping out yet, but I’m watching for them. I drive a silver mini-van if you want to stay out of my way.

This year my 11-year old son gave up playing video games for Lent. He has shown remarkable resolve sticking to his vow. Luckily enjoying the beautiful flowers of the Lenten Rose requires no such sacrifice.

Hellebores, commonly known as Lenten Roses, often bloom from late February through April, when there is just not much else happening in the garden. They come in shade of white, pink, dusky red and purple. Some varieties are double flowering, some speckled. Older varieties flowers nodded downward, but new breeding has been focused on tilting the flowers up, to better enjoy their faces.

At our house we have some growing at the base of azaleas along the edge of the porch. They were just about to bloom when Mother Nature dumped a foot and a half of snow and ice on top of them. Then I dumped more shoveling off the walkway. Luckily, once the snow melted, they bloomed on undeterred. A plant that not only blooms in the winter, but through snow? Sign me up.

Hellebores are native to mostly Eastern Europe, where several different species flourish. Most of the varieties grown in American gardens are hopelessly intermingled hybrids to improve the flower size, color and number of blossoms. Very slow to bloom from seed, often requiring several years, hellebores hybrids are propagated primarily by tissue culture. Any seedlings that do spring up in your garden are unlikely to look exactly like its parent. If you see different colors than you remember planting, that’s why.

Hellebores are evergreen, though in the late winter the foliage can look a little tatty. Once you see the new growth emerging, clip those older leaves off to better enjoy the blooms. They prefer partial sun in well draining soil containing organic matter. Hellebores do well along the edge of the woods, in a woodland garden, or near a porch where they will be protected from the heat of the summer. Though native to alkaline soils, they don’t seem to mind our more acidic soils. The key seems to be not keeping them too wet over the summer when they are not actively growing.

Another added benefit is they are extremely deer resistant. They contain alkaloid toxins and were used as a purgative by traditional herbalists. If you have pets that like to eat your plants, maybe don’t choose hellebores. But if you want something blooming in the late winter, that is long-lived, and very hardy Lenten Roses are at the top of my list.

As the false hopes of spring offered by February fizzled, I continued to watch. Several days ago, while trumping through the receding snow, I think I found it. It wasn’t in the garden but in a damp field surrounded by trees where I was looking for birds. The birds were in symphony, and I heard them.

Somewhere about fall last year, I got my old farmer abused ears fitted with decent aides. Spring birds are going to be a pleasure, and the ones I still can’t hear just a minor disappointment. It will be a big enough challenge to learn the songs of the ones I can now hear.

So, when I’m not in the garden or helping at the farm I will be wondering the area looking for birds. Of course, I frequent my own yard and feeders and the swampy meadow, woods and stream on the farm. I will offer my favorite sites beyond those.

Top of my list is the Octoraro Reservoir, off Route 472, on the Lancaster /Chester County line. It’s big and usually good for ducks, waders and birds in general. Good views of water can be had from the boat launch on Spruce Grove Road, the gravel section of Mt. Eden east of 472 and turning on Blue Gill Road from Spruce Grove just west of the boat launch. To the west of Liberty Lane just north of the soon to be replaced bridge are large fields great for sparrows and raptors. Another great trail is found on the right just past the water on the dirt section of Mt. Eden.

Another good spot is Muddy Run Reservoir. Good for waterfowl and more. If you drive into the park and keep right you find parking just before a large lake. Beyond that you can walk forever. There is an osprey tower on the other side of the hill. If not back they should be here soon. Behind the large pavilion back of the nature center is a good spot for woodpeckers. Walking behind the visitor’s center is another good route to take. Whissler Park, along the river, a right turn on River Road going south is good for black vultures, ducks and often eagles. Don’t go on weekends.

Susquehanna State Park now has a much-improved entrance road and overall maintenance. I find it is the best place in the southern end to find a raven. Interestingly, ravens are expanding their range south so they are recent additions in Lancaster County. I also catch the Enola Rail Trail at a number of different points frequently.

Moving beyond, but still close, the Conowingo Dam is also a must for gulls, ducks, cormorants, herons and raptors. A few days ago I counted 53 eagles. The last half of November is the usual peak. A word of warning, black vultures love scratching vehicles and eating rubber out of windshield wipers. Take a cover with you if you care.

Other favorite spots include Nottingham County Park back of Herr’s Foods (Pine warblers); Susquehanna State Park (along the river in Hartford County for spring migrants); Swan Harbor Farms off Oakington Rd, south of Rt. 40 several miles west of Havre de Grace, Maryland for a bay view, open fields and productive ponds; Perryville Community Park, a peninsula jutting out into the bay offers most everything.

Between this, the gardens, and the farm there is too much to do. Besides, I hope I dropped the hint that the birds have their favorite places, too.