Garden Basics with Farmer Fred

Today we tackle a summertime evening tradition: drinking while watering. No, we’re not going to try to sober you up. But we do have advice on how long to stand there with a hose, while mindlessly watering the lawn and garden. (hint: half a beer per plant) While you’re mindlessly watering, you might be thinking: why aren’t my squash plants having sex? What? YOU never used the excuse, “It’s too hot”? Sex and the single zucchini. We’ll tell you how to help those plants make more zucchini. Yes, the boy and the girl flowers have to be in the mood. And, our soils expert Steve Zien LOVES worm castings as a soil amendment in the vegetable and flower garden. He loves worms so much, he keeps them in his kitchen in a worm bin! And he may be on to something. We have tips for making your own worm poop uh, castings… at a fraction of the cost of what you’d pay to buy a bag of worm castings at the nursery. This episode is brought to you by Smart Pots. Visit smartpots.com/fred for a money-saving offer on the original, award-winning fabric planter, made in the USA. College horticulture professor (retired) Debbie Flower offers advice on how long to water a lawn and garden, as well as how to determine how much water you've applied. Bottom line: apply an inch of water a week to those plants (and turf) that need it. You can measure the water using cat food cans, tuna fish cans, or go in to the kitchen and get several of these. Or, spend some money for something fancy like this. Vegetable expert and Master Gardener Gail Pothour channels her inner Masters & Johnson to explain the birds and the bees to us, as it relates to squash plants and why you might not be getting any zucchini right now, or why the fruit is small and falling off. Common reasons for fruiting failure: the male and female flowers are not opening together; heat has killed the viability of the pollen; lack of bee activity. And yes, Steve Zien really does keep his red wigglers and worm bin in the house. It’s all in Episode 19 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred, as always, we will do it all in under 30 minutes. More episodes and info available at Garden Basics with Farmer Fredhttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629. Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available just about anywhere podcasts are handed out. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating. Got a garden question? There are several ways to get in touch: call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local. All About Farmer Fred: Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog Facebook: "Get Growing with Farmer Fred" Instagram: farmerfredhoffman Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube Garden columnist, Lodi News-Sentinel