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Soil Sampling – Now is a Great Time to Start

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It’s that time of year again, and I’m not talking about football or the changing of the seasons. It is soil testing time! Right now is the best time to test your soil. According to the former director of West Virginia University’s state soil testing laboratory, soil samples taken in late summer and fall are better than those taken in winter through spring because they come closer to representing the soil’s nutrient level as it affects plants.

Why test soil? Proper fertility is the foundation for successful crops, gardens, and lawns. Soil testing provides information about the nutrient level of the soil and the amounts of lime and fertilizer needed to maximize production.

To obtain proper lime and fertilizer recommendations for your soil, it is important to send a high quality soil sample to the lab for analysis. The soil sample collected needs to be representative of the area being tested. For small areas and lawns, take 7 to 10 randomly selected soil borings. For a large field, subdivide into 10 acre plots and take 20 – 30 borings for each 10 acre plot. Avoid taking borings from abnormal areas (wet spots, bare spots, eroded areas, etc.); for it will not be representative of the sampling area.

Most OSU extension offices have a soil probe to loan out so call ahead to check the availability of the probe – it really makes taking a soil boring much easier and quicker. Using an auger, shovel, spade, or soil probe and a clean plastic pail or container, remove vegetation and take small uniform cores or thin slices from the soil surface to the recommended depth (contact OSU Extension office for depth recommendation).

Mix the borings together by gently crushing the soil. Discard any roots, stones or any other organic matter; like grass, leaves, worms, etc. Then take a sample of all the mixed borings; about one cup of soil. A wet soil sample must be air-dried in in a shady clean spot before mailing.  Never heat the sample or put it in direct sunlight.

Place the sample into in a plastic zip-lock bag and label it. Lastly, deliver the soil sample to a soil testing service center or the local extension office. Allow up to three weeks for the samples to be processed and results made available. The soil sample results will make recommendations on how much lime and fertilizer to add. Just remember, lime is typically added in the fall and fertilizer is typical added in the season it is needed.

For more information about soil testing, please contact your local OSU Extension office or click the link to OSU’s factsheet, “Soil Testing for Ohio Lawns, Landscapes, Fruit Crops, and Vegetable Gardens”: http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1132

Food Plots and Habitat Improvement to Benefit Wildlife

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During the recent Farm Science Review I was given the opportunity to speak at the Gwynne Conservation Area on a topic of my choosing.  The guidelines were that it had to be Natural Resources focused as that is what that area deals with.  I have been doing some Food Plot stuff here in county so it seemed natural to pick that topic for the Gwynne.

Here is an overhead view of where I will plant.  Not a bad spot, not a great spot.  It has water although you cannot see it, but Deer Creek runs right behind it and a pond is right in front.  It has some trees but no good mast trees and not enough soft edges.  Site selection of plots is paramount, and cover is as important as food.  As the saying goes “they will visit if there is food, they will stay if there is cover”

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I will plant in the spot that has birdhouses

So here is the spot I will get to use.  It was a weed choked wasteland, but was burnt down with glyphosate and lightly tilled.

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And a  wild game seed mix was broadcast by hand on to the top of the soil.  Not a bad seed choice by variety: some rye, triticale, clover, oats and forage rape(a brassica).  That is cold hardy with nitrogen fixing, protein and some cereal grains.  Deer and Turkey will love it.

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This was done around August 1st.  Then it basically got hot and forgot to rain for weeks.  When I would go back to look at the plot I would see dry seed getting gobbled up by birds.   A soil test was done but was misplaced and turned in only a week before the Review.  No biggie,  I did not have the funds to fertilize, was more interested in seeing what the soil looked like.

Here is the soil test.

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Yikes that is a crazy soil test.  Totally different than what I see in Hocking.  High pH with increased calcium and magnesium.  Not a ton of fertility and a low organic matter percentage.  Basically we planted in poor soil, did not fertilize, did not use herbicides and planted at the wrong time.  I basically did everything wrong.  And it showed.

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Too bad deer and turkey don’t love foxtail, thistle, milkweed and wild parsnip.   I did see some cool stuff in there though, like the Monarch caterpillars on the milkweed.

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And the Black Swallowtail caterpillars on the wild parsnip(they like everything in that family of plants – celery, parsley, carrots, dill, etc..)

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It was a successful class as I used this opportunity to show what NOT to do and quite honestly that can be just as effective.  Next year I think I will do it a little differently.  Maybe do half correct and half incorrect, I have the incorrect part down pat.

Let me know if you want to incorporate a wildlife plot on your land.  It is probably too late to get going planting from scratch, but not too late to plan and do site evaluation.  In fact fall is the perfect time for that.

The Urban Farm at Southeast Ohio Regional Kitchen

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I am starting a project at the Southeast Regional Kitchen here in Hocking County that has the potential to impact many people in the Buckeye Hills region in a positive way.  The Southeast Ohio Regional Kitchen is a part of HAPCAP(Hocking, Athens, Perry Community Action) and is also part of the Southeast Ohio Regional Food Bank.   This Food Bank is the distribution hub for Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Morgan, Perry, Vinton and Washington counties.

In the ten county service area 1 in 6 individuals are considered food insecure including 1 in 4 children.  Our aim in this project to try to improve on those numbers.  In Hocking county we have many trees, but few food producing farms.  My project is to partner with the SEO Regional Kitchen to start an urban farm on unused land on their grounds to grow our own food.   My farming partner will be Sam Gress, Food Services Coordinator at the Kitchen.  We will start by providing food for seniors in Hocking county using their federal Senior Farmer’s Market vouchers and then expand the farm.

To start the farm, we need to start growing something.   Sam and I put in a perennial herb garden last week which once we finish our paperwork with the state, makes us farmers.  We started with a weedy overgrown ornamental bed:

Phase I: Perennial herb garden

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Cleared out the weeds and amended with compost

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And then planted three flats of donated perennial herbs which can be sold or added to the commodity distributions or in the cooking/processing for meals on wheels. (Thanks to Rick Webb, Webb Perennials, Logan OH for the herbs and Athens-Hocking Recycling center Athens, OH for the mulch)

 

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Phase II of the project will be started in fall of 2016 and will be the addition to six raised beds to start vegetable production.

Phase III of the project tentatively scheduled for 2018 is the addition of more raised beds and a possible hoop house/high tunnel for seed propagation and season extension.

We hope to expand distribution to other counties in the future.  The Buckeye Hills counties that are served by the SEO Regional Kitchen are Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Morgan, Perry and Washington.

Oak Leaf Itch Mite

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A couple weeks ago a story was circulating on social media about oak mites in the Cleveland area. Reports indicated that people were being bitten by the mites and that the bites could cause startling skin reactions. It sparked quite a bit of discussion and concern in social circles, giving me the inspiration to write about the tiny critters.

The oak leaf itch mite (pictured below), Pyemotes herfsi, is a mite that primarily feeds on midge flies. Midge flies create galls (also pictured below) on the margins of oak leaves, where their larvae feed and grow. The mites colonize the galls and feed on the larvae. This feeding pattern makes the oak mite preferential to oak trees, particularly pin oaks and red oaks. The mites are so tiny that they cannot be seen by the naked eye. The interaction between oak mites and humans occurs when a person comes near an infested oak tree. The mites may fall from the tree’s canopy or be blown from the tree by the wind, inadvertently landing on a passerby. Then mites may accidently bite the person. Humans are not a host for these mites. They will not colonize in homes or cars or on pets.

The oak mite’s bite can produce an itchy, swollen, and red rash that may be accompanied by small raised bumps. The bites themselves do not leave lasting damage, but itching the irritating rash could lead to a secondary bacterial infection. Therefore, calamine lotions and hydrocortisone creams are often recommended to reduce inflammation and itching.

The mites are most active in late summer and into the fall. Most people encounter them while raking leaves. Controlling the mite population is difficult and rarely accomplished, because the mites find protection within the leaf galls created by the midge flies. The best way to avoid the mites is to limit time near infested trees, launder clothes, and shower promptly after working near the tree.

There have been reports of the oak leaf itch mites in the Southeastern Ohio region, but there is no need to panic. They mite populations will begin to die off with the first frost. In addition, the midge flies and the mites rarely have a detrimental impact on the overall health of oak trees in the landscape.OakItchMiteUSDA_2016
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What, there are three different types of photosynthesis?

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As if Photosynthesis was not complicated enough, there are actually different variations of how plants convert CO2 (Carbon dioxide) to C6H12O6 (Carbohydrates).  Plants have various physiologies to adapt to various environments on earth.  Alfalfa for instance can remain persistent and prolific during certain drought episodes due to its deep taproot that can help the plant utilize deep water sources.  In term this causes the Alfalfa legume to be sensitive to poorly drained soils that are not very permeable to surface water.  So the question someone could ask is; do all desert plants have long roots?  The answer is no, but one way desert plants conserve water and grow in a hot and arid climate is by the way they photosynthesize.

The three main types of photosynthesis are C3, C4, and CAM (crassulacean acid metabolism).  In college I had to memorize some of their pathways and mechanisms, but I will highlight what gives one an advantage over another and what types of crops, forages, and weeds have specialized C3 and C4 photosynthesis.  This will tell us why they can do well in certain climates and times of the year and when we can expect certain plants to be more abundant.

Rubisco is the name of the enzyme (protein) that “grabs” the CO2 molecule and puts it into the assembly line that will create the carbohydrates.  It is known as the most abundant protein in the world.  When we examine the quality of feed in our forages, it is rubisco that makes up most of the protein value in the forage analysis.  That is one of the main reasons leaves are desired over stems in hay.

C3 photosynthesis is the predominant way plants will take in carbon dioxide and produce carbohydrates.  In C3 photosynthesis Rubisco takes the CO2 and it is reduced into carbohydrates all in the same place and time.  By that, I mean in the same cell chloroplast and during the day (sunshine) when the stomata are open and the CO2 is entering the cell and the water is leaving through the same opening.  The issue with this is that it has the greatest water loss and during very high photosynthetic times (July) it becomes stressful for the plant.  Another issue is that oxygen is generated during photosynthesis and the oxygen will inhibit rubisco and slow photosynthesis down when the system is running very fast.  It seems counterintuitive, but the slow down allows the plant to deal with too much light that could cause damage.  Ever notice that cool season grasses do not grow too fast in July and August?  Cool season grasses have a C3 photosynthesis mechanism.

Now let us transition to some of the C4 grasses, also known as “warm season grasses” such as corn, sorghum, crab grass, sugarcane, bermuda grass, and foxtail.  These plants have rubisco in one cell and they have a mechanism of pulling the CO2 in a different cell that is connected by openings between the cells called plasmodesmata connecting the two cells together.  So what happens is that the plant can concentrate its CO2 where the rubisco is located and prevent that oxygen inhibition caused in the C3 mechanism.   These plants don’t have that high sunlight, July inhibition.  In addition to that, the specialization of the cells allows for approximately 40% less water usage per weight of CO2 reduction.  This just means that it is 40% more efficient in water usage on average.  There is always variation among species.  C4 plants can also partially close their stomata to prevent water loss and because they concentrate the CO2 in a different area, the oxygen will not inhibit the rubisco enzyme.  This is one of the major reasons why warm season paddocks are desired in a rotational grazing operation.  It allows for growth during the July and August time period, when the cool season, C3 grasses are inhibited and not actively growing.

Here is the misconception; many dicots (broadleaves) are also C4 plants, it is not just the grasses!  Sedges and many of the Amaranthus species are C4 plants, they seem to be the largest plant families in this C4-broadleaf category.  So Palmer Amaranth and Spiny Amaranth, along with the sedges do great in July and August.  The fact that they are C4 plants could be contributing to this phenomenon. Knowing this allows a farmer to possibly tackle a weed before it takes over a field when a desirable cool season crop could be growing slowly or possibly dormant.  Only 1% of all known plant species have C4 metabolism and even less have CAM metabolism.

Finally there is CAM photosynthesis. CAM is found in desert plants.  What these plants do is open up their stomata at night to allow CO2 in to minimize the water loss during the hot days.  The CO2 is stored in the plant vacuole as malic acid during the night.  When the desert sun comes out, the stomatal openings are closed and the CO2 is “removed” from the malic acid to then be introduced to rubisco and make carbohydrates.  By comparison, CAM is even more water efficient than C4 is.  If C4 is 40% more water efficient, CAM is 83% more efficient as compared to most C3 photosynthetic processes.  Cacti, many succulents, and the pineapple have CAM photosynthetic metabolism.

 

Resources:

  1. Taiz and Zeiger, Plant Physiology Ed. 3
  2. Christin and Edwards, The C4 plant lineages of planet Earth, Journal of Experimental Botany

 

CATTLEMEN’S ROUNDUP & OARDC BEEF AND FORAGE NIGHT

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Friday, August 26th is OARDC Jackson’s Beef and Forage Night which will be held in conjunction with the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association Roundup on Saturday, August 27th. Both events require registration. Friday’s registration is due by August 23rd and Saturday’s is due by August 15th. Follow the links above to find out more information. Registration for one or both events can be made online by clicking here.

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Farm Science Review 2016

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Farm Science Review (FSR) 2016 will be held Sept. 20-22 at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center near London, Ohio. Farm Science Review offers farmers and other visitors the opportunity to learn about the latest agricultural innovations from experts from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) at The Ohio State University.

Farm Science Review offers visitors nearly 180 educational presentations and opportunities presented by educators, specialists and faculty from Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC).  Annually FSR draws between 110,000 and 130,000 farmers, growers, producers and agricultural enthusiasts from across the U.S. and Canada and offers more than 4,000 product lines from 630 commercial exhibitors. To view the full schedule of events and presentations click here.

Advance tickets for the Farm Science Review are $7 at all OSU Extension county offices, many local agribusinesses and online (click here). Tickets are $10 at the gate. Children 5 and younger are admitted free. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 20-21 and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 22.

If you plan to visit FSR for more than one day, there are many lodging options available in the London area. Some offer discounts for FSR attendance, be sure to mention it when making reservations. Golf carts will be permitted on the grounds for visitors with a documented disability or a doctor’s excuse. Privately owned carts are permitted on the grounds, but must be checked in with a $10 fee and rentals will be available from The Golf Cart Company. Call 1-800-589-8833 to make reservations or fill out the reservation form online.

Farm Science Review tickets are available until September 18th at the following Noble County locations:

Noble County OSU Extension Office, L & H Tractor, Agland Co-op, Jones Feed, and M&M Feed and Supply

Container Gardening class at Hocking Valley Community Hospital Wednesday September 7th at 6pm

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I am working on a really neat project right now that I am excited about.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Latricia Johnston, Director of HVCH Foundation and Community Relations for the Hocking Valley Community Hospital about helping them design a project to celebrate their upcoming 50th anniversary.  They have an event upcoming and wanted to show off the hospital which they are rightfully proud of.   We bounced some ideas on the phone to come up with something cool.

They have a really neat courtyard in the middle of the hospital.

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The plan is to plant a container vegetable and herb garden with 5 different stations of containers that will be used as a display of healthy produce with a collaboration from HVCH Nutrition and Food Services.  The timeline was to have this done by the end of September.  That was not a ton of time to get a veggie garden fully planted, but with some awesome donations from Rick Webb of Webb’s Perennials and two runs to get dirt in my truck I got the herbs, tomatoes, and peppers in.  More veggies will follow in late summer.

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The garden is coming along nicely and should make a great display for their 50th anniversary event.  I wish it would rain so the Master Gardener Volunteers and myself did not have to make so many watering trips but what can you do about that?  I will be teaching a class on container gardening in concert with Denise Kiamy, Director of Nutrition and Food Services in September.   Info is below courtesy of the HVCH weekly newsletter.  It is free and open to the public and will showcase how anyone can have a garden even if you do not have a yard.

Gardening class at HVCH Sept. 7

 

Hocking Valley Community Hospital in partnership with Ohio State University Extension presents: Successful Strategies & Healthful Benefits for Growing Herbs and Vegetables in Containers.

Growing in containers can let the home gardener have a successful gardening season even if they have limited space and time. Come learn the basics of container gardening with a presentation as well as hands-on display of a container herb and vegetable garden. Gardeners of all skill levels are welcome to attend this free class taught by Tim McDermott, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Ohio State Extension.

Denise Kiamy, Director of Nutrition & Food Services will share the nutritional benefits of eating the fruits of your own labor! Join our guest speakers in the HVCH Courtyard on Wednesday, September 7th at 6 p.m. Please call 740-380-8336 to register for this FREE event. Limited seating is available. Snacks to be served made from the container produce.

Horseflies Are Back

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Horseflies are building in population here in Southeast Ohio. There are several species of horse flies in Ohio ranging in size from 3/8″ – 1 1/8″ in length. All are aggressive and vicious biters. Horse flies have specialized vision that allows them to see heat; they literally use thermal imaging to locate their hosts. The flies are also able to track large moving objects, particularly dark colored objects, even while the flies are in fast flight. Taken together, their visual acuity allows them to effectively zero in on large, savory, warm blooded animals like cows, deer, people, and of course, horses. Unfortunately for the flies, their visual perception may also cause them to be fooled. A dark colored moving car or tractor that has been warmed by the summer sun looks to a horse fly like a dark, galloping horse, which is why they sometimes chase me when I am on the tractor!

There are a number of things you can do to keep yourself off the horse fly menu. If possible, avoid horse fly habitat. Their larvae feed on decaying organic matter in moist soil, so horse flies are frequently found in swamps or near streams and ponds. If you can’t avoid their habitat, schedule your activities to avoid the flies. Horse flies are active during the day; they can’t find their hosts at night. So, evening pool parties will be free of horse flies. If you must venture into horse fly habitat during the day, remain alert and take precautions. Most flies are silent flyers while horse flies produce a loud, buzzing sound. When you hear the buzz, locate the fly because horse flies love to land stealthily for a quick bite. However, avoid running; remember that horse flies are attracted to moving objects! Wear light clothing. Finally, while insect repellents may provide some protection, horse flies are very good at finding unprotected skin. Long sleeves, long pants, and neckerchiefs can help to thwart the flies.