GMO-Free Seeds

So, when you are looking for garden seeds this spring, you can rest assured that whether you choose “organic”, “heirloom”, or hybrid seeds, there are no GM-seeds in your cart. If you are particularly concerned, remember that there are only nine commercially available GM-crops from seed - corn, soybeans, cotton, alfalfa, sugar beets, canola, papaya, squash and potato. So don’t get suckered in to paying extra for GM-free wheat seed or cucumber seeds – they are all non-GM.

The seed catalogs have started showing up in the mail and its time to plan the spring garden. If you are a gardener who strives to be socially responsible, you may be wondering where you can safely purchase seeds that are GMO-free. In fact, many small seed companies have signed a “safe seed pledge” stating that they do not knowingly buy, sell or trade genetically modified (GM) plants. This safe seed pledge raises a lot of questions, and implies that other seeds out there on the market are genetically modified but is this true?

First, lets talk a little bit about genetic modification or genetic engineering. Every food crop that we grow and eat has been modified from its original wild form. Humans have been saving seed and selecting for crop traits for thousands of years through plant breeding. Many of our crops bear little or no resemblance to their wild ancestors. The terms “genetically modified” (GM), “genetically modified organism” (GMO), genetically engineered or transgenic are typically applied to crops where the DNA has been modified through a specific process where several genes are added or removed. The genes that are added may be from a completely unrelated organism – this is a process that would be difficult if not impossible to achieve through regular plant breeding. Crops may be modified for a variety of reasons. Examples include: to make them more resistant to insects or diseases, more drought tolerant, resistant to certain herbicides, or improve storage quality. GM-crops must be tested to ensure that they are safe to eat and nutritionally similar to the non-GM version of that crop before they are allowed on the market. We aren’t going to get in to all the reasons that crops are genetically modified or debate whether or not crops should be genetically modified, but rather discuss when or if GMOs can make it in to your vegetable garden.

So where can you find genetically modified organisms? Well they are all over the grocery store, in your clothes and in the gasoline that you put in your car. In the United States, there are nine crops commercially available from GM-seed: corn, soybeans, cotton, alfalfa, sugar beets, canola, papaya, squash and potato. That’s it. A GM-apple has been approved and is coming to the market soon but isn’t available yet. A GM-tomato, the Flavr Savr tomato, was approved but was only marketed for three years and is no longer on the market. If you buy processed foods containing corn, sugar or soy, chances are good that you are buying GM-products unless the food is specifically labelled as organic or GMO-free. GM-corn is used in the production of ethanol, commonly added to gasoline. GM-cotton can be found in clothing and other fiber-products. GM-crops are frequently used in animal feed for the production of beef, pork, and chicken.

However, you are not likely to find GMOs in your home vegetable. For gardeners, there is no one selling genetically engineered seeds to home gardeners. Seed companies put a lot of money and effort in to producing their GM crops. When GM seeds are sold to commercial farmers, farmers are required to sign a contract that protects the company’s investment in their patented plant technology. These companies do not sell GM-crops to the home garden market or to garden centers. Even Monsanto’s subsidiary, Seminis, does not sell GM-seeds to the home garden market. I guess you might be able to pass yourself off as a farmer and access GM seeds that way but that would take some effort and ingenuity on your part. This means that the “safe seed pledge” is fairly meaningless. In fact, it is a marketing strategy designed to take advantage of consumers who do not know that GM-seeds are not freely available to the home gardener.

You certainly will find GM crops in the grocery store, gas station or clothing store, but you aren’t likely to find them in your vegetable garden.

Do you want to become a Master Gardener Volunteer?

Onslow County Master Gardener Volunteer Class Starts March 7, 2016

Master Gardener Volunteer, Rebecca Ingram, answers clients’ questions in the Plant Clinic

The Onslow County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension is offering a Master Gardener Volunteer class starting March 7, 2016.  The Master Gardener Volunteer Program is a joint endeavor of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service and volunteers who wish to learn how to be better gardeners and help other gardeners by sharing their knowledge.  The program is designed to recruit and train volunteers to help meet the educational needs of the citizens of Onslow County.

Class participants learn about a wide variety of gardening subjects including vegetables, fruits, lawn grasses, shrubs, flowers and trees.  The training focuses on developing diagnostic skills for insects and diseases of plants.  Classes are also given on landscaping for water quality, soils, composting, propagation, wildlife control and much, much more!

Master Gardeners receive 40 hours of training and after graduation they provide 40 hours of volunteer work in the community.  Master Gardeners are involved in a range of community projects including: answering homeowner inquires at the Extension office and Farmers’ Market, mailing information bulletins to homeowners, conducting plant clinics, working with school children on special horticultural projects, talking to garden clubs, working on community beautification projects and developing the new Discovery Gardens of Onslow.

The 2016 Master Gardener course will begin March 7 and run through May 11.  Classes normally will be taught Monday and Wednesday mornings from 9:00 am until noon.  There are several field trips as well.  Cost for the course is $100, which includes a comprehensive Master Gardener Manual.  Please make checks payable to Onslow County CES. Checks must be mailed in no later than February 19, 2016.

We are currently taking applications for the 2016 course.  If you are interested, please call the North Carolina Cooperative Extension - Onslow County Center at (910) 455-5873, and request an application.  Space in the class is limited

Become a Master Gardener Volunteer!!

Onslow County Master Gardener Volunteer Class Starts June 8

Rebecca researches and answers questions for a client.

The Onslow County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension is offering a Master Gardener Volunteer class starting June 8.  The Master Gardener Volunteer Program is a joint endeavor of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service and volunteers who wish to learn how to be better gardeners and help other gardeners by sharing their knowledge.  The program is designed to recruit and train volunteers to help meet the educational needs of the citizens of Onslow County.

Class participants learn about a wide variety of gardening subjects including vegetables, fruits, lawn grasses, shrubs, flowers and trees.  The training focuses on developing diagnostic skills for insects and diseases of plants.  Classes are also given on landscaping for water quality, soils, composting, propagation, wildlife control and much, much more!

Teri harvests lettuce at the Tarawa Terrace Community Garden. 

Master Gardeners receive 40 hours of training and after graduation they provide 40 hours of volunteer work in the community.  Master Gardeners are involved in a range of community projects including: answering homeowner inquires at the Extension Office and Farmer’s Market, mailing out information bulletins to homeowners, conducting plant clinics, working with school children on special horticultural projects, talking to garden clubs, working on community beautification projects and developing the new Discovery Gardens of Onslow.

The 2015 Master Gardener course will begin June 8 and run through August 10.  Classes will usually be taught Monday and Wednesday mornings from 9:00 am until noon with the occasional field trip being held outside normal class hours.  Cost for the course is $100, which includes a comprehensive Master Gardener Manual.

If you are interested in the 2015 course, please call the North Carolina Cooperative Extension - Onslow County Center at (910) 455-5873, and request an application.  Space in the class is limited.

Tom works in the Discovery Gardens.

Keeping Backyard Chickens/ Class Offered March 14

As the days slowly lengthen, my small flock of hens is starting to lay again.  This year marks the fourth season that my girls have been in lay.  As they age, egg production has started to drop off and their non-laying molting period has increased.  As spring approaches, I am considering bringing new chickens into the flock to rejuvenate it. 

I am certainly not alone, the popularity of backyard chicken flocks has increased greatly in the past couple of years.  It is a natural fit as people have become involved with the local food movement and developing more self-sufficient home garden systems.  Chickens provide a healthy source of protein, bug control in the garden, and nutrient rich manure to add to the compost pile, not to mention that they make fun, entertaining pets as well.  If you are thinking about raising chickens, keep in mind the following considerations.

First, check your local ordinances to determine if keeping chickens is legal and, if so, what restrictions (including number, sex and setback limitations) apply.  Some communities limit the number of birds you can keep and many prohibit roosters altogether.  A call to your local animal control or zoning officer will give you the information you need.  If you live in a subdivision, your homeowners associations may have additional restrictions.  In Jacksonville, chickens are permitted but are not allowed to be a noise or smell nuisance.  This means it is advisable to not keep roosters if you are within the city limits.  In Swansboro, chickens are permitted but limited to six hens and roosters are prohibited.  

Once you have done your homework, consider how much space you have to work with.  Each chicken needs adequate space in the coop and run.  Figure a minimum of 4 square feet per bird within the coop and an additional 5-6 square feet in the outside run.  You can certainly provide more space – my birds enjoy a large run and spend time free ranging in the yard each day as well.  The more space your chickens have, the fewer stress related problems you will have. 

Once you determine how many birds you have space for, you’ll need to decide how many chickens you want.  On average, a laying breed hen will produce around 2 eggs every 3 days (or up to 15 dozen eggs) during her first year and then her productivity will decline with each subsequent season.  By her fourth year, egg production will have dropped off significantly. 

Young hens lay smaller eggs, egg size increases with maturity.

Now, this brings up an important question.  What do you plan to do with your ladies after their productive years are passed?  In the past, a non-productive hen would be turned into a batch of chicken soup.  While this may still be an option (again, check your local ordinances), many of us prefer not to have to dispatch Penny or Gertrude after enjoying their company in the garden for several seasons.  If you plan to keep your “retired” hens on as pensioners, include their numbers when you figure out the size of the coop that you will need.  Remember that a hen can live 8-10 years or more! 

In some urban areas, animal control offices are now faced with increasing numbers of hens that have been relinquished as they pass their productive years.  Remember that chickens, like other pets and livestock, are a commitment and you will need to have a game plan for what happens after the eggs stop coming. 

Once you have decided how many birds you want, it’s time to select a breed or two to build your flock around.  Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, and Orpingtons are heritage breeds that perform well in North Carolina but others will do just as well. 

A selection of Buff Orpington and Silver Wyandotte hens.

When starting your flock, you can chose to buy day-old chicks and brood them yourself or purchase older birds.  While little chicks require some extra effort and care, it is an enjoyable process and a great way to get children interested.  It is quite possible to set up a small brooder in a large storage tote or other container.  If you opt to go this route, remember to order sexed chicks from the nursery.  This way, you won’t wind up with an overabundance of roosters.  Roosters are not necessary for egg production and there isn’t room for more than one rooster in a small flock.  Alternatively, you can buy pullets.  Pullets are young hens that are about to start laying.  You will pay a lot more for pullets but it saves you the effort and time of raising baby chicks.

If you think you would like to add chickens to your yard, check out the NCSU publication available online, Keeping Garden Chickens.  This publication provides details on housing requirements, feeding guidelines and healthcare and is available here: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/poulsci/tech_manuals/Backyard_Chickens.pdf.

Onslow County Cooperative Extension will be offering a Keeping Backyard Chickens class on March 14 at 10 am.  Hosted by Jacksonville Recreation and Parks, the class is located at 100 Recreation Lane.  Please call 910.938.5312 to register.  The class is free and open to the public.    

Camellia Festival and Sale

Don't forget, the 2015 Camellia Festival and Sale, sponsored by the Onslow County Master Gardener Volunteers, will be held Saturday, February 21, 2015, at the Onslow County Multi-Purpose Building. The Festival will run from 9:00 A.M.-3:00 P.M. The Festival will include an amateur camellia show, informational seminars, a camellia sale, camellia displays, artwork displays, a raffle, and a bake sale. The amateur camellia competition is open to the public.  So bring your blooms and let them shine!  The seminars will focus on camellias and related gardening topics.  All proceeds will be used to further the educational and outreach efforts of the Onslow County Master Gardener Volunteer Association. 

Camellias will be for sale at the Festival, as well as pre-ordered. To see a selection of the camellias available or to preorder your favorite variety – see the links below.  Numbers of each variety are limited so if you have your heart set on one, consider pre-ordering it to reserve yours.

http://onslow.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Camellia-Final-Preorder-Form.pdf

http://onslow.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Camellia-Final-Preorder-Photo-List-2015.pdf

Pre-order forms can be mailed to:

Onslow County Master Gardener Volunteers

4024 Richlands Highway, Jacksonville NC 28540

For more information, find us on Facebook at Gardening in Onslow County.

Peas and Potatoes

Adirondack Blue, Red Pontiac and Yukon Gold potatoes.

Winter isn’t gone yet but I can’t resist the urge to get out in the garden and plant.  Peas and potatoes are two of my favorite spring vegetables – for one reason because they are tasty but I think even more so because they are one of the first vegetables that I can plant as winter starts to fade in to spring. 

Garden peas, and their edible-podded relatives, snow peas and sugar snaps are easy and productive crops to grow.  In coastal areas, peas can be planted outside as early as mid-January.  As you move further inland, delay planting by a week or two but make sure to get in the ground by mid-February at the latest.  These cool season vegetables need to mature before hot weather sets in. 

Peas should be grown from seed in the garden.  Soaking your pea seeds before planting will speed germination.  Place them in a jar of water and soak them for 6-8 hours just before planting.  I often set mine to soak the night before and plant them the next morning. 

Sow seeds an inch deep and one to two inches apart. Water well after sowing and keep moist until seedlings begin to emerge, usually within seven to ten days. Peas are a vining crop and benefit from a low trellis or even just a row of branches to climb on.

Fresh peas will be ready to harvest 65 to 80 days after planting. Tasty raw or cooked, many of my sugar snap and snow peas never make it as far as the house.

Potatoes are great fun to grow and a neat way to get kids interested in the garden.  Potatoes can be planted in mid-February.  Purchase seed potatoes from a garden center.  These small potatoes have been grown under special conditions to ensure that they are free of diseases.  Seed potatoes usually give better results than potatoes purchased from the grocery store or those held over from the previous season. 

Kennebec and Red Pontiac are classic varieties that do well in coastal North Carolina but I have great results with Yukon Gold.  I love the moist texture and buttery taste of this gold-fleshed variety. 

Cut seed potatoes into pieces that are each about the size of an egg and container at least one eye.  You can plant your seed pieces right away or sprout them indoors for a few weeks by placing them in a warm, sunny location. 

Plant seed pieces six inches deep and ten inches apart in the row with three feet between rows. Keep in mind twelve pounds of seed potatoes can plant around one hundred feet of row and yield over two hundred pounds of spuds.  Potatoes can also be grown successfully in large containers – I grow mine in 25 gallon pots but people have also been successful with trashcans, large baskets and similar containers. 

As the shoots grow, “hill up” around the base of the plants with soil or mulch.  New tubers are set between the seed potato and the surface of the soil.  Depending on the variety, potatoes will take 85-110 days to grow to maturity.  When the tops of the plants start to die back, it is time to dig the potatoes.  Harvesting potatoes is a bit of a treasure hunt and fun for children of all ages!

Other cool season vegetables that you can plant in February include lettuce, spinach, radish, mustard, turnip greens, beets, turnips, kohlrabi, carrots, cabbage and broccoli.