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Extension Perspectives

                      Waldo County Cooperative Extension's Monthly Newsletter                        

Grow Sweet Potatoes This Year

by Jean English. Copyright 2009

Sweet potatoes in Maine? Yes! And gardeners who want to start their own plants can do so now. At the 2008 Farmer to Farmer Conference, put on by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and Maine Cooperative Extension, Farmers Mark Guzzi of Peacemeal Farm in Dixmont and Roberta Snell of Snell Family Farms in Buxton talked about their experiences growing sweet potatoes. Dr. Becky Grube of the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension described her research and N.H. growers’ experiences with the crop. Here’s a brief “how-to.” A detailed report on the sweet potato session is posted at www.mofga.org under “Publications” & “Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener,” Spring 2009.

Sweet potatoes are grown from “slips,” which are rooted cuttings of sprouts that grow from the potatoes. You can encourage a sweet potato to send out sprouts by setting it horizontally in moist sand, perlite or vermiculite and keeping it at 75 to 80 degrees (next to the wood stove, for instance, or on top of a water heater). Use an organic sweet potato for sprouting; non-organic sweet potatoes are often treated with sprout inhibitors.

Once sprouts appear, set the sweet potato root in a sunny window. As sprouts grow to 6 inches long or so, twist them off the sweet potato and stick them in a glass of water to root. These are your slips. (If you don’t want to grow your own slips, you can buy them from Johnny’s Selected Seeds; other sources are listed in the article www.mofga.org 

Plant rooted slips in the garden after all danger of frost has passed and once the soil is warm—usually around the first week of June. The soil should be well drained, not too fertile, and have a pH of 6.5 to 6.8. Set the slips about a foot apart within rows that are at least 3 feet apart. Planting them through black plastic will provide the warm soil that promotes their growth best, but you can grow them without plastic.

Dig sweet potatoes in the fall, around late September. They can take a light frost but not a hard frost then. Cure the potatoes by exposing them to warm temperatures (85 degrees, if possible) for about a week. This will help heal any wounds on the surface of the vegetables so that they last longer in storage. Store the potatoes at 55 to 60 F and 75 to 80 percent relative humidity, much like winter squash. Temperatures under 50 can easily damage the roots. They take a few weeks in storage to develop their sweet flavor.

This article is provided by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), PO Box 170, Unity, ME 04988; 207-568-4142; mofga@mofga.org; www.mofga.org. Joining MOFGA helps support and promote organic farming and gardening in Maine and helps Maine consumers enjoy more healthful, Maine-grown food. Copyright 2009.

CALENDAR

Pricing Products and Services
for Small and Home-Based Business Owners

 May 13, 2009   9 am–12 pm

UMaine Extension, 992 Waterville Rd, Waldo (off Route 137)

One key to business success is setting a profitable price for your business product or service.  This workshop will help business owners of start-up and existing businesses develop a profitable pricing strategy.  Practical case studies will be used to demonstrate various pricing methods.

Improve your odds of success by learning all you can. 
Make decisions based on research. 
Take time to be informed.

An $5.00 donation is requested to cover the cost of workshop materials & refreshments. 
Space is limited to the first 15 people who pre-register.

Visit www.extension.umaine.edu/waldo/business/workshops to register, or call 1-800-287-1426

           May Garden Activities          

? Once your soils have dried out you can till to prepare your vegetable garden for planting of early crops like peas, onions, potatoes, lettuce, etc. Wait until the soil has warmed up before you try to plant beans, cucumbers or the vine crops.

? Be vigilant for the red lily leaf beetles that will be laying eggs on your Asiatic lilies.  The larvae are yellow and carry their excrement on their backs for a disgusting camouflage.  You can start hand picking the adult beetles and the larvae to cut down on your infestation.  Contact the Extension Office for pesticide recommendations to control this pest. 

? Now you can start your vine crops such as pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelon, and squash.  They should be set out in your main garden spot four weeks after you start them in individual pots.

? Monitor the seedlings that you started earlier this spring.  Water carefully since over- watering is the death of many seedlings.

? Enjoy beautiful bouquets of daffodils and other spring flowering bulbs that you planted last fall.  The lilacs will be in bloom before you know it.

New Publications! 

Insulated Window treatments and Coverings   Item #7214, Free Download
Properly designed insulated window coverings can significantly reduce heat loss through windows. Find out how the window treatments you may already have, such as roller shades and draperies, can provide some insulative benefit. Learn how to make two types of insulated Roman shades, as well as simple clip-on insulation boards for north-facing windows. 6 pages, 2009 Maine Home Energy Series

Home Heating Safety   Item #7218, Free Download
Fires and accidents caused by home heating equipment are largely preventable if you clean, maintain, and use equipment properly. Review general safety tips as well as those specific to electric and kerosene space heaters, wood stoves and fireplaces, and heating emergencies. 4 pages, 2009   Maine Home Energy Series,

Match Your Need to the Right Breed: Choosing a Bird for the Home Flock Item #2104, Free Download
Expanded and updated! Provides guidance on finding the appropriate breed to suit your purpose. Discusses strains or crosses for brown, dark-brown, white, and tinted egg layers; strains or crosses for meat production; dual-purpose breeds; exhibition breeds; bantams; turkeys; ducks; geese; and guineas. 5 pages, 2009 Maine Poultry Facts Series

Lily Leaf Beetle   Item #2450, Free Download
The lily leaf beetle (LLB), which feeds on the leaves, stems, buds, and flowers of native and exotic lilies, has become widespread in New England. This European pest defoliates lilies, reducing plant vigor and flowering. Learn about LLB biology and control methods. 2 pages, 2009.

Order publications at www.extensionpubs.umext.maine.edu or call (207) 581-3792

Skunks are famous for their odorous defensive spray. When alarmed or threatened, skunks have been known to spray people, pets, and automobiles. They also spray in basements, garages, window wells, and under porches. Skunk musk can temporarily blind and stun individuals unlucky enough to be sprayed in the face. Victims experience watering eyes, nasal irritation, and nausea. The rabies virus is not transmitted through skunk musk.

Skunk musk is composed primarily of seven ingredients, six of which are sulfur-containing thiols that give the skunk musk its awful smell. Humans can smell skunk musk in concentrations as low as one part per billion.

Never overlook the simple act of taking a shower and washing clothes to mitigate skunk odor. Time, air, soap and water, and ammonia in water are recommended to remove odor from fabrics. Other treatments include washing items with a strong soap, a heavy-duty laundry detergent, or borax. Be sure to follow any directions that are specific to washing a particular fabric.

A chemist by the name of Paul Krebaum discovered a solution that chemically neutralizes skunk odor. The ingredients for the formulation are:

                                                1 quart 3 percent hydrogen peroxide (fresh bottle)

1/4 cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

1-2 teaspoons liquid dish soap.

Ingredients must be mixed in an open container and used immediately. Never mix the ingredients in advance because oxygen released from hydrogen peroxide may cause a closed container to explode. The solution can be used on people or pets; avoid splashing the product in the eyes or mouth. Allow the solution to remain on hair for five minutes before rinsing with water. Repeat as needed. Do not use this solution on clothing — it may discolor the fabric.

Source: Vantassel, S., S. Hygnstrom, & D. Ferraro, Removing Skunk Odor, NebFact, University of Nebraska Lincoln, 2005. http://tinyurl.com/ctjlgk

The Tree Owner's Manual is now available to property owners seeking information about caring for one of the most valuable assets on their land-its trees. The US Forest Service created the Tree Owner's Manual to answer common questions about tree care, from planting, fertilizing, and pruning to troubleshooting signs of damage, injury, and disease. The manual also lists numerous organizations and sources of more information for keeping trees healthy and growing. The booklet is available in a simple black and white format that is easy to download and inexpensive to reproduce. The Forest Service will help organizations or businesses customize the cover of the manual with their own logo. To download a copy or to request a customized version with a logo on the cover, visit http://na.fs.fed.us/urban/treeownersmanual  

This past winter was considerably colder than the previous year, and trees in some areas throughout the state are showing substantial winter injury.  Exposed conifers, in particular hemlocks, white pines & junipers, are the most severely affected.  Winter desiccation, or drying, occurs when the foliage is exposed to cold temperatures and high winds, while the ground remains frozen.  The inability to replace the moisture lost from the foliage results in winter-burn.  These symptoms and the damage caused are made even more severe if road side de-icing chemicals have been splashed or carried from wind-driven mists.  The damage is commonly seen affecting trees along the major roadways, and especially those growing on low or wet sites, where roots are shallow & the ground was deeply frozen. While damage from winter desiccation can adversely affect tree growth and vigor, most trees will recover quickly when new foliage begins to develop this spring.  If the damage was severe enough to kill buds, recovery will be significantly slower.  A check of bud vitality (branch tips and buds should show as bright green under the bark or bud scales) can give a rapid indication of the severity of damage.

I have already received several inquiries this spring from homeowners conveying an interest in growing currants, Jostaberries, and gooseberries (Ribes species) as a horticultural crop.  The importation, possession, planting, and culture of any species of  Ribes is prohibited by law in the quarantine area (approx. the southern half ) of Maine, and the importation, possession, planting and culture of any Ribes nigrum (European black currant) or its varieties or cultivars is prohibited throughout the entire state.  A list of the quarantined towns and a description of the law is available on our website, as reported under the Quarantine section of this Insect and Disease Conditions Report.  Ribes species act as a required alternate host for white pine blister rust disease, one of the most destructive diseases of white pines in North America.  Ribes plants found growing within the quarantine zone are subject to confiscation and destruction by state authority.

Protecting white pines by conducting Ribes eradication efforts have been ongoing for over eighty years in the quarantine zone.  Where eradication efforts have managed the Ribes population, incidence of the disease in white pine has been shown to be reduced by at least fifty percent.  Early spring is the optimum time to survey white pine stands to find native currant and gooseberry plants.  The disease is most damaging in young regeneration and in sapling to pole-sized timber.  By uprooting or treating the Ribes with herbicides, subsequent infection of white pine can be prevented.   Most common species of Ribes in Maine are among the very first woody plants to break bud and "green up" in the spring, (by mid- to late April in southern Maine), making them easily visible in woods and brush thickets where they grow.

Control need not be done this early in the season, but identification of individual Ribes plants, or concentrations of plants, is much easier now than later in the season, when all other plants are in full leaf. For specifics of white pine blister rust disease & of the current quarantine regulations affecting Ribes species, please call or write the Insect and Disease Lab, or check the MFS, Forest Health and Monitoring site www.state.me.us/doc/mfs/idmhome.htm

Parents Are Teachers Too program
If you are expecting or recently had your first baby, call 1-800-287-1426 for more information or to enroll in the PATT program to help your child get the best possible start in life.

Eat Well program
Could you use help in stretching food stamps, cooking and shopping for one or two, providing snacks for children? Contact UMaine Cooperative Extension Eat Well Program for a nutrition aid to help you.

Staff

Extension Educators:

• Jane Haskell: Business, Youth & Community Development

• Rick Kersbergen: Agriculture & Natural Resources

EAT WELL NUTRITION STAFF:

• Sandy Dubay, Regional Nutrition Education Professional

• Beth Chamberlain, Pat Fraser: Eat Well Nutrition Associates

4-H PROGRAM AIDE:

• Joyce Weaver

PARENTS ARE TEACHERS, TOO STAFF:

• Pam LaHaye, Coordinator

• Martha Powers, Diane Russell, Ellie Weider

EXTENSION SUPPORT STAFF:

• Sónia Antunes

• Annette Hanser

Also:

• Liz Stanley, Horticultural Aide, Knox-Lincoln-Waldo county

• Caragh Fitzgerald, Ext. Educator, Kennebec & Waldo county

 Waldo County Extension Association
PRESIDENT: Barbara Gould
SECRETARY: Lucia (Chia) Murdock
TREASURER

Michelle Gharst
Jacqui Lee
Andrew Marshall
Robert Nelson
Anne Rothrock