Garden Preparation: September

A tired, end of summer garden scene.

It has been a glorious year for my blueberries - just 4 bushes and 26+ quarts! But alas, August ends, September begins and the end of the season pathogens are clearly taking over. Tomatoes and other veggies now  rapidly are losing their resistances and showing their age. 

Although experienced backyard gardeners know the drills for this time of year, here are just a few reminders for those of us who cannot quite remember everything to do:

• Prune the vines on your indeterminant tomatoes. If you don't, they will continue to grow and set new fruit at the expense of ripening the green fruits now on the vine.

• And while we are on the tomato kick, refrain from removing foliage to let more sunlight onto the green tomatoes or the ones showing "yellow shoulders" around the stem. It will not promote ripening, but will increase the risk of sun scorch and possibly even larger yellow shoulders if the temperatures stay hot.  Although tomato vines like to grow in warm conditions, the fruit needs  moderate temperatures to stimulate the production carotene to turn the fruit red. Yellow shoulders indicate that although green chlorophyll production is reduced, carotene generation has been limited.

• Start removing tired looking plants now. If the old veggies look ill -- e.g. dead shoots, spots on the leaves, etc. -- bag them, don't add them to your compost pile. You will not eleminate recontainmination of your garden soil, but you will reduce the concentation of pathogens in your soil a little.

• If you have cleared your garden, now is the time to start to plant cover crops. Check this link for previous posts about cover crops or you can start spreading your compost onto your garden.

• On a closing note, take a break and   watch the heightened activity levels of the pollinators in your late summer garden. And maybe take even a little more time to notice how many different pollinators there are, large and small.  All are very focused on finding the nectar offered by  your late blooming plants. In my vegetable garden most of the activity seems to center around the kitchen herbs. The blooms of thyme, winter savory and basil also bring the pollinators to the my nearby beans, cucumbers and peppers. 

Source: U. of Wisconsin @ Milwaukee

Among the   most noticeable of insects that you probably will see  is Sphex pensylvanicus,   usually just called the Great Black Wasp (GBW) in the vernacular. Although you might first perceive it to be a huge beast, it actually ranges in size only between 1" and 1 1/2".   

GBWs are beneficial in two ways. First, the wasps nourish themselves  on nectar and so pollinate plants; but secondly, the females also hunt various grasshoppers, katydids and other larger insects for their young to eat when they hatch.  GBWs are solitary wasps burying into loose soils to establish  nests for their broods. They are not aggressive, but will sting if provoked.  

Be glad too see them and thankful that you have them in your garden.

Voles & Holes

Recently a friend contacted me about how her second planting of bush beans just disappearing over night.  Her plants were small and had just opened their first pair of permanent leaves. At first we suspected that deer were to be blamed because they might have been able to reach over the fencing as they had earlier to nibbble on several tomatoes.  

A closer inspection revealed several small holes where her beans had been, and then it was discovered a few holes at the base of her raised garden beds that matched the size of the holes at the bean site.  

Conclusion: the culprit(s) is probably Microtus pennsylvanicus, more commonly referred to as a meadow mouse or meadow vole.  There is also a slightly smaller vole,   Microtus pinetorum, called the woodland or pine vole present in the Northeast that prefers to live in and around pine forests. Both voles include tender green plants in their diets, but the size of the holes implied that the villain in this instance was the slightly larger meadow vole. Both types also  spend much of their lives in burrows to avoid being eaten by all your favorite predators, but will emerge at night to dine on  salads from your garden. 

Usually, when I think about voles, I think about their girdling fruit trees and shrubs during the winter, and not  their feasting on veggies during the summer. Although both are guilty of girdling, the pine vole  may be the  worse offender in this regard.  

Meadow vole. Source: Cornell U.

An interesting and probably naive aspect to me  of my friend's misfortune is that her raised beds are filled with soil rising 36"  above her yard, and this, I suspect,  has created an ideal vole condo.  The critters gained access at the ground (lawn) level and tunneled upward to the top of the soil in her raised bed. 

For a thorough dicussion about control options take a look at this U. of Maryland's Extension Service Fact Sheet.  By the way, household mousetraps are effective against voles when baited with peanut butter. 



And remember...

"Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites to lay our eye level

with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain." - Henry David Thoreau

Garden Preparation: August

Source: CCE Nassau County

Tomato season is a-coming to add to your bounty while you are still  busy harvesting bush beans, beets, corn, cucumbers,  blueberries, raspberries, carrots, melons and all those sweet herbs that you thought you needed.  

BUT, resist picking those first tomatoes; let them ripen on the vine for a couple of extra days. It will only improve their taste, and it will allow you time to tend to some of the following chores:

• Clearing the now brown  peas vines and preparing the site for a follow on fall crop or perhaps planting a cover crop like winter rye;

• Trying to give away your  zucchini to strangers;

• Blanching the cauliflower for a couple of weeks;

• Checking for pests such as Mexican bean beetles, red spider mites, leaf miners, slugs and more slugs - to name just a few of the common  culprits;

• Digging your garlic and shallots and remember to  dry them for several days in a sunny place;

• Turning over that compost pile. - This is a great year for compost. Keep those pulled weeds and lawn clippings decomposing.

Capital District Regional Market

Wishing you could buy a sack of corn (50 ears) or a 1/2 bushel of tomatoes or apples? Well, you can.  Just get up early and go to  the Capital District Regional Market located in Menands at 381 Broadway just south of the Troy - Menands Bridge.

The action starts at 5:30 AM,  on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and is usually over well before closing time at 7:30 AM. Sales are expected to be on a cash and carry basis. As a wholesale market, prices  fluctuate daily in response to supply and demand. 

For late sleepers  there is a  retail edition on Saturday mornings starting at 9:00 AM,  but not all farmers participate, and you may not get wholesale prices.

If you have questions about the market, you can call  518-465-1023. 

Veggie History: Parsley

Curly leaf parsley

Does not every gardener grow parsley (Petroselinum crispum)? - Answer: Probably, either the curly leaf or the flat leaf kinds.  Both types are used extensively as garnishes, but there is also a third type, a root parsley, that remains common to eastern, central and southern European cuisines but remained  less popular in Western Europe.  All three parsleys derive from a wild variety commonly found around the Mediterranean region.

Parsley has been cultivated for centuries and the wild versions probably eaten for millenia.   An approximate translation of the botanical name is "rock celery." The wild variety resembles our familiar flat leaf types.  Although the  Puritans most likely brought parsley seeds with them,  according to Judith Sumner in American Household Botany, the first written mention of parsley only dates to 1804, but  has remained in seed catalogs ever since.

Arat or Root parsley

Root parsley  resembles parsnips, and goes by many names: Arat parsley, Hamburg or Dutch parsley, Rooted parsley.  Its carrot shape clearly reminds us that parsley is a member of that plant family.  Its tops are stronger tasting than the leaf varieties but  can also be used for garnishes. The roots, I understand, are milder  and taste more like celery. They are usually added to soups and stews.

Arat parsley requires a long growing season, but the seeds can be started indoors and transplanted outside when they are three inches tall.  Root parsley  is a winter crop.   Dig it up at the end of the growing season and store it in sand like carrots. 

Backyard Tomato Update

Photo by I. Stephens

So far it's been a better season for my tomato plants than for me, a mammal - lot's of rain and quite warm temperatures.  But I thought I would report on my lazy experiment of using the Japanese ring method  for growing tomatoes.  

Leftover  in my center planting bed from last year's climbing beans was a tepee with some pieces of 4" x 6" wire mesh still attached.  Before I finished  dispersing all my compost onto  other planting beds this spring, I realized that I could put the remaining compost in the center of the tepee and plant some heirloom tomatoes around the outside as if the tepee were a "ring" that is usually configured as a square filled with compost. I didn't have enough compost to fill the center area very high, but I did have enough to mound it up about 12".  The compost in the center provides nutrients and helps to maintain even moisture levels throughout the growing season.

From my perspective this approach to date has been successful. The Brandywine (pictured center), German striped (barely seen to the left with its fruit starting to ripen), Cherokee purple and Amish Paste (both out of view) are thriving. Fortunately, I left the pea trellis adjacent to the tepee; and now that the peas are gone, I've started directing the vines of the Amish paste and Cherokee purple onto it.

Of course, I would like to think of my other tomatoes, not pictured, as controls; but considering that their soil was treated to the same compost, they are staked and have received the same sun and rain, it would be naive to think that any differences between them and the "ring" tomatoes could be attributed to the latter's being near a lot more compost.   Anyway, so far I'm starting to think about utilizing  more Japanese rings next year and what that means for crop rotation.  I know it means replacing my tepees with open  square designs so that it is easier to add compost to and reach into those center spaces...

Coming To You Soon: Cross-striped Cabbage Worms

Photo by Judy Isacoff

A fellow master gardener recently alerted us to a new pest that may now be showing up on your cabbages and related veggies, the Cross-striped Cabbage Worm,  Piers rapaem, that has been discovered in the Berkshires and reported in a very informative posting in another local blog, The Berkshire Edge by Judy Isacoff. This insect has moved up from Virginia obviously seeking the new fake heat of the Northeast. Because  the adults only seem to  fly at night, you may need a flashlight to find the mothly version...

Programs at Demonstration Garden Programs

Two lecture and demonstration programs are scheduled during August by the Rensselaer County Cooperative Extension's Horticultural Program.  Both programs happen rain or shine at the garden located at the Robert C. Parker School located at 4254 Route 43 in Wynantskill (approx. 2.1 miles from the intersection of NY Rtes. 4 and 43).

"Late Summer Is For Lawns," slated for Tuesday, August 13 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM will be hosted by David Chinery, Rensselaer CCE's Educator and turf specialist.  David will discuss why mid-August to mid-September is the best time for lawn weed management, oveseeding, fertilizing and renovation.  Free free to bring samples of your problems in bags, pails or whatever to the  meeting.

The second program, "Great Tomato Tasting," set for Tuesday, August 20 from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM will be presented by a group of Master Gardeners who will discuss growing tomatoes followed by a tasting table of the many varieties grown in this year's vegetable plot at the Demo Garden.

Garden Preparation - July

Source: Cornell U.

The rains continue and both weeds and vegetables strive and thrive; BUT,  for conscientious backyard gardeners, who  started early, July marks the serious harvesting season. Some time this during month, these gardeners, who probably already well know what to do during,  will be putting the likes of the following and much more into their baskets:

• Pick peas, beans, radishes, onions, herbs of all kinds, and the lettuces before they bolt.  (Maybe you should think about canceling that vacation or tell your friends and neighbors to help themselves, but don't count on them to pull any weeds.)

 

When you're not harvesting, weeding and watering,

• Keep pruning and staking those heirloom tomatoes.  If you are growing your beauties in containers on the patio, do not be lulled by all the rain. Containers dry out fast in summer's heat, and you need to remember to water them at least twice a day to maintain a constant moisture level.  They will benefit from a little  fertilizer  some time during this month too.

• Sow follow on plantings of beans, beets, cucumbers, kale, broccoli; 

• Now is also the time to mulch with straw, lawn clippings or compost to moderate  soil temperature, suppress weeds and minimize evaporation; finally, 

• Hurry and put up that bird  netting  or shade cloth  over the blueberries  because the catbirds are greedily eyeing  the bounty getting ready to ripen on those bushes.

Programs at Demonstration Garden Programs

Two lecture and demonstration programs are scheduled during July by the Rensselaer County Cooperative Extension's Horticultural Program.  Both programs run from 7:00 PM to  8:00 PM rain or shine at the garden located at the Robert C. Parker School located at 4254 Route 43 in Wynantskill (approx. 2.1 miles from the intersection of NY Rtes. 4 and 43).

Gazebo at Rensselaer County CCE Demonstration Garden

July 9  (Tuesday) -   "Using Herbs Throughout The Seasons" will be presented by the Master Gardeners, Kathy Hartley and Janet Poole.  They will explore the basics of growing herbs, drying, storing and using these versatile plants.

July 30 (Tuesday) - "Cooking in the Garden," back by popular demand, Master Gardeners, Nancy Scott and Barbara Nuffer, will talk about making  a variety of fresh and healthy dishes using  favorite garden veggies to share with the audience.

Veggie History:  Blueberries

Source: Cornell U.

Did you know that blueberries are native American plants?  They are members of the acid loving genus Vaccinium.  New England's variety,  V. angustifolium,  was collected extensively by Native Americans and quickly were added to the tables of the early colonists to whom blueberries appeared to be like their familiar Old World "bilberries," a related species. In the wild, blueberry varieties can vary from just a few inches (low bush) to almost 12 feet (high bush) in height.  The latter types are the ones commonly available as commercial cultivars. 

Thinking about growing your own bushes?  Maintaining acidic soil is very important, but patience may be even more important.  High bush berries can take up to  12 years to reach full production!    I'll vouch for that.  I have 4 bushes that are 25 years old, and it seemed like an eternity before they  yielded  enough berries that we had any  to preserve. Of course, we did not restrain from eating the ones we picked after the first couple of  years...

If you buy plants from a nursery in those 1 gallon plastic pots, they are typically two years old and will probably need another 3 - 4 years to produce enough fruit to sprinkle on your granola.  For information about growing blueberries consult this Cornell website.

And remember...

"We must give more in order to get more. It is the generous giving of ourselves that  produces 

the generous harvest." - Orison S. Marden

Flea Beetles & Pill Bugs

Flea beetles on cabbage

The rains continue. Despite the wet and cool weather, a number of gardeners have mentioned to me the appearance of the usual population of flea beetles in their gardens.

Flea beetles comprise a large group of leaf beetles of the family Chrysomelidae.  Probably the most common flea beetles that backyard gardeners encounter belong to the Phyllotreta genus and show up on brassicas (cabbage, broccoli etc.)  and solanaceous plants (tomato, potato, eggplant etc.).

These varities of flea beetles are about the size of pin heads, typically black and have strong hind legs that they use to jump, like fleas, if disturbed.  First signs of their presence frequently will be damage to the surface of plant tissue or small pin holes through  leaves.  Adult flea beetles leave their eggs at the base of their preferred plants. When the eggs first hatch, the young initially feed on the roots and root hairs of plants; and then, as adults, they migrate up to the  foliage. There can be multiple generations during a growing season.  Larvae  over winter in plant debris left in gardens at the base of the plants they lived.  

A variety of organic technques can be employed to control, but not eliminate,   flea beetle populations. These include:

• adjusting planting times:  sow seed early  before flea beetle eggs hatch  or delay sowing to let eggs hatch before larvae have seedlings  to eat;

• tilling soils lightly in spring to disturb larvae; 

• using trap crops - first plant a crop attractive to flea beetles beside where you plan to plant you favorite crops,  e.g. dill  attracts flea beetles,  and the dill can then be tilled into the soil to disrupt a portion of the flea beetle population;

• interspersing companion plantings to  provide flea beetles with alternatives: e.g. dill, marigold and pac choi;

• mulching with straw or grass clippings can interfere with beetle egg deposit;

• keeping planting beds free of weeds such as wild mustards, a favorite meal for the beetles; 

• adding row covers - these offer some relief,  but soils need to be free of over wintering populations;

• placing sticky traps around plants also offers relief, but will also trap some beneficial insects;

• vacuuming may also reduce their numbers (check this  previous post).

There are also some biological methods to control flea beetles.  There is a common parasitic wasp, Microctonus vittatae, that specifically targets adult beetles. The wasps are a natural control, but not a quick solution.  At the subterranean level, there are also some nematodes that  devour flea beetle larvae as well as  a fungal pathogen, Beauvaria bassiana, that will infect the beetles.  Both of these should be present in healthy soil, but are available from commercial sources.  Finally, some pesticides, like neem,  that are approved for organic use  could be applied.

Pill Bugs

Pill bugs (Armadillicidam vulgare), alias: Rollie-Pollies, are not insects, but actually crustaceans and  members of the woodlice family.  Adults are usually between 1/4" and 1/2" in length, and black to grey in color.  Pill bugs do not lay eggs; females have a pouch that first carries the fertilized eggs and then serves as home to the hatchlings for up to their first two weeks of life. Pill bugs are eaten or preyed upon by birds, toads, spiders and some wasps.

In gardens A. vulgari can be both good and bad.  Pill bugs typically like damp or moist places and eat decaying plant debris - you will typically find them in your compost pile, under rocks and rotting wood. They are generally nocturnal  avoiding warmer daytime temperatures. However, if their population gets too large and there is a lack of decaying plant material in the soil, pill bugs will   eat living plants including many of our favoritge vegetables. Overly wet conditions, like this spring, also seems to engender their taste for  fresh garden salads.

In small gardens and greenhouses the following control strategies can be used:

•  placing plant collars around young plants; 

• removing of plant debris to reduce habitant; 

• reducing humdity levels and/or increasing air circulation (fans & dehumidifiers indoors; staking & pruning outside);

• vacuuming (place a cloth or cardboard sheet around a plant and shake);

• deploying sticky traps, or diatomaceous earth;

• traping  by placing wet, rolled newspapers in the garden at night (pill bugs will congregate   under the newspapers after first eating your eggplants;  and, of course, 

• applying neem or other pesticides. 

And remember:

"On every stem, on every leaf,... and at the root of everything that grew, was a professional specialist

 in the shape of  grub, caterpillar, aphis, or other expert, whose business it was 

to devour that particular part. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

What's in your soil?  Seeds - Heirloom, GMO, Non-GMO, or Hybrid

A recent article in the New York Times' Sunday Magazine  by Dan Barber about genetic modification of seeds suddenly got me worried (again) about

• the seeds I use in my garden, and

• the lettuce that I just bought from the  grocery store because I had run out of  my home grown mix. 

I felt that I needed to refresh/reboot my brain about what the terms "heirloom, hybrid, GMO and Non-GMO indicated. I checked with my principal seed source and was relieved to learn that it, at least, pledge not to use or supply genetically modified seeds (GMOs). The company usually offers also offers between "organic" and "conventionally" grown seeds also accompanied with the pledge taht both are "non-GMO." The difference is that "organic" means the plants supplying the seeds were grown in accordance to some recognized standard, the top standard being that administered by the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. For plants and seeds, this label means that those plants have not genetically modified, treated with sludge, chemical fertilizers or pesticides, the grower (e.g. farmer has kept detaield records of her/his work, and that the farm has passed a third party's verifying inspection.

FWIW: GMO seed comes from  plants whose DNA has been altered by various processes such as recombinant DNA technology, cell fusion, micro and macro encapsulation - processes that are not realisically possible in nature. A good example is a Monsanto seed corn whose DNA that now contains genetic material from BT (bacillus thuringiensis), a bacteria that is considered to be a natural pesticide.  The corn is actually registered as a pesticide, not as a plant.  Other genetic modifications  are used to make plants reliant on specific brands of fertilizer, resistant to certain herbicides, grow to a given height or ripen within tighter range of days. On the other hand, GMO crops have increased crop yields and produced disease resistant crops in Southeast Asia.  The underlying concerns about GMOs relate to over dependence on just a very limited variety of crops, a few corporate monopolies dominating the seed supply for a large part of the world and the uncertainties of knowing what, if any,  are the long term impacts of genetically modified plants on the natural environment and, of course, humans.

"Conventionally" grown from my supplier means that the seed plants may have had chemical fertilizers or pesticides applied to them but are from  non-GMO sources.  Hybrid  plants can meet organic standards - hybrids are just the result of cross-pollination with closely related plants.  Hybrids usually require multiple generations of breeding for their favored characteristics to become established and become  a reliable variety so that their seed will reproduce a plant like its parent, i.e. be "true to seed."  Most "heirloom" plants are the result of cross-pollinations occuring over hundred or even thousands of years either through natural selection or over just decades with human assistance, but they remain "open pollinated" plants.  "Open pollination" means that if you decide to save seed from your Brandywine tomato for the next season and you also grow either another heirloom, like Amish Paste, or a modern hybrid, like Big Girl, you may not get a Brandywine next year (f1 generation).  In order to keep your "open pollinated" plants true to seed, you need to keep them isolated in some manner from the riff-raft tomatoes growing down the street...

Veggie History:  Strawberries

Source: Cornell U.

It's shortcake season! Volunteer fire companies, church auxiliaries, and garden clubs now are busy posting signs daily along roadsides announcing "Strawberry & Short Cake Festivals," and the red berries  displayed in pint and quarter baskets   fill the stalls at local farmer markets. 

But did you know that these familiar strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa)  are actually an European  cultivar of two crossed wild varieties from the New World?

Native Americans  introduced European settlers to the eastern  variety, Fragaria virginiana. Although the settlers sometimes included it in their gardens, they generally picked the berries in the surrounding woods; and  Europeans returning to the  Old World took plants back to their  gardens.  In the early 18th century, F. virginiana  probably accidentally hybridized with another New World species, Fragaria chiloensis that grew along the West Coast and in South America to produce our familiar F. x ananassa.   This hybrid quickly displaced Fragaria fresca (the "alpine strawberry" common throughout the Northern Hemisphere), in European gardens, it and soon traveled back across the Atlantic.  By the end of 18th century the new strawberry was being sold to gardeners like Jefferson by "plant men" in America. The rest is history, of course; but for a lot more information about strawbe

And remember:

"I eat a lot of fruit because if I fill up on strawberries or an apple, then I'll have one small 

piece of cheesecake rather than two big pieces." - Tom Fridan

Garden Preparation - June

June! - Time to plant everything now because this is  the month to plant everything... Well, yes, but check that long range weather forecast just one more time.  It is possible for early June to be cool and wet with a few hot days sprinkled in. That combination happened in early May and  activated the  spores  of  Early Blight and  Downy Mildew in many gardens.  

Early blight on tomatoes leave.
Source: Ohio State University

Early Blight (Alternaria solani) is a fungal infection that affects tomatoes and potatoes as well as  related plants such as eggplants and peppers.  It usually shows up as dark spots on the the lower leaves of plants and progresses upward. The dark spots will enlarge, converge and the leaves will eventually turn yellow and drop.

The fungi's spores live in the soil and can be spattered up on plants during overhead watering or heavy rains as well as  by wind. To control, or minimize, future infestations, infected plants should be removed and burned or buried. Although fungicides are available, they are expensive and need to be applied to the soil well before plants are growing in the garden, and they do not necessarily eliminate the disease.  Some tomato varieties are resistant to Early Blight. These include  a few like Defiant, Juliet, Legend, Old Brooks, Mountain Supreme, or Verona.




Downy Mildew identifies a group of fungal-like microbes that are triggered by cool wet spring conditions and affect even a wider range of plants   Upper leaf surfaces initially appear pale green or yellowish while the undersides start to appear white, light grey or brown. Eventually, these leaves whither, turn brown and die.

Downy mildew on cucumber.
Source: Cornell University

The spores of downy mildew can activate in soil as cool as 45° F.  The spores can live in soil debris for up to 15 years; and common weeds such as  sheperd's purse, wild mustand and pepper grass can serve as alternate hosts.  For both diseases the practices of  crop rotation, removing plant debris from garden beds and not adding infected plants to compost piles are important management techniques. 

However, in small backyard gardens implementing effective control measures are very challenging. Staking, pruning, mulching and watering at the base of plants or by soaker hoses will  reduce risk further; but given continuing periods of cool, wet weather, gardeners are bound to find these problems showing up.

Despite these depressing notes, here are a few other things you can do in June besides weeding and looking for the first seasonal garden pests:

• Most vegetables can now be mulched with either compost or straw;

• Add a side dressing of fertilizer - preferable an organic, slow release type;

• Time to start second plantings of lettuce, radishes and other cool weather crops;

• Plant beans, beets, carrots and squash; and

• If you've planted tomatoes, put your stakes or cages in now while it's easy to avoid damaging the plants.

Gardening & Plastic

Source: phys.org

A few nights ago I attended a gardening program, and one of the discussions covered weed suppression and how to warm the soil in spring. Although a few gardeners mentioned using newspapers and cardboard for  weed control, most of us, including me, talked about putting down black plastic.  Later that evening, I started wondering about just how reliant gardeners are on using plastics and if I should  start feeling guilty about a possible plastic addiction.   

After a little investigation I started to feel a little better about my own use of plastics in gardening, but I did continue to be dismayed about the ongoing level of plastic litter being introduced into the environment by my species stemming from its collective greed and ignorance.

I recognize that many plastics are  well suited for their applications; and if societies reduced their fossil fuel energy needs and incorporated recycling   regimens into product life cycles, the continuing manufacture and use of plastics would not be  worsening existing environmental problems.  But now  to return to our gardens...

Gardeners are most likely to deal with three kinds of plastics: low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP). All three types, although   essentially not bio-degradable in the sense that they transform into organic compost, they are all re-cyclable materials.  

• LDPE (Recyle Code #4) is  relatively soft, pliable, tough and chemically resistant to varying degrees to many types of chemicals.   LDPE gradually breaks down  over time when exposed to solar radiation  and releases small amounts of a few compounds such as methane and ethylene.   Gardeners using plastic sheeting to cover their plots are using LDPEs.

• HDPE (Recycle Code #2) is both very durable and highly resistant to many chemicals. It is commonly used for storage tanks, furniture, piping etc. Gardeners may encounter HDPE in the form of  large planters & garden bed materials, hoses, and storage tanks (e.g. rain barrels). 

• PP's (Recycle Code #5) characteristics are similar to the polyethylenes, but it is harder, almost as heat resistant, but more economical to produce. Probably the plastic trays and pots that most gardeners use or get when they buy plants are made from PP. 

In short, if conscientious gardeners simply  re-use and recycle their plastics, they may be able to feel less guilty about living in the age of plastics... but I must admit that the chore of cleaning  last year's shredded plastic sheeting from my garden before stuffing it in the recycle bin does  not especially inbue me with a lot of motivational energy. I will now try to remember not to yield to the temptation of simply hiding these plastics in the trash...


And remember:

"If it can't be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, 

resold, recycled or composted, then it should restricted, redesigned 

or removed from production." - Pete Seeger