Fresh Herbs

Fresh Herbs
The desire for healthier, better tasting food, culinary sophistication and globalization have all conspired to bless us with a burgeoning selection of herbs in the supermarket — a cause for celebration. Happily, a similarly large selection of seeds and seedlings are also available at nurseries and garden centers for those who want the utmost in flavor and nutrition.
Fresh is always better than the alternative, and this is especially true when it comes to culinary herbs. Herbs growing in a windowsill pot or back-door garden provide you with much more flavor and healthful nutrients than dried or pre-packaged herbs.

Growing Your Own
In an age when convenience in the kitchen is so highly valued, why should anyone take the time and trouble to grow their own herbs? Because growing your own is actually the ultimate in convenience — not to mention flavor — when it comes to cooking.

The perception that growing your own culinary herbs requires excessive amounts of time, energy and arcane knowledge is simply not true. Starting a small windowsill herb garden, for example, is as easy as buying seedlings at a garden center, putting them in a flower pot or planter and watering occasionally. Buying seeds and starting them yourself is only slightly more taxing and, of course, you'll have to wait longer to see results. And don't forget that buying seeds or seedlings is much cheaper and less wasteful than buying a bundle of cut herbs when all you need is a sprig or two.

A larger herb garden outside your kitchen door will obviously require a greater commitment of time, labor and attention but regardless of how simple or elaborate your planting, the true reward is the convenience of always having fresh herbs available to enhance your cooking. And freshly cut home-grown herbs add vigorous aroma and zesty flavor to dishes that dried or store-bought herbs cannot match. How much better does a sprig of fresh basil taste compared to dried? A lot. So much so that you may never buy dried basil again.

In addition to flavor, fresh herbs pack much more nutritional power. Drying herbs not only reduces the volatile oils responsible for flavor and aroma, but also diminishes the antioxidants and other nutrients that many herbs have a reputation for. Freeze-drying, a fairly recent innovation, retains slightly more nutrients and flavor than traditional methods but still cannot compete with fresh.

Finally, there is much to be said for the pleasure and pride of cooking with ingredients that you have grown yourself. You know exactly where it comes from and it satisfies the ancient urges for self-sufficiency and contact with the earth that, though mostly dormant in this age of convenience, still stirs.

Earth Day at Whole Foods

Earth Day at Whole Foods Market
Sunday, April 22nd
11 AM - 1 PM
Cost: FREE
Celebrate Earth Day at Whole Foods Market:
Educational Activities for Kid's
Community booths: Friends of Larimer County Parks and Open Lands & Renewable Choice Energy
Enter a raffle to win a new Scattante R-330 bike courtesy of Performance Bikes
FREE Reusable Earth Day Shopping Bag with a $25 minimum purchase

Join CSA for fresh organic veggies this summer

The CSU Specialty Crops Program is looking for members for its 2007 Community Supported Agriculture Program. Members receive fresh, organic produce grown at the CSU Horticulture Research Center by student interns gaining sustainable agriculture field experience.

Colorado State Landscape Design and Contracting students take 3rd place in national competition

A group of Colorado State University landscape design and contracting students took third place out of 55 schools from across the nation competing in PLANET's Student Career Days last week.
Student Career Days is an annual three-day competition and networking event for students enrolled in interior and exterior horticulture programs at colleges and universities from across the country. Each year a different university is selected to host the event giving students the opportunity to see different parts of the country. This year's event was held at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.
Students compete against their peers in 24 events designed to challenge participants based on current industry standards. Each competition is formulated, set-up and judged by green industry sponsors.
The Colorado State 2007 PLANET team includes Catherine Braunlin, Christopher Copenhefer, Tara Costanzo, Jessica Hill, Jamie Jeffers, Amanda Laughlin, Katie Lloyd, Mitch McClary, Heidi Moss, Meghan Oren, Matthew Ridley, Travis Sommervold, Clark Taylor, Matt Tingley, Daniel Watson, Chad Whitney, Jared Wise, and Michael Wysocki.
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Nearly 100 companies from across the country participate in the fair by scouting students as prospective employees and networking with different colleges' faculty and staff. Leaders in the green industry also present workshops on the latest information in the areas of irrigation, arboriculture, estimating and leadership skills.
Learn more about the competition by visiting http://www.landcarenetwork.org/cms/studentcareerdays.
Visit the Colorado State Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture at http://hla.colostate.edu.

Fort Collins Conservation Conference

Conservation

The "People and Land in a New Century: A Blueprint for Conservation that Works" conference will address the changing face of natural resources management.
In the face of rapid change, institutions, agencies, universities, and practitioners are working on a new kind of conservation. On the ground, conservationists are re-examining the role of institutions and experimenting with new forms of governance.
It is time to coalesce this vast amount of tinkering and experimentation into a coherent blueprint for conservation that works. In other words, it is time to examine, now that top-down conservation (federalism) is in decline and disarray, whether these new types of conservation that are more regional and bottom-up in nature, are compatible with democracy.
This conference will be held on Tuesday, April 3 in the Cherokee Ballroom, Lory Student Center (LSC), and on Wednesday, April 4 in the Greyrock Room (LSC).
The conference will run from 8:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The event is free, open to the public, and requires no preregistration.

Iron-sulfur proteins proven essential to plant survival

Iron-sulfur proteins proven essential to plant survival, according to CSU research

Iron-sulfur clusters (Fe-S) have proven to be necessary for plant growth, according to Colorado State University research. Plants involved in the research project grew normally until researchers silenced the CpNifS gene, resulting in plants with yellowish and stunted growth. The research will be published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

NifS-like proteins have what is known as "cysteine desulfurase activity," which releases sulfur from the amino acid cysteine for the formation of iron-sulfur clusters, said Doug Van Hoewyk, a doctoral researcher in the Pilon-Smith Laboratory, part of the Department of Biology at Colorado State University. These NifS-like proteins are found in all forms of life.

RNAi silencing of the essential chloroplastic CpNifS gene was regulated by dilute ethanol in transgenic Arabidopsis plants, a member of the mustard family. After three weeks of treating the plant with the non-toxic ethanol mixture, the plants' chlorophyll content was reduced five-fold. Van Hoewyk found if the ethanol treatments were stopped after three weeks, the plant would recover and were able to set a seed. When the ethanol treatments were continued after the three-week period, the plan would ultimately suffer irreversible damage and die before setting seed.

"These results strongly suggest that CpNifS is not only an essential protein to Arabidopsis, but to all plants containing chloroplasts" Van Hoewyk said.
Van Hoewyk plans to continue his research into the effect CpNifS has on plant mitochondria and chloroplast functions.

Landscape design 'clients' sought for senior design students

The nationally recognized Landscape Design and Contracting program is once again seeking individuals to partner with our Senior Design students. Our capstone class- Intensive Senior Design, pairs students with "clients" which are seeking landscape designs for their residences.

The following opportunity exists:
Students will concentrate on larger/more complex projects, typically larger than 10,000 square feet and up to multiple acreage properties. Extremely challenging smaller projects may also be included in this category. These projects will require design challenges which may include slope/drainage issues, irrigation, water features, etc. Each set of plans will be created specifically for the client's needs and requirements. Additionally, detailed construction plans will be created.

Multiple meetings are required between the client and the student to ensure a desired outcome. These plans can be used for clients to install their own landscapes or can be submitted to professional landscape contractors for installation. All projects are professor reviewed and critiqued in class.

Expected donations - $600

Students may seek travel reimbursement for projects beyond the Fort Collins area. Additionally students will seek reimbursement for prints, etc.
All donations are used for program development, including sending Landscape Design and Contracting students to a national career fair and competition.

If you are interested please contact me ASAP with a detailed description of your project including size, new construction or renovation, desired elements, address, contact information, etc. Students will contact you in a few weeks.

Contact: Zachary Johnson Email: z.Johnson@colostate.edu Phone Number: (970) 491-2835

Snow mold best battled by raking, not fungicide, according to CSU turf specialist

Many Front Range lawns are now being afflicted with gray snow mold, caused by a fungus called "Typhula incarnate." Snow mold most often occurs during periods of prolonged snow cover, but can also occur where leaves and other debris has accumulated on lawns during the fall and winter, said Tony Koski, a turf specialist with Colorado State University Cooperative Extension.
North-facing lawns, shaded lawns, and areas where snowplowing or drifting snow created especially deep snow will be the most commonly affected parts of the landscape.

The fungus is most active in moist lawns at temperatures just above freezing. Circular patches (6-12 inches across) will have a moldy appearance if the fungus is actively growing - usually just as the snow melts and the lawn is exposed.

Disease rarely kills turf in the home lawn

As the lawn begins to dry out and fungal growth slows, the patches can take on a light tan appearance, fading to light gray or white. Under severe conditions, these smaller patches may grow together to form large, matted areas that appear to be dead. This disease rarely kills turf in the home lawn, although young seedlings from a late fall seeding may be killed (fall sod will be alright).

"Fungicide applications are not recommended when snow mold occurs in a home lawn," Koski said. "Spring fungicide applications will not effectively control or prevent the disease, nor will fungicide use hasten spring turf recovery."

Light raking will promote air circulation and drying
The best way to speed recovery is to remove dead and matted material by light raking to promote air circulation and drying. Light spring nitrogen fertilization (especially if no fertilizer was applied the previous fall) will help speed the formation and growth of new grass from the underground stems that are not harmed by the snow mold fungus. Lawns that appear slow to recover this spring will benefit from core cultivation, followed by overseeding with the same grass species already present in the lawn.

"Contrary to popular belief, late-season fertilization -- also referred to as 'winterizer' -- neither encourages snow mold, nor increases its severity," Koski said. "In fact, late-season/fall fertilization will encourage more rapid healing and recovery when lawns are afflicted with snow mold."

Snow mold generally uncommon in Front Range lawns
Koski said gray snow mold is generally uncommon in Front Range lawns because snow must continuously cover the lawn for at least 40-60 days before the fungus becomes noticeably active - a rare occurrence on Front Range lawns.

Great Class in Fort Collins

Saturday, March 31st

A Celebration of Herbs
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
$26/limited to 24 studentsPlease join instructor Sarah Lindblad for a celebration of herbs: the useful plants. We will discuss some of the more popular herbs, how to grow, preserve, cook with, and use to support health and healing. Sarah, a member of our Whole Body Team is the former owner of Pine Creek Herbs in Ruston, LA. Along with her husband Ross, a craftsman, they produced over 200 varieties of herbs and perennials and were featured in both Louisiana Life and Southern Living Magazines.

Color!

If you're like me, you're ready to see some color in your yard! The little crocus with their gentle yellow and purple flowers poking through brownish grass and tiny snow piles are certainly a welcome site, but the vibrant red of tulips and mexican sage will tell us that spring is really here.

MEXICAN SAGE
Height: 35-40”Width: 20-30"Blooms: August to October.Sun: Full sun to partial shade.Soil Moisture: Moderate.Hardiness: USDA zones 5b-10 (up to 5,500').Culture: Performs best in loamy soils.Year Introduced/Recommended: 2007
Description
Brilliant cardinal-red spires in late summer and fall attract hummingbirds. It has proven hardy under protected conditions in Denver over the last 5 years. Perennial.

Great site!

Thanks CSU for bringing us http://plantselect.org/ a program dedicated to distributing the very best plants from the high plains to the intermountain region.

Garden Teepees

Wigwam Grips ~ $ 5.95
This ingenious heavy-duty plastic grip firmly holds six bamboo stakes in the shape of a teepee for growing peas, beans, morning glories and the like. It not only works well, when covered by vines it also makes a great piece of garden architecture. Two grips per pack.

Pest Alert Newsletter and Archives!

Great resource! Check out dozens of archived bulletins, courtesy of the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension.
http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/bspm/Outreach/index.htm

Climate Summary | Frost condidtions

Great resource for ALL locations along the front range, western slope and the eastern plains.
http://cmg.colostate.edu/gardennotes/veg.html

New to Colorado?

I found a great site that has all the information a Colorado newbie needs. You may have had gardens in the dirty south, the expansive plains, or in lala land, but Colorado requires you to revisit your skills and best practices.

http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/New/newto.htm

Fall and Winter Watering

Water trees, shrubs and lawns during prolonged dry fall and winter periods to prevent root damage that affects the health of the entire plant.

Water only when air and soil temperatures are above 40 degrees F with no snow cover.
Established large trees have a root spread equal to or greater than the height of the tree. Apply water to the most critical part of the root zone within the dripline.

Dry air, low precipitation, little soil moisture, and fluctuating temperatures are characteristics of fall and winter in many areas of Colorado. There often can be little or no snow cover to provide soil moisture, particularly from October through February. Trees, shrubs, perennials and lawns can be damaged if they do not receive supplemental water.

The result of long, dry periods during fall and winter is injury or death to parts of plant root systems. Affected plants may appear perfectly normal and resume growth in the spring using stored food energy. Plants may be weakened and all or parts may die in late spring or early summer when temperatures rise. Weakened plants also may be subject to insect and disease problems.

Foothills Gardening

If you live in the foothills, penstemons, wild roses, gaillardia, lupine and wallflower thrive. Most of us on the Front Range live in an area that is mixed with foothills and prairie plants that may include penstemons, yarrows, coneflowers, blue flax, rudbeckias and many more. The foothills will accommodate perhaps the greatest number of native plants. The hardest decision will be which to choose.

Columbines

It’s easy to see why the Rocky Mountain columbine is Colorado’s state flower. With its sky-blue color, elegant bobbing stems and finely scalloped leaves, the wild columbine is stunning to anyone who has hiked a mountain trail and chanced upon a cluster. And while columbines can be found in China and Europe, the Colorado columbine is as spectacular as any.

Welcome!

Welcome to the gardening in the highlands blog! We'll be discussing specific flora and fauna and best results for your efforts. Look forward to sharing tips of the trade with you all!