• Page A24 - Mason County Journal - Thursday July 31 2014
MASTER GARDENER
PAIN MANAGEMENT, WEIGHT LOSS, MASSAGE THERAPY
newmanfamilychiro.com • (360) 426-3886
Paid for by Committee to Elect Kathy Haigh,(D)
81 SE Walker Park Rd., Shelton, WA 98584
PO Box 865, Allyn, WA 98524
Mason County Commissioner Dist. 3
Independent
for Mason County Commissioner,
PO Box 382, Shelton, WA 98584
RO. Box 3192, Belfair WA 98528
253-358-6841
we are at the
end of July and
.although we had
a bit of rain last week,
your garden is dry. I re-
ceived a call from
a Master Gar-
dener last week
with a suggestion
for this week's
column. She had
purchased an
inexpensive mois-
ture meter probe
for her garden
and container
plants and was
surprised by how
dry the soil was. As an
inexperienced gardener,
she thought she had a
handle on how much wa-
ter she was providing to
her plants. By using the
moisture meter, she dis-
covered that many of her
plants were thirsty.
I went online to find
out where to purchase
moisture meters at a
reasonable price. I dis-
covered that Ace Hard-
ware carries them, but
it said to contact your
local store to be sure
they are in stock. Since
I'm writing this column
after Tozier Bros. ACE
Hardware closed for the
day, I'm afraid I can't tell
you if they carry them,
but I would suspect that
they do. The models I
saw online were under
$20. A smart investment
for a gardener who wants
to get the most out of
By
REHWALDT
the garden they have
planted. You can even
use the meter to check
when your houseplants
need a drink.
In Western
Washington,
the most com-
mon problem is
under-water-
ing. Here are
some watering
tips that should
help ensure
your plants
don't perish
from lack of wa-
ter. Don't wait
for a plant to wilt before
watering it.
• Use a set sprinkler,
not a hand-held spray.
Deep watering of even a
small garden takes far
too long to do properly
with a hand-held spray.
• To save water from
evaporating, water dur-
ing the cool parts of the
day. Try not to water
during windy times.
• To help prevent
disease, water in the
morning or early enough
in the evening so that
the foliage can dry before
nightfall. Always water
tomatoes, peppers, and
squash at the base, not
with overhead sprinklers.
• Avoid over watering,
which may leach nutri-
ents from the root zone.
• Remove weeds that
take needed water from
your vegetables and or-
namentals.
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Weed control and
watering are two of the
biggest jobs once your
garden is planted. Both
of these jobs can be easier
if you use mulch. The two
most common kinds of
mulch are plastics and
organic material such as
straw, leaves, wood chips,
clippings or compost.
Four Cautions
• Don't use grass
clippings from lawns
that have been recently
treated with an herbicide
such as Weed and Feed.
• Mixing in large
amounts of sawdust or
straw may tie up the ni-
trogen in your soil, caus-
ing your vegetables to
become yellow or stunted.
Adding nitrogen fertil-
izer when you dig in the
mulch or plant the next
crop will prevent this.
• Loose organic mulch
may provide a nice, moist
hiding place for slugs, so
be prepared to bait for
them.
• Some kinds of or-
ganic mulches, especially
hay, may contain lots of
weed seeds and make
more work than they
save. Check hay or straw
for seed heads before us-
ing them as mulch.
Please contact a Mas-
ter Gardener on Mondays
between noon and 3 p.m.
if you have any gardening
questions or give them a
call at 427-9670, ext. 687.
Sale a big
fimdraiser
continued from page A 19
The Harstine Island
Community Club will
provide the beer to get
you in the mood for the
hoedown, hootenanny
and jam session by local
live musicians. Whether
you join in by dancing or
tapping your foot, come
and share the fun.
This is the last re-
minder about the annual
Harstine Island Rum-
mage Sale from 9 a.m.
to 2 p.m. on Aug. 2. As
always, you are need-
ed. The rummage sale
is a big fundraiser for
the community club. To
make it a success, they
need'you to donate won-
derful items. So, right
now, go through your
storage area, your ga-
rage, your attic, your
closet and weed out the
stuff you have not used
in the past couple of
years. Usually, on the
Wednesday before, you
can begin hauling that
great and wonderful
stuff over to the hall,
where volunteers will
sort it, price it and put it
on display.
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