How to use aspirin on tomato plants to prevent diseases:
“The concept is well researched and documented. The aspirin mimics a hormone in the tomato plant used to trigger tomato stress defenses. This is call the Systemic Acquire Resistance (SAR) response. Your beefsteak is fooled into beefing up its natural defenses before fungal leaf diseases arrive. This makes it harder for future diseases to establish on their leaves.”
Subtitle: No Longer a Prisoner of Bad Soil
Speaker: John Kobal, Master Gardener
John Kobal uses 30 years of gardening experience and 16 raised beds at home to focus his talk on the benefits of raised beds, how to begin and how to maintain them for maximum production.
Lecture is open to the public
Location: Ashland Community Center 59 Winburn Way, Ashland, OR
Time: 12:30- 1:15pm
In Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley, you can plant the following veggies in July and August for fall & winter harvesting:
Photo by Fancycrave on Pexels.com
Brussels sprouts – all month through August
Chinese Cabbage – Until August 10th (later is better to help mitigate cabbage maggot damage)
Late (purple) broccoli- To over-winter and harvest in March/April
Direct Seed:
Winter beets – after 7/15 through 8/15, plant in 1-2 week intervals
Late broccoli (purple) – Can be direct seeded, too.
Chinese Cabbage – all month to 8/15 (later is better to help mitigate cabbage maggot damage)
Kale – 7/15 through 9/20 for October and winter harvest
Turnips- August all month for late September-October harvest
Bush Beans – For September – October harvest
Winter variety carrots – 7/15 – 7/31 – harvest in October and all winter ( not Nantes )
Cauliflower – to 7/15
Mid-season Leaf Lettuce – all month
Parsnips– to 7/15 to dig after hard frost and all winter
Enation-resistant Peas – all month, mulch to keep plants roots cool
Rutabaga – all month, for September harvest
Scallions – to 7/15 to pull all winter.
Transplant:
Fall Broccoli – 7/15 -8/10
Late Cabbage– 7/15 – 8/31
Late Cauliflower – 7/15 to 7/21
Information from: Gardening Year ‘Round , Month by Month in the Rouge Valley, A guide to Family Food Production by the Jackson County Master Gardeners Association
Growing your own potatoes is an easy and rewarding gardening experience.
Plant starts in early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked.
Potato plants can withstand a light frost, but protect against a hard frost.
Potato plants need at least 6 hours of sunlight a day to produce.
Harvest potatoes in 2-4 months; this depends on your area’s growing season.
Purchase good quality seed potatoes to insure a healthy crop.
Oregon Territorial Seed company in Cottage Grove, Oregon offers some interesting seed potato varieties: http://www.territorialseed.com/
The Rogue Valley Grange Co-ops may have some of these varieties available, too.
Seed Prep: Seed potatoes are tubers which can be planted whole, but you will get more plants if you cut seed potatoes into sections. Each cut section should contain one or two sprouts; these sprouts are called eyes. Each section should have enough potato “meat” around each eye for successful growing. Therefore, cut seed potatoes into 2 to 3 inch chunks, with 1-2 eyes in each chunk. Set these pieces on a protective surface like newspaper to allow cut edges to dry before planting, usually 24-48 hours.
Planting:
In the ground – Dig a trench 8 inches deep. Plant each seed potato section, 1 inch deep and 12 inches apart. Planting rows should be spaced 3 feet apart. Place the seed potato cut side down with eye(s) pointing up. As the plants grow, and when leaves are just starting to break the soil’s surface, mound another 2 inches of soil on top of the plants. Repeat this step until the trench is filled with soil, continue filling until the trench is mounded . Note: If your space is limited, or if you want only baby potatoes, you can decrease the spacing between the plants to 7 inches.
Planting in Containers – Note: Containers must be able to drain.
Growing in containers is the same principal as growing in the ground. Place 6 inches of moistened soil in the bottom of a container. Plant prepped seed potatoes cut side down with eyes up. Cover with 2-3 inches of soil. As the potato plants grow keep adding 2-3 inches of soil over the plants. Repeat this step until the container is full of soil. You can even stack additional containers on top of the original container, filling those with soil in steps. The height limit is approximately 3 feet.
Planting in Straw–
With this method you don’t have to dig potatoes, you simply pull them out of the straw. Because straw starts to break down as the growing season progresses, you will need to add straw to maintain a consistent straw depth. In short: Top off your potato bed with straw during the growing season.
Prep potatoes as described above. Lay out a loose layer of straw 6-inches deep, and place seed potatoes in the straw, cut side down, eyes up. Cover with 2 inches of straw. When you see the leaves peaking out of the straw, cover them with 2 inches of straw. Then, repeat this until you reached your desired height.
Care:
Harvesting:
Tomatoes! From plants bought at the Ashland Garden Club Plant Sale in May. 
In Ashland, Oregon the last frost date is approximately May 15th.
Sow seeds in your greenhouse, or indoors, for transplanting after May 15th.
Basil, Cabbage, Peppers, Summer Squash, Winter Squash, Pumpkin, Tomato, etc.
Flowers; Sunflowers, Cosmos, Marigolds , Zinnia, etc.
If the soil is not too wet, you can sow the following vegetables seeds directly into the garden. Once seedlings emerge protect them from spring frost. Lettuces, Cauliflower, Spinach, Chinese Cabbage, Broccoli, Peas, Chard, Carrots, Turnips, Parsnips, Leeks, Kohlrabi, Beets, Radishes.
You can plant onion sets up until 4/15. And, you can still plant raspberries and strawberries plants.
Fertile flowerbeds, shrubs, trees and grass.
Start baiting for slugs, snails and earwigs.
Watch out for spittle bugs and aphids on your existing strawberry plants.
Watch out for aphids on all plants in the landscape.
Pruning shrubs & trees should be completed by now!