Bay program offers farmers incentive to plant cover crops
By ROBERT KESSLER Penn State Cooperative Extension Franklin County office

COMING EVENTS

Aug. 22 - Noon, Tomato Tasting Day, Horticulture Center on Franklin Farm Lane, Chambersburg, open to public. Call 263- 9226.

Aug. 19 to 25 - Franklin County Fair, Chambersburg Rod and Gun Club, 3725 Warm Spring Road, Chambersburg.

Sept. 8 - 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Turfgrass Establishment, Lawn Care & Renovation, Franklin County Cooperative Extension, Chambersburg, Call 263-9226.

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FRANKLIN COUNTY COVER CROP INCENTIVE

PROGRAM

The Franklin County Conservation District is again sponsoring a cover crop incentive program funded by the Chesapeake Bay Program. The cover crop incentive program will provide cost-share payments at a flat rate of $20 per acre. Anyone who actively farms owned or rented ground in Franklin County will be eligible for funding. Cover crops of rye, winter wheat, triticale, oats or barley must be planted on harvested corn silage fields by November 1, 2007. A 50 acre limit per operator will be imposed for this year. There will be a ranking process for each application submitted based on environmental benefits to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. All applications will be ranked by a committee formed in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Penn State Cooperative Extension. The signup period will run until September 7, 2007. Applications are available at the Franklin County Conservation District office or at their website (www.franklinccd.org) and at the Penn State Cooperative Extension Office. If you have any questions about the program, please call the District office at 717-264-8074 ext. 5.

PLANTING PEONIES

Fall is the best time to plant a new peony or to transplant a peony that is in the wrong place. Peonies like a sunny location that gets at least seven to eight hours of sunlight each day. Your soil should be well drained.

If you are transplanting a peony, you should wait until September. Cut off all the peony stems at the ground level. Use care as you dig up the peony and keep as much of the root system as possible. If you are just moving it because you did not like where it was, then immediately plant it in the new location. If you are digging up a large peony that you need to divide, then after you dig it up, you need to get the dirt off the roots by shaking the clump. Look at the clump and identify the buds. Cut your sections with a sharp knife so you retain three to five buds to each section. Carefully plant these sections and they should do well for you next year. Smaller sections will take longer to get established into a desirable plant.

The hole you dig for the peonies is important because you have a large root system to replant. Dig the hole big enough so you can comfortably work around the clump. Place the clump deep enough that the buds are around one inch deep below the soil surface. If you plant peonies too deep, they will not bloom properly. Once you have the clump at the right position, backfill around the plant being sure to not leave air pockets. If you are buying a new peony, you would follow the above steps also. Purchase high quality roots that are free of disease and are good size.

Around thanksgiving time, put four to five inches of mulch over the newly planted peonies. This can be straw, pine needles or wood mulch. The point of the mulch is to moderate the temperature of the soil so you don't get freezing and thawing over the winter. This is an important step to help re-establish your peonies.

Next year you should remove all flower buds from your new or transplanted peonies so the plant will put its energy into root development and leaf development.

FALLGARDEN

Recent rains have been very encouraging to gardeners. Perhaps you are one of those who want to do some fall vegetable gardening now that you have some soil moisture. Crops that can be planted yet this year include lettuce, radish, spinach, kale and turnips. Our frost date in the fall is October 10 - 15. To determine if you can still plant something, figure how many days you have until frost. Then look on the package for the length of time it takes to grow the crop. Add to that a reasonable harvest period of a couple of weeks.

If you want to use some type of season extender like row covers or plastic over wire hoops over your rows to protect against hard frosts, you can extend your growing season well past the first killing frost. Check your garden centers for seeds for your late season vegetable crops.

TOMATO TASTING

Next week the Penn State Master Gardeners of Franklin County will host our Annual Tomato Tasting Day at our Horticulture Center on Franklin Farm Lane in Chambersburg. We will be offering anyone who stops by our tent, the opportunity to taste over 20 varieties of tomatoes and to rate them by appearance and taste. The purpose is for you to learn how some of the new tomatoes taste and what you might like to grow. We are also collecting the information to share with the local growers, so they can grow the ones you say are the best tasting. We will be open for tasting from 12 Noon to 6 PM on Wednesday, August 22nd. We would love to have you stop by the tent.

FALLTURFRENOVATION

Like many of you, I am looking at my lawn and wondering if I will need to do some renovation this fall due to the damage this summer. The ideal time to seed lawns in our area of Pennsylvania is from mid August until early October. After this the risk of failure increases.

Renovation of a lawn means more than just throwing some seed on the bad spots. You need to establish a good seed to soil contact to get good germination. If your lawn is only slightly damaged, you can use vertical dethatching or aeration to open up the soil. You can use a slit seeder on lawns that were more heavily damage from the summer. Any of these tools can be rented from local rental stores.

If you are interested in learning more about lawn renovation plan on attending the workshop that I am offering on Saturday morning, September 8 from 9:30 to 11:30 AM at the Penn State Extension office at 181 Franklin Farm Lane in Chambersburg. We will be covering how to establish a new lawn and how to repair your damaged lawn. We will also talk a little about grubs in your lawn. The cost of the workshop is $5 per person. Registration is necessary because space is limited. Please call (717) 263-9226 to register or stop by the office for registration information.