We are a Burpee Home Garden Certified Grower

Kiski Plaza Garden  Center and Arnold Feed & Garden Center have been named

Burpee Home Gardens Certified Grower™

Burpee is the name known and trusted by generations of gardeners.

The Burpee Home Garden Basket is filled with dozens of easy-to-plant, easy-to-tend, long-yielding varieties brimming with garden to kitchen goodness.  We are growing some of the best performing varieties to make sure your gardening season is successful, flavorful, and bountiful.

Burpee varieties will be in specially marked pots,that read burpee Home Garden

and the pot will have a special Burpee Home Garden Tag

Here is the list of Burpee plants

We are growing this season

Tomatoes

Early Girl Bush True bush type, All American Winner, excellent flavor

Early Girl Flavorful  tomatoes early & all season for slicing & salads

Fourth of July Tasty plus early plus all season long production

Super Tasty My Favorite One of the best tasting, medium size & red all through

Brandy Boy One of the best tasting, thin skin and pink.   Best fresh

Sweet Seedless No seeds means more sugar for flavor. Great taste

Celebrity All American Winner, great taste can be used every way

Fresh Salsa Hybrid Plum shaped can cut into cubes and still holds its         shape.   Great for salsa, bruschetta and light sauces

Big Mama Hybrid Plum shaped, 5” long 3” wide, Easy to peel and core, Great for sauces and soups.

Black Pearl Hybrid Producing large amounts of deep purple sweet grape tomatoes

Napa Grape Highest sugar content of all grape tomatoes, huge producer

Burpee Big Boy Produces sweet, aromatic, melt in your mouth tomatoes

Big Beef All American Winner, Considered best all around tomato

Better Boy Perfect for slicing, canning & sauce.  Prolific yielder

Delicious Crack free, excellent slicer has extra delicious flavor

Peppers

Big Bertha 7” x 4”     Bell      Thick walled & sweet. Stuffing, slicing, roasting & frying

Great Stuff Hybrid 7” x 5”             Bell       Sweet, good disease & insect resistance, Stuffing, slicing,  roasting, canning & frying

Flavorburst Hybrid 5” X 4”  Large horn One of the sweetest, juiciest & crisp yellow peppers

Dig Daddy 10” x 3”  Large horn        Yellow pepper for frying, roasting, stuffing & salad

Zavory 4” x 2”      Hot horn            has haberano taste without the heat.  Mildly hot. Harvest red

Costa Rican Swt Hyb 6” x 3” Sweet horn      Salads, dips, roasted or grilled. Very sweet, harvest red

Other Vegetables

Boxwood Basil Growing      12-16 in tall.  Great for pesto, small leaves, loves the heat

Broccoli Flash Hybrid 50 days, sweet taste, once main head is cut side shoots will appear for extra harvest

Cucumber Sweet Burpless Hyb 58 days an exceptionally sweet, mild flavor, burpless cucumber.

Cucumber Pickalot Bush Starts producing in 54 days, cucumbers are 5”lon and 2 “across, Great fresh or good for pickling, can be picked at any size

Eggplant Burpee Hyb 70 days, purple 8” long fruits good flavor not bitter high yields

Eggplant White Star Hyb 65 days,  high quality 7” long flavorful white eggplant

Lettuce Heatwave Blend 50 days, a blend of heat loving varieties, that is tasty and remains productive

Spinach Baby Leaf Hyb 30 days for salads, 41 days for cooking easy to clean sweet and tender flat leaves

Squash Peter Pan 52 days light green fruit with meaty flesh tasty and productive, grilled, stuffed or cooked

Squash Bush Table Queen 80 days, Best acorn winter squash for all recipes.  Easy to grow and store

Squash Butterbush 75 days, excellent butternut winter squash that is a space saver and stores well

Squash Burpee Hyb Zucchini Green 50 days, great taste, heavy yields, All American Winner variety

Squash Burpee Hyb Zucchini Yellow 50 days, same great taste as green but yellow

Watermelon Sugar Baby 80 days, space saver, produces 6-10lb melons incredibly sweet

Watermelon Crimson Sweet 85 days, producing 25 lb melons that are very sweet and tasty.

Onion Plants

Onion plants are now available at local garden centers. Popular varieties are Red Hamburg, Vidalia Type, and Bermuda.  These will all produce large sweet onions for slicing and frying.  When planting onion plants plant only 1 inch deep.  If planted deeper this will prevent the onion from bulbing.  Mix some nitrate of soda into the planting bed at the rate of a ½ cup per 100 square feet. Be sure to mix in several inches deep so as not to burn the young onion plants.  Every 2 weeks after side dress the onion plants with nitrate of soda at the ½ cup per 100 square foot rate.  Keep onions watered but not soaking wet.  Do not let the soil dry out and start to crack.  The closer to harvest time the greater the need for water, this will increase their size and sweetness.  However, when the onion tops start to fall over quit watering.  Let the ground dry out before harvesting

If space is a problem when it comes to planting vegetables or flowers then consider using a Patio Garden  Growbag by Gardman.  Made from tough woven Polyethylene, measuring 39” long x 16” wide x 9” high and holding 72 quarts of soil. It is great for growing tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, pole beans, and salad crops.  The upside down tomato planter was the rage last year and many people found out hat it was hard to keep their tomato plant watered come the middle of July.  The reason being there wasn’t enough soil in the planter, the planter was over planted and it was hanging in mid air, which made it dry out very rapidly.  It’s not to say the upside down planters aren’t any good, however, only one tomato plant should be planted in them and when the temperatures are in the 80’s it should be moved to an area where it gets afternoon shade.  This is especially true if you are not available to water the plant in mid afternoon.

The Patio Garden Growbag sits on the ground, which will cut down on water loss, plus it has a larger soil capacity.  When filling the grow bag use a quality potting soil such as Premier Potting & Seeding Mix.  Using a bargain brand inexpensive potting soil will greatly reduce your chances for a successful harvest. Mix a slow release fertilizer such as osmocote or Espoma Gardentone into the potting soil.  This will help keep the plant feed throughout the growing season.

Another nice feature about the Garden Growbag is that it folds up for convient storage.

There is also a garden grow bag for potatoes.  It is taller and has harvest flaps near the bottom for easy harvesting of the potatoes

The forsythia is blooming and the grass needs cut. Once the grass is cut apply crabgrass preventer with fertilizer.  If you want to follow an organic lawn care program then apply corn gluten along with a bag of organic lawn fertilizer after cutting the lawn.  Once a weed preventer is applied to the lawn there is no more raking or sowing of grass seed for at least ten weeks.

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Garden Tip:  During warm windy days keep young garden plants watered.  When they are young thy have shallow roots and the wind can dry out the soil fairly quick.

Is it Spring Yet?

We all know it. Spring HAS to be just around the corner.

If the soil is suitable for working, onion sets can be planted during March –early April. When planting onions, remember the smaller the bulb the bigger the onion. Also, the shallower the bulb is planted, the bigger the onion. So for scallions plant bulbs 4-6″ deep. Bottleneck onions are good for scallions. For large onions plant small sets 1-2″ deep. Onions need nitrogen; so fertilize with nitrate of soda or urea. If the onion bed has not been limed for several years, do so now. Onions prefer a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Rule of thumb for liming is 5 lbs per 100 sq ft.

As the weather begins to warm, be certain to keep onions well watered. Onions don’t produce a massive root system like tomatoes or peppers so they need to be watered more often when first planted. Stressing onions will produce double onions or smaller inferior bulbs.

As the March weather tends to become mild, sow some lettuce and spinach seed. However, once germinated they may need to be protected during frosty nights. Remay Cloth is good for this. Remay Cloth or germinating cloth is a must for early gardening. It is a white woven fabric that lets air and water pass through it while it lies on top of the plants. The cloth is laid on top of the plants and the sides are secured. Leave the cloth loose in the center so that the plants can bush it up as they grow. Remay cloth offers some frost protection, plus it increases the air and soil temperatures around plants for better spring growth. It also offers protection from rabbits, ground hogs, deer and insects. Remay Cloth can also be used for several years.

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