By Mike Donahue

Moapa Valley Progress

Christmas is gone, we’re four days into 2012 and a lot of gardeners are already thinking about and planning for that new spring garden. (Scoff at the skeptics, it’s never too early!)

Before you grab that graph paper, pencil and seed catalog, however, here are some sources should you need some suggestions, advice or help.

The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension (UNCE) office at 1897 N. Moapa Valley Blvd., has an extensive library of horticulture and gardening books available for perusal and/or borrow if you have need. The books cover virtually everything – EVERYTHING – about vegetable and flower gardening, and more.

Tomes include the 1,200-page Royal Horticultural Society’s Index of Garden Plants, as well as the voluminous Hortus Third, a dictionary of cultivated plants in the U.S. and Canada from the staff of the L.H. Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University that lists the description and correct botanical name for 281 families, 3,301 genera and 20,397 species as well as a large, but uncounted number of names of subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars.

There are at least 75 smaller books on vegetable gardening and crops, flowers, pruning and propagation, lawns, landscaping, trees, soils and composting, insects, birds and more! The office also offers free brochures and handouts on watering, soils, plants and planting, among other topics.

The UNCE office is open between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and you’re invited to stop by and check out what’s there.

Every Wednesday, local master gardeners staff a phone in the Logandale UNCE office between 9 a.m. and noon to help with gardening questions and problems. The phone is 397-2604 ext. 0. Or, in Mesquite call 346-7215. Additionally, local UNCE horticulturist Denise Stoesser is also available in the office, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 397-2604 ext. 4, or 346-7215.

On days when neither local master gardeners nor the horticulturist is available, there is a master gardener help line in Las Vegas that is staffed 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 702-257-5555, or by email at somastergardeners@unce.unr.edu.

In 2009, horticulture professor Dr. Sylvan Wittwer, director emeritus of the Michigan State University Agricultural Experiment Station, produced a special publication with the Logandale UNCE office on vegetable gardening in Moapa and Virgin valleys. Information in the book is invaluable for local gardeners.

Among other topics it covers irrigation, soils and fertilizers, and pest control, as well as a planting and harvesting schedule specifically for local use. The book can be accessed online at http://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/files/ho/2009/sp0901.pdf#search=”wittwer”.

The UNCE Master Gardener Orchard in Las Vegas this month has some fruit tree care and pruning workshops that are open to interested gardeners for a $5 donation. The orchard is about 100 yards east of the intersection of North Decatur and Horse Drive.

Workshops, which start at 9 a.m., include apples, pears and quince this Saturday, Jan. 7; fertilizing fruit trees and pest control on Jan. 14; figs, pomegranates and persimmons, Jan. 21, and almonds and pistachios, Jan. 28.

For more information contact Bob Morris at extremehort@aol.com or call the orchard at 702-257-5532 and leave a message.

Now it’s time to get back to laying out that new garden.

According to How to Grow Your Own Vegetables by Better Homes and Gardens, check the growing characteristics for each vegetable you plan to plant and then answer these questions: Is it perennial or annual? How long a growing season does it need? Can succession plantings after early harvest be made? Is it hardy, tender, or frost tolerant? What amounts do you plan to grow?

Now arrange your garden based on:

1. As much as you can, position rows north to south.

2. Arrange plants according to height so tall veggies like corn and pole beans won’t cast a shadow over ground-huggers like beets and peas.

3. Put perennial crops together at one side.

4. Keep hardy root crops together that can be planted early – beets, onions, carrots, parsnips and other root crops.

5. Get the most of available space by mixing crops. For example, lettuce, a quick-maturing crop can be inter-planted with slow growers like cabbage, broccoli and eggplant.

6. Plant crops in succession at regular intervals to insure a constant supply of short season or quick-maturing vegetables.

7. Rotate your vegetables so you’re not planting the same plant in the same area for two years running.

Don’t forget to turn your compost pile this month and add any new materials such as leaves you’ve picked up. Do not put meat scraps or bones in the pile.