Gordon Wells Home Gardening Lecture Series

Gordon Wells Home Gardening Lecture Series includes 12 hours of gardening classes in six lessons.  The lessons follow:

Lesson One:
introduction
why garden?
essential plant nutrients (keeping plants healthy)
plant foods/fertilizers
soil types
improving the soil
solving soil problems
microbes:  beneficial bacteria, mycorrhizal fungi
organic matter

Lesson Two:
rotting depth of various plants
leaf and root versus seed and fruit
watering schedules for specific plants
watering methods/systems
source sink relationships
winterizing trees
avoiding water related diseases
 
Lesson Three:
solving climate and weather problems
plastic and organic mulches
stale beds
spring, summer and fall gardens
sources of seed and other garden materials
starting plants inside/transplants
planning and planting
getting seeds up
hybrids, disease resistant varieties
solarizing the soil, rotating
weed control/herbicides
insect control
orchard pest management
bird, deer and gopher control

Lesson Four:
finish pest control
culture of individual crops
1.  corn
2.  asparagus
3.  rhubarb
4.  legumes (beans, peas, peanuts)
5.  root crops (sweet potatoes, radishes, carrots, beets, onions, parsnips, Irish potatoes (tubers)
6.  cole crops (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages)

Lesson Five:
crops continued
1.  leaf crops (spinach, swiss chard, lettuces)
2.  tomatoes
3.  peppers
4.  berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries)

Lesson Six:
crops continued
1.  vine crops (cucumbers, squash, pumpkin, cantaloupe, crenshaw, watermelon)
2.  fruit trees (peach, nectarine, plum, apple, pear, cherry, apricot and grape)