Articles by Dr. Frank Gouin

Thanksgiving from the Garden

The Bay Gardener’s favorite side dishes

Like the Native Americans and the Pilgrims who learned from them, the Gouin family is sustained by our garden throughout the winter. I’m happy to share with you some of the ways we enjoy winter vegetables on Thanksgiving — and all season long. Fall Vegetable Dishes If you had planted seeds or transplanted Brussels sprout seedlings in mid- to late-July … If you had planted seeds of collards, kale, turnips, carrots or spinach or transplanted broccoli, cauliflower,...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin; 11/11/10

Confessions of a Secret Boatbuilder

When not getting his hands dirty in the soil, the Bay Gardener keeps busy restoring old boats and making new ones

Wife Clara claims that my desire to build and restore boats can be traced to Viking genes in my blood. I remind her I am of French Canadian descent with Algonquin heritage. Her rebuttal is that Vikings invaded northern Europe where my French ancestors lived. In the 20 years we’ve lived on Rockhold Creek in Deale, I have built two boats, with a third under way, and restored two more — plus a 1949 John Deere B tractor and, now, a 1939 Allis Chalmers B tractor. Clara is still...

Article - People; by Dr. Frank Gouin; 10/14/10

Watch Our for Spider Mites

Test and treat your plants before bringing them in

A friend told me the leaves of her Ficus benjamina are covered with black soot. I suspected that the plant had been infected with a soft-scale insect that exudes a honeydew substance that breeds sooty mold. However, upon examining the plant, I saw it was severely infested with spider mites. If you moved your houseplants outside for summer, there is a good possibility that they are infested with spider mites. Spider mites are tiny insects about the size of dust particles. On houseplants, look...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin; 10/14/10

Don’t Crowd Your Veggies

Give each plant room, and you’ll eat bigger, better vegetables

Just because the plants are small, you don’t need to plant them shoulder to shoulder. Crowding is a common problem with beginning gardeners and, with some gardeners, remains a problem. It is not uncommon to see three to four tomato plants growing where only one should have been planted. A tomato plant that has been allowed nine square feet of space will produce many more tomatoes than plants given only four square feet of growing space. Plants such as tomatoes, peppers and...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin; 5/6/10

White Birch Belongs up North

Southern Maryland gardens want native yellow river birch

Arbor Day has just passed, and it’s the season of tree planting. At a recent lecture, one of the planters asked why she was having so much trouble growing white birch trees in her yard. She lamented that she had replaced three in 10 years. Where she came from, she said, white birch trees grew like weeds. I concluded that she came from either New England or from northern New York or Pennsylvania. White birch trees originate in regions of long, cold winters and moderate summers. In...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin; 5/13/10

Your Sycamores Are Not Dying

But thanks to sycamore anthracnose, they are suffering and won’t fill out until this summer

During the past weeks, a number of Bay Weekly readers have expressed concern that something is killing the sycamore trees in their yards and in forests. The defoliation and the dead leaves that are dropping to the ground are due to a disease called sycamore anthracnose. This disease occurs only when we have a cold, wet spring like this year. The fungus that causes this disease attacks the newly emerging growth at the tips of the branches. Just as the first young leaves begin to mature,...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin; 5/20/10

Your Fruit Trees Will Survive

But fireblight will leave them looking burnt

As we drove by a row of Bradford pear trees that had small clumps of black leaves clinging to the stems, my friend worried that the tree was dying. Similar black leaves on any pear, apple, crabapple or hawthorn don’t forecast death. They do show that the tree has been infected by a bacteria that causes a disease known as fireblight. The disease gets its name from the charred appearance of leaves and stems. This disease is caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, which becomes...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin; 5/27/10

The Pros and Cons of Clover

It’s Bay-friendly, so it may — or may not — be the lawn you want

A Bay Weekly reader wanted to know how to encourage clover to grow in her lawn because she likes the looks of it. Clover has other benefits. It doesn’t need to be mowed as often, it is very drought resistant and it does not have to be fertilized with nitrogen. By maintaining a high soil pH and low levels of nitrogen, you can encourage white Dutch clover to grow at the expense of grass. It will take approximately three years to crowd out most of the grasses. You will find that...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin; 6/3/10

I’m Eating Peas; You Could Be, Too

Here’s how to plant for summer and autumn harvest

I was recently asked whether I prefer snow peas, sugar peas or shelling peas. For eating in salads, I prefer snow peas. For cooking Asian dishes, either snow peas or sugar peas are acceptable with the exception that snow peas tend to be crunchier when not cooked to death. But for eating as a single dish or adding to American style dishes, shelling peas are hard to beat. It takes time to shell peas, but the flavor of freshly harvested shelled peas that are steamed and not boiled is...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin; 6/10/10

There Will Be Figs

With lots of fruit and few demands,
what’s not to like?

There is nothing like eating a freshly picked ripe fig. They are as sweet as honey and taste heavenly. There is no reason why every home gardener should not be growing at least one fig plant. Contrary to my earlier predictions, the tops of the fig plants were not killed by the severe winter. Matter of fact, figs are growing in almost every node of each stem of the plants growing outside our bedroom window. Last year, most of the fig plants in our area were killed back half-way and...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin; 6/17/10