The Gardener's Q&A:

Well-Sweep, Well-Swept. Whicb is correct and how did you come up witb the name for your farm?

      It's Well-Sweep, although we have mistakenly been called "Well Swept" and other variations of our name. A well-sweep is an old-time farming implement. Take a look at our logo on the front cover; it's the wooden contraption adjacent to the well. In olden times a family depended on hand drawn well water to fill its drinking and bathing needs. The well-sweep was designed to lighten the load, so to speak.
      A tall, sturdy tree is used as the base of a well-sweep. It must be Y-shaped at one end. A second, longer tree, the "sweep," is placed in the "Y" of the base at an angle to the well, forming a lever.
      To retrieve water from the well, the bucket was lowered by raising the sweep. Once filled, the bucket was raised by allowing the heavy sweep to slowly lower to the ground. Pulling up a heavy water-filled bucket required strong arms. But in using the well-sweep, the sweep did most of the work. With a well-sweep on the farm, even children could assist with the water-fetching chores.
      When I was a child, we had a well-sweep on our family farm. I used it to draw water for our horses and chickens. If you've visited Well-Sweep, you know we have an old stone well in front of our home. When my family moved here in 1966, I built a well-sweep similar to the one with which I grew up. When my wife and I started our business, we debated a long time before selecting this piece of history for our farm's name and logo. We feel it represents our simple, back-to-basics way of life.

I know rosemary is a tender perennial, so last year I dug it up and brought it in for the winter. It died anyway. What can I do this year to keep my new rosemary plant from following suit?

      Your rosemary must sustain two dramatic transitions to survive the winter. By giving it an opportunity to handle one at a time, you'll be increasing its chances. The transition from ground to pot is the first such "shock." Pot the plant in an appropriate size container with any good potting soil. Place a few small pebbles on the bottom of the pot to promote drainage. Now, weather permiting, leave the potted rosemary outside for two to three weeks. Keep an eye on the thermometer. If a light frost is imminent, cover the plant. It will survive for a few nights this way. If the temperature drops too low, however, bring the plant into a cool area of the house.
      Once your plant has adjusted to the pot and is ready to move inside, place it in a sunny window in a cool room. As with any potted herb, check the top of the soil to determine when it needs watering. Toward the end of winter, around February, your rosemary will begin to require more water. The sun becomes stronger now, and draws more moisture out of your plant. This is when many folks lose their rosemary plants. Take care to check on your plant between waterings in case its consumption increases.
      Unlike a plant in the ground, potted plants can't draw nutrients from the earth and must be fed to flourish. Feed your rosemary every three weeks or so. Choose a sunny day when the weather forecast predicts two sunny days will follow. During the winter, it's also important to monitor soil temperature. Feed only when the soil temperature is at least 50 degrees.
      You'll find it's a delight to have rosemary on hand year-round. Use it in lamb, pork, chicken and beef dishes.

My polyanthum jasmine didn't bloom last winter. What can I do to make it flower this year?

      Polyanthum jasmine requires a cool period in the fall to help it "set" blossom. Leave your plant outside this fall as the temperature drops to 35 or 40 degrees Fahrenheit for a week or so. Keep an eye on the thermometer and bring it in if the weather report calls for freezing temperatures. The days become shorter in autumn and this low light, plus the cool weather, prepares the polyanthum to bloom.
      Feed every few weeks with houseplant food to promote growth, and be sure not to cut back the plant's vines because they're full of potential flowers. If the vines become too long, wind them around the plant. Any pruning should be done after blooming.

 

Nature's Lore