Remember last summer when the tomatoes poured forth from your garden like a great waterfall – although lacking the great flavor you expected; you said, “I’ve got to find a better tasting variety for my garden next year?”

As with many of life’s projects, a little planning can help eliminate these miscalculations and relieve those feelings of frustration experienced by many gardeners at the end of the season.

Take this time to reflect on the victories and defeats that occurred in your garden last year and develop your game plan now. Well, let’s say tomorrow, since you know that you need to get your Irish potatoes in the ground today.

Surprised? Actually, the planting window for our beloved tubers begins around Feb. 15 in Eastern North Carolina when the soil temperatures rise above 40 degrees. So after you set your shovel down, pull out those seed catalogs and start to select the vegetable varieties that offer the characteristics you prefer.

Whether you decide to purchase seed or starter plants, catalogs can be a great source of information to narrow down your search.

Often the search process results in more questions than answers; one question of recent interest to me was:

What is open-pollinated vegetable seed?

First, it is important to understand that “open pollinated” is a term used primarily for old heirloom variety vegetables which have been handed down as seed over the last half century or more. These selections are often self-pollinated or have the assistance of wind or insects; nevertheless, the fruit produced still delivers that same great flavor and eating quality that our ancestors experienced 100 years ago, and we continue to enjoy today.

While we can guarantee with relative certainty that heirloom varieties will reproduce “true to type,” the seed collected from hybrid varieties does not offer this trait; therefore, new seed must be purchased each year to insure the selected trait of the hybrid is passed along.

Even I have questioned seed supplier claims of “guaranteed - true to type seed,” knowing that honey bees and other pollinators have free range of the garden and that the mighty wind can certainly transfer pollen from one variety to the next.

However, maintaining seed purity is paramount to the heirloom seed supplier, as reputation and customer loyalty depend on it. Seed producers can all but eliminate cross pollination by utilizing an isolation technique based on planting distance and/or time of flowering. So fret not; embark on a journey to your local garden center or seed supplier and rest assured that these old heirloom varieties will exceed your expectations and preserve a piece of our gardening past.

Although it is difficult to get excited about any pesticide, I consider horticultural oils to be a gem in the rough. The early products were defined as “dormant” oils as they were primarily used on fruit trees during winter dormancy for hard to control pests. As technology led to improvements in the refining process, horticultural oils became safer with broader application.

Today, confusion still prevails as the wording on the bottle often highlights its use as a dormant spray; however, it is important to note that any horticultural oil sold in quart bottles or smaller sizes at retail nurseries, garden centers and hardware stores is summer oil and appropriate for use during the growing season.

While dormant season applications, often in February, are still effective in controlling overwintering aphids and mites, as well as the eggs of caterpillars and scale; these highly refined, petroleum and non-petroleum based products have risen in prominence with reduced risk of foliage damage and a year-long application window. This “light-weight” product has the added benefit of interrupting the metabolism of some insects while disrupting the feeding ability of others. Aphids, mites, leaf-hoppers, scale, spider mite and whiteflies are some of the pests affected by oil applications during the growing season. In addition to reducing aphid feeding and potential virus transmission, the oil products have also been effective at controlling powdery mildew. Mixed with a small dose of baking soda, this oil will give your roses a boost in fighting off the cloudy white patches so prevalent on the leaves during the heat and humidity of summer.

While no pesticide can be described as safe, these horticultural oils have minimal toxicity to mammals and beneficial insects. This characteristic makes summer oil a valuable tool for the organic grower and homeowner seeking more sustainable gardens and landscapes. In addition to a dry, two-day outlook, the foliage should be free of any moisture before application is made. Once applied, horticultural oils dissipate rapidly as a result of evaporation and leave little residue behind. Unlike some other chemical controls, insects do not develop a resistance to oils with repeated applications. As with all pesticides, follow the label and be sure to double check that your plant is not listed as one sensitive to oil sprays.

Bob Filburn is an Edgecombe County Extension Service agent specializing in horticulture. Look for his Garden Guide each month on the Community page.