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Showing posts from June, 2014

Tomato Hornworms

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What are Tomato Hornworms? One day you are looking at healthy tomato plants, the next morning they’ve been disseminated to a mere collection of leafless stems. You search your tomato plant only to find a caterpillar that, if photographed at point-blank range, resembles something from an old Godzilla movie. You have just been invaded by Tomato Hornworms, a green caterpillar that has a voracious appetite, making short work of your tomatoes (potatoes, peppers, and eggplant), and grows to be five inches long and about as big around as your thumb. These giant caterpillars are the larvae of hawk or sphinx moths.   Once they get enough to eat, the worms drops to the ground and burrows down a few inches to where the cycle begins again. The first indication that you’ve been invaded is when the leaves of the plants come up missing, often those located at the tips of the branches.   By following the trail of frass, or caterpillar excrement, you can find them camouflaging themselves along a

Inspirational Thought for Today

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Which would you rather grow?

Drip Irrigation

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                Who says you can’t grow a garden in the desert?   All it takes is good soil and a little water.           Unlike the rotating sprinklers that water a large portion of your garden at one time, Drip Irrigation systems are strategically placed to water only the roots of the plants you intend to grow.   In this way, water is conserved as is time and money.                Using a network of tubing (flexible or hard PVC types), soaker hoses, and drippers, each plant will slowly receive water thus reducing the amount of evaporation that occurs with mass-application sprinklers. It also eliminates stress on plants because of variations in the moisture in the soil.                  I opted for flexible tubing, which I buried around the perimeter of my raised beds.   I used t-shaped fittings on the outside edges of each bed.   This created a way to add a line directly into each bed, plus continue the flow of water to the next one.                From each t-shaped fi

Mother Nature ALWAYS has the last word!

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Last year I planted a Tea rose and it grew very well with some blooms lasting well into December. But come spring, nothing grew, no leaf buds, literally no sign of life. Up until then, there had been no sign of distress or anything that indicated the plant was dying. I began looking at the raised bed I’d planted it in and realized the dirt I put into each of my bed had packed down, thus exposing the crown of the rose.   I has witnessed the dirt settling in other beds, but didn’t consider the problem it would cause with my roses.   As a result, I added soil and amendments into each bed, then laid a layer of mulch. I did not, however, dig up the rose bush.   I tried to wiggle the base of the plant so when it didn’t move, which meant the roots were still solid. But still nothing happened. As I always do, I made a note of it in my garden journal and ignored the plan while trying to complete my other gardening projects. Then I went out this past weekend, thinking it was time to

People in Walmart Photos

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In my day job, I work in “cube land”.   This means low walls where nothing you say is private. Your voice, especially if it’s like mine (loud), carries over the top of these flimsy walls with little effort. One woman I worked with would send an email with the link to a new batch of The People of Walmart photos she found on the internet. You’d hear a titter her, a chuckle there drifting over the temporary walls, they’d multiply, be added to by the occasional snort or snicker. Soon someone would laugh outright. Then someone would wander over wondering what a person was laughing at, only to join in the cacophony of hilarity. If you’ve never seen the infamous People of Walmart photos, be thankful. Which is the very reason I'm not going to include one here.    Although they can provoke an adult to hysterical fits of laughter, sometimes the images are unforgettable. In the worst kind of way. If you have seen them, my question to you would be . . . what in the world were they th

Types of Irrigation

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There are several ways to water a garden besides dragging the garden hose from one end of your yard to the other. The biggest designator is your climate and water conservation needs. In my Ohio gardens, a hose of a sprinkler that spurted water into the air was a good choice, but in Nevada, I need to assure every drop of water gets to where it is needed. Drip Irrigation – A drip irrigation system, although good for all climates, is best suited for an arid climate.   It delivers small amounts of water where it is needed most.   At the plants roots.   By sending a steady trickle of water at the base of plants, it doesn’t evaporate as quickly and drives the roots of the plant deeper into the soil bed. These are best used in flower beds and vegetable gardens. Sprinkler Systems – By broadcasting droplets of water into the air, the plants receive a shower of rain-like water.   However, in dry climates much water is lost through evaporation.   Systems such as these should be run

Deer-proofing your Garden

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When I’d talk about my prolific gardens in Ohio, often the first question would be, “What did you do to keep the deer out?” Actually, I rarely had problems with deer.   Rabbits, chipmunks, and ground squirrels were a different story, not to be addressed here. With deer being crowded out of their natural habitat, they WILL forage food from your garden.   In a small town not five miles from where I live now, it is not unusual to see herds of deer wandering through town dining on the residents rose bush or Hosta plants. Yes, Bambi is cute, but when you start losing plants to the hungry masses, it’s time to do something. Here are a few recommendations:   1)  Buy “deer-proof” plants.   Do your research before you purchase your plants, bushes, and trees.   Nurseries can even provide you this information if it is not on the plant label.   I’m not saying the deer won’t eat deer-proof plants if they’re hungry enough, but, like humans, they have their favorite foods. This does, howeve

Flag Day and Little Known Facts about Betsy Ross

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I never did well in history, but I enjoy looking back and learning tidbits of information about people who shaped our country’s history.   Today, in honor of Flag Day tomorrow, I’m looking at Elizabeth (Betsy) Ross. Although it is up for debate, the story is that a few members of Congress (George Washington, Robert Morris and George Ross) were chosen to be on a secret committee to create a flag for the United States.   They approached Betsy in her upholstery shop in Philadelphia to see if she could help them.   It came about that the original design they were requesting had six-pointed stars.   Betsy suggested five because they were easier to cut.   They liked her idea and later the flag she created was approved by Congress. Did you know: **   Betsy was the 8 th out of 17 children. ** She was extremely patriotic and the British soldiers who occupied her house in the winter of 1777-78 dubbed her “The Little Rebel” because of it. ** She lost two husbands in the Revolutiona

Gardens, vacations, and irrigation

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                  Have you ever gone on vacation and wondered what your garden would look like upon your return?   Did you believe you’d find nothing but weeds? Or find limp, possibly dying plants lying on the ground? Or learn that your best laid plans to inform the rodent population that your garden was not the neighborhoods version of New York’s famous Le Bernardin restaurant?                In my recent emergency trip to Anchorage, Alaska, the last thing I thought of upon hopping on a plane was my garden. Thankfully, I have a wonderful neighbor who loves gardening as much as I do.   He came over daily and watered my plants. As a result, I came home to a lush garden.   My roses, that I had planted as bare roots only a little over a week prior to our hasty exit, were now putting out leaves and branches.   Primrose and Lilies were in bloom, and my peas had grown over a foot in length.                The secret was the irrigation system I’d spent the spring installing in eac

Beth Vogt's Somebody Like You

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Can a young widow find love again with her husband’s reflection? Haley’s three-year marriage to Sam, an army medic, ends tragically when he’s killed in Afghanistan. Her attempts to create a new life for herself are ambushed when she arrives home one evening—and finds her husband waiting for her. Did the military make an unimaginable mistake when they told her Sam was killed? Too late to make things right with his estranged twin brother, Stephen discovers Sam never told Haley about him. As Haley and Stephen navigate their fragile relation­ship, they are inexorably drawn to each other. How can they honor the memory of a man whose death brought them together—and whose ghost could drive them apart? Somebody Like You is a beautifully rendered, affecting novel, reminding us that while we can’t change the past, we have the choice to change the future and start anew. My review of Somebody Like You This is Beth's latest and best so far! Having been blessed with identical twin sons,

National Gardening Exercise Day

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Most of us struggle to get in the exercise we need, or our exercise routines become mundane.   Here is an alternative!   Today, June 6 th , is National Gardening Exercise Day.   Did you even know the day existed?   Well it does.   Gardeners everywhere recognize the benefit of raking, weeding, and tending their vegetables. It’s therapeutic and benefits the mind, body, and soul. However, it is not without injury. Football players don’t have a market on pulled muscles and sore joints There are a few key things you ought to consider prior to going out for a little yard exercise. ** If you’ve been a couch potato all winter, take it slow.   Work in spurts, rather than doing a single marathon session. ** Stretch first.   You are going to be using muscles that have lain dormant for months.   By stretching you will avoid injury. ** Diversify your chores.   Don’t spend the whole day down on your knees.   Pick up the rake or shovel in between times of weeding. Alternate your

Mistakes New Gardeners Make

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Gardening is fun. Its exercise.   It’s rewarding. It gets you out into the fresh air. It puts food on your plate.   I could go on and on.   But sometimes a garden can get out of hand, especially for beginners.   Then their viewpoint of having a garden will look a lot different from mine.   So if you’re a beginner, read through some of the most common mistakes novice gardeners make and see if you’re trending towards “I’ll never plant a garden again . . . ever!” ** Don’t start out too big.   Boy is it tempting to want to plant everything you see, especially if this is your first year.   Think small.   Pick your favorite vegetables (or flowers) and choose the ones that are easiest to grow. (See my recent blog Easy to Grow Vegetables)   You’ll find it will give you the same sense of accomplishment all while increasing your gardening skills.   ** Lack of soil preparation.   Take the time to get your soil ready. (See my recent post Getting the Scoop on Dirt) Start working it as e

Plant of the Month - Coleus

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Coleus is one of my favorite annual plants.   It isn’t grown for the flower it produces, but for its colorful leaves. It can be grown in the garden as a border plant, but I love it for a “fill in” plant in a pot.   Its variegated coloring adds so much color and brilliance to pots that it makes for a stunning arrangement either by itself or with other plants.   It can grow in the full sun or partial shade which makes it an even more versatile plant.   Just pinch it back when it gets too leggy.   Coleus will never disappoint! Uses: Borders, Container   Sun: Full Shade, Part Sun   Height: 15-20   inches Spread: 10-14   inches