Wood Burning Tips for a Happy Hearth

That warm flickering flame is a comfort, something that ignites the ancient DNA in all of us, descended from the early people who, bedecked in animal skins, gathered around the warmth of the hearth. Click on the headline to read a review about a real-life experience with a wood-burning stove.

Wood Burning Tips for a Happy Hearth - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

Black Bear's Killing of Pennsylvania Woman Raises Questions - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

Black Bear's Killing of Pennsylvania Woman Raises Questions - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

Amy’s Journal » Blog Archive » Questions about Acorn Squashes

Amy’s Journal » Blog Archive » Questions about Acorn SquashesFinally, the great Acorn Squash mystery is solved, thanks to this bright-eyed California blogger and her one-eyed dog.

Ryobi Four-Ton Electric Log Splitter Review - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

Ryobi Four-Ton Electric Log Splitter Review - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

How to Grow Dill, Page 2 of 2 - Associated Content

How to Grow Dill, Page 2 of 2 - Associated Content

Mosquito Repellents Stress Me Out-Why That's a Good Thing - Associated Content

Mosquito Repellents Stress Me Out-Why That's a Good Thing - Associated Content

Healthy Cookware#slide_1

Healthy Cookware#slide_1This article is a departure for me. While I'm a passable cuisine artiste, I've messed up many of our pots and pans by misuse and ignorance. Here's the definitive article from the Martha Stewart web site.

Martha Stewart and Julia Childs are two of the world's greatest women, IMHO.

Gardening 101: How to get a soil test

Pittsburgh Gardening Scene Examiner 101: How to get a soil testI have to say I need to do this. I think of it every year and then don't. It's like needing a map when you're lost--you hate to use one. I have to think of myself as a master gardener completely without help from science. No matter that, without science, I would probably starve or freeze to death. Anyway, here's the deal for getting a soil test--how much it costs, etc..

"Julie and Julia" : New Film Ignites Interest in Julia Child Biography - Associated Content

"Julie and Julia" : New Film Ignites Interest in Julia Child Biography - Associated Content

Financial Incentives for Installing a Windmill on Your Farm - Associated Content

Financial Incentives for Installing a Windmill on Your Farm - Associated ContentHere's an appealing and expensive idea...interesiting all the same.

How to Fry Zucchini and Serving Suggestions - Associated Content#comments

How to Fry Zucchini and Serving Suggestions - Associated Content#comments

Some City Folk Are Mad as Wet Hens When Chickens Come Home to Roost - WSJ.com

Some City Folk Are Mad as Wet Hens When Chickens Come Home to Roost - WSJ.comAre you thinking of raising chickens? Lots of people are. Here's a story from the Wall Street Journal which is worth reading--for fun and business...

Garden Bears Inspection

Animated Garden Ornaments Create Excitement

Pennsylvania Monsoons Stimulate Deer Population

I don’t know what it is about this season, but the deer are eating plants that they normally aren’t much interested in. We’ve had plenty of rain and there’s plenty of new growth. I’m thinking of calling our joint the Emerald Isle Ranch—something like that. Leaves and grasses are prolific and the streams are swollen. Yet, the deer are eating things like Astilbe—only the flowers, however. They’re also munching on the Holly leaves, something the deer will readily do in winter but this is the first time I’d seen it in summer. The oddest thing of all is that they’re eating the tiger lilies and the coreopsis, usually nipping the tenderest parts, the buds.

I’m not angry at the deer and like them very much, enough to be willing to share our plants with them. I do have some pretty excellent deer repellant, made of an organic compound, but I’ve been hesitant to spray it because it hasn’t stopped raining. Here in Pennsylvania, we’re having a regular monsoon season.

But it’s nice to see the little fawns in spring, even though they are plant predators. The deer are one of the happiest things about Pennsylvania, second only to the variety of plant life. There is an article I wrote for Associated Content which may be of interest. Take a look at it by clicking on the headline of this article. Or pop it into your URL line.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/978654/ten_deer_resistant_plants_for_deer_pg2.html?cat=32

Easy DIY Project to Protect Young Trees from the String Trimmer - Associated Content

Easy DIY Project to Protect Young Trees from the String Trimmer - Associated ContentThis is an article I wrote for another site about a totally cheap, easy, and effective DIY project to protect young trees from the string trimmer and the lawn mower. Once in a while something I invent actually works....

Swing Set

 

Early Summer Scene

 

I'd gone to a Cezanne and Beyond Exhibit in the big city--the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as a matter of fact. Naturally, you will see the Matisse/Cezanne/Kweigand influences...

Old Mill Pond

 

Appropos of nothing, I took a picture of this old wheat mill which operates by means of a water wheel. I missed this years opening but I've been to it before. It's a tremendous maze of wood, iron, and water wheels. The water makes use of early technology to take in the corn, grind it, move it alone, refine it further, bring it upstairs, drop it downstairs, back up again where it moves along a trough and is put into burlap bags. Our ancestors were almost as smart as we are, I've discovered.

The mill is beautiful, ingenious, and was capable of being operated with only one man.

The Tulip Poplar Has a Pretty Flower

 

I went out very early for a walk along an abandoned country road this morning. It's getting hard to find an abandoned country road around here but I managed. The beautiful bloom from a Tulip Poplar fell into the road at my feet so I took this photo. I wish it were in better focus. I had my dog with me and she was being impatient so I could not summon my fuller photographic skills. It's pretty, nonetheless....

Dogwood Days

 

I had such great luck at our old house with Dogwoods, yet the only ones which thrive in our new place are the wild ones. Fortunately, I took a picture of this one, may it rest in peace...

Catalogue Your Burpee Garden Seeds

 

I'm usually so busy that I often forget what seeds I've planted and where I've planted them. Of course, the most common way to address that is to stick the seed packs into the dirt next to the garden rows. Sometimes they dry up, get lost, fall apart in the rain or through watering so I've developed a better method. I have a combined printer, copier, scanner so I scan the seed packs into the computer --see the photos shown above. Sometimes I take a picture of the just planted furrows and insert text labelling there. As the garden grows, I add notes to the photos. It's also a good way to compare seed manufacturer's. Burpee seeds are everywhere but the seed catalogues have plenty of other brands.

It may see cumbersome to some, but doing it this way helps you with next year's planning. You know what worked, and what didn't.

Garden Spot for Quiet Contemplation

 

On the edge of one of our gardens is a quiet spot where we can solve the problems of the world. The bench came from a relative who moved, and the birdbath was bought from a place which specializes in molded concrete. I wish I oculd remember the name of the place, but it was located on Route 611 near Upper Black Eddy. Upper Black Eddy is just a few miles south of Easton, PA. It's a fun drive and a fun place to look at a variety of concrete molded statues and other objects.

Peony: Deer Resistant with Unique Foliage

 Peony are everywhere in the country. Aside from the beauty of the blooms, the deer will give them the go-by. I like the leaves a great deal, and they have an elegance even before the buds arrive. Our flower beds are 800 feet higher than the ones down the hill and are later to bloom, even when compared to peony just half a mile away, which are right now fully bloomed.

Irises: Reliable and Steady like Old Friends

 A common as they are, there are good reasons for having Iris in your garden. They grow just about everywhere, in good and poor soils, and they come in a variety of colors. Hungry deer will eat the stalks in early spring, but soon abandon them to eat better tasting vegetation. Deer will totally abandon Iris when they have better choices and I've never seen the deer eating Irises during or after their blooms.

Spring Blooms and an Errant Photo of Fence Parts?

 

 

 

 

If you're going to install a more or less permanent chain link fence around your garden, you'll need a variety of fixtures and joining options. Here's part an assortment at a local Lowe's fencing department.

Photos of Early Spring Flowering

 

 

 

 

We're into late spring now, but these photos were taken in April. The redbud, also known as the Judas Tree, shows its colorful buds well before the leaves break out.

The ubiquitous Forsythia is blooming everywhere. There's hardly a household or farm which doesn't have some growing wild. You can pull up the spreading shoots and plant them elsewhere. The great thing about them is that they appear when the rest of the landscape is barren.

Those little things are wildflowers. Does anyone know the name of those little delicate flowers? I don't and I haven't had time to research that.

Quick Tip for a More Interesting Garden

 

Tip of the day concerns "found objects." This multi-textured stump was not natural to the garden, but will provide visual interest when the Morning Glory vines grow up around it. In fact, the hollowed out and dessicated former log was found in the woods and held in place with a channeled fence post. You can use anything--even tomato stakes. The object looks bare in this setting but the photo was taken in late winter.

Harbingers of Spring

 























These beautiful and graceful creatures can wreak havoc on some plants. We try to plant the ones that are "deer-resistant" but you know the drill. If they're hungry enough...

Free Lawnmowing! No Plant We Can't Handle

 

First Sign of Spring--After the Crocuses

&nbs

Ryobi Gas Cultivator

 I bought this machine after several years of hand spading the garden. It looks as if it may have come from a Star-Trek episode but really I got it at Home Depot for 200 bucks. Last year, I'd used a heavy duty and more expensive machine that I rented so the soil had been tilled once already. Even so, this little machine did the job. You can use it with all four tines for tilling or you can remove the two outer tines for cultivation between rows.


Some people complained that it was hard starting but I didn't notice. It's a four-stroke so maybe they didn't mix the gas properly. The only thing I have against it is that it sounds like a sewing machine. I think a woman could use it as easily as a strong man could :). I'm thinking of customizing mine and running straight pipes out of it to make it sound more macho.

I've run it fairly often and run it pretty hard, breaking new ground in one spot when I got ambitious and garden-crazy. I've run it over rocks. It stopped once when a big rock got caught in the tines. The warranty period will soon be over so I'm starting to be careful with it. There are better, heavier, and far more expensive machines but this is not a toy. It does do the job. I've bought a couple of Ryobi tools. Ryobi tools have the right price point for me. In this crappy economy, that matters.

You dont' want to spend a thousand dollars on a garden to produce 900 dollars worth of vegetables.

How to Install a Vegetable Garden Fence - Associated Content

How to Install a Vegetable Garden Fence - Associated Content

Canning Success = Check List for Canner and Canning Equipment - Associated Content

Canning Success = Check List for Canner and Canning Equipment - Associated Content

How to Install a Vegetable Garden Fence - Associated Content

How to Install a Vegetable Garden Fence - Associated Content

Sacrificing the Shrubbery for the Greater Good of the Deer Community

 

Nature's Way

 

Okay, this posting means nothing but it's a nice photo of nature's handiwork, a home for a bird, or a cache for a squirrel and maybe some inspiration for a poet, not me.

 

 

 

 

The Forsythia has finally bloomed up here, 800 feet higher than most places in this part of PA. That plant with the tiny white flowers is a genus of Spirea which blooms early but not in spectacular fashion (however, we don't complain). The American Redbud (also known as the Judas Tree) is one of my favorites and is beginning to show its colors.

Cool Weather Lettuce: Consider Planting Near a Wall

 I planted some lettuce early this year--it's a cool weather crop--even though there was a hard frost and the threat of more on the way. I planted it close to a foundation wall, however. The sun warms the masonry and continues to radiate, creating a mini-climate. Of course, the little germ-like baby lettuce could still get wiped out but so far our scheme seems to be working.

#comments

#commentsHydrangeas were all white when I was a kid. Now they have blue, and green, and.... Here's an article about Hydrangeas by Lisa Mason...

A Better Weekend Gardening Experience - Associated Content

A Better Weekend Gardening Experience - Associated ContentSome Gardening advice from writer Lisa Mason. Keep it light--don't make a big deal of it--and don't forget to have fun....

Review of the Ryobi Gas-Powered 2-Stroke Tiller Cultivator: Model RY60514 25.4cc 1.2 HP - Associated Content

Review of the Ryobi Gas-Powered 2-Stroke Tiller Cultivator: Model RY60514 25.4cc 1.2 HP - Associated Content

Cute Little Outdoor Solar Plant Lights

You probably already know this, brothers and sisters of the Green Earth, but here goes. I've had my eye on those solar lights you put amidst your plants and along your walkways so you can admire the plant shapes at night. They also alert visitors to where the sidewalks are. Alcoholics also like them as they stumble home in the wee hours but first they have to make it to the house.

Anyways, the bottom line price I saw was at Walmart and I decided I'd buy two of them and try them out. I put them in a flower garden that gets the most sunlight. Results were better than expected. A keen and not obtrusive light, diffused by the fixture upon the head.

That fixture upon the head is why I'm posting this...to save you consternation. I couldn't figure out why, after an entire day in bright sunlight, they would not go on. There was no switch. No battery. Here's the tip of the day. You've got to unscrew the head and you'll see a tiny strip of cellophane right near the tiny bulb. Pull on it, tear it away, and then the bulb will light.

Laugh at me if you want. I pondered this for a long time. But remember $4.00 each at Walmart. They work fine. Not bad.

Picasa Web Albums - moeursalen - Architecture and Scenery

Picasa Web Albums - moeursalen - Architecture and Scenery

Teaching Your Dog to Bring in the Paper

 
 I'm waiting for the ground to thaw so that we can put in some lettuce seeds and spring onion sets. To relieve the waiting, I've trained our young female German Shepherd dog to bring in the newspaper. It's a task she enjoys, but sometimes, in her exhuberance, she likes to toss the paper about on the doorsteps and I have to shout at her to drop it. Nonetheless, we were very proud and amused with her unfailing capture of the newspaper out by the road and the efficient manner in which she would dash for the front door porch.

This newly learned behavior comes at a price, however. Mandy doesn't understand that all the newspapers in the neighborhood do not belong to us. While walking her this morning, she tried to collect the newspapers which lay in our neighborhood driveway and, judging by the way she looked at me when I told her "no", she thinks I am a reckless and irrational doggie owner.