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.

Best Brown Egg Laying Hen? Red Star Chickens - Associated Content

Best Brown Egg Laying Hen? Red Star Chickens - Associated ContentCounting your chickens? Here's what Bobby Tall Horse has to say about the matter...

How to Know when the Rooster Should Die - Associated Content

How to Know when the Rooster Should Die - Associated ContentA really nice bit of writing from an associate on Associated Content.

Homemade Bread as a Meal - Associated Content

Homemade Bread as a Meal - Associated ContentWhat does this have to do with gardening? Well, wheat is grown in the fields and ground into flour. For more than a couple thousand years. So it's gardening, honest!

How to Plan Garden Space - Associated Content

How to Plan Garden Space - Associated ContentMore from Tithonia... If it has a first name like Tithonia, it has to be good.

What is the Real Difference Between Organic and Non-Organic Gardening? - Associated Content

What is the Real Difference Between Organic and Non-Organic Gardening? - Associated ContentHere's one woman's point of view. Written by Tithonia Greenwood....

A Short List of Spring Gardening Tasks - Associated Content

A Short List of Spring Gardening Tasks - Associated Content

Winter Horizons

 

Tilling the Grain

 

Ten Deer Resistant Plants for Deer Country - Associated Content

Ten Deer Resistant Plants for Deer Country - Associated Content

8 Steps to Smart Gardening : Landscaping : Home & Garden Television

8 Steps to Smart Gardening : Landscaping : Home & Garden TelevisionThere are a lot of TV programs where the host tries to be corny and it turns out to be just that--corny, or so corny you want to heave. Paul James of HGTV also makes tons of corny jokes but the guy is truly funny and truly knows his stuff. He's funny and real at the same time. The enthusiasim is catching. You ought to give it a try. Here's a sample--the basics of gardening.

Fat February

Well, we're there. Fat February--the shortest month of the year is also the longest. How does that happen? Some people find it like a drip torture, but I'm determined to enjoy it. A little warm spell melted the crust so that I don't get my boots stuck under the ice pack as I'm exploring. I've found some more artifacts to accompany the Whippet. There's this old cabin back in the woods, ramshackle and drooping. In the summer, the turkey vultures return to nest in the chimney and you can see them flying overhead gracefully in search of carrion or heart-attack hikers. It's amazing how they look so truly elegant lofting in the air currents and so ugly when they're kickin' it on the roof or on the ground.

So anyway, I've found this original old coca-cola cooler under the porch of the drooping cabin. I'm told by one of my neighbors the cabin is owned by Mad Jack, a loony former architect who lives most of the time in Philadelphia but comes up once in a while. I spotted him there once and tried talking with him. I didn't get much out of him. He stood on the delapidating porch staring at me. And staring. And staring.

"Well, so long, then," I said.

East and West

 

 

 

 

And awful nice weathervane...

Cold and Storm and Nothing to Do but Look at the Road

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, I looked at the wheel hubs. It's a Whippet, or what's left of one. Whippets were made in the Roaring Twenties. The line was successful and short--only about a hundred made.

Enjoy Winter: It Won't Last Long

Alright, it's hard to enjoy an ice storm. Or is it? Well, you can enjoy looking at it, those trees glistening with ice, as if they were decorated by an invisible all-powerful giant. But it's hard to enjoy when you're walking along the road with your dog, as we were this morning. Even with a massive amount of road salt, the ice wasn't budging and we had to walk along as if our joints were welded together.

But you need an ice-chipper. That's what that thing is in the photo. That was a homoe-made job, with a good blade and an aluminum handle. If I had to do it all over again, I might have forestalled the aluminum handle for a wooden one. Ah, the lasting beauty of wood! Well, it's warmer, too. Unless I'm wearing gloves, the aluminum could stick to my hands in very very cold weather.

You should be wearing gloves anyway--to cushion the shock. But look at the magnificent job I did. Well, almost did. Or half did. There are other options--moving to Louisiana or Florida or Southern California.

Or getting a dog. Our GSD, Mandy, loves to eat the ice. Not recommended for large driveways though.

What to Consider when Buying a Snow Blower - Associated Content

What to Consider when Buying a Snow Blower - Associated Content

SPCA Adoption Events: Opportunities for Volunteers - Associated Content

SPCA Adoption Events: Opportunities for Volunteers - Associated Content

Kettle Creek Falls

 

Girl with Rabbit Walking in Country

 

Garden Q&A - syracuse.com

Garden Q&A - syracuse.com In reading this article, I find out that the beloved Rose of Sharon is a "garbage" plant which can be uprooted and thrown on the trash heap if it doesn't perform (bloom) to our high standards. I like the Rose of Sharon--it's humble, historical, and tough. I also like lady who wrote the article--she knows her stuff-- and I look in on her from time to time. (in the figurative sense).

Gardening: Poinsettia blooms will provide years of holiday enjoyment | news-press.com | The News-Press

Gardening: Poinsettia blooms will provide years of holiday enjoyment | news-press.com | The News-Press

Christine's Friend Katie Tuerff and the Bone Lady

Wood, Wood, More Wood

Wood is sexy. Ir'a great when it's growing; it's great when it's dead. Dead wood is best when you're cutting firewood for the winter months. You can't burn wet wood.

so I was cutting firewood in the woods again today, and I'd found an old stand of Red Oak dead hardwood where the shale rock had welled up and thinned the soil making the trees susceptible to wind and storm. And so the trees fell. And so I was cutting the dead wood for the winter.

While cutting wood, I heard some voices and then I saw these three people walking toward me from down the hill below the property. It was this old guy I knew walking through the woods with his two sons whom I also knew slightly. They were scouting out places to hunt and wanted to know where I'd be posted. I pointed to the big pine with the stovepipe arms and I nodded toward the spot on the uphill horizon where the shale rock had split and surged upward to create a jagged rise.

One of the man's sons had worked for a tree surgeon's company and knew a lot about chain saws and trees. I had osme questions about chains. He pointed out that one of my Stihl saws had a "chipper chain," meaning that it had a squarish cutting tooth. That was good. Now I know what to look for. It has a good bite and cuts down effortlessly.

I had the wood cut into sixteen inch logs and stacked them upright in the little drailer I drew with the John Deere 445. They looked at the wood. Nice wood, they said. I knew about the Red Oak but I was wondering if the other wood was White Oak or Ash. The bark was old and peeled and you couldn't tell, not the way the bark had come apart. One of the guys boys said it was Ash but I wasn't so sure. The Cherry wood looked like the Red Oak when it was red except that the outer rings were red to the bark.

The End of Summer - Beginning of Fall

So I took a flyer from blogging for awhile. Lots of reasons for it. Even though heating oil prices are dropping along with the price of gasoline, I'm determined to save the heating oil we already purchased at $4.23 per gallon. Right now, the cost from our dealer is $2.59 per gallon. The price could just as easily swing back to higher levels. Therefore, I'm spending lots of time cutting firewood. With few exceptions, I'm cutting dead wood, mostly oak and maple and ash. I'm playing catch up and I need to build up a pile of dry firewood before winter sets in hard. Truth to tell, I don't expect to cut a sufficient amount to last the winter but I might get close.

I have cut down a few living trees which were very close to other live trees. Those will be split and saved for next winter. Clean wood is a whole lot better than the molding dead stuff I've been cutting. But I have a sense of moral superiority when I cut the dead, down wood. I'm cleaning the forest floor and making room for new and healthy growth.

And yes, I'm leaving some brush piles and cover for the deer little critters.

Heating Costs Drive Homeowners to Wood Heat

In the cold weather parts of the United States, the high cost of heating oil and other energy is driving people toward the purchase of woodstoves, coal stoves, fireplace inserts. Here's a story I wrote for another website about the installation of a fireplace insert. Just click on the blue headline.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1024259/drolet_fireplace_insert_energy_cost.html?cat=6

Multi-color Bee Balm

National Gardening Association :: Regional Reports

Sandra Petersen on the Butterfly Bush

Butterfly Bushes for Small Gardens
A butterfly bush can be a lovely addition to a small garden and with proper care will provide beauty and attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds each summer.
View more »

Ten Deer Resistant Plants for Deer Country - Associated Content

Ten Deer Resistant Plants for Deer Country - Associated Content

Gardening Economics: Ask for a Discount on Withered Plants - Associated Content

Gardening Economics: Ask for a Discount on Withered Plants - Associated ContentIt's that time of year again...the vegetation is drying out and the greenery is looking tired. Here's where the aggressive gardener can find an opportunity as stores switch into fall mode.

Home Heat: a Rush for Alternatives - WSJ.com

Home Heat: a Rush for Alternatives - WSJ.comThis article seems somehow related to gardening and the outdoors--I couldn't say just why? But hey, the Wall Street Journal would know...

Gorilla "Paradise" Found; May Double World Numbers

Gorilla "Paradise" Found; May Double World Numbers

Gorilla "Paradise" Found; May Double World Numbers

Gorilla "Paradise" Found; May Double World Numbers

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Aster

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Aster

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Calendula

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Calendula

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Dianthus

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Dianthus

Zinnias and Sunlight

 

Back Garden Flowers

 

Purple Grapes Are Green in July

 

Broken Pot in a City Park

 

From Dirt to Dust

From Dirt to Dust

Grandmother goes 15 rounds with rabid fox - poconorecord.com - The Pocono Record

Grandmother goes 15 rounds with rabid fox - poconorecord.com - The Pocono Record

Lauterbach on gardening: Growing native is at odds with growing your food | Margaret Lauterbach's columns | Idaho Statesman

Lauterbach on gardening: Growing native is at odds with growing your food | Margaret Lauterbach's columns | Idaho Statesman

Gardening Returns

Top Story

Another Reason to Garden

We have heard since time immemorial that too much exposure to the sun can cause melanomas on the skin. I don’t doubt that, and have seen in myself. But the trouble with our 24-7 news cycle is that it emphasizes the sensational at the expense of common sense.

Currently, the media is focused upon a study indicating that heart attacks are linked to low Vitamin D deficiencies. But that’s nothing you didn’t know already. Most of us have, at one time or other, told the children: “Go outside, get some sunshine and fresh air.” That seems to have been good advice, acquired without a degree from Harvard Medical College.

The research I’m talking about comes from the Archives of Internal Medicine and shows that the risk of dying from heart disease is MORE THAN DOUBLE in those with vitamin D deficiencies who rarely get the sunshine. You can buy Vitamin D in the stores (for a price) but nature provides it for free in the summer of our Hemisphere. At least ten minutes a day will give you a good boost (about 10,00 I.U), and do that without the sunglasses. Your eyes need the Vitamins, too.

Other researchers believe that Vitamin D from the sun may protect from other physical and psychological ailments, too. The sun is a good psychologist, treating you for the winter blues, also known as depression. That something the Red Rooster knows, and it is no coincidence that your dog or cat like to nap in the sunshine. So finally the knowledge has traveled up the food chain to the “higher levels”…ahem…of planetary development.

So get out there and garden. For longer periods, you already know what to do. Wear a hat and cover that skin from excess exposure.

Gardening: There is still time to grow your own vegetables - Telegraph

Gardening: There is still time to grow your own vegetables - TelegraphThe British are really good at reminding us that literacy in gardening has not gone the way of the horse-drawn plow (except for Lancaster).

News Flash from Tomato Junction: The Salmonella Outbreak

Salmonella: Are Tomatoes From Local Farms Safer? | Newsweek Health | Newsweek.comClick on the headline for the long of it. The short of it is that there's good reason to tear up your lawn to plant tomatoes. Okay, that's x-treme but there a significant factor that runs through it all:

Large industrial producers, with packing plants and other delays, provide more time for salmonella bacteria to spread through the tomato. Small farms and locally grown produce goes more quickly to market and is safer in most, but not all cases. Improper growing habits can cause contamination even among small farmers.

The message is clear. Do it right and grow your own, at least until the FDA figures out where the contaminated tomatoes are coming from. The article cross-linked with this post is from Newsweek magazine, which seems to do a better job of covering the salmonella issue than it does of politics.

Newsweek may want to re-brand itself as a gardening magazine.

Coreopsis: A Can't Kill Plant for Deer Country

Coreopsis is one of my favorite perennials and some of these are blooming early here in the Northeast. One of the most popular from the Coreopsis family is “Moonbeam.” It looks a lot like Potentilla. I planted some last year but they returned to the home of their ancestors. I’ve had better luck with this variety and have found it to be one of the most reliable and can’t-kill plants known to modern man. Beautiful yellow flowers from a plant that can get as high as 2 feet. It loves any kind of soil. It attracts butterflies and, best of all, the deer won’t eat it. We live in heavy deer country and have put this plant in a variety of poor soils with positive results. You’ve got to plant this one. It’s not prissy and requires no work beyond planting and will return year after year.

Gardening Economics: Ask for a Discount on Withered Plants - Associated Content

Gardening Economics: Ask for a Discount on Withered Plants - Associated ContentLearn how to save money when buying plants for your landscaping projects. Click on the headline for money saving tips.

Don't Be Afraid to Ask for Plant Discounts

Plant prices have risen along with gas prices. Yet, landscaping plants remain one of the least expensive ways in which to improve the appearance of your home. Nonetheless, you can save additional money on your plant purchases if you’re willing to wait and think the way the plant vendors do.

While there are bargains to be had at the smaller independent horticultural businesses too, the best bargains on plants are found at the large chains like K-Mart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Walmart. While some of these “big-box” stores send unsold plants back to the vendor for charge-backs, others are only too willing to get rid of those plants that don’t sell by heavy discounting. Keep in mind that time is of the essence in the plant business. People want to get their gardens in early; therefore early spring is not a good time to find bargains. Business is brisk. Plants are quickly snapped up by homeowners eager to set up colorful displays or to get an early start on vegetable gardens. After the initial period of plant buying frenzy, however, there are some plants which are beaten up by a combination of poor care, buyer indifference, or excessive handling. Some of these plants are terminal, but most are not. Look for the discount stand at any of the big box stores. If you don’t see one, find the horticulture manager and ask. Don’t ask the lowly salesperson who has little authority in the matter.

Yesterday, at a Lowe’s, we went to the distressed plant stands and found a variety of plants which were substantially marked down from their original prices. We heralded a “plant manager” and humbled ourselves by asking “how much for the whole thing?” We were offered the entire stand for one dollar each. Here’s a sampling of what we got:

Moudry Fountain Grass: Original Price 24.98
2 Palalenopsis Orchids : Orginal Price 8.88 each
1 China Girl Holly : Original Price 6.98
1 Sweet Potato Vine : Original Price 9.95

Except for the Orchids, all of the plants were in large one or five gallon containers so they were definitely good value at a buck apiece. We took them home and watered them, along with an assortment of smaller plants (marigold, petunias, and impatiense) which we bought en masse for a bulk price of $3.00. We watered them and put them outside. This morning, all look crisp and ready to grow. We might lose one or two, but so what? The value they add to the landscape was well worth the $8.00 we paid for them.

Rattlesnake Weed (Hieracium venosum)

Rattlesnake Weed (Hieracium venosum)While hiking yesterday, we came across this plant. It was kind of interesting and we identified it by looking, first, in our botany books. Later, we found this photo on the internet. I took some pictures, too, but the plant we photographed had not yet flowered. This plant had some remedial properties--astringent, used as a medicine by the American Indians for gastro ailments. I'll add some of the pictures we took when I get a minute.

thisweekonline.ca - Growing organically is the biggest gardening trend

thisweekonline.ca - Growing organically is the biggest gardening trendHere's an interesting site. I used a little fertilizer last year but I'm trying to go without this year. Organic is me. So far the plants are healthy, though suffering from the colder weather and lack of sunshine.

The lettuces are doing well, however, but the peas are growing more slowly than I thought in spite of my application of natural ferilizer.

I'm hoping that the unsually cold weather will kill off part of the Gypsy moth population which seems to have swelled this year. Those things were imported in the early previous century to make silk. I see a lot of caterpillars, but very little silk. I prefer the Japanese Beetles, scheduled to arrive in late June or early July. I haven't been inspired to see the beauty of the gypsy moth caterpillars whereas those destructive Japanese beatles are admirable little warriors with a beautiful shell.

Hudsonhubtimes.com - 'Hay bale gardening' takes root

Hudsonhubtimes.com - 'Hay bale gardening' takes root

The Age of Botanical Exploration - WSJ.com

The Age of Botanical Exploration - WSJ.com This information will make you a very desirable guest at garden parties around the country.

How to Get Wasps Off Your Deck or Patio

I got tired of chasing wasps from our back deck with a sprayer filled with insecticide. The insecticide seemed to harm us more than it harmed the wasps, whcih would soon return. I also became tired of having wasps chase (and sting) me. So I did some research and came up with the following environmentally safe advice from an HGTV garden expert:

Wasps are territorial, so a natural way to remove them from your deck or patio is to make them think that another wasp nest is close by. A simple but effective way to do this is to take a used paper lunch bag, fill it with air, tie it at the bottom with string and hang it from a branch .

Author Tells of Being Bitten By the Gardening Bug, Battling Woodchucks - Health - redOrbit

Author Tells of Being Bitten By the Gardening Bug, Battling Woodchucks - Health - redOrbit

Here's a book that appeals to me. I'm going to look it up later on Amazon.com. It's fun to read the commentaries which follow after the formal reviews. Of particular interest to me was the battle with the groundhogs. I think most rural gardeners have had some experience with those cute but destructive furry creatures. Apparently, the author of this book never heard of shooting at them or "having them on a plate" along with the garden vegetables he grew. There was a man I knew a while back who made a great stew of goundhog meat. He had a peculiar and colloquial voice.

"Waaaallll (well), bring 'er in and I'll a skin 'er," he told me once when I'd shot a groundhog.

I hadn't shot at a groundhog again until last year when there was a particularly voracious one who had made a home under a shed just a few feet from the vegetable garden. You can keep on reading because my story has a happy ending. Fat as he was, that groundhog, I took aim and missed, watching while he scurried across the yard and into the woods, never to be seen again. I checked for blood; there was none. Clean miss. Happy ending.

Spelling Test: Culantro or Cilantro?

Well, both spellings are right, and they're different plants in the same family.

I wonder if the security cameras at Walmart caught me snacking on one of their plants. Don’t worry, though, I did buy the plant after nipping off the tip of one leaf.

It was called “Culantro” and that’s the correct spelling. I had to taste it because it’s often mistaken, misspelled, and misnamed for its close relative “cilantro” or “coriander.” So I found out it tastes just the same, only a bit stronger, and bought it.

I also planted it the same day, albeit in the wrong place. I took a gamble and placed it in a sunny spot before reading the card that said:

“Culantro grows naturally in shaded moist heavy soils near cultivated areas. Under cultivation, the plant thrives best under well irrigated shaded conditions.”

The plant is rich in calcium, iron, carotene, and riboflavin and its harvested leaves are widely used as a food flavoring and seasoning herb for meat and many other foods. Its medicinal value include its use as a tea for flu, diabetes, constipation, and fevers. One of its most popular use is in chutneys as an appetite stimulant.

The name fitweed is derived from its supposedly anti-convulsant property.
I bought another herb, too; Thai basil has a licorice or anise taste in addition to the familiar tastes of basil. But more of that later. Right now, I’m going to replant the Culantro in a shaded, moist spot as the growers recommend.

Green Gardening: Honeybees get a boost from supplement

Green Gardening: Honeybees get a boost from supplement

Suburban Lawn Struggles

Fiscally Fit - WSJ.com Terri Cullen writes an interesting column for the Wall Street Journal. She writes about practical things, mostly, and has a common sense approach. If you live in the country, as we do, you might like to see how things work in Suburbia.

Sharp growth in vegetable gardening

DutchNews.nl - Sharp growth in vegetable gardening

Uhh....this is in Holland where the supply of land is much more limited than it is here. Yet, the Dutch have an attachment to farming and gardening that is sometimes lost in America. America has a vast amount of land that can be used to gorw vegetables. We're so lucky here in America-- yet, we prefer Chem-Lawn to John Deere -- Use some of that yard space for a vegetable garden, people!

Expand Your Gardening Vocabulary

Gardening was always so much easier when I was a child. A tomato was a tomato, corn was corn, and the word "flower" applied to as many plants as I wanted. Now I realize what little I know, but still, I'm having fun. Here's a gardening quiz and I'll give you answers at the end. Hopefully, we'll both learn something and perhaps have a little fun in the process.

1. What is the probably the most powerful garden design factor?
2. What time of day and weather conditions are best for planting?
3. What is the difference between an Annual and a Perennial?
4. What is oxalis?
5. What nutrient deficiency can result from over liming or from lime leached from cement or brick and is often found in regions where soil is derived from limestone and in areas with low rainfall?
6. Which plant nutrient is responsible for the healthy green color of your plants: nitrogen, phosphorus or potash?
7. In gardening terms, what does deadheading mean?
8. What is a biennial?
9. What is the term for plants that are resistant to pests and diseases, are often more vigorous and productive and can withstand cold winters?
10. What is the more common name for the perennial myosotis sylvestris?
================================================================================

Okay, now the answers. I'm sure you'll get them all right. That wasn't so hard, was it?

1. Color is probably the single most powerful garden design factor.
2. Evenings of cloudy days is the best time to plant. If you have to plant during the heat of the day or on sunny days be sure plants are watered thoroughly immediately after planting.
3. An annual goes through its life cycle in one summer, and a perennial will bloom summer after summer.
4. Oxalis is a common perennial weed.
5. Iron deficiency.
6. The plant nutrient responsible for the healthy green color of your plants is nitrogen.
7. Deadheading is removing faded flowers by pinching off the flower head. The plant will spend its energy producing more flowers instead of seed. This encourages more flowers and creates a longer blooming period. Also pinch the central growing tip of the plant. This will produce side shoots further down the stem, creating a bushier plant that will produce more flowers.
8. A biennial is a plant with a two year life cycle, that produces leaves in the first season, then flowers and sets seed in the second season.
9. Referred to as hardy plants.
10. The more common name for the perennial myosotis sylvestris is forget-me-nots

Hot Pepper Habanero - Pepper, Hot - Vegetables - Burpee

Hot Pepper Habanero - Pepper, Hot - Vegetables - Burpee

I usually indulge myself every year by planting a rather large number of hot peppers. The practice is wasteful in terms of land use but I can't resist. Truth to tell, I can hardly eat one of these 10-alarm babies each year but I plant them anyway. I can them or give them away. On the other hand, I snack on a variety of mildly hot peppers that I also plant. Somehow, hot peppers seem to me patriotic. Plant some, you'll see.

Red Lettuce, Arugula, and Barack Obama

Lettuce is a cool weather crop so it's suitable for early spring planting. This year I'm determined to enrich the soil with organic fertilizers. Above is a variety of red lettuce which adds a little visual impact to a salad. I learned about Arugula from the Elite Presidential Candidate Barack Obama and so I planted some of that, too. I've no idea what it looks like. I had to go to an old-fashioned plant and feed store to find arugula. What next? Birkenstocks and Brie?