I got an email notice yesterday that Late Blight, which rapidly kills tomatoes and potatoes (among other plants), was discovered 200 miles away from me.
Why should you care and what should you do?
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The day finally arrived – garlic was harvested this morning. Today is also super hot, so we quick harvested and then fast prepped the bed so we can plant carrots tomorrow morning before it rains. In 90 minutes we’d harvested the garlic and done all the prep. Here is a bit of how.
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Is it safe to compost junk mail and bills? As you may know, newspaper is generally safe and something I have few qualms about.
Bills and junk mail are a different story, because the printed text and images are made with toner rather than ink. Toner is little more than finely ground plastic.
Determining the safety of printed products can get complicated, but here is a brief rundown of why I suggest you stay away from composting your bills, junk mail and home printed materials.
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Everyone is talking about Rabbits: They’re everywhere and they’re eating everything. There are some legitimate ways to limit the damage and a whole lot of things that do not work, promoted by vendors who want your money.
Let’s get a few things straight and save some time, money and seedlings.
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When eating and plant shopping, our eyes are often bigger than our mouths and yards. When eating, you can choose to stop and you’re done. Plants don’t work that way, especially these aggressive thugs given away each spring by well-intentioned gardeners, year after year, because SURPRISE!, they have spread again!
Continue readingI’ve been saying this for a few years and generally feel like I’m spitting into the wind, but once again UMass says that the fantastic work they’ve done over the last decade+ has almost eliminated risk of damage due to winter moth caterpillars.
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I talk about this every year because it is both beautiful and a new concept to so many people.
What you see is a Farao cabbage seed germinating ON TOP of the soil. If you look closely you will see that the seed split open, allowing the stem and first leaves to go out one end and the roots to begin searching for nutrients out the other.
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Norway Maple trees are the trees nobody wants, for good reasons.
Norway Maples on the MA list of species prohibited from sale or propagation, but they reproduce on their own in such great numbers that the idea anyone might buy one seems silly. Go to most people’s yards in the Boston area and you can have dozens for free.
They grow fast, shading out the competition. They also spread roots near the surface in such a thick mat that it can be difficult to dig through with a shovel, let alone for a plant to get a healthy start. And it isn’t just under the drip line. In the photo to the right you can see a 1″ root 26′ away from the tree. At that diameter, the root is certain to go several feet further with dozens of side branches coming off the root and contributing to the dense mat underneath these plants.
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Leaves have become a hot topic recently (finally), so I’d like to briefly address it.
Continue readingFolks, when dealing with slugs and snails I strongly encourage you to save time and money by using science. Continue reading