Hi Gardeners
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| Annual phlox |
Cold weather like this makes me crabby. I want to yell at someone to do something
about it, but that won’t work. It’s cold
here- bitter cold. We have a few days
coming when high temperatures will be around zero. It’s cold for a lot of you readers out there,
the whole eastern half of the US is feeling this. I hope that the prediction that the weather
pattern will begin to change early next week is correct and that we go back to
more normal winter weather. Maybe we’ll
even get some of that above normal stuff.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac missed this below average cold period, in
our area at least, but they are in sync with the weather services prediction
the 2nd half of January will be milder. I hope so, this 4 layers of
everything to go to the barn to feed is getting old. The plants on the unheated porch are getting
really cold- I hope I don’t lose some. Normally that area stays 40 degrees or
above, it’s been hovering around freezing.
And there are some plants in the garden I wish I had protected a bit
better.
My 20 hens are giving me 6-8 eggs a day and I think it’s lucky we
are getting that. I have to pick them up
soon after they are laid so they don’t freeze and crack. I’m under a lot of pressure to just get rid
of them from hubby and family. It is
hard to lug buckets of water out there in this cold but I would still be going
out to feed the barn cats and fill bird feeders anyway. I use some of those eggs to make warm
scrambled eggs for the cats every morning.
They would miss those chickens.
My bargain amaryllis bloomed a few days after Christmas – a
beautiful bright red. I had the pot
sitting on top the parakeet cage in the living room because it was the only
spot left where it could get good light.
I was careful the birds couldn’t reach the leaves, since they might
poison them. However, the pot came crashing down yesterday, the little buggers
kept poking at the pot until they pushed it off. I now have the stem of flowers in a vase on
my desk. Oh well.
I saw a snowy owl the other day, perched in a dead tree by the
barn. Keep your eyes open, there is what
is called an “irruption” of snowy owls into the US as far south as North
Carolina and parts of Texas. Many, many
sightings have already been reported. There was a very good breeding season in
the Artic this year for the owls and the young owls are spreading out looking
for food this winter. And probably
feeling right at home in the cold. Here’s a site where you can report sightings
and see where others are seeing snowy owls. http://ebird.org/ebird/alert/summary?sid=SN40647&sortBy=obsDt
Snowy owls are large, mostly white birds with a rounded head. They hunt by day more than other owls and
aren’t too afraid of humans, so many people will get a chance to see them. They are a mostly silent owl, you won’t hear
them hooting. They eat a wide range of
prey from mice to smaller birds and even cats.
(Stay in the barn kitties.) They like open spaces like the tundra they
came from and are often seen around airports, parking lots, and empty farm
fields. In the spring they’ll retreat
back north.
I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Let’s start checking the days off until
spring.
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| Amaryllis after the fall. |
January Almanac
January’s
full moon, which happened on the 1st is called the Wolf Moon or Old
Moon. It is this year’s closest moon, called a super moon. It was very bright and beautiful if you
happened to look out on these last artic nights. There is also a full moon on the 31st.
That full moon is generally in February and is called the Snow moon. There will
be a total eclipse of this moon west of the Mississippi just before dawn. The rest of the nation will see a partial
eclipse. The closest point that the
earth gets to the sun is tomorrow- January 3rd. It’s called the perihelion.
Moon
perigee is the 30th. Moon apogee is the 14th. I track the perigee and apogee of the moon
because my weather keeping records for the last few years tell me the chances
of precipitation around the perigee are high for me. For other areas this might not prove to be
true. Try tracking the moon perigee and
apogee events with your weather and see what you discover.
The
perigee is when the moon is closest to earth in a monthly orbit cycle. There is a slight increase in the moons
gravitational pull at this time. Apogee
is the farthest point the moon is in its orbit from the earth. Research has proven that there can be slight
influences on earth’s weather near these moon events. When either a new moon or a full moon occur
near perigee the chances for seismic activity, (earthquakes or volcano
eruptions), increase. Eclipses or other
planetary alignments occurring near this time increase the chances even more.
The full moon also looks slightly larger when it occurs close to perigee.
The
January birth flower is the carnation.
In the language of flowers the carnation is supposed to portray love,
fascination and distinction. If you send a striped carnation to someone it
means your regret that the love isn’t shared. A white carnation means pure
love, a red carnation “carnal” love. A
pink carnation means friendship and a yellow one means rejection. An
alternative birth flower is the snowdrop.
It has a lot less colors to worry about.
The birthstone is the garnet.
January
is National Blood Donor month, National Hot Tea month, National Oatmeal Month,
and National Soup Month to name a few.
The 10th is Houseplant
Appreciation day, the 13th is
International Skeptics day, the 15th is Martin Luther King Day, and National Hat
day, as well as Penguin Awareness day and National Buttercrunch Day, the 18th
is Winnie the Pooh Day, the 19th
is National Popcorn day, the 22nd
is National Blond Brownie day and the 23rd
is National Pie day. The 27th is National Chocolate
Cake Day and the 28th is Fun at Work Day as well as Chinese New
Year. The 31st is Backward
day and Inspire Your Heart with Art day.
Garden trends in 2018
What kind of plants and plant products will be the hot items this
year? Garden trends can vary somewhat
from place to place but some things stand out as being interesting to gardeners
all over the country. You can get an
idea from social media and from what garden catalogs and stores are featuring
as to what is a popular trend. Here’s
what I think are the top garden trends this year.
Houseplants
I am so glad to see houseplants back in style. Houseplants and their accessories are hot
right now. Magazine shots of homes and
offices show houseplants everywhere.
People are using grow lights to add plants to dark spaces, the new CFL
and LED grow lights use less electricity and are less of a fire hazard than
older lights. Plants hang in bathrooms and boardrooms, and macramé hangers are
once again in high demand to hang them.
I feel like I am back in the 1970’s again and I love it.
People today are re-discovering older types of houseplants like
spider plants, pothos, ponytail palms and philodendron but they are also adding
orchids, tillandsias, and odd and exotic tropical plants to their indoor
environment. All kinds of exciting
plants are being offered for indoor growing, some I never heard of in the 70’s.
Growing citrus, pomegranates, figs and bananas, as well as other
fruiting or edible plants indoors is also popular. The windowsill herb garden
and even a tomato under a grow light are once again popping up in kitchens.
Beautiful handcrafted pots and plant stands are being promoted in
catalogs. High tech items for plants are
also trendy, watering devices, pH testers, light timers that are turned on by
your phone and hydroponic growing equipment of all types are examples.
If you don’t have houseplants in your house, this is the year to
add them.
Succulents, sedums and cacti
Succulents, sedums and cacti of all kinds are popular once again
this year, both for inside and outside growing.
I know my own collection expands each year. So many beautiful colored varieties of
succulents, odd and unusual shapes and textures are available. Some succulents have lovely flowers too.
Collections of various succulents in the same container – what used to be
called a dish garden- are very popular.
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| Kalanchoe 'Snowbunny' |
Succulents, sedums and cacti are generally easy to grow, (unless
you over water them), which may be part of their attraction. But beware- there are some very pricy
succulents out there and some of them require a lot more effort than caring for
more common succulents.
Vegetables- peppers
Growing your own vegetables remains popular and peppers seem to be
the star of the vegetable catalogs again this year. Who knew there were so many varieties of
peppers? New varieties are being offered
by the peck (pick a peck of peppers).
Patio and porch vegetable gardens in pots are still going strong.
New types of containers make this kind of growing easier. People are putting
urban vegetable gardens in front yards and vacant lots.
Thankfully the trend of straw bale gardens has faded. Most new vegetable gardeners are using raised
beds or containers.
Container gardens
Container gardens, collections of plants in one container, have
been popular for many years and the trend isn’t fading. Container gardens allow people to try
different color and texture combinations each year and use their artistic
abilities to an advantage. Containers
can be moved as needed and used on hard paved areas.
Many container plants are annuals, but more and more perennial
varieties are being developed that do well in containers. Some of these can even overwinter in the
containers.
Artisan and hand-crafted décor,
hardscape
The trend is away from plastic fences, cheap machine-made
trellis’s and patio blocks from big box stores.
Instead people are opting for woven willow fences, hand made wrought
iron trellis’s and garden art, hand thrown pots and urns, and old bricks laid
by master craftsmen. Imperfect is fine
if it’s made with love and care. Re-purposing is fine if it’s done carefully
and tastefully.
Tree stumps are being turned into sculptures. People are paying more for garden art that is
one of a kind and handmade. Antique
garden fountains, bird baths, and statues are in high demand. Cutesy signs, plastic statues of peeing boys
and old toilets filled with petunias are out.
Purple plants/themes
Purple, in all its shades, from palest lavender to deep as night,
in foliage, flowers and décor is in this year.
Purple is an easy plant color to work with because there are so many
plants with purple foliage or flowers.
Just remember that one shade used too much is less appealing to the eye
than a variety of shades of a color with the occasional contrasting accent
color.
If there are few purple plants in your garden and you aren’t sure
whether you want to make purple a permanent part of the landscape, try some
purple foliaged or flowering annuals in pots.
Or introduce some garden décor items in shades of purple, maybe a chair
painted purple, a purple birdhouse, or a purple glass ornament.
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| Baptisia |
Cottage Gardens
In place of the all native garden more gardeners are opting for am
exciting mixture of natives and old fashioned annual and perennial plants that
are non-native but colorful, long blooming and loved by pollinators. Most cottage gardens are an informal mixture
of colors, textures and sizes. Herbs and
even vegetables are often included in cottage gardens.
I think you will find that the average cottage garden with its
variety of plants will be visited more often by bees, butterflies and birds than
a native plant garden. And the nectar, pollen and seeds from non-native plants
is just as tasty and helpful to them as that from native plants. Keep cottage gardens from looking too “messy”
by planting taller varieties in back, and keeping a neat border. Some people just can’t deal with the cottage
garden look – they need more organization.
Mental wellness/peace/meditation gardens
The practice of designing gardens to be quiet, soothing places to
relax and reflect in is growing. These
gardens are usually very simple, they use quiet muted colors, natural décor
like rocks and have spots to comfortably sit or even lay. Many use reflecting pools, bubbling or
trickling water features, rain chimes or wind chimes in their design.
Soft lights are sometimes added to these spaces so they can be
enjoyed in the evening. Outside noise
and sights are often screened out by fences and layers of plants so that you
are surrounded by nature. Small fire
pits or little stoves can allow the use of the space in cooler weather. I think everybody needs their own little
private garden to relax in.
Every gardener is an individual so don’t worry if none of these
trends appeal to you. Just keep on doing
what you love.
Trends that should go away in gardening 2018
There are some harmful and some useless trends that come and go in
gardening also. If you read this blog
regularly you probably know some of what I am going to list here. These practices and items that are passed by
word of mouth and by social media have been researched by experts and found to
be either a waste of money and time or harmful.
They often come from misinterpretation of scientific studies but
sometimes it’s hard to imagine where they sprang from.
Here’s the list of some things to avoid doing in 2018
Don’t use Epsom salt in the garden- no research anywhere has proven that Epsom salt helps any plants
except in a very specific instance where there is a magnesium deficiency, which
is rare in home gardens. It does not
keep insects or disease away, act as fertilizer, or make fruit sweeter or more
tasty. It can harm the soil and your
plants if too much is applied. 99.99% of
the time Epsom salt will have no effect or a negative effect on a garden. The
placebo effect is powerful for some people though. Get a soil test before using
any magnesium supplements on the garden and there are much better sources of magnesium than Epsom salt. Just don’t
use it.
Don’t use dish detergent in the garden- dish detergent is not meant for plants, whether it’s the
favorite-“Dawn”- or cheap stuff from the dollar store. It is full of chemicals and definitely not
organic or natural. It strips off the
protective oils on plant leaf surfaces. Many plants are burned or killed by
applying dish detergent in various home remedies. Use insecticidal soap
formulated for plants instead.
Don’t use coffee grounds to acidify the
soil or act as fertilizer- unless you used massive amounts of
them coffee grounds won’t acidify the soil- we are talking many inches deep for
a small acidification effect. There
isn’t much nutrition in coffee grounds either. They don’t deter insects or slugs
either. Use them in the compost pile for the organic matter they provide.
Don’t use eggshells/eggs in the garden- using eggs, hard boiled, raw, and eggshells, whatever folk
remedy you are following, is pretty useless in the garden. The calcium from shells leaches out very
slowly, over years and really doesn’t aid the plants much. Both raw and hardboiled eggs buried in the
garden attract animals like rats, raccoons and possums- even your dog. If an animal doesn’t get them it will take
years for them to break down in the soil if they are buried with shell on. Crushed eggshells don’t act as a barrier to
snails or slugs either. There are videos
on line of these critters crawling right over them. Put your eggshells in the compost pile.
Don’t use cornmeal to control weeds. This false information got started when people misunderstood
research using corn gluten meal for weed control. Corn gluten meal is different from cornmeal
found in the grocery. Corn gluten meal
does have some weed killing effect, (it doesn’t kill all types of weeds), a few
farm or garden stores may carry it in large bags. Cornmeal has no effect on weeds and attracts
ants, mice and other animals as well as getting moldy and stinky. By the way-
ants don’t blow up when they eat cornmeal either.
Don’t use banana peels in the garden. Banana peels do have some potassium in them and they do provide
organic matter to soil. However, bananas
are one of the crops most heavily treated with pesticides and they are grown in
countries that still use some dangerous pesticides we ban here. Research has found residue of about 20
pesticides on banana peels. The fruit
inside is generally protected from the pesticide residue so we don’t regulate
what pesticides or amounts of pesticides that bananas can have to be sold here.
When gardeners take banana peels and bury them by plants, or soak
them in water they pour on plants, they are also adding various pesticides to
the soil and water. Research has not
been done to see how much of those pesticides are taken up by plants but
science tells us that it’s probably happening.
If you want an organic garden don’t bury banana peels in the
garden. If you want to keep pets and
kids safe don’t soak peels in water they might drink or use peels on
houseplants they might taste. I can’t
tell you that banana peels are definitely leaching pesticides in harmful
amounts but since any fertilizer value they would have is very small, why take
the risk?
Don’t use gum to kill moles. Sometimes Juicy Fruit gum is
recommended, sometimes bubble gum, but whatever gum is suggested is useless for
killing moles. Moles don’t eat gum.
(They also rarely eat any plant parts.) They eat things like worms and
grubs. If they did eat gum it wouldn’t
kill them. Mice and voles, which often
use mole tunnels, eat gum without any problems.
Save your money and don’t buy gum for mouse food.
Don’t put a bag of topsoil or peat in
the hole when you plant a tree. No matter what type of soil you have research has proven time and
time again that the holes dug for tree planting should be back filled with the
soil that is taken out of them. Don’t
let salesmen and poorly informed landscapers tell you any different. Trees need to establish their roots in the
native soil as quickly as possible. Putting
“better” soil in a planting hole encourages root circling, poor anchoring, and
if more absorbent material is placed in a hole dug in clay soil, a bathtub
effect that rots roots.
Choose the right tree for the soil and environmental conditions
and let it establish its root system in the native soil. That’s what experts do and that’s what will
ensure the best chances for survival of the tree.
Don’t leave burlap, peat pots or wire
cages on trees and shrubs when planting. This old practice is slow to die. Some nurseries still say that a warranty will
be voided if you remove the pot, burlap or cage. They need to start following
current nursery association recommendations.
The best way to plant a tree or shrub is to remove everything possible
from the roots.
There are two reasons for removing peat pots, burlap and cages
from plant roots. (It should go without saying but plastic pots must also be
removed.) One is that these things don’t break down in soil as quickly as
claimed, sometimes lasting many years.
They restrict root development, encourage root circling and may wick
water away from roots. Trees and shrubs
may develop slowly, or top growth may grow too quickly for restricted root
systems to support.
The second reason for removing everything from around a plants
roots before planting is so that you can see the condition of a plants
roots. This is another reason some
nurseries don’t want you to remove root coverings. You may discover a small weak root system or
a root system that has badly circled in the container. Circling roots need to be trimmed before
planting or you risk root girdling. To properly plant a tree you also need to
see where the top lateral (side root) is.
This root needs to be just below the soil surface for the tree to
develop the proper trunk flare.
Some experts even go so far as to gently wash all the container
soil off roots before planting. Just
make sure you remove all root coverings before planting or that you supervise
anyone planting a tree or shrub for you and demand that they remove them.
It’s the nature of humans to want a cheap, safe, easy to obtain
cure for every problem. But when you
see food and home cleaning products being used as pesticides or growth boosters
for plants it’s generally an old wife’s tale or gimmick. Be skeptical and do a little research, find a
scientific study to back the information.
Not all of these folk remedies are harmless either, it’s just that you
don’t hear about the bad results as often because people don’t want to admit
that they did a dumb thing.
Hops- Humulus lupulus - Herb of the Year 2018.
Hops, an ancient herb, has been chosen as the herb of the year by
the International Herb Association. With the rise of micro-breweries, the
growing of hops has blossomed across the country. While hops are commonly associated with beer
brewing they have other herbal and even ornamental uses. Hops are fairly easy –
maybe too easy- for gardeners to grow in planting zones 3-8, which covers most
of the US. However, in humid hot areas
they are very susceptible to powdery mildew and other fungal diseases.
The hops plant is native to North America, west Asia and
Europe. It’s an herbaceous perennial
vine. (There is also an annual species
of hops native to Japan, Humulus japonica
which is considered an ornamental plant.) The hops vine dies to the ground each
year but produces numerous vines (or bines) each spring. The root system grows and expands
dramatically each year, they can extend 15 feet into the ground and 5-6 feet
wide.
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| Hops, female flower. Credit en.wikipedia |
Hop has 3 lobed, stiff, dark green (original color) leaves with
toothed edges. The vines or bines can
grow up to 25 feet long depending on the growing conditions. The vines/bines always wind around a support
in a clockwise direction. (The term bine is given to shoots of a plant that use
tiny hairs to anchor themselves and climb instead of tendrils.)
Hop flowers are the part of the plant most commonly used in herbal
preparations and beer brewing. The hop
plant is dioecious, it
produces male and female flowers on separate plants. (Occasionally plants with
both sex flowers are found and they are self-fertile.) Both sexes produce flowers, but seeds will
only form on female plants, if they are pollinated. The female flowers look
like small pine cones and are pale green or yellow. The male hops flower is a white or pale-yellow
cluster of stamens. Flowers are produced
on side shoots near the top of the plant.
Since
it is the female hops flowers that are wanted for brewing and other uses,
female plants are propagated from cuttings and sold to those who want hops
production for brewing or herbal use. If
you grow hops from seed, you’ll want to cull out male plants since seed
production is generally not wanted. The female flowers produce an oil called lupulone,
which is what makes the “flavor” of beer and which has antibiotic properties.
Growing hops
There are dozens of varieties of hops. Some are better in one growing area than
another, some impart different flavors to beer and other herbal remedies, some
are more ornamental. You’ll have to do
some research to find varieties to suit your climate and needs. This is especially important if you want to “farm”
hops for sale or to use in your own brewery.
‘Centennial’ and ‘Cascade’ are two common varieties sold to gardeners. Here’s a list of varieties to get you
started; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hop_varieties
Sometimes hops are wanted for their ornamental value. They can cover fences, trellis’s, arbors and
walls for shade and screening while also producing some flowers for herbal use.
Ornamental type hops include Golden hops with gold foliage, (Humulus lupulus 'Aurea')
‘Blue Northern Brewer’ has blue-green foliage, ‘Comet’ has bright yellow
foliage.
Hops vines require full sun and good fertile soil for best
growth. If you want good flower
production they will need to be watered when it gets very dry. Usually gardeners will start with a bareroot
plant, which is best planted in early spring.
The first year the plant will probably produce few vines and few flowers
as the roots get established but every year should see it get more vines and
have more flowers. If you planted both male and female plants be aware that
birds like hops seed and will spread the plant around.
Hops needs a very sturdy trellis or fence to climb on. You may need to do some training – spreading
and tying the vines to a lateral surface rather than letting them climb
straight up. You probably don’t want to
do much pruning until after flowering, if you want hops flowers for herbal or
brewing use. After a hard frost vines
can be trimmed back to the ground.
The female hops flowers or cones are gathered and dried for
brewing or herbal use. Harvesting is labor intensive, and some people may
develop dermatitis when handling hops foliage and flowers. Dried hops are often compressed into pellets
for use in brewing.
Herbal uses of Hops
There
are many herbal drinks made with hops besides beer. Julmist and Malta are soft
drinks made with hops. Kvass is an
herbal tea type drink often prescribed for anxiety and insomnia.
Recent
research with near beer, (brewed, non-alcoholic beer) made with hops found that
it did bring on drowsiness and was good for insomnia. A tea of dried hops is also used for
promoting sleep. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22849837
Pillows
are often stuffed with dried hops flowers and used by people who have
difficulty sleeping. There is research
going on using hops as a hormone replacement therapy for women and there is also
some research using hops compounds to help horses with founder (laminitis).
Canola oil may contribute to dementia
Ever wondered why the rate of Alzheimer’s and other forms of
dementia seem to be increasing? New research
has linked the consumption of certain vegetable oils, especially canola oil, to
contributing to the high rate of dementia in our society. As someone with a parent who has Alzheimer’s
I can testify that this disease and other forms of dementia are heartbreaking,
relentless killers, robbing people of their dignity as well as their
health. This disease, is posed to become
the number one health concern, both economically and as a cause of death, in
the next few years as baby boomers age.
There is a known genetic connection to Alzheimer’s and some other dementia’s,
but researchers have long thought that the genetic component is not the sole
cause of the steep increase in dementia cases in the last 50 years. The increase does correlate with at least one
thing- our obsession with avoiding heart disease by shunning natural fats like
butter and lard and replacing them with various types of vegetable oils. The switch from butter and lard to margarine
and shortening was probably a major mistake.
Soybean oil was the first oil to be tested for harmful effects on
health- and we found them. Now a
research study which was published December 7th, 2017 in the journal Scientific
Reports links canola oil to memory and learning problems and weight
gain. Researchers at the Lewis Katz
School of Medicine at Temple University in Pennsylvania found that mice fed
canola oil supplemented diets developed amyloid plaques and
phosphorylated tau, (both causes of Alzheimer’s disease) in their brains. (The mice were a special strain of mice that
can develop a disease that corresponds to human Alzheimer’s.) The mice fed canola oil also had less amyloid
beta 1-40 protein in their blood, a substance that helps protect the brain from
the more harmful amyloid proteins, than those of a control group.
The canola fed mice were fatter, and had more problems with
working memory, short-term memory and learning as they aged than mice fed the
same diet without canola oil. Brain changes at necropsy were similar to those
of human Alzheimer’s victim.
Incidentally the same type of mice was used in a study where they were
fed olive oil. Olive oil seems to
protect against the plagues that are typical of Alzheimer’s disease.
The study was done with mice and needs to be replicated and more
studies need to be done. It’s very hard
to do long term studies of food products where feeding humans certain foods
might cause them serious illness or death. But this study on canola oil and the
many studies on soybean oil should cause us to at least be suspicious of
certain highly processed vegetable oils.
Canola, soy and corn oil all contain a type of Vitamin E called gamma-tocopherol that has been shown to cause lung
inflammation and increased rates of asthma.
Restaurants no longer use soy oil for frying because this was shown to
cause lung disease. The oils also have high levels of linoleic acid, an omega-6
fatty acid that seems to affect human metabolism in a negative manner. Soy oil has been linked to higher rates of
metabolic syndrome, including type 2 diabetes and fatty liver. All of these oils cause more obesity and
diabetes than natural fats, like butter or lard, or even sugar, despite the old
advice.
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| Canola plant Credit wikimedia commons |
Canola oil comes from rape seed. Canola is a marketing name. Wild rapeseed is basically poisonous,
containing high amounts of erucic acid.
In the 1970’s Canada developed a low erucic acid variety and began
promoting the oil. It was first used as an industrial lubricant, but aggressive
marketing soon developed food uses for the crop. Further genetic modifications were done in the
1990’s and beyond- now 90% of canola oil is considered to be GMO.
To me the GMO component is no big deal. But in my estimation, it has not made canola
oil safe enough for food consumption, at least until more studies are done. Canola oil is a highly processed product,
requiring a hexane solvent in its production.
It still contains erucic acid, which is known to cause heart damage,
although in lower amounts than earlier rapeseed (canola) oil. And now there is the new research pointing to
neurological damage.
People have been consuming these oils for fifty years or so and
the rise in use seems to correlate with the rise in rates of obesity,
dementia’s, diabetes, lung and heart problems.
They are probably not the sole cause of those problems but if they
contribute to them they should be removed from the food supply. I already avoid
anything with soybean oil when possible- and I will now avoid canola oil
also. This is hard because these two
oils along with corn oil, have been added to so many food products.
If you are not convinced that the fats in lard and butter are
healthier, (as the newest research suggests), at least use vegetables oils that
seem to be better for you than soy, canola and corn. Those oils are olive oil, sunflower oil,
safflower oil, coconut oil, and peanut oil.
References for this article
Effect of canola oil consumption on memory, synapse and neuropathology in
the triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Scientific
Reports, 2017; 7 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17373-3
Latkes-Potato Pancakes
Despite the name these pancakes are usually served at the main
meal, although you could serve them at breakfast. They are great with a beef or pork roast,
with gravy on top instead of syrup. Sour cream is also a good topper. Some people use mashed potatoes that were left
over for these, but I prefer shredded potatoes.
This makes about 6 pancakes.
Ingredients
2 cups coarsely grated potato- (I use frozen shredded hash browns-
let them thaw to room temperature and press any moisture out of them.)
1 cup shredded or finely chopped onion
2 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
Salt, pepper and garlic to taste (try a teaspoon of salt and ¼
teaspoon each of pepper and garlic)
Oil or lard for frying
Beat the egg with the flour and seasonings.
Put the potatoes and onion in the egg mix and stir until well
mixed.
Heat about a ¼ inch of oil or lard in a big skillet. (Adding a bit of butter or bacon grease to
the oil makes the flavor better.) You want
medium heat, the pancake should bubble at the edges when dropped in.
Make one pancake at a time by dropping a ¼ cup of the pancake
mixture into the pan. Let it spread out.
Fry until golden brown on one side, then flip and fry the other
side to golden brown. It takes 3-5
minutes. Repeat until batter is gone.
Place each pancake on a paper towel to absorb grease and keep warm
in an oven on low heat as you fry the others.
Or you can re-heat them before serving in the microwave.
The night is over, the dawn of a new
year is here
Kim Willis
“He who has a garden and
a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero
© Kim Willis - no parts of this
newsletter may be used without permission.
And So On….
Find Michigan garden events/classes
here:
(This
is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)
An interesting Plant Id page you can
join on Facebook
Here’s a seed/plant sharing group you
can join on Facebook
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I write this because I
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