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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Garden notes December 18, 2012


From Kim Willis
http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-detroit/kimberley-willis



Hi Gardeners

What an incredibly sad weekend this was.  I had to turn off the TV after a while because there are only so many hours that you can spend watching and crying.  We know we shouldn’t but we seem drawn to immerse ourselves in such tragedy as the Newtown shootings.  Grey days seem to intensify the sadness.  The sun is out today and perhaps our nation will begin to heal.   I find peace in beautiful music with green things around me and chocolate.  May you feel peace too.

I had a beautiful peaceful early morning last Friday.  At 2 am I went outside to watch the meteor shower.  The night was cold and clear and the stars were so beautiful. (My husband wasn’t interested in going out in the cold from a warm bed.) I did not see 100 falling stars in the hour or so I was out there, maybe 30-40, but some of them were quite big and bright.  Even my dogs stayed inside and it was as quiet as could be outside.  The whole time I was outside only 2 cars passed my house.

I was sitting there with a cat on my lap when from about 100 feet away the howl of a coyote started up.  He was somewhere over in the neighbors pasture.   His yip, yip, yoweeeel was answered by what sounded like a larger group somewhere to my east on a bigger farm.  The cat dived under the car; they know to hide from coyotes.  He called a few times then was silent again.  Amazingly neither my dogs or the neighbors barked or howled back.   I have heard coyotes before but this was so unexpected and close it was really startling but I also thought it was beautiful.

Cat lover needed

Speaking of cats a beautiful, long haired black and white female cat turned up in my barn. She is quite large for a female cat and has been declawed, so there is a good chance she is spayed also.  She was probably dumped here.  I have to stop sitting outside with cats draped on neck and across my lap.   She would like to be an indoor cat very badly, which she cannot be here. I have given her the very original name of Fluffy.  She is very friendly. She looks like she was well taken care of before turning up here. Would anyone like a cat for Christmas?

Well it doesn’t look like our chances for a white Christmas are really good. That’s ok, I’m sure we will get some more snow this winter, but I enjoy not having to wade through it, or shovel it, although the mud is pretty messy too.  It is nice to be able to run the hose each day at the barn but I do think we need it to be just a bit colder.  I noticed that one of my landscape roses up next to the house on the south has a set of new shiny leaves and a cluster of tiny buds forming.  They are not hardening off as they should and when we do get that cold snap they will be damaged.

My Christmas cactus is blooming beautifully right on cue.  I also have several colors of geraniums in bloom and an African violet.    I hope there are flowers in your life, they make winter bearable.

Next week there will be no weekly newsletter and the next one will be January 2, 2013- a new start in a new year.  I hope all of you enjoy a wonderful Christmas with your family and that all of us have a blessed and bountiful New Year.

Really Green batteries

Lithium-ion batteries power many of the gadgets we all use in daily life.  The trouble with them and with many other types of batteries is that they are environmentally and financially costly to both make and re-cycle.  Lithium batteries require cobalt, which is a mined ore that is getting scarce and the mining process negatively affects the environment.  The process of producing or re-cycling the lithium batteries requires high heat, requiring lots of fuel, and releases toxins as waste products. 

Scientists have been working to produce a greener battery and they may have found it.  Commercial trials of batteries produced from a plant, Madder, (Rubia species) will soon be conducted and it looks very good that we will soon have a non-toxic, environmentally sound battery. 

Madder is a plant that grows on several continents and in a range of climates.  It is a sprawling perennial plant that grows up to 8 feet long or high if supported.  It has small yellow flowers that turn into blue-black berries.  The plant spreads by rhizomes and also produces a larger, heavier central root that is generally used for dye production.

Madder has been cultivated as a dye plant for at least 5,000 years.  The dye is made from the boiled roots or a powder made from them and produces a red-purple color.  Traces of madder dye have been found on textiles and leather from the tombs of pharaohs and in the graves of Norsemen.  Ancient Celtic lasses soaked their fingernails in madder solutions to give them a rosy tint and madder root was fed to white animals to tint their skin, hooves or nails.

It’s the plant molecules that produce the color, purpurin, that’s the basis for the new batteries.  Purpurin easily binds to lithium and conducts and stores electricity quite efficiently.  Purpurin binds to lithium salts without high heat, with other natural ingredients such as alcohol, and the new batteries will require little energy to produce or re-cycle. Actually the batteries will probably be disposable as they will decompose into a natural, harmless product.  Researchers say the new batteries are just as efficient as the current ones and devices will not require any modification to use them.

Madder is a renewable, perennial crop that requires little fertilizer and is easy to harvest and as it grows it sequesters carbon as most plants do, actually helping the environment.  Madder stems and leaves can be used as livestock food. This exciting research was recently reported in the journal Nature's online and in Scientific Reports, on December 11, 2012.  Anyone out there ready to start a Madder farm?

Its official- ultrasonic devices don’t work for pest control

The Journal of Economic Entomology will soon publish the complete results of scientific tests on several commercial ultrasonic pest control devices.  A group of researchers was interested in recent claims that the products would deter bedbugs and began research to test the products.  The products also claim to deter (chase off) most other pest insects and even mammals like rats and mice.

You don’t have to be a scientist to be skeptical of these devices but now the evidence is in- they are snake oil products, made to relieve people of their money.  The preliminary report released from the study found that the ultrasonic devices were not effective in repelling bedbugs or any other insects or mammals.

The world’s oldest tree

This report fascinated me.  In the remote Dalarna province of Sweden a group of living spruce trees were found of very ancient origins.  Carbon dating placed the oldest spruce at 9,950 years old and several other trees were more than 8,000 years old.   Think of that tree standing through snow and wind through all of those centuries, the changes in the world, the rise and fall of civilizations.  The oldest human remains in the general area (Norway) are dated only to about 9,200 years.

Before this find the oldest trees were thought to be some pines in North America that are about 5,000 years old.  There are about 17 species of plants that can live to be more than 1,000 years old.  Most of the long lived plants are conifers- evergreens.  Recent genetic research has found that most evergreen species are little changed genetically from pre-historic times.  They evolved into their niche so well that little change has been needed for them to survive for the hundreds of thousands of years they have been on earth.

Scientists in Sweden are just beginning an ambitious program to unravel the entire genetic code of a spruce but we already know that your Christmas spruce tree has about 7 times more genetic material- (DNA) that you do.   Perhaps that is the secret to their longevity.

Lock up your spices

You’ve heard of the exotic chemical concoctions that idiots are using to get high that were dubbed “spice”.  But it seems that real spices in your kitchen cabinet are also inspiring some risky behavior in silly kids.  A new fad, spread by the internet, is called the cinnamon challenge.  Kids try to swallow a tablespoon of dry cinnamon without anything to wash it down. This causes explosive coughing and burning of the throat and has resulted in several hospitalizations. 

Worse is the practice of smoking, snorting or eating large quantities of powdered nutmeg.  Nutmeg does contain a hallucinogenic called myristicinNo deaths have been reported yet but there have been several people who required medical treatment.

At least 2 recent deaths in pre-teens were caused by an even more seemingly safe item, marshmallows.  Another fad called Chubby Bunny gets kids to stuff as many marshmallows in their mouths as they can and then say “Chubby Bunny”.  Choking requiring medical treatment has occurred in many places and choking caused the two deaths mentioned.  Marshmallows lodged in the throat are very hard to remove, even by experts.   So keep an eye on those kitchen cabinets while kids are home for the holidays and bored.

Celebrate the winter solstice with an ancient tradition

On December 21 the longest, darkest night of the year occurs.  After this night the days slowly start to lengthen.  I myself always feel happy when the longest night is over and we begin our journey to renewal.  I understand completely why this day was so important to early people and why they rejoiced that it had come. 

In earliest times the lighting of the Yule log celebrated the winter solstice.  A large oak log was brought into a city square or a person’s home.  On the eve of the winter solstice, as darkness approached the log was lit.  All other light is extinguished and everyone concentrates on the fire.  First sprigs of holy are thrown into the fire and a person gives thanks for the good things that happened during the past year.  Then acorns and pieces of oak twigs are thrown into the fire and people wish for good things in the New Year. 

The oak log is kept burning through the hours of darkness and only allowed to go out as dawn breaks.  Through the night people sing, eat and dance to celebrate the ending of the old year.  As morning comes people gather pieces of unburned oak for good luck in the New Year and these are often used to start the Yule log fire the next year.

This year let us pray that when the longest night ends we enter a year filled with peace, joy and good luck for everyone and that we leave the violence, heartbreak and fear of the past year behind us. Luck and love to all of you in the coming year and may God bless you and yours.
More Information

Cinnamon rolls

This cinnamon roll or bread recipe takes a little time and you must pay attention to details but its well worth the effort. This is the kind of kitchen gift you can be proud of and you’ll want to make some for yourself too. This sweeter dough also makes good dinner rolls and the variation for making them will be given.  Read more,

 Growing Rex Begonias

Rex begonias are a great plant to brighten up Michigan winters. As a houseplant their colorful foliage will add zest to the windowsill. And they can be moved outside in summer to bring color to shady containers and baskets.  Read more,

Looking for a good garden book? -
Check out the American Horticulture Society garden book awards


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