Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter October 29, 2013

October 29, 2013 - Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

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

These weekly garden notes are written by Kim Willis, unless another author is noted, and the opinions expressed in these notes are her opinions and do not represent any other individual, group or organizations opinions.

Hello Gardeners

Chickens like to carve pumpkins too.

Thinking of Halloween makes me realize we are reaching the dark time of the year.  All these gloomy dark days surely are giving us a preview of Michigan winter.  Unfortunately for trick or treaters we are supposed to get a good soaking rain late Thursday but as a gardener I think that it’s good because we are behind in precipitation for the season.  We really need to get some moisture in the ground before it freezes.   If we don’t get an inch or two of rain in the next few days you should water any fall planted trees, shrubs or perennials.

I had flocks of robins and red winged blackbirds around the pond this week, a sign that the birds are still here, maybe they went farther north this summer.  They are here now because they are migrating south and stop to eat the autumn olive berries.  On the few sunny mornings we had they were really noisy. 

My last apple tree to ripen, the ginger gold, is keeping me busy processing apples.  They are smaller this year because the tree is so loaded, but they still make dandy pies.  I have made a lot of apple butter and put up many quarts of frozen sliced apples for winter baking and still have a bunch to go.

My front yard is literally deep in walnuts.  They are having a bumper crop this year too.  A gentleman stopped and asked me if he could have some and I told him to take all he wanted.  I saw him put several large boxes full of them in his car. I thought I would be able to go out in the yard now and walk without turning an ankle but when I went outside I couldn’t even tell where he had picked up the nuts!

I should be a nice little homesteader and clean and crack those nuts for cooking.  My grandpa did.  But I know just how much work and mess it is from watching and helping him and I think I will pass, even though shelled black walnut meats sell for $30 a pound or more. (It takes a couple bushels of nuts to get that and about 30 hours of work.)

Annual trial results

Every year MSU’s horticulture department grows dozens of new varieties of annuals to see how they perform in the garden.  Seeds or cuttings are sent to them from all over the world to be tested.  MSU then publishes the results late in the season.  The plants are rated from 1- very poor to 5- very best.  Here are the plants rated a 5 in this year’s trial.

Annuals in fall.

Angelonia Archangel 'Raspberry Improved', the begonias; Dragone 'Dusty Rose',     Dragone 'Sunset', Begonia benarianesis Surefire 'Rose' and ‘Surefire 'Red' Calibrachoa Celebration 'Banana', Coleus 'Redhead', Coleus 'Sultana', Coleus 'Vino', Coleus 'Wasabi', Coleus 'Henna' and Pennisetum Graceful Grasses 'Vertigo'.

Ongoing native plant trial results

Native plants have become extremely popular with gardeners and in 2009 MSU began a trial garden of 18 kinds of commonly sold native plants.  These are perennial and the results from year to year were expected to differ.  Here are MSU’s notes on the native plants in their trial garden earlier this year.

Allium cernuum Nodding Wild Onion - 2013 still going strong

Aralia racemosa Spikenard - has survived and is very nice in fall

Eragrostis spectabilis Purple Love Grass - has struggled after a few years. A few plants remaining

Geranium maculatum Wild Geranium - still doing well

Heuchera americana Alum Root - still doing well

Koeleria macrantha June Grass - has not performed well in this site.

Lobelia cardinalis Cardinal Flower - still going strong - doing great for what is usually considered a short-lived perennial

Lobelia siphilitica Blue Lobelia - very nice performance every year

Monarda punctata Horsemint - has completely died out

Penstemon hirsutus Penstemon - very very nice in flower

Rudbeckia laciniata Green Headed Coneflower - lovely - large and showy

Senecio obovatus Round Leaved ragwort - blooms very early - and then looks a bit rough the rest of the year

Senna hebecarpa Wild Senna - very nice but seeds out very freely

Smilacina stellata Starry Solomon Seal - has done very well - even with half a day of sunshine

Solidago flexicaulis Zig-Zag goldenrod - interesting plant - not very showy in typical garden sense - but has not spread

Verbena stricta Hoary Vervain - has completely died out

Vernonia missurica Ironweed - doing very well - massive

Veronicastrum virginicum Culvers Root - very very nice garden plant

DDT and your grandparents- how it affects you

Interesting new research was published this month that implicates exposure of humans to DDT (a pesticide) with a large increase in obesity in their grandchildren.  We are learning more and more about epigenetics- the process where something that affects a person’s genes becomes apparent only in the third or later generations of their off- spring.  I have written about this before.  Now we have intriguing evidence that our epidemic of obesity may have some genetic connections to DDT exposure.  Research published earlier this year also linked exposure to DDT in grandparents to a higher risk of high blood pressure in women.

The results of research done at Washington State University by Michael Skinner, WSU professor and founder of its Center for Reproductive Biology, on the link between DDT and obesity were published in the October 2013 issue of BMC Medicine. Research done at the University of California, Davis, published online March 12, 2013 in Environmental Health Perspectives, is the first to link prenatal DDT exposure to hypertension in adults.

In the past Skinner has found links to other health problems that occur several generations after exposure from other pesticides like dioxins and bisphenol-A or BPA (a substance in plastics).  However he says that exposure to DDT causes 50% of the third generation offspring of those exposed to develop obesity even though the second and third generation were not being exposed to DDT, which is quite a significant percentage.  Of course these studies were done on animals, where second and third generation exposure can be controlled.  But doctors have long thought that there must be some reason for the huge jump in obesity in humans other than our lack of exercise and exposure to junk food, which certainly contribute to the problem. This may be the cause.

The research on high blood pressure involves human subjects because DDT is still being used in some countries and because researchers used records from women exposed to DDT and tested their daughters against the daughters of women born after DDT was banned.  That research found that the risk was 3 times higher for female children to develop high blood pressure if their mothers were exposed to DDT in the womb  (grandmothers came in contact with it), than if they weren’t.  Research still needs to be done on male children.

If you had grandparents that were alive in the 40’s, perhaps serving in WWII, they were almost certainly exposed to DDT as were most people in the US prior to the ban of DDT in 1972.  The chemical compound DDT was actually developed in the late 1800’s but didn’t find use as a pesticide until the early 40’s.  This “modern miracle” pesticide was sprayed on people to control lice, sprayed aerially to control mosquitoes and sprayed on agricultural crops to control pests with great zeal.  I certainly remember both of my grandfather’s as being practically infatuated with the product, it was the answer to every pest problem that they had in home or garden.  As a child I was probably liberally exposed, my parents and grandparents certainly were.

DDT was thought to be safe because people do not absorb DDT very well through their skin.  And it is an extremely effective neurotoxin, with pretty immediate results.  Unfortunately we were absorbing DDT through what we ate, because it was absorbed by animals lower on the food scale such as fish and it was on vegetables and fruits that we ate. In 1968 a study showed that Americans were consuming an average of 0.025 milligrams of DDT per day.

By the 1960’s however, it was known that DDT affected reproductive ability, causing urogenital deformities in many species and thin shells on bird eggs.  It caused other birth defects and liver cancer in animals.  But research was scarce and ambivalent about the dangers of DDT to humans, although we now know that genetic damage was silently being done.

Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring, published in 1962, detailed the damage DDT was doing to birds and other animals.  It was the beginning of the modern view of environmental concern by the public.  After President Kennedy read the book he formed a committee to look into the use of the pesticide but it wasn’t banned in the US until 1972. 

You might think that DDT use has pretty much ended around the world considering what we know about it but that’s not the case. While the only places that are still using DDT as an agricultural pesticide are North Korea and possibly India, in 2006 the World Health Organization indorsed its use for mosquito control to control malaria.  In many countries DDT is still sprayed with abandon indoors to control mosquitoes.  People breathe it in, get it on food and eat off surfaces contaminated with it.  The WHO feels the war against malaria outweighs the risk of using DDT.  Incidentally a lot of the DDT used in other countries is manufactured right here in the USA.

The current generation of children will still have some exposure because DDT persists in the environment to this day even in countries where it has been banned for decades.  (I found some very old DDT in a cupboard at my mom’s just a few years ago.) It is also thought that DDT may be one of the chemicals that persists in the atmosphere, traveling from places where it is still used to places where it isn’t. But each generation of people in countries where DDT is banned completely will have less exposure.  If we could ban all use everywhere we would lower the exposure even more.

Halloween

The day is nearly upon us, one of the great holidays of the year for children and many adults too. Halloween began as an ancient tradition of dividing the year between lightness and darkness, with the last of October being associated with the end of the light period and November beginning darkness (winter).  On the night between the two the dead and supernatural beings were allowed into the world.  This time was known as  Samhain. The day (or night) was used to communicate with spirits and the dead and prophesy the future.  Early religions incorporated the holiday as All Saints Day or days to honor the dead. 

Food offerings were left to appease spirits or the dead so they wouldn’t “trick” you, and so that they would allow you and your animals to survive winter. Bonfires and torches made out of carved turnips warded off evil spirits and masks or costumes were worn so that any revengeful spirits or dead couldn’t recognize you.  The Gaelic/Celtic regions of Europe probably have the longest traditions with this holiday but much of Europe had some celebration by the 18^th century.

Early settlers in the new world were very against celebration at “All Hallows Eve” believing it was tied to devil worship and witches. (Some of those people are still around.)  But the later immigration of Irish and Welsh people to the US brought the traditions here.  In the early 1930’s celebration of Halloween and the practice of “trick or treating” was just getting started in the US, but it was brought to a halt during the sugar shortage and rationing of WWII.  

After the war the tradition of celebrating Halloween slowly grew, spurred on by companies that sold candy and costumes.  Today Halloween is second only to Christmas in sales of decorations, candy and associated items.  This year’s spending on Halloween is estimated to be just under 7 billion dollars, which will continue the slight downward trend in Halloween sales that has occurred over the last few years.

Fewer children now go out trick or treating.  There are fewer children to begin with but parents seem to have much more worries that their children will be harmed going door to door than parents did a few decades ago.  As kids my brother and sisters and I were turned loose once we were about 6, to run the neighborhoods with our old pillowcases after dark, pounding on doors to collect treats. Some people think the demise of trick or treating is great but I think over coddled modern children are missing out on some great fun.

Remember when people handed out homemade cookies and popcorn balls?  We would rather have candy bars but we didn’t worry that someone was going to poison us.   There’s a lot of scary stories about poison candy but in the history of trick or treating in the US there have only been 2 recorded instances of children being given poisoned candy at Halloween and both of those involved relatives of the children giving them the poison treats.

I think the rumors were started by parents so that they could inspect what the little beggers brought home, removing the chocolate and other goodies they craved with the saying “  This looks like it’s been tampered with, you better let me take it.”

And by the way only a few instances of things like razors being inserted in apples or candy have ever been recorded either.  Most of the things actually found in treats got there accidently in the manufacturing process or were inserted as a prank or joke and were not distributed to children. And the few incidences of malicious tampering were once again, meant to hurt targeted people not random children.

Apple and pumpkin recipes

I promised some recipes last week so here they are.

Apple cake

Apple cake

Makes 9 x13 cake

Ingredients

6 cups of peeled and sliced apples

            4 tablespoons of butter

            1 cup of brown sugar, packed

            1 spice cake mix

            eggs and oil called for in the mix

            1 jar of caramel ice cream topping

Melt the butter in a large skillet, add the brown sugar and apple slices, cover pan and cook on low heat until the apple slices are tender, about 5 minutes.  Stir the cooking apples frequently.

Spray the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 cake pan with cooking spray.  Instead of spraying a pan it could be lined with non-stick foil for an easy clean up.

When the apples are tender, pour skillet contents in the cake pan and spread them evenly over the bottom of the cake pan.

Prepare the cake mix according to the directions.  Pour the mix over the apples in the pan.  Bake the cake at 350 degrees until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean- 30-40 minutes.   

Let the cake cool about 5 minutes then poke holes evenly across the surface with the handle of a wooden spoon, skewer or similar item.   Pour the caramel ice cream topping over the cake evenly, it will be absorbed by the cake.

This cake is great served warm with cool whip or ice cream.  It also freezes well.

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Makes one loaf

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pumpkin purée ( see last weeks newsletter)

1/2 cup vegetable or olive oil

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Blend the first 4 ingredients together in a large bowl.

Blend the rest of the ingredients, except nuts, in a bowl until smooth.

Slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry with a spoon or the electric beater on low speed. 

Don’t over mix, your batter should look lumpy.   

Fold in the nuts.

Pour into a greased 9” loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees about 50 minutes.  Insert a knife or skewer in the center.  If it comes out clean the bread is done.

Turn the loaf out on a rack or clean towel to cool before slicing.

Now there’s no excuse to not bake some comfort food!

Kim

Garden as though you will live forever. William Kent

More Information

How long do plants live? I have a new article out on the lifespan of garden plants.  Here’s the opening and a link to read the rest.

If you are a gardener that shops for plants that are perennial because you want to plant them once and have them forever, you may be wondering why some plants sold as perennials fail to return after a few years in a garden. You may blame a hard winter, the nursery that sold you the plants or bad luck for the plants death when in truth it may just have lived out its normal life span.

The problem is that some perennial plants barely make it past the two year mark, and some of them are common garden plants. There are just some species of plants whose lifespan is short, even though they are classified as perennial. While they may give you a good show for a year or two they will need to replaced far more often than other types of garden plants. Gardeners need to be aware that not all perennial plants will last for a long time in the garden.

Read more; http://www.examiner.com/article/how-long-do-plants-live