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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

November 11, 2014 Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter



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.

Hi Gardeners

It will be a different scene in a few days.
Everyone is holding their breath waiting for the “polar vortex”.  I am not afraid.  We make weather a lot more scary than we need to any more.  Of course we make everything more scary now.  I am not looking forward to the cold by any stretch of the imagination.  But even though it looks like it will be quite cold for 10 days or so we could still get Indian Summer after that.  Let’s hope anyway.  I do feel sorry for those in the UP who got dumped on though.

This cold spell is running real close to the weather last year.  On Nov. 11 last year it turned really cold and we woke to snow on the grass.   But on Nov. 17 it was nearly 70 degrees and we had a tornado watch.  By the 23rd temps dipped into the teens overnight and we had an inch or so of snow.  We also had snow on Thanksgiving.

The ground will be frozen soon though and if you have any bulbs sitting around waiting to be planted better get them done between rain showers. If you have any bulbs to still be dug out of the garden like dahlias, better do it today.  Fill up the bird feeders before the cold.  Get those lawn chairs put up.

Sugar Harvest

Last year some of the farmlands around us were sold to a large agribusiness. (The trucks say xxx family farms but the types and number of machines and employees say big agribusiness.) For the first time in many years sugar beets were planted on most of the acreage around us, maybe because of the cold wet spring.  This was no real problem until harvest time rolled around.

Picking up sugar beets in the field.  en.wikimedia.org
About 2 weeks ago sugar beet harvest began around us. Until past midnight every single day,  several times an hour,  the huge double tandem gravel trailer type trucks rumbled down the road, shaking the house, shining their headlights into the house at night, tearing up the newly surfaced gravel road.  After dark the headlights of the harvesting equipment bounced across the fields like the glowing eyes of giant beasts.

Here’s how sugar beets are harvested, I sat on the deck and watched the process for a while some days.  First a mowing type machine cuts off the beet tops and leaves them lying in the field.  Then another machine comes through, it digs up the beets and twirls them around in a big hamster wheel sort of thing to get the soil off, and dumps them on the ground.  Then a tractor ( all green John Deeres for this company) pulls a machine across the beets, sucking them up and spitting them through a tall pipe into a  bright red wagon ( Merry Christmas) being pulled by another tractor following alongside the first.

When the dump wagon is full the tractor chugs it down to the waiting gravel hauler type trucks, the red wagon is lifted by hydraulics and the beets dumped over the sides of the big truck.  When the big trailers are full they take off and another takes it place.  On some days the big trucks went into the edge of the field to wait. They are too heavy to go far into the fields. On days when we had some rain they waited in the road and this caused traffic to back up when they blocked the road to dump the red wagons.

Sugar beet harvest.  Credit: Michigan Farm Bureau.
The big trucks were probably going to Caro, the closest place I know of where beets are accepted for processing.  That’s a 40 minute or so round trip, then some time for dumping the load, so probably a trip per hour.  Usually beets are dumped in huge mountains on some paved area near a processing facility.  It seemed the trips were pretty well timed so that when one hauler was filled another was there to take its place. 

As I mentioned the trucks went from first light in the morning to after midnight.  Maybe they had the drivers on shifts but I doubt it.  These drivers were probably exempted by some agricultural clause from having to rest after so many hours driving the big rigs.  Some of the drivers also seemed to think that being agriculturally involved meant they didn’t have to stop for the stop sign at the corner and they just blew through it at 35-40 miles an hour. The trucks must not be required to have the loads covered either.  The deer will love the beets along the road.  Keep this in mind when you are driving in the thumb during sugar beet harvest.

This agricultural business harvested about 300 acres of beets a half mile east of us and about 200 acres across from us.  It took all week.  In contrast the 200 acres was planted in corn last year and it took less than a day to harvest it.  I am really glad that sugar beets need to be rotated and we won’t have that intensive harvest next year in those fields. 

To justify all that expensive equipment and manpower sugar beets must be pretty profitable.  Supposedly there is an overabundance of sugar beets this year, too many to process and some farmers will be paid to leave the beets in the field.  Isn’t that grand?  The highest average tonnage per acre ever is 29.22, the projected tonnage per acre this year is at least 30 tons per acre.

Sugar beets can’t be harvested when it’s too warm as they rot in storage and after sitting in piles through the winter some beets that have frozen are unusable so it’s a race to process the beets.  Michigan factories have the capabilities to process slightly less than 5 million tons of beets. 

So how is sugar actually made?

A hundred years ago sugar beet processing was widely spread across Michigan and sugar beets were grown all over the state.  Now most of the sugar beet production and processing facilities are located in the Thumb-Saginaw Valley area.  Besides Michigan sugar beets are grown and processed in northern Ohio, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Nebraska, Colorado and central California.

In Michigan there are sugar beet processors in Caro, Bay City, Sebewaing, Croswell and Carrollton. Processing starts at the beginning of beet harvest – usually beginning in late September and runs through February.  It runs 24 hours a day every day of the week until the supply of beets are gone. About 4 thousand tons of beets are processed each day at each facility.    Here’s a rough idea of what happens at the Caro facility- (Michigan Sugar Company).
 
Sugar beets ready to harvest. Credit: Hugh Venables
Geograph.org.uk
First the beets are dumped into water “flumes”.  The beets float and rocks and other debris are separated out.  The rocks collected from the flumes are sold to landscapers and road construction companies, some 60 tons of rocks are removed daily. Then the beets go into the beet washers, which scrub off the dirt.  Scrubbers have magnets that collect any metal that may have entered with the beets.

From the scrubbers beets go on conveyors to the slicers, which slice them into thin slices that look like waffle cut fries, and are called cossettes.  The slices go into diffusors filled with hot water where they are squeezed and pressed to extract the sugar from the beet slices.  The pulp that’s left is separated off and a sweet but watery liquid is left behind.  The pulp is dried and sold as animal feed.

At this point the raw sugar “juice” still has impurities so it is pumped into tanks called “olivers” where lime is added and the mix is carbonated with carbon dioxide.  Impurities bind to the lime and form a mushy cake, which is separated from the remaining juice.  The lime is collected in ponds outside and – you guessed it- sold in the spring as agricultural lime.

The purified sugar juice goes into pressurized distillers which evaporate off the water at a low boil, the juice running from one tank to the next until the mixture gets to a thick syrup stage called massecite and begins to crystallize.  At this point the thick syrup is carefully monitored by workers with computerized equipment and at just the right stage it’s sent to centrifugals, which spin the liquid at high speeds, drying and collecting the sugar crystals that form and draining off molasses, the part that doesn’t crystallize.  Yep- this by-product is sold too.

When the sugar crystals are dried they are pure white.  Beet sugar doesn’t produce the brown sugar used in baking, that comes from cane sugar.  The sugar is packaged and it’s done.  From the beets entering the flues to finished sugar takes about 5 hours. Each sugar beet produces about 3 teaspoons of finished sugar.  There’s 270-290 pounds of sugar produced from each ton of beets. 

Michigan produces about a billion pounds of sugar each year.  A billion pounds- but despite that we still import sugar into the state each year.  It’s not that Michigan residents eat more sugar than that but Michigan has several large food companies that produce cereal and other goods that require a lot of sugar.

Can you make your own sugar from sugar beets? 

Yes you can although it isn’t actually easy and your sugar production won’t be as efficient as a factory.  You could use any beets for sugar but if you use red beets you won’t get as much sugar and what you make will be pink.   Sugar beet seed can be bought from several seed companies that sell seed for gardeners. Richters and Bakers Creek sell sugar beet seeds ( and probably other companies too).  The beets are easy to grow, just like table beets and can weigh several pounds when harvested.

Remember that each beet will produce just a couple of teaspoons of sugar in the best conditions.  You can get some directions for home sugar production here https://www.richters.com/show.cgi?page=InfoSheets/d1340.html


Growing Chrysanthemums, Novembers flower

Beautiful mums. Credit: wikimedia commons
Think about how many holidays where you see mums offered for sale. At Easter there are white, yellow and pink mums, at Halloween and Thanksgiving there are gorgeous fall colors, at Christmas perky red and white mums.  Florists would be lost without chrysanthemums; they are grown by the millions for potted plants or cut flower arrangements. Because growers have learned to manipulate the light and temperature needs of mums they are available in bloom all year round.

Potted mums are some of the best plants for removing indoor air pollution so indulge in them when they are offered for sale.  But many people who receive potted mums as gifts and then plant them out in the garden are disappointed when they don’t do well.  There are hundreds of chrysanthemum varieties though, that will do well in the garden and award you with wonderful fall color. In this article we are discussing the hardy mums you plant in the garden.

Gardeners buy chrysanthemums in the fall to pop into beds where annuals have fizzled or have been killed by frost.  They are very affordable and create a vibrant look in the late fall garden. There is nothing wrong with using mums as annuals, and not worrying if they will survive the winter. Even if the tag says hardy mum, many of the mums you buy in full bloom in the fall will not survive winter and bloom next year. 

If you want to give it a try, however, plant the potted mums directly into the soil as soon as you can. Keep them watered well until the ground freezes. When the flowers are done trim the stems to about half their length and mulch the plants heavily.  In the spring remove the mulch when the weather warms very carefully.  Don’t remove the dead stems until you see a flush of new green growth at the stem base.  Then carefully cut off dead stems, don’t yank at the stem.  It’s very easy to dislodge the new growth with the old stems.

Growing hardy Chrysanthemums

The best way to have mums in the garden is to plant hardy varieties developed for the garden. When you are choosing chrysanthemums for the garden buy them in the garden center or from a garden catalog, not the florist shop.  And buy them in the spring, when you are buying other perennials for the garden.   Florist mums need more short days to produce flowers and may not have time to bloom in the north before freezing weather sets in.

Chrysanthemums are hardy from zone 5 to 9.  There are some varieties that survive in zone 4 but have difficulty blooming because the season is short.  Zone 4 gardeners should plant mums in a protected spot.

The leaves on a mum plant vary by variety from a long oval to leaves with several lobes.  The leaves and stems have a distinctive smell when crushed.   Plant size varies from a 1 foot mound to tall varieties 3 foot tall or more.   Flowers are also extremely variable from tiny pom-pom types to huge fluffy “football” mums.  Some flowers have quill-like petals and some mums have a single daisy like flower.  Chrysanthemum flowers come in every color except true blue.   Mums begin blooming in late summer and may bloom until a hard freeze.

While mums can be started from seed the most common way mums are sold is as rooted cuttings. When well cared for even a small rooted cutting purchased in the spring can produce a nice sized, blooming plant in the fall.   Spring planted mums have a good survival rate compared to mums that are in full bloom and planted in the garden in the fall.   Those mums are being asked to produce a new root system while supporting all those blooms.

Chrysanthemums should be planted in full sun. Spring planted mums should have some slow release fertilizer worked into the soil when planting and another application of fertilizer in mid-summer. Mums should be kept well watered, as they have shallow roots, but they will quickly die if the soil doesn‘t drain well. Be careful when working around mum plants as the shallow roots are easily damaged.               

Chrysanthemum variety"Dance".  Credit en.wikipedia.org
Most garden mums need to be pinched to produce stocky plants with more flowers.  Pinching simply means taking your fingers and nipping off the growing ends of branches. You need to take off only the tip of the branch. Pinch the plants back at least twice before July 4, but don’t pinch after that or you will remove buds.  Some modern mum varieties don’t require much pinching to stay compact.  If you don’t pinch you will still get flowers but they may be smaller and less numerous and the plant stems may be more inclined to flop over. Tall, older varieties of mums may still need staking when they are in bloom, even after pinching.  

Chrysanthemums bloom when the nights are longer than the days and night temperatures are cool. Don’t plant mums where they get a lot of light at night, such as under security or streetlights or they may not bloom well.

In the fall dead blooms can be removed for neatness but leave the dead stems until spring.  The plants survive winter better if the stems are left.  When you see new growth in the spring you can carefully cut down the old stems.  Light mulch in the winter is good, but remove it in the early spring, as too much moisture around the crown will rot the plant.

Large clumps of mums should be divided every other year or so.  In the early spring dig up the whole clump of plants and carefully divide into sections before re-planting.  Plant mums about 18 inches apart.

Aphids are sometimes a pest of mums.  They cause distorted, curling yellowish leaves.  Spray the plants with a good hard stream of insecticidal soap twice a week until they are gone.

Some mum varieties

There are hundreds of named varieties of chrysanthemums on the market.  Remember to check for hardiness. Mums also vary in bloom time, to extend garden color gardeners should look for both early and late bloomers. Check the spread and height of the variety to see if it fits your garden area too.

If you want tiny button type mums, try ‘Childs Play’ which is yellow or ‘Pretty Penny’ which is copper.   In the large single flowered types, ‘Clara Curtis’ which is a soft pink, is an old favorite.  If you want a large, quilled petal mum try ‘Matchsticks’ which is a blend of red and gold or ‘Carousel’ which is lavender.  In the medium sized cushion or bushel basket type mum, try ‘Ruby Mound’ which is scarlet red or ‘Starlight’ which is white or ‘Curtis Rice’, which is soft rose.   For big, fluffy football type mums try ‘Stadium Queen’ which is reddish bronze, or ‘Cheerleader’, which is amber gold.

Every perennial garden should have some Chrysanthemums to extend color well into fall.  Mums fit into every type of garden from Japanese, to formal to cottage gardens.  Plant extra mum plants so that you can cut big bunches for flower arrangements too.  And once you establish mum plants in your garden they will be there for many years and are sure to be some of your favorite plants.

Making apple juice

Apples and cider are abundant right now. If you like apple juice you can make your own juice and can it for the winter.   It’s a good way to spend a gloomy cold afternoon and makes the house smell great.

There are two main ways to make apple juice.  The easiest way is to start with cold pressed apple cider from a cider mill.  This method gives you less control over the juice as you did not select the apples.  It will also be more expensive. You may be able to find cider made from organic apples but chances are the apples will be conventionally grown.  Cold pressed commercial cider will probably be pasteurized but you will still need to heat and can the final product for storage.

To make apple juice from cider simply let your cider sit in the refrigerator undisturbed for 2 days.  Then carefully pour off the clearer fluid from the top of the jugs, leaving as much sediment as you can behind.  Strain that clearer juice through a colander lined with cheese cloth or a coffee filter.  Each gallon of cider will give you about 3 quarts of strained juice.

Put your strained juice into a pan and bring to boiling.  Boil one minute. Then pour hot juice into sterilized jars to a 1/4 inch from the top, add lids and screw bands and process in a water bath canner for 5 minutes for pint or quart sized jars.

Making heat processed apple juice

If you want the most control over the apple juice contents or have an abundance of home raised apples to use this is a good method to make juice.  Cooking the apples a little makes them yield more juice and you won’t need a mechanical press. 

Wash the apples and then chop them in chunks.  There is no need to peel or core them.  In a large pot combine 1 cup of water for every 3 cups of chopped apples.  Cover the pot and let the apples simmer for about 25 minutes or until they are soft.   Pour off excess water.  You will then need to mash or puree the apples.  You can do that in the pot by hand or with an electric beater.  Or you can put small amounts at a time in a food processor. 

Pour the apple puree through a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and collect the juice.   If you have a lot of puree you can put it in an old thin pillowcase and suspend that over a collection pot.  You can buy what is called a jelly bag for that purpose but it isn’t very large.

Do not press or squeeze the puree through the strainer.  Let it drip slowly for several hours.  Take your collected juice and bring it to a boil, boil 1 minute, pour into sterilized canning jars to a 1/4 inch from the rim, add lids and process in a water bath canner for 5 minutes for both quarts and pints.

If you like sweetened apple juice, add sugar to your taste preferences at the stage where you boil the juice just prior to filling the jars.  A suggestion is a 1/2 cup sugar to every 3 cups of juice. Do not use artificial sweeteners as they will turn bitter during heating.

Drying Gourds

Fall is a wonderful time to think ahead and dry some gourds for winter craft projects.  You may have grown gourds in your garden, but if you didn’t, gourds are often found at farm markets in the fall.  Gourds come in all sizes and colors.  The small, colorful ones require little more than drying to turn then into decorations, but the larger plain ones can be painted and cut and turned into several crafty items, including bird houses.

Pick your decorative gourds before a hard freeze. You can leave them in the garden until then; it is really better for them to dry in the vine.  Light frosts are fine, they will continue to dry after them, but freezing may turn them black or mushy.

Let the gourds dry in a sunny location a few hours.  Then brush off all surface dirt. Mix a solution of 1 part household bleach to 3 parts water and use this solution to dip rags or paper towels in and clean the gourds surface. Then allow to air dry. This helps prevent mold.  You could also use some of the handy “wet wipes” with bleach to clean the gourds.  

Then dry the gourds in a warm, dark place with good air circulation, until you can hear the seeds rattle inside.    The drying process takes from 2-4 months depending on the gourd and the conditions of the drying area.  You cannot hurry gourds by drying them in the oven or microwave unfortunately.  

Don’t worry if you want the gourds for a fall display this year.  They can continue to dry where they are displayed as long as they are not subjected to freezing or moisture and aren’t piled too deeply.  If you have gourds layered in a basket for example, you may want to rotate them from time to time.  Gourds that you intend to keep for a long time can be sprayed with craft sealing finishes, varnish or wax after they are thoroughly dry.

If you are using larger gourds for crafts wait until they are completely dry and you can hear those seeds rattling before cutting them or painting them.  A drill with a small bit is good for starting holes. Gentle use of a saw or drill is required to keep the gourd from shattering.  If you are making a bird house or something with a large opening, shake the seeds out.

Gourds can be painted with any acrylic craft paint.  If they will be outside they should be covered with a waterproof sealer after the paint dries. Gourds that are to be left in a natural color should be sprayed with a sealer also.  If the bird houses are just decorations use black paint to fake a hole.  If they are for actual use as bird houses research what size hole the bird species you want to attract likes in a house and use that size hole.

Painted gourds can also have holes cut in them and small plastic containers set inside to hold flower arrangements, candy or small snacks.   Make a child’s rattle by drilling a small hole and inserting small jingle bells or beads, then seal the hole with a bit of putty and paint over it.   Children enjoy decorating gourds with paint and small glue on decorations such as macaroni shaped as letters, brightly colored beans and seeds and feathers.

It’s Veterans Day.  Thank one for his or her service today.

Kim Willis
 “He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero


More Information

A day in the life of the permanently grinning Blanding’s Turtle, a Michigan protected species
A greater understanding of species’ habitat needs points to the importance of keeping the shoreline natural as a way to promote healthy populations of fish and wildlife species and a healthy ecosystem.

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Bindu Bhakta, Michigan State University Extension

Blanding's turtle laying eggs.  commons.wikimedia.org
Shoreline areas, on land and into the water, provide critical habitat for a variety of fish and wildlife species. Developed shorelines in which natural shoreline vegetation has been removed and replaced to the water’s edge with turf grass or a seawall, may be unable to fully support fish and wildlife species due to habitat destruction and declines in fish and wildlife populations. Such changes can have potential impacts on the health of a lake ecosystem.

One species that depends on a natural shoreline is the Blanding’s turtle, a medium-sized turtle with a hard-to-miss long bright yellow chin and throat, and a very long neck. Its head is relatively flat with a short, round snout and a notched upper jaw, which give it the appearance of a permanent grin. It has a dome-shaped carapace (top shell) that is usually smooth and black with yellowish spots and streaks. The plastron (underside of shell) is yellow with a dark blotch at the outer corner of each scute, or scale.

With regard to habitat, Blanding’s turtle prefers areas with clean, shallow waters with abundant aquatic vegetation and soft muddy bottoms over firm substrates. It is found in and around ponds, marshes, swamps, and lake inlets and coves. They are sometimes found in rivers. They occupy terrestrial habitats during mating and nesting seasons as well as in the fall. Nesting sites are typically located in uplands adjacent to wetland habitats in sunny areas with moist but well-drained sandy or loamy soil. When suitable nesting habitat is not available, the turtle will settle for lawns, gardens, plowed fields, gravel road, etc.

According to the Michigan Natural Features Inventory (MNFI) abstract for Blandings’ turtle, the primary threat to Blanding’s turtle is habitat loss, degradation and alteration. Furthermore, the most critical conservation need identified for Blanding’s turtle is the protection and management of suitable wetland and nesting habitat.

What impacts does a developed shoreline have on species that depend on these areas for some part of their lifecycle? Here are several examples of how the Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) may be impacted:

Seawalls and even rock rip rap can disrupt/break the natural transition between the water and land. Blanding’s turtle and other species of turtles, frogs and other animals need to travel between water and land to feed, rest, and nest. Such a vertical or semi-vertical barrier can block or obstruct access to necessary habitats for feeding and reproduction  by making it difficult if not impossible for them to move between land and water. 

Many species of fish and wildlife are unable to thrive along sandy swimming beaches or on mowed lawns. Rather, they prefer areas in the water that contain native aquatic plants, bottom materials and natural debris, and trees and shrubs which provide shoreline cover. At night, Blanding’s turtle are also found in or under aquatic vegetation. In addition, when shallow water habitats start to dry up in the summer and fall, some will migrate to another body of water while others enter a state of dormancy or inactivity during hot or dry weather on land by burrowing under roots, mud or plant debris.

Removal of “unsightly” fallen trees and shrubs (also called course woody habitat). The Blanding’s turtle has specific requirement for downed woody debris as part of their habitat needed to both sun themselves. When shoreline shrubs and fallen trees are removed from the water’s edge, important turtle habitat is eliminated.  For more ideas on how you can help Blanding’s turtle, visit the Michigan Natural Shoreline Partnership web site for specific ideas on restoring natural shorelines to encourage Blanding’s turtles to frequent shoreline areas.

MNFI’s Rare Species Explorer is a database containing information on Michigan’s 723 rare plants and animals. MFNI also has a large list of species and community abstracts. To find out more about data, programs, services, and educational resources available, visit the MNFI website.
 “Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Lakes Region” by James H. Harding is a comprehensive resource on Amphibians and reptiles in Michigan and is available from the University of Michigan Press.  Also visit the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Michigan Turtles web site for additional information.

For more information on supporting fish and wildlife species on your inland lake shoreline, consult these additional resources:
Michigan State University Extension Bulletin E-3145, Natural Shoreline Landscapes on Michigan’s Inland Lakes: Guidebook for Property Owners available from Shop MSU
Landscaping for Water Quality Booklet
The Water’s Edge
This article was published by Michigan State University Extension.

Events, classes and other offerings
Please let me know if there is any event or class that you would like to share with other gardeners.  These events are primarily in Michigan but if you are a reader from outside of Michigan and want to post an event I’ll be glad to do it.
Master Gardeners if you belong to an association that approves your hours please check with that association before assuming a class or work day will count as credit.
Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or share?  Post them here by emailing me.

I have several free roosters, bantam and full sized if anyone is interested.  Young, healthy.  3 month old muscovy mostly black ducklings for sale $5.       Kimwillis151@gmail.com

MSU offered a variety of on line seminars for those who were interested in beginning farming topics of various types.  Some of those are now available free to watch at the address below.  Gardeners may be interested in topics like organic pest controlGet the list of topics and links here.

New- Michigan Great Lakes Expo December 9-11, 2014- Devos Place Conference Center/ Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, Grand Rapids, Michigan

This annual conference is for fruit and vegetable growers and the greenhouse industry but it is open to anyone who wishes to attend and there are numerous educational classes, several bus tours, lots of educational booths and more than 400 vendors.  Many home gardeners enjoy attending as well as those contemplating or operating a farm market, greenhouse or nursery business.

Pre-registering for the event by Nov. 20 will save you about $20 per person.  It’s $75 for the 3 day admission with several discounts also being available for spouses, employees, members of certain groups etc.  It will be $95 if you pay at the door.  Children under 18 are free.  There is also a one day admission for Thursday, Dec 11 of $40.  Admission includes all educational sessions and exhibits but does not include bus tours and the various luncheons and dinners. 

You can get the brochure describing the educational events and tours plus more information and register on line at this link: http://www.glexpo.com/images/2014/GL_Expo_Brochure.pdf
You can also call 734-677-0503 for more information.

Holiday Indoor or Outdoor Greens Arrangement Workshop, Sat, November 15, At Telly's: 10am Troy, and  1pm, Pontiac
Create indoor table decor, a hand-crafted gift, or an outdoor arrangement. Bring clippers. $5, plus cost of materials Register: 248-689-8735.


Skeleton Trees, Sunday, November 30, 2:00 pm,  Seven Ponds Nature Center 3854 Crawford Rd, Dryden, Phone:(810) 796-3200

Now that most of the trees are bare let’s see if we can figure out which tree is which during this nature walk. $3 admission for non-members.


Grow it! Cook it! Eat it! Workshop, Nov. 12. MSU Extension Ingham County Lansing Office and MSU Extension – Livingston County

Learn how to grow, store and prepare a variety of fresh vegetables by attending one or all of these mid-Michigan workshops.
Posted on August 12, 2014 by Diane Brown, Michigan State University Extension

Home vegetable gardening is once again popular. In addition to vegetables you grow yourself, a bounty of beautiful produce awaits at farmer’s markets and from community supported agriculture (CSAs). But do you know the best varieties to select for your home garden? Do you know how to tell when a vegetable is ready to harvest, or what to look for at the market? How to store them? How to cook them? Get answers to these questions and more during a series of three Grow it! Cook it! Eat it! workshops from Michigan State University Extension designed to help you make the most of fresh garden vegetables. Cost: $20 for one session/$50 for all three.

Nov. 12, 2014, 6-8 p.m. Pumpkins and Their Kin – winter squash and pumpkins Location: MSU Extension Ingham County Lansing Office, 5303 S. Cedar St., Lansing, MI 48911
Register online for these exciting workshops, and save $10 over individual workshop pricing when you register early for all three events. Contact the Ingham County MSU Extension office at 517-676-7207 for more information.


Newsletter information
If you would like to pass along a notice about an educational event or a volunteer opportunity please send me an email before Tuesday of each week and I will print it. Also if you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly notes. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine but I do reserve the right to publish what I want.
Once again the opinions in this newsletter are mine and I do not represent any organization or business. I do not make any income from this newsletter. I write this because I love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my research each week. It keeps me engaged with local people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive these emails have them send their email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com




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