Hi
Gardeners
 |
| Crocus |
When I went out to the barn this evening to feed I
first gave everyone clean water then went to distribute feed and pick up late
eggs. As I came back into the main part
of the barn I saw something big and white drinking out of the cats bowl and for
a moment I thought Gizzy had somehow got out of the house and followed me into
the barn. But no, a second glance
revealed it was a huge, very fat and fluffy possum.
I asked him why he wasn’t afraid of me and he just
continued to drink. When he finished he
gave me a look then disappeared under the old work bench. This morning I had heard something making a
snoring noise and looked around but couldn’t decide what cat or chicken was
making the noise. Now I think it was
probably the possum, because I have heard them snoring before. When we used to have hay for the big animals
possums frequently burrowed into it to sleep and I would hear them snoring
before I ran into them- usually.
I am pretty lenient about possums in the barn. They are good ratters and mousers, although I
have cats for that now. But besides
sharing the cat food they don’t seem to do much other harm. The chickens treat them like cats, which
means they boss them around. When winter
is over they generally disappear and sleep outside somewhere.
It has been an absolutely dreary day here. Temperatures were in the mid 30’s and it’s
rained steadily all day. The storm
warning on my barometer has been flashing all day but so far we have escaped
any real storms. The temperature is
actually rising tonight so hopefully
there won’t be any icing later.
I am so longing for garden weather. My mailbox is filled with garden catalogs and
I have been researching garden sites on line to add to my catalog page. I’m seeing a lot of plants I’d really like to
have, but my budget is smaller than my wish list. Fifty years ago garden catalogs had to be
mailed to consumers and because that’s expensive, there were fewer garden
“catalogs” and companies than there are now.
Now with the internet there’s been an explosion of places offering seeds
and plants. What you can find is
amazing.
I’ve added 20 some links to the garden catalog page on
the right side of this blog this week and I have another list to check out and
add next week so if you need a dose of plant shopping or are looking for
something check out the page.
February Almanac
The names for the full moon in February, (February 10th), reflect
the bleakness associated with the month.
It is called the Full Snow moon, Hunger moon and Bone moon among other
things. The moon perigee was yesterday and the apogee is the 18th.
By the 29th there are 11 hours and 13 min of daylight as we
rapidly gain on spring equinox. In January we only gained 48 minutes of light
in 31 days. In February we gain 69
minutes in 28 days. Go sun go!
February is National Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month, American Heart Month,
Marijuana Awareness Month, National Bird Feeding Month, National Cherry Month,
National Grapefruit Month, and National Bake for Your Family Month.
The 2nd is Candlemas day as well as Groundhog Day. It is the half way point through winter and
also the beginning of housecleaning for spring. The 5th is National
Pancake Day. The 12th is Lincolns Birthday, Darwin Day and also Plum
Pudding day. The 14th is
Valentine’s Day as well as National Condom day, and for those who don’t
celebrate Valentine’s Day, it’s also National Library Day. The 15th
is Susan B. Anthony’s Birthday and Presidents Day is the 20th. Tortilla Chip day is the 24th,
National Pistachio day is the 27th.
National Public Sleeping Day is the 28th, have fun with that.
This year the 28th is also the start of Mardi Gras.
The February birth flower is the violet, which symbolizes faithfulness,
humility and chastity. African violets
are being featured in many stores in February and make a good gift for a
gardener. The February birthstone is the
Amethyst.
 |
| Common violet |
Growing
Asparagus
Asparagus is one of the foods you either like or
dislike. If you like asparagus you might
wonder if you could grow it in your garden.
The answer is probably, it depends on your climate, your patience level
and whether you have room in the garden for a permanent resident. Asparagus is native to Europe, North Africa
and west Asia. It has naturalized, or
gone wild, in many places in America.
The plant has been cultivated and/or gathered in some
places since at least 7000 B.C. It
didn’t become a common edible or garden plant in Europe though, until the
1500’s. Currently the world’s largest producer of asparagus is China. In the US California, Michigan and Washington
State produce the most asparagus. Mexico
produces and exports a lot of asparagus too, another crop you may miss in a
trade war.
Asparagus is a perennial plant and you‘ll have it in
the garden for a long time. You’ll need
patience because you won’t get a crop the first year you plant asparagus and
only a small crop the second year. You
will also need some patience and dedication for removing weeds year after
year. Climate is important too. Asparagus does well in planting zones 3-7. They may grow in warmer zones but when they
do not get enough cold to make them go into a dormant state they are easily
killed in a winter cold snap. They also
don’t make a strong spring crop if they haven’t been in winter dormancy.
Mature asparagus plants are feathery or ferny looking,
medium green plants. There are separate
male and female plants. They produce small white flowers in summer and red
berries in fall if they are female plants.
Berry production takes energy so female plants don’t produce as many
spears in the spring. Male plants can be
produced by division and many nurseries will sell only male crowns (divisions
or small plants).
Varieties
of Asparagus
‘Jersey Supreme’ and its male only cousin ‘Jersey
Knight’ are commonly offered varieties.
‘Millennium’ is a new, productive mostly male variety. ‘Martha
Washington’ is an old and favorite variety.
‘Purple Passion’ and ‘Pacific Purple’ have purple
spears that turn green when cooked. Purple varieties of asparagus are said to
be sweeter than regular asparagus.
Planting
asparagus
Choose the site for your asparagus bed carefully. It will need to be undisturbed for many
years. Asparagus beds will produce well for 15-20 years. Asparagus does well in well drained, loose
fertile soil with a pH of about 7 (neutral).
In the north beds should be in full sun, in the south partial shade or
light shade will work. Remember you will
have a harvest period of about 6 weeks in a mature bed but the rest of the year
the crop will become a bushy mass of ferny looking leaves about 3-4 feet high.
 |
| Asparagus plants |
I highly recommend you prepare a bed for asparagus the
fall before you intend to plant the crop.
Add organic matter and composted manure to the bed site and till it
in. Try to get as much grass and weeds
out of the site as possible. How big of
a bed you prepare depends on how well you like asparagus. A bed 2 feet by 20 feet will probably be fine
for a family of 2-3 once the bed is mature, if you are moderate asparagus
eaters. The bed will slowly enlarge if
you allow it to, so you may have more plants a few years down the road.
You can start asparagus from seeds but I highly
recommend you start your patch from “crowns”, which are small dormant
plants. You’ll gain a year on the
harvest and you can purchase male plants, which are more productive than
females. Crowns look like a bud on top
of some long brown roots. They are
usually sold in packages of 25. That’s enough to start that 20 foot bed
mentioned above.
Here’s how to plant the crowns. Plant them right around the time of your last
frost in the spring. In a well prepared
bed of loose soil make a furrow down the center of it about 8 inches deep. In the center of the furrow form a mound
about 4 inches high. Think of a ‘w’
where the center point is lower than the sides.
Set the plant on the center mound, bud up, and splay
the roots to both sides of the mound. Space plants about a foot apart. Then gently fill in the whole trench. The top of the bud portion should only be 2-3
inches below the soil level. Water the
bed to settle the soil.
To start asparagus from seed sow the seeds in
individual cells about 14 weeks before your expected last frost. They need
warmth, about 75-80 degrees to germinate well. Grow seedlings in strong light, a few inches
beneath grow lights. Transplant the
seedlings to the garden after the last frost, planting them in a trench similar
to that of the crowns as described above.
Keep the new asparagus patch well-watered the first
year to get it established. Do not cut
the fronds down – let them die naturally in winter. (You can remove them when
they are completely brown after a hard frost.) Each year as the ground thaws in
the spring apply a slow release general purpose, vegetable garden fertilizer
around the plants as the label directs. Adding compost to the bed in fall is also a
good idea.
Many people are growing asparagus in high tunnels and
hoops now to produce earlier crops. Early
asparagus could be a money maker in farmers markets.
Problems
of asparagus
The biggest problem people have with an asparagus bed,
(and you can ask any horticulturist who deals with the public what question he
or she most often gets about asparagus), is keeping weeds out of the bed. You must start early and be vigilant with
weeds the entire year. Use some good
mulch such as shredded leaves, chopped straw, or shredded bark around the
plants to help smother weeds.
Once an asparagus patch gets overgrown with grass and
weeds it’s almost impossible to get it clean again. Asparagus competing with grass and weeds
won’t give you as big a harvest and is more prone to disease and insects. It also looks like a mess. Therefore keep the
weeds out!
You will undoubtedly be told at one point or another that
you can use salt around the asparagus and it will kill the weeds without
affecting the asparagus plants. That’s
not true. Asparagus is somewhat salt
resistant. The first year you try adding
salt to the bed it may seem like it works to some degree, but weeds will be
back the next year, maybe more tolerant to salt themselves. You will probably treat with salt again and
then you will start having problems.
Salt only moves through soil out of the range of plant roots slowly,
especially in clay soils. Eventually it
starts affecting the growth of the asparagus plants and it’s ruining the soil
for many other plants should you decide to rip out the asparagus patch. Don’t use salt to kill weeds in asparagus
patches.
There are no really safe herbicides, (chemicals), that
will remove weeds and grass from an asparagus patch. Hand weeding and mulch are your answers. If the patch gets really overgrown you should
consider starting over in a new area.
You can dig your current patch up in the fall after it goes dormant,
separate crowns from weed roots and plant over in a clean spot. Or you can buy new crowns and kill the old
patch by constant mowing or using a herbicide.
Other problems that asparagus patches may have are
asparagus beetles and rust. Asparagus
beetles eat the fronds and weaken the plants.
Since they appear after harvest you can spray with a pesticide. Or you can hand pick the little buggers, or
just hope the plants survive. Rust is a
fungal disease. It doesn’t generally kill but weakens plants. There are rust resistant varieties you can
buy. You can use a preventative fungicide on plants if you generally have
problems with rust. Thin out the patch
to increase airflow, good airflow helps prevent fungal disease.
Harvesting
asparagus
You eat the stems of asparagus in early spring as they
emerge before they unfold their leaves.
If you cut and eat all of the “spears”, as the stems are called, the
plants will be greatly weakened or may die.
They need the leaves to provide food for the root system. New plants generally have only one spear
emerge and if you cut that it is very energy intensive for them to replace
that. They may not be able to recover.
So here’s part of that patience you need to grow
asparagus. The first spring when you plant crowns or seedlings you should not cut and eat the spears. In the second
year after planting crowns you may cut
about a third of the spears that appear one time. Do not cut the spears of seedling planted
asparagus the second year. In the third year you can take more
spears from the crown planted crop,
about half, and for 2-3 weeks and in the seedling planted crop about a
third of the crowns one time. In the fourth and following years you
can get a normal harvest for crown
planted beds and a half harvest for seedling beds that year, full harvest after
the next year.
A normal mature bed harvest means cutting spears for
about 6 weeks in the spring, and you can cut most of the spears you need. To harvest asparagus let the spears get 6-8
inches long and about the size of a pencil, then snap or cut off the spears at
ground level or slightly below. After 6 weeks you should stop cutting and let
the spears mature into leaves.
Asparagus spears have the best flavor if cooked right
after harvest. If you need to store them
place a little water in a pan, bowl or jar and stand the spears upright, tip
up, in it. You may have to tie them in a
bundle. Refrigerate. Asparagus can be
canned, pickled, or frozen to preserve the harvest.
Asparagus is considered to be a healthy food, low in
calories, rich in vitamins and minerals and fiber. It is a diuretic however and when that urine
leaves the body it has a very distinctive strong odor. This can happen 15
minutes after consuming the plant. Interestingly while most people produce the
smell after eating asparagus, some people can’t distinguish the odor. In 2010 this was found to be caused by a
genetic variation in olfactory genes.
Getting
an early start with a cold frame
If you are anxious to get growing in the spring or you
live in a short growing season area, you may want to take advantage of a cold
frame. My grandfather always started his
garden in a cold frame, even tomato plants.
It’s an old art that modern gardeners should learn to use.
Cold frames are a box with a clear top and sometimes
clear sides. Snug in their protected
world plants get the advantage of natural light without drafts and frost. Cold frames are used to start seedlings or to
harden off, (acclimate), plants that were started inside. In the fall they can also be used to grow a
crop of greens before severe weather sets in.
A gardener can simply construct a wooden box with a
glass or Plexiglas lid or a lid covered with heavy clear plastic film. Ideally the lid of the box should slope, the
lower side facing south or to your sunniest area so plants receive the maximum
light. It’s good to place boxes on the
south side of a building or solid fence to add a layer of protection.
The box should be at least eighteen inches deep on the
lowest side to allow plants to grow. The
walls should be thick or well insulated. Hay/straw bales can provide insulation and can
even be the walls. You can add a floor
to your box or simply have them sit on the ground. In previous times a scoop of fresh cow manure
was often added to the bottom of the coldframe.
Plants were in pots or flats above it.
The manure decomposing added heat.
Purchased cold frames may be made of wood or
plastic. They often have hinged lids
that are connected to a device that opens the lid when a certain temperature is
reached. They may also have heat cables
on the floor and fans to circulate air.
Set the cold frame up several days before you sow seeds
or set plants in it. It should receive
full sun all day. If you are not using
heat cables on the bottom you may want to cover the ground with black plastic.
Some people add soil and plant directly in the box but
plants transplant better if started in pots.
Square pots use less space. Don’t
start seeds or plants in a cold frame too early. The weather should be ready for them to be
planted in the garden when they outgrow the frame and night temperatures should
not fall much below freezing. Planting
in a cold frame can usually begin six weeks before your last expected frost.
The most important thing to remember about coldframes
is that even though it is in the upper thirties outside on a sunny day, it will
be much warmer inside the box with the lid closed. If temperatures get too hot (above 90
degrees) the plants will die just as quickly as if they got too cold. On sunny days the lid must be raised at least
a little. A device that will raise the
lid when the temperature gets to a certain point inside and lower it when it
drops can be purchased in garden supply stores.
If you do not use a thermostatically controlled opener
you must be diligent in raising and lowering the lid depending on weather
conditions. Check the forecast each day
before you leave for work. If extremely
cold weather threatens the whole cold frame can be covered with a blanket.
Cold frames allow gardeners a way to start plants early
without having sunny window sills or greenhouse. If the top is left off for a few days before
plants are removed you won’t have to worry about hardening off seedlings before
planting. It’s an old method that still has value for
gardeners.
Oh
those deer- how should we deal with them?
A reader wrote to me after my article 2 weeks ago where
I mentioned deer in the article I wrote about
dealing with red squirrels and other pests.
She wanted to know if I considered it a good idea to neuter deer so they
couldn’t reproduce instead of killing them.
There have been several news articles about deer being “spayed” in Ann
Arbor, Michigan because of protests over killing them. And I recently read an article from experts
in biology/ecology detailing the damage
Here’s why I and most biologists don’t think neutering
deer is a good plan. When the goal is to
lower deer populations because of damage they are doing and for public safety,
neutering just doesn’t do the trick.
After neutering you still have the same number of deer, minus a few who
die from the stress of the procedure.
And since all of the deer are rarely captured to be neutered, the
population still grows. You have not
solved the problem.
The most common neutering procedure now is an ovariectomy
where the ovaries are removed through a small incision. The deer have to be darted with
tranquilizers, followed to where they drop, carried to the surgery area,
operated on by a vet, tagged, carried to a safe recovery area, and given an
antidote to the anesthesia. This all
takes time, about 2 hours per doe, and several humans to accomplish. It’s very expensive, about $1,200.00 per doe,
(female deer) and takes a lot of weeks or months to get the job done.
If a deer has her ovaries removed after 150 days of
pregnancy, which can happen in late winter, she will still have her
fawn(s). Also some studies found that a
few supposedly neutered deer still had fawns in subsequent years. In a few cases where an autopsy was performed
on such does they found a remnant of ovary had remained or in one case an ovary
appeared to have regenerated. Tubal
litigation has even more failures.
It seems like over time the deer population would
decrease when does were neutered, but follow up studies prove that usually
isn’t the case. The few does that aren’t
neutered give birth and unless the procedure is done every year the young does
born from them will give birth the following year and so on. Deer also move in
from outside the “treated” area. In five
years the deer population is usually higher than it was when the neutering was
done, although it may grow more slowly than it did before.
As of now, castrating male deer (bucks) is considered
useless, unless the deer are confined and every buck can be done. One buck can breed a whole lot of does. Bucks are attracted from miles away when
females are in heat. Also most chemical
birth control methods have failed to control deer populations and are
impractical to administer. An injected
contraceptive for does is being trialed.
It still involves capturing and sedating deer and doesn’t seem to be
quite as effective as removing ovaries.
The best way to cut down a deer population is by
removing deer. Since there are very few
places that want deer relocated to them and the stress and handling causes
large mortality rates in instances where it is tried, deer generally aren’t
captured and relocated. So hunting,
either with paid sharpshooters or by volunteers is the preferred method of
cutting deer populations. The hunting
should focus on does, although bucks can also be removed.
This seems cruel to a lot of people and people worry
about safety when guns are used in populated areas. The safety issue can be addressed by using
archery hunters, or by capturing deer in traps and then shooting them. Paid professionals also are recommended. Usually they shoot from overhead stands so
the bullet trajectory is downward. They
are also more likely to get a clean kill shot than volunteers. Paid professionals generally cost less than
paying for neutering.
Deer can provide valuable protein to poor populations
and deer meat is probably healthier for all of us than factory farmed
meat. When deer are removed by shooting
them the meat should be processed and given to soup kitchens, food distribution
programs, animal shelters or even zoos.
The cruelty issue might be lessened if people started
thinking less about deer as cute bambi and more like large, long legged rats,
with serious impacts on the environment and human health and safety. And deer overpopulation affects the lives of
numerous other, less adorable but still important species. Let’s talk about
that.
First rid yourself of the idea that deer are to be
pitied because we moved into their territory and now they are forced to share
our backyards with us. There are at
least 3 times as many deer here now, some sources say up to 5 times as many, as
there were before European colonization.
In fact it’s only in the last 100 years or so that deer populations have
bulged out of control. And it’s because
living with us is much, much better for deer than living without us.
When I was young we went camping “up north” and drove
along dirt roads in the evening to get a glimpse, we hoped, of deer. As much as I roamed the wilder spots of my
neighborhood as a child, (which included the railroad right of ways, abandoned
farms at the edge of the city and city parks), I never saw deer. Then in my
20’s I occasionally saw deer at the edge of the city when I drove to work. By
the time I left the city in my early 40’s deer were common sights in the
city. Everyone had a deer story- many
about deer damaging their gardens or hitting a deer with their car.
Almost every city or suburbs in the United States now
has a deer population, including Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, New
York, Cleveland and many, many more. On many college campuses, business
grounds, public parks and nature areas deer have become a major problem. And by the way, the deer just aren’t a
problem here in the USA. Canada, England
and many other European countries also have major deer problems.
Why
deer populations have zoomed
People provide the perfect environment for deer,
especially suburb environments. There
are woodsy pockets for hiding and lots of edge habitat for grazing, which is
our lawns and gardens. When the deer eat
all the tulips and roses and arborvitaes we plant new ones for them. We even put out purchased food for them. And
we discourage natural predators and don’t allow hunting of the bambi’s both
because of safety concerns and misguided concern for them.
Deer are certainly not endangered species and over the
centuries they have adapted to living close to man very well. In heavily deer populated areas they may
graze in plain sight during the day and seem uninterested or concerned about
human presence. And as videos shown on
social media can attest, they even give birth in people’s back yards. We also see videos where deer have entered
homes and stores, sometimes by crashing through windows.
Why
deer need to be controlled
In my state of Michigan there were 47,007 car-deer
collisions reported in 2015, (the incidence of unreported collisions is
probably close to the same figure) and 11 human deaths, plus 57 severe injuries
and 130 million dollars of property damage.
That damage figure is from collisions to vehicles only.
It’s estimated that car-deer collisions
cause more than 200 human deaths across the US each year and 4 billion dollars’
worth of property damage from collisions.
Almost every state in the country has a problem with car-deer
collisions. West Virginia, Montana, Pennsylvania, Iowa and South Dakota are the
top 5 states for deer – car collisions.
Deer don’t just collide with cars either. Many airports have problems with deer on the
runways and numerous collisions have occurred resulting in billions of dollars
in damage. One ruined jet alone costs
millions of dollars.
Deer can cause disease in humans by carrying ticks into
our environments. Tick carried diseases include
Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis (Anaplasma
phagocytophilum), Ehrlichiosis (E.
chaffeensis and E. ewingii),
Babesiosis (Babesia microti), and
Rocky Mountain spotted fever (Rickettsia
rickettsii). The blacklegged tick (Ixodes
scapularis), commonly known as a "deer tick” is the most common tick
deer carry, but they also host other tick species. Having deer on your property
means having ticks at some point or another.
Deer also carry Bovine tuberculosis and Chronic Wasting
disease, diseases which can decimate livestock farms and that are occasionally
passed to humans. Deer also carry
rabies, which can be passed to pets, livestock or humans.
Agricultural damage by deer eating crops from grain to
vegetables and fruit causes millions of dollars’ worth of damage every
year. States in the northeast and
Midwest have the most damage but every state records some crop damage. And the damage deer cause to commercial and
residential landscaping, public parks, gardens and arboretums is well known.
Environmental
damage by deer is a serious concern
But the most serious damage deer do is to the
environment. Deer destroy many
endangered plants and contribute to the decline of other species of animals. Many
biologists and environmentalists believe that deer have contributed as much, if
not more, to the loss of species and degradation of ecosystems as climate
change or pollution.
When the deer population is too high for the environment
deer destroy the plants that are considered understory plants and plants that
are succession species- trees and shrubs that grow slowly in the shade of the
first forest species and that will eventually replace them. Meadow and edge species are also grazed to
extinction. Even wetlands are raided by
deer.
Some wild species that are greatly affected by deer
browsing in my area are trilliums, trout lilies, ginseng, gentians, maples, blueberries,
dogwood, white pine and cedar. In a
study done in 1998-1999 at Kensington-Metropark systems in Michigan to evaluate
deer damage to the park system after unusually high deer populations for
several years, researchers found that 69 species of plants had vanished from
the park that had been recorded there previously.
At many parks experimental fencing of forested areas
can show the impact of deer. Inside the
fence saplings, shrubs, ferns and wildflowers are abundant. Outside the fence the ground area is nearly
bare, covered by briars or invasive plants not favored by deer. Seven Ponds Nature Center in Dryden, Michigan
has such a demonstration area. Many
other parks also have them.
With the loss of understory and edge species of plants
there is also the loss of songbirds that nest and feed on them. Reptile, amphibian and insect species that
utilize the understory and edge environments disappear. Deer eat most of the mast- nuts and acorns-
produced in the environment which prevents regeneration of tree species and
also robs other animals of food, so small mammals and their predators also
leave. So diversity, which is vital to any ecological system, disappears when
there are too many deer.
Deer often help invasive species like garlic mustard
and barberry gain an advantage in an environment. Often new species aren’t immediately accepted
as food or they already have some advantage by being poisonous or prickly. So the deer eat the native species and leave
the invasive ones to spread over the area.
In their never ending quest for food deer also remove
vegetation around streams and rivers, and trample banks, leading to erosion and
the polluting and silting of water. This
causes the loss of aquatic species.
Deer
resistant plants for gardens
Be aware that when deer are starving they will eat
anything. It also seems that in some
areas deer eat certain types of plants and in others they don’t eat those
plants. But below is a list of plants
deer generally leave alone.
Alliums, astilbe, barberries, barrenwort, bee balm, birch,
blanket flower, bleeding heart, buckeyes, Catmint (Nepeta), caryopteris, Chives,
daffodils, Dutch iris, cinquefoil, columbine, dead nettle, false indigo, ferns,
forsythia, fritillaries, garlic, globe thistle, grape hyacinths, hellebore, hollies
(evergreen ones), hollyhock, honey locust, hyacinths, Lavender, lungwort, junipers,
lilacs, lupine, meadowsweet, mints, monkshood, mugwort, onions, Oregano, ornamental
grasses, peony, primrose, purple coneflower, Rosemary Russian sage, Siberian
bugloss, speedwell, spruce, squill, sunflower, and yarrow. Some spireas, and some viburnums are
resistant as are some older roses with very prickly stems such as Harrisons
Yellow.
Deer consider tulips, hosta, tea roses, blueberries, euonymus
and arborvitaes (cedar) as candy. Deer
will also eat yews, although they are poisonous to other animals.
Deer
deterrents
There are some chemical deer repellents on the market
and some of them have been found to be fairly effective. However they may also be unattractive or
unpleasant in ornamental gardens and can’t be applied to food plants. Things like Irish Spring soap, human hair, and
dryer sheets have only limited success in keeping deer away. Peeing on the garden or using animal pee to
mark the garden is also basically useless.
A fence is the best deer deterrent. It needs to be high (5-8 feet) and strong and
preferably reinforced with electric wire. A large dog patrolling inside is also
a good defense. Deer netting can be used
in some places. It’s lightweight and
black netting can almost disappear from view at a few feet away. It too, is best when used with electric
wire. A single strand of electric wire
at the top of the fence is usually enough, if fences are 4 feet or more high.
Once deer are trained to electric fence it’s quite
effective. Even a few strands of
electric fence can provide good protection.
One wire should be about 5 feet from the ground, one at about 3 feet and
one a foot above the ground. A timer can
be put on electric fence so that it’s only on at dusk, overnight and early am,
the times when deer are most likely to be feeding.
To train deer for electric fence cut many strips of
aluminum foil about 6 inches long and grab a jar of peanut butter. Turn off the power to the fence. Fold strips of foil over the electric wire
every 3-4 feet and smear the bottom with peanut butter. Turn on the fence. Deer like peanut butter and when they lick
it, they’ll get a shock and one shock is normally enough to make them afraid of
the wire. As anyone knows who has been
shocked by an electric wire the avoidance factor lasts a long time.
Most people don’t want to eliminate all deer, we just
want to control the population so that deer don’t damage property and lives and
can exist in harmony with other species.
Because deer are considered to be graceful and pretty doesn’t mean that
they should take preference in survival over other species, both of plants and
less appealing animals. Deer populations
are our responsibility to control, since we are the species that has allowed
them to become so numerous.
References
Caramel
Lava Cake
The chocolate lava cake that many of you know is wonderfully rich and very dark, especially if you use 100 % cacao cocoa powder as I do. My husband doesn’t like dark chocolate so I decided to revise the lava cake recipe with his favorite flavor, caramel. It turned out wonderful – maybe better than the chocolate lava cake - so I decided to share the recipe.
This recipe is easy to make and the scrumptious creamy caramel sauce will make your tongue sing. (Next time I try it I may add thinly sliced apples to the batter.) This is not a recipe for the calorie conscious.
1 cup flour
¾ cup white sugar
2 tablespoons of butter, melted
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup packed brown sugar
1- 3.4 oz. instant caramel pudding mix (Note: if you can’t find caramel pudding mix
use butterscotch or vanilla pudding mix- the taste will be a bit different but
still good.)
2 ½ cups half and half milk or whole milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In an ungreased 8 x 8 pan place the flour, salt, baking
powder, and white sugar, stir to mix ingredients.
Add the melted butter, vanilla and ¾ cup of the half and
half milk. Blend together well. You should have a thick batter. If needed, you can add a little bit more of
the milk. Smooth the batter out evenly in the pan.
Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the batter.
Sprinkle the pudding mix over the brown sugar and
batter evenly.
Heat the rest of the milk in a small pan until it is
steaming, don’t boil it. Stir to prevent scorching. (I use
a bowl and put the milk in the microwave).
Pour the steaming milk over the batter in the pan
slowly. DO NOT STIR.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. It is done when the top is partially cake
like and lightly browned, and the sides look firm or cake like. The center part of the cake remains sauce-like
and soft.
Let the cake sit 5 minutes or so to cool before
serving. This thickens the caramel
sauce.
You won’t need ice cream or frosting with this
cake. Just scoop it out and enjoy. It will make 4 large servings.
This
week’s garden question: When do I start
seeds indoors for garden transplants?
Asked
by Donna from Indiana
Note:
feel free to ask me a garden question by emailing me at kimwillis151@gmail.co
I’ll try to answer some here each week. It helps to give me your state
and growing zone. Only your first name
and state will be in the newsletter.
I am going to assume you mean seeds for vegetable
gardens or annual flowers. There’s a long involved answer depending on
what seeds you want to start and the short answer I’ll give here. Most garden seeds need to be planted 6-10
weeks before your last frost date or before that type of pant can be planted in
the garden. (Look at the seed packet or
in a catalog description to see what’s recommended.)
For example if your average last frost date is May 1, and
you wanted to plant tomatoes I’d start them about March 1. If you have a heated greenhouse and want
larger transplants you could start February 1.
Don’t start seeds too early; (it’s a top beginner mistake), if you don’t
have a heated greenhouse. Grow lights
help, but the longer plants are in small pots inside the house the less healthy
they become. In heated greenhouses and
in appropriate sized pots plants can be started earlier and grown inside
longer.
Tomatoes need to be transplanted outside after the last
frost. But if you wanted to start
pansies from seed, for planting outside and ready to bloom up to a month before the last frost, you
should start them in January, if your outside target date is sometime in April.
There are some plants that take a long time to reach
blooming size and which you want to be blooming when they go outside. Your seed packet can help guide you but
impatiens, begonias and petunias are some I can think of off the top of my
head. You’ll want to start them earlier
because they are slow growing. But if
you don’t have a greenhouse it can be tricky to grow them inside the house for
so long.
Another thing worth mentioning is that some plants
don’t like being transplanted and they should be planted closer to your
expected time to plant them outside.
Melons, squash, and cucumbers for example, should only be small
seedlings, with 2 or 3 sets of true leaves when transplanted. This lessens
transplant shock. Therefore you would want to start them about a month before
you want to plant them outside.
And finally, some plants don’t do well started inside
at all. Most root vegetables should be
started where they are going to grow.
Corn, peas and beans could be started inside a few weeks before planting
in the garden, but for most garden zones you’ll find planting the seeds
directly in the ground will give you similar results with less trouble.
For more information about starting seeds see the page
listed to the right of the blog called Seeds.
Stay
warm and dry, only 41 days to spring!
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….
Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or share? Post them here by emailing me. You can also
ask me to post garden related events. Kimwillis151@gmail.com
Find
Michigan garden events/classes here:
An
interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook
Here’s a
seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook
Newsletter/blog
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 or you can
comment directly on the blog. Please state that you want to have the item
published in my weekly note if you email me. 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. Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com
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 people and horticulture. It’s a
hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If you are on my mailing list and at any
time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know
anyone who would like to receive a notification by email when a new blog is
published have them send their email address to me. KimWillis151@gmail.com
The
information in this newsletter is copyrighted.
Feel free to share the blog link but if you wish to reprint anything you
find on this blog site please ask for permission. This includes photos with my name on them.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete