Tuesday, December 19, 2017

December 19, 2017 Kim’s Weekly Garden Blog

Hi Gardeners

Eucomis, pineapple lily
We are getting a break from winter today with temperatures in the 40’s and at least some sun. Most of the 6-7 inches of snow we got last week has melted.  I had to drive through the country today to a doctor’s appointment and I could see the green of the recently sprouted wheat fields. Cows and horses were finding grass to nibble.  The Amish couple in their buggy didn’t seem as miserable as the Amish usually look this time of year.  This is the kind of winter weather I like.  No white Christmas for me, I like green ones.  With climate change maybe I won’t have to move from Michigan to get them.

I have an amaryllis that just might bloom for Christmas, the bud is quite large.  It’s a new one I bought this fall so it’s been primed for bloom in this season.  My older amaryllis usually does bloom in the winter but generally closer to Easter than Christmas.  My Christmas cacti are all blooming nicely too.  The tropical hibiscus are blooming and the fuchsia blooms non-stop.  More people should try the small flowered fuchsia’s as houseplants.

On the porch the geraniums have a nice winter bloom going although much of the bloom is toward the windows so you have to look at them from outside. There’s a good-sized abutilon out there and it’s blooming too.  The ginger and rosemary are still green and two cannas are still green and growing. The eucomis ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ is still growing. I left my huge brugmansia out on the porch, hoping it would go dormant but it insists on putting out leaves, although they are small.  All the rest of the potted bulbs I brought in have gone dormant.

The end of the natural year is tomorrow. Despite our calendars, December 20 is the last day of the natural year based on the suns annual cycle.  December 21st is the calendar date of the first day of winter and the natural first day of the new year.  The exact moment of solstice for me, at my latitude is 11:28 am, December 21st..  Some of you reading this will have a different exact solstice time.  You can find your exact solstice moment at this site:
While the moment of solstice is 11:28 am solstice celebrations generally begin at midnight (12:01 am) on the 21st.

Winter Solstice marks the turning of the sun, when the sun has reached its lowest point and most southern point on the horizon.  The sun has seemed to be paused for a few days before winter solstice but at the moment of solstice it is directly overhead and then will begin to climb in the sky and move north again, if ever so slowly. It has been resurrected or reborn, and since the sun means life this is a time for great celebration. 

Winter solstice has been celebrated from man’s earliest times, long before Hanukkah or Christmas.  It amazes me that early man was so attuned to nature and the natural celestial cycles that they knew of and understood the significance of winter solstice. Very early in history man knew the cycles of earth so well they could accurately predict the moment of solstice.
 
At the equator, near where we believe modern man originated, all days of the year are exactly the same length- about 12 hours. But as man migrated north and south on the planet they would have noticed that the days length varied with the season.  This is due to the tilt of the earth on its axis.

It must have been a little disconcerting for early migrators to see the sun getting lower in the sky and the days growing colder and shorter.  Naturally they would monitor the skies, hoping for the sun to return to normal.  The farther north (or south) you move the more drastic the difference in winter and summer would become.  But since human migration was probably gradual people would have had time to realize that it was a cycle and that the sun would return to a friendlier position soon. 

What many people don’t realize is that the sun is not farthest from the earth at winter solstice, it’s actually at the closest position to earth.  It’s the tilt of the earth that determines how sunlight hits the earth and the more directly overhead the sun is the warmer it is.  You can test this by standing directly under a light that gives off heat and then moving it so it hits you at different angles but at the same distance away.  When the light is coming toward you from a location near your feet you won’t feel the heat as well as you do when its overhead.

I know that for me, the longest night being over is a big relief.  I know that the change is barely perceptual, and many cold days are ahead here in Michigan but at least it is changing for the better. The sun is moving up and north to warm us. We will have 4 minutes more daylight by December 31st . By the end of January 52 more minutes have been added.

Christmas plants

I was wondering what to write about the week before Christmas and a day before solstice.  It seems I have covered most Christmas and solstice topics already in other weeks or years.  So below is a series of links on various topics that relate to holiday type plants.  If you need something to read or one of these topics has information you want, then you can click on it. I’ve included last years article on Frankincense and Myrrh too.

Amaryllis
Did you get an amaryllis bulb for Christmas?  They are popular gifts for people who like gardening or houseplants.  The bulbs you get are primed and ready to sprout and bloom with just a little care. You can discard them after blooming is finished. But if you give them some attention after they bloom you can successfully get them to bloom again for many years.
Read more here.


Poinsettias
If you got a poinsettia for Christmas you may be wondering if you can keep it as a houseplant. Some people enjoy the poinsettia until it starts looking bedraggled and then throw it out. But if you are a true plant lover and you can’t stand to see a plant die, you can keep your poinsettia as a houseplant and even get it to “bloom” again. The plant will stay pretty a long time, so enjoy it, but if you want to keep it thriving you’ll need to treat it as a plant and not a decoration.
Read more here:

Christmas, and Thanksgiving, cacti
The Christmas Cactus is a plant with a long life, even if sometimes neglected.  They brighten the winter with their cheerful blossoms and give plant lovers something to mull over- is it a Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter Cactus?

Read more here:

Holly

One of the plants long associated with winter holidays is holly, said to bring good luck to a home. You may picture holly as having thick, dark green, glossy leaves that remain green all winter.  Others of you may know hollies that you call winterberry or possumhaw, which lose their leaves in the winter to display branches lined with beautiful berries.
Read more here:

Holly

Mistletoe- the strangler and the kiss

Mistletoe is not a plant most gardeners can grow.  However, it figures prominently in American and European holiday decorating and has some fascinating history.  Mistletoe is presently either collected from the wild or semi-cultivated for seasonal use.  Mistletoe is best known today for the Christmas tradition of allowing lovers and strangers to kiss without censor if they are standing under a clump of it.

Read more here:

Frankincense and Myrrh

Frankincense and Myrrh are two “spices” that are typically associated with Christmas because of the bible mentioning that they were brought as gifts to the baby Jesus.  What is ironic is that during the early centuries of Christian worship the burning of incense, the traditional way of using the scents of Frankincense and Myrrh, was prohibited because it was associated with pagan and Jewish traditions.  It somehow snuck back into Christian rituals and even now incense is burned in Catholic and Greek orthodox religious ceremonies.

Frankincense (Boswellia carteri is the most prominent species of Boswellia used) and myrrh (Commiphora myrrha is the most harvested species) are both woody plants that grow in the same desolate dry areas of Northeast Africa where the countries of Ethiopia and Somalia are now located and along the coast of the Red Sea in Yemen.  There are actually several species of both plants that are harvested, with some yielding a better product than others.

Frankincense trees grow right on rocks with a special kind of adhesive roots.  Myrrh plants are typically shrub like. Both plants resist transplanting to more favorable climates, although it’s been tried since the times of the Romans, with potted plants appearing in various ancient murals.

Both frankincense and myrrh are harvested by wounding the trees or shrubs trunks and collecting the sap that oozes out after it has hardened.  It takes a lot of labor and many months to do this in the inhospitable areas that the plants grow in and the plants were never terribly abundant, which accounts for the value that was placed on both spices.  The lumps of resin were graded by their color and purity and assigned value accordingly.
Religious uses of frankincense and myrrh

The golden lumps of hardened resin were often worth more than gold and widely traded.  The ancient Egyptians bought boatloads of the spices and camel caravans carried them vast distances. These spices were often used as currency and taxes were paid with them.  Every deity imaginable was given frankincense and myrrh as a sacrificial offering.  From pagans to Christians the practice of using frankincense and myrrh in religious ceremonies was passed along.

The lumps of spice resin can be ground and used in incense and other products or the lumps can be soaked in oils or alcohol to leach out the scent and medicinal properties.  The scents of the two spices are hard to describe, frankincense seems to have a warmer, woodsier scent with myrrh seeming to have a smoky pine scent.  The two are almost always combined in incense for religious ceremonies.  You either like or dislike the aroma it seems.

Our early ancestors were adept in finding plants that altered the mind and or mood.  Both frankincense and myrrh contain chemicals called sesquiterpenes that are released when the resin powder is burned.  When inhaled, sesquiterpenes act on a part of the brain that controls emotions.  They were used to alter emotions – particularly to ease stress, grief and despair, and to allow the mind to focus and become introspective.  It helps that the scent of these spices is also pleasing to most people and could cover the not so pleasant smells of early communal gatherings.

Medicinal uses of frankincense and myrrh

Both frankincense and myrrh also have traditional medicinal uses.  Myrrh was often used for diseases of the teeth and mouth and is still used in some toothpastes and mouth washes.  Myrrh was often mixed with wine and used as a pain reliever.  It has a bitter taste and is believed to be the “gall” that was mixed with vinegar and offered to Christ on the cross.  It was not a Roman cruelty as so often taught; rather it was traditional for Romans to offer a pain sedative to those they crucified, most often myrrh mixed with cheap wine.

Myrrh is also used in ointments to smooth and heal chapped and inflamed skin and was used to prevent wrinkles.  It, along with frankincense and other spices and herbs, is part of the embalming fluid Egyptians used on the dead “mummies”. 

Myrrh was also used to bring on menstruation, possibly to induce abortions.  It was given to purify women before they were “given” to a new man.  The book of Ester in the bible gives instructions to purify a woman by giving her oil of myrrh for 6 months and then for another additional 6 months she was given sweet oil treatments.  This would effectively mean that she would not be pregnant with another man’s child and was probably thought to cure any sexually transmitted disease she might also have.

Frankincense has been used since ancient times to cure arthritic pain and modern research has found that it is indeed helpful in some forms of arthritis.  It is also being used today for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, and there are studies that prove it’s quite effective.  In older references oil of frankincense was referred to as oil of Olibanum or just as Olibanum.

Egyptian women used burnt frankincense ashes to make kohl- the original black eyeliner and mascara.  Even today many expensive cosmetics and perfumes contain either frankincense or myrrh as ingredients.

Frankincense was also thought to cure sexual diseases and inhaling the smoke was thought to cure asthma and other bronchial conditions. The smoke of both Frankincense and myrrh repels insects and the smoke was thought to purge a room of disease or malevolent spirits and thoughts.  And of course it made a room smell better in most cases and would alter the emotions in a positive way. 

By the middle ages the disruption of trade routes made the use of both frankincense and myrrh too rare and expensive for most people and the use of the spices receded to mostly religious ritual.  Today however you can find frankincense and myrrh, most often as incense or as essential oils to use in cosmetic and craft products.  They are still harvested in traditional ways and still more expensive than some other spices.

Where Do Camels Belong?: Why Invasive Species Aren't All Bad- book review
Author: Ken Thompson 2014 


The book is not just about camels although they illustrate one of the dilemmas nativists confront when they try to regulate plants and animals to country of origin.  Camels originated in North America, are associated with the middle east, and the only breeding wild populations are in Australia.  So where do camels belong?  Where should they be considered native?

Horses also originated in North America, migrated elsewhere and then went extinct here.  They were returned here by the Spanish in the early European invasion of the continent and have since formed wild populations here again.  But now we consider them an invasive species that must be managed.  We manage them so another truly non-native species- cattle- can use the environment.

It’s not just camels and horses that should make us pause and think about nativism. The author explores the fact that many species of plants and animals have obscured places of origin we are just beginning to learn about through the study of genetics and new fossils.  If a species developed first in North America, spread to other continents and then became extinct in America where do we say it’s native to? 

Who draws the lines in the sand to define native species?  Where do we draw the lines?  In America nativists often want to call things native that were here before the arrival of Europeans.  However, the first people on this continent, those that came here thousands of years before Europeans, also brought with them plants and animals.  They altered the landscape here just as Europeans did. Any migration of a species into new territory will cause changes, however subtle.

Until recently we often didn’t know where one of our beloved “natives” originated from. Just because its been here for thousands of years doesn’t mean its truly native.  If we started eliminating species that didn’t originate on the continent we might be in for a surprise.  Many things that did originate here probably wouldn’t do well here now, and many things that didn’t originate here but are thriving might go extinct if forced back to where they came from.

Nature has from the beginning of time moved species from place to place and humans are only one of her helpers.  It’s the imperative of a species to try and conquer new territory and expand its range.  When species can’t move to another place and conditions change drastically the species goes extinct and other species arise to fill the niche the extinction left.  Extinction and “invasion” (migration) are part of the cycle of life on earth.

But let’s not kid ourselves.  When a plant or animal is considered “good” by humans its all right for it to occupy vast amounts of territory and for us to control native plants and animals that might work to eliminate it.  Millions of acres of wheat and Kentucky bluegrass (which is not native) for example, are defended from native species like deer, Canadian thistle, pigweed, horseweed, catchweed bedstraw, and other non-native plants like dandelions.  We spend trillions of dollars to eliminate native plants and animals in favor of some non-native species.

On the other hand, we spend a lot of money and time eliminating some species of animals and plants that are not native just because they aren’t.  Plants like purple loosestrife that really don’t impact the environment as much as some nativists would have you believe. While a newcomer may dominate a habitat for a while, soon nature re-establishes order and diversity if we just let things work themselves out.  No “invasive” plant has ever caused the extinction of a native plant.

Careers and jobs depend on eliminating “invasive plants”.  Often the chemical and other controls we employ to kill non-natives severely impact native plants, but that’s ok, because after all it’s war and if we just eliminate the aliens the natives will come back- right?   The book explains why that usually doesn’t happen.

This book explores the often futile and misguided attempt by man to regulate how nature distributes plants and animals across the globe and reminds us man is part of nature, just another player in the game.  As the climate changes plants and animals will have to move- or go extinct.  This isn’t new- the climate has changed before and there are species constantly moving, changing and going extinct. 

While the book acknowledges that there are times we need to protect our own species and control some invaders, it also reminds readers that nature has been changing things a lot longer than we as a species have been present on earth.  We need to stop trying to eradicate plants and animals that have been here for a long time.  The only time eradication works is when the new population is small and confined to one area.  That’s a proven fact.  We’ll never eradicate purple loosestrife or garlic mustard or Japanese knotweed and we should stop spending time and money on trying.

It’s probably best that for the most part, we let nature do its thing.  Yes, the species in an environment will change but that doesn’t mean the change is bad.  If a species is thriving, it’s the right species for that spot. Some species go extinct because they can no longer adapt to an environment.  It’s natural for that to happen even if it makes us sad that some species we admire will be lost.  Nature doesn’t get sad, she compensates and moves on. It’s natural for local environmental niches to evolve and change, humans are the only ones who want to freeze a slice of time, to eliminate and prevent change.   

If you are nativist, determined to grow only “native” species you should read this book.  The tide is starting to change, and more voices are speaking out against the nativist movement.  We must acknowledge that man is part of nature, and just as much an invasive species as any other species that has migrated to new places. The book will at least challenge your concept of man as either the destroyer or the “fixer” of the world ecosystem.

The book is easy to read for the non-scientist and interesting enough to keep you reading.  There are sources and references in the back to support the authors conclusions.  I recommend gardeners read the book.  The book is available on Amazon and in many bookstores.

Better Fruit Cake

Fruitcake is the butt of many holiday jokes but this fruitcake- or fruit bread will change your mind.  It’s moist and delicious and doesn’t use candied fruit at all. It makes about 5 mini loaves or 2 full sized loaves or you can use two small Bundt pans.

Ingredients

1 cup maraschino cherries, juice drained and cut in half
1 can (20 oz.) of crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup orange juice
1 pkg yellow cake mix (2 layer cake)
1 pkg (3.4 oz) Jell-O gingerbread instant pudding mix (a holiday special edition flavor, use vanilla pudding if you can’t find it and add 1 teaspoon ginger)
4 eggs
2 tablespoons rum or rum flavoring (optional)-it’s a mild flavor here
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 chopped pecans

Rum glaze (recipe below) optional


Mix cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, butter, rum and orange juice in a large bowl with electric mixer until well blended.

Add cherries, pineapple and nuts and mix just until blended. 

Pour into pans sprayed with cooking spray, (greased), divide batter evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees.  Check to see if done by inserting a toothpick in the center, which should come out clean.  Mini loaves will take about 40 minutes, full size loaves or Bundt pans about 50 min.

Let cool completely before glazing, or decorating and wrapping.  Baked loaves may be frozen for up to 6 months.

Rum glaze

½ cup rum- Note: rum flavoring won’t work well here
½ cup butter
1 cup sugar

Place all the ingredients in a sauce pan and boil over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Drizzle over cool cake.

Try to spend the first day of the natural year in meditation and reflection about what is important in your life and what you wish to accomplish in the coming year. Clear your mind from thinking about shopping and cooking and anxieties about money or personal relationships. Give to charity and visit your family with love in your heart. The old year is done, new beginnings are here.

May you have a spiritual Solstice and a New Year filled with joy and wisdom.  

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

© Kim Willis - no parts of this newsletter may be used without permission.


And So On….

Find Michigan garden events/classes here:
(This is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)
An interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook

Here’s a seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook

Newsletter/blog information

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




Tuesday, December 12, 2017

December 12, 2017 Kim’s Weekly Garden Blog

Hi Gardeners
Woody nightshade berries
 It’s a blustery bitter cold day here, 18 degrees.  We have only about two inches of snow on the ground, but the wind chill is horrendous.  Gizzy wanted his usual walk and we went to the mailbox a little bit ago.  He loves the snow and rolls and slides through it and runs in big circles around me.  I filled one of the bird feeders while we were out there and then persuaded Gizzy it was time to go back inside.

I know that much of the eastern and middle part of the country has cold weather and places in the south are getting snow that haven’t seen it in years.  Expect the colder, snowier weather pattern to persist through the first half of January.  After that the National Weather Service is fairly confident that the Jetstream is going to shift back north, and the rest of winter will be milder than normal.  It gives us some hope anyway.

The birds are swarming the feeders. The wind is so strong they can barely stay on them.  When I was outside I heard chickadee’s calling all around me. Our most abundant birds are the purple house finches, chickadees, junco’s and goldfinches.  We have a lot of cardinals and blue jays and several types of woodpeckers around too.  I hope everyone is keeping their feeders full.

I’m not much of a winter person.  I can admit the snow looks pretty sometimes but I don’t want to be out in it.  But it’s the gray and dark days that I dislike the most.  That’s why my house is filled with bright lights and blooming plants.  The smell of something good baking is also part of winter.

Have you gotten any 2018 garden catalogs yet?  I have been getting them for a couple of weeks.  I shop a lot on line but I do love to sit and look at print garden catalogs.  If you like garden catalogs you can request catalogs from many companies.  Most are free. There’s a huge list of plant and plant supply companies to the right of this blog.  Click on: http://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/have-youreceived-any-garden-catalogs-in.html

Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate it.



Want to be a farmer?

Even if you don’t want to farm this webinar series by Michigan State University may have some topics that would interest you.  If you are thinking about doing some farming it should be right up your ally.  Anyone in the US can probably benefit from the webinars. 

The series of 15 webinars begin January 17th at 7 pm with the topic of seed starting and transplant production.  They’ll be held each Wednesday at the same time but if you can’t participate at that time you can look at a recorded session.  The live sessions include a chance to ask questions of the expert teaching the webinar.  There are several topics the average gardener may find interesting.

You’ll need a high speed internet connection to take the webinars. Each webinar costs $5 and there’s a half off discount if you pay for all the webinars.  If you have never participated in a webinar the link below will explain things and give you a description of some of the other classes.


Gift suggestions for Gardeners

I can’t think of anyone easier to buy a gift for than a gardener.  The number one thing you can get them is a gift certificate to their favorite garden store or catalog.  If you need a list of catalogs look to the right of this blog where I have assembled a page with links to hundreds of catalogs.  Or look around the house- what garden catalogs are lying around?  And a gift certificate for a load of compost, manure or woodchips is also appreciated by many gardeners.

Buying actual plants can be a tricky situation unless you too are a gardener and know the gardener you are buying well.  If they have expressed the hope or desire for a certain plant and you can find it then that’s probably a good choice.  But if you don’t know what plants a gardener likes or has the right conditions for, it’s probably better to go the gift certificate route.  And remember live plants have to be properly cared for while you are waiting to give them to a gardener.


There are literally hundreds of gardening gadgets and tools out there for sale.  Every gardener appreciates quality garden tools like hand pruners, folding pruning saws, quality shovels and spades, hoses, wheel barrows, carts and so on.  You may want to check the garden shed before you buy though to see what the gardener already has. 

Gardening clothes and shoes are also good gifts.  A nice garden hat, some garden clogs, a heavy-duty garden apron, and good gardening gloves come to mind.  Your gardener may like a novelty shirt, a poncho or muck boots.

Some gardeners are also readers, and there are many wonderful garden books out there.  I have reviewed some books any gardener would love, and you’ll find a page for those to the right of the blog also.  A subscription to a garden magazine is also a wonderful gift.  Click on
https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/book-reviews-and-recommendat.html


A gardener with houseplants may appreciate a beautiful or unusual pot, plant shelves or racks or macramé hangers for plants.  They may also appreciate grow lights- see the article in this blog for ideas on that topic. Some gardeners may be thrilled with a big bag of a professional potting medium.

Garden décor is another spot where you may need to know the gardeners taste.  If you know they collect gnomes or fanciful frogs, then go for it.  Otherwise proceed with care.  Not everyone wants a statue of the virgin Mary or a purple gazing ball.

Things like weather stations, wind or rain gauges, wind vanes, bird feeders, bird houses, bird baths, and fountains can also be good gifts.  Solar lights of various types are also an option.



Grow lights- should you use them?

I have a small house, with limited window space and a fondness for large tropical plants.  If I didn’t use grow lights some of my plants would either suffer greatly through a cloudy Michigan winter or I wouldn’t be able to have as many in my collection.  To be clear this article is going to discuss grow lights for people keeping houseplants, a few herbs and tropical potted plants and not the kind of grow lights needed for marihuana production or intensive hydroponic food gardens.  The popularity of those two crops however, have led to huge advances in the type of grow lights available to the public.

So, should you use grow lights?  I highly recommend them if your sunny window space won’t accommodate all your plants, if you keep large blooming plants and if you have no sunny window where you want to have plants.  In northern states with cloudy skies and short winter days grow lights may even be needed for plants in windows or in a sunroom.  The newer LED and CFL grow lights use a lot less energy than the old bulbs and are less likely to cause a fire.
I use a CFL grow light on my unheated porch for
extra light.

Even 20 years ago plant grow lights were limited to incandescent lights or those long tube fluorescents.  Today we have a number of options.  Incandescent grow lights are still available but I wouldn’t choose them because they are expensive to operate and give off lots of heat.  The long tube fluorescent growlights are harder to find now and the fixtures that hold them aren’t usually attractive and may not fit the space where you have plants growing.  They are still good however, for seed starting on shelf type units.

The compact fluorescent or “curly” grow light bulbs will screw into existing sockets or low-cost shop light fixtures.  They are cost efficient, long lasting and give off little heat.  I have used two types Sunblaster CFL and Agrobright FLC.  Both of these give off a natural looking light and plants do very well under them.  I have also found that if you are providing light for plants kept primarily for foliage, like many houseplants, that you can use a regular CFL bulb that’s labeled “daylight” with good results.

There are various types of LED grow lights now on the market.  These are also very economical to run and give off little heat.  The LED lights generally mix red and blue bulbs in a single unit and the light they give off is a strange purple shade.  The plants love it however and these bulbs work well for blooming plants like my hibiscus.  I have a foot square LED grow light that’s very lightweight and lights an area about 6 feet square when suspended about 6 feet from the floor.  I also have a flood light type screw in LED that lights a smaller area (Tao Tronics LED).  There are some that look like the old incandescent bulbs.

Halogen and high pressure sodium grow lights are also available.  I don’t recommend these for homes where ornamental plants are being grown. These lights are a bit more expensive to buy and run and give off heat.

You’ll probably want CFL or LED bulbs that are rated as equivalent to 100 or 150 watt incandescent bulbs.  How much space the light will cover depends on how high the light is mounted and the type of bulb among other things.  Grow lights of any kind should be suspended about a foot above the plants for best results.  The higher the light is suspended the larger an area it will light but the strength of the light and how well the plants do under it diminishes the farther the plants are from the light. 

If the plants seem to be lit up by the light in a darkened room and the lights aren’t too far overhead, you are probably good to go.  By the way – the lights do best suspended over the plants and not shining on them from the side.   I use two lights in some of my windows that have lots of plants.  The lights are about 3 feet from the windows. The plants get both natural and supplemental light.  Plants that require the most light get center positions and those that require less get side positions.

Some good hardware and general purpose stores carry LED and CFL grow lights.  There’s a much wider selection available on line on sites like Amazon and EBay.  Garden supply stores, particularly those that cater to hydroponic or marihuana growers will sell the lights.  The lights are a bit more expensive than regular CFL and LED bulbs but with careful comparison shopping you can get some types for less than $10.  Make sure you check what type of fixture the bulbs require.  Some grow light bulbs require specialized fixtures.  I prefer ones that can use normal household fixtures.

I use closet bar brackets to suspend a pole to hang the lights on in some places and in others I use a lightweight chain hanging from a hook in the ceiling.  I also have shop light fixtures that will clamp on a shelf.  You can take the inexpensive shop light fixtures with an aluminum reflector “shade” and paint the outside of that reflector to match your décor.

Some people have floor lamps or desk lamps they can use a grow light bulb in. The LED bulbs are sometimes enclosed in a fixture you just plug in. Any fixture you do choose should be UFL rated for safety.  Be very careful with cheap imported fixtures to check that they have a UFL tag.  Most CFL and LED lights are low wattage and can be safely used in most fixtures.  But do check the maximum wattage rating on any fixture you use, that information is usually on the fixture somewhere, and don’t use bulbs with a higher wattage than the fixture is rated for.

LED and CFL bulbs are usually safer than the older incandescent bulbs when it comes to starting fires because they don’t give off much heat to combust anything near them.  But do be careful not to splash water on them, which might cause them to arch or explode.  Also make sure that they are securely suspended so that they don’t fall and break and that they are where people or pets don’t accidently knock them off.  Dispose of them as the manufacturer recommends.

CFL and LED lights can last for several years.  But plant enthusiasts have found that after about a year of operation these bulbs become less efficient and give off less light.  If you are only using the bulbs for the 6 some months of winter you’ll probably get 2 seasons of decent light but after that I recommend replacing the bulbs.
 
In this window I use a LED light and a CFL
I strongly recommend getting some inexpensive timers for your grow lights.  This keeps you from forgetting to turn on the lights or having the lights running longer than they need to be on. I set my timers to give the plants about 12 hours of light.  You can adjust the time the lights come on and off to accommodate your schedule. Don’t leave the lights on continuously. Plants do need a period of darkness to do well.

Grow light bulbs allow people like me, who have more plants than window space, to expand their hobby.  They allow people to grow plants in dark offices and even basements.  I enjoy the brightly lit windows full of plants on a dreary dark winter day.  I use a grow light bulb over the desk where I write because I like the light it gives off (and it allows me to have plants nearby).  Neighbors may find the red looking light in my bedroom window ( from an LED) a little odd – but who cares?

Are Banana peels safe for plants?

Years ago the only recommendation one frequently heard about bananas in the garden was to bury banana peels by roses.  (This was supposedly done for the potassium in the peels.)   Now however there are recommendations everywhere about banana peels- bury them in flower pots, lay them on soil around plants, throw them on top of staghorn ferns, soak them in water and use the water on plants and so on.   But is there any benefit to this and is it even safe?

Banana peels have both potassium and phosphorus, but little or no nitrogen.  When broken down by decomposition a small amount of potassium and phosphorus will be released into the soil for plant use.  The decomp process uses nitrogen though and since banana peels don’t supply it they may cause a temporary nitrogen loss.  You’ll probably need to add some source of nitrogen to the banana peels for them to decompose well and not rob the plants they are supposed to help.

(If you haven’t tested your soil or potting medium then you don’t know whether it’s deficient in any nutrient.  Adding it anyways isn’t helpful, excessive amounts of a nutrient can be harmful to a plant also.

In the garden a few banana peels in the soil around plants do little harm.  They won’t do much for the potassium and phosphorus needs of the plant unless you are using an awful lot of them, but they will provide some organic matter.  The truth is most types of food waste, potato peels, apple cores, left over salad and so on, would do basically the same thing.  Burying some kale next to your roses would be as good as banana peels.  The question is do you want to make compost directly in the garden or in a compost pile?

Using banana peels in houseplant pots won’t do them any major harm nutrient wise- nor will it be of much help.  What banana peels will do is attract flies and maybe mice and smell like rotting fruit.  Soaking the peels in water and using it on plants is useless, not enough potassium and phosphorus will be leached out of the skins to do anything and you are creating a nasty breeding ground for bacterial and fungal organisms.

But wait – here’s the danger in banana peels

But before you say it looks like it’s harmless and I like to recycle there’s one more thing you need to know about banana peels.  Bananas are one of the most heavily pesticide treated crops in the world.  A lot of those bananas we eat are grown in countries which have far less stringent rules on pesticides than the United States and European countries.  Most of the 20 some pesticides that can be used on bananas wind up on the heavy skin of the banana.  There’s a link below to a list of pesticides found on bananas and the dangers they pose.


Organic bananas are hard to find and expensive.  Commercial bananas are genetically inbred and diseases and pests of all kinds find them easy to exploit, hence the heavy pesticide use.  It’s very hard to produce organic bananas and since very little of the pesticides used on bananas penetrate the skin to the edible flesh, there’s little economic reason to avoid pesticides.  Most countries test the edible portion of the banana for pesticide residue and most banana shipments pass the test.  That’s good for humans eating bananas but not so good if you are going to take those heavily contaminated peels and use them in the garden.

A lot of the pesticide residue is on the very surface of the banana skin and could be washed off but some does penetrate and bind with the peel.  When you add banana peels to the garden you are adding a toxic chemical bomb.  No studies have been done to see what pesticides on banana skins are taken up by plants they are buried by but there’s plenty of science that suggests that some of those chemicals could be absorbed.  We don’t know if the chemicals taken up could harm pollinators, pets or even people.

Soaking banana skins in water is probably not only creating a nasty microbial slurry but a toxic chemical one also.  It’s probably not a good practice to use such water on your houseplants.  What if a pet or child drank some of that water?

The amount of pesticides found on banana skins might not have any significance as far as toxicity unless you used a ton of them on crops.  We don’t really know.  And they may not harm ornamentals like roses.  But if you have an organic garden and avoid pesticide and chemical use then banana peels probably shouldn’t be in your garden.   

More serious problems could develop if you throw unpeeled bananas in your smoothie as some media sites suggest, or make tea from dried banana skins, another idea thrown out there by some herbalists.  If you eat a banana my recommendation is; wash it first, then peel it and throw away the peel.

Folk remedies are not always effective or safe. Some of the products may simply be useless in the garden but harmless.  Others may not be so harmless.  Many of these products are not the “natural solution” people think they are, they are actually loaded with synthetic chemicals that may work differently in the garden than when they are used as they are supposed to be used.

If you think your plants need potassium why not use a good fertilizer on them, a product designed for plants and actually tested for safety? 

Here’s some more links on banana peels you may find interesting.


How to determine if you have dangerous trees in the landscape

Every year thousands of trees are toppled by weather across the country.  Some of them kill people and falling trees cause millions of dollars in damage each year.  In some cases the forces of nature overcome perfectly healthy trees and little can be done about that.  But in many cases trees that are toppled by weather are less than healthy, although sometimes that can be difficult to determine, and unhealthy trees are far more likely to fall than other trees.  When these trees have the potential to fall on homes, roads, utility lines, and other personal property, they should be considered dangerous trees. 

Winter can be a good time to identify dangerous trees because you can see the structure of the tree.  But observance in spring and summer may also be necessary to determine if a tree is dangerous. This article will give you some tips on identifying dangerous trees in the landscape and suggestions on how to prevent those trees from causing loss of life and property. 

Species of trees more likely to have problems

Some species of trees have more problems with poor structure or tend to grow in odd ways and are more prone to breaking or falling in a storm than other species.  When you are planting trees near homes and roads these trees should be avoided.  When these trees are already well established near homes and roads you should take care to keep them trimmed and healthy if you don’t want to remove them.  Trees that are more likely to suffer wind damage because of poor structures are willows, box elders, poplars, European mountain ash, hackberry, red maple, silver maple and little leaf linden.

If you have a lot of winter storms with heavy ice and snow then any tree that is evergreen will be susceptible to breaking, but pines often have the worse problems.  Trees that stand alone are more likely to have problems than trees within a group because they bear the brunt of any wind.

Proper pruning to keep large limbs from hanging over homes and roads and to keep the tree balanced will help.  Watering and fertilizing these trees and treating them promptly for disease and insect problems can help too.  But you should always be aware that certain trees are more prone to storm damage than others.  If these trees are also hollow or have very poor structure they should be removed.

The black willow in the photo is a good example of poor structure, with multiple trunks, narrow crotches, and crossing branches.



Dead and dying trees

It goes without saying that trees that are dead or trees that are mostly dead could be hazardous. Drought, insects, disease, injury can all cause tree decline and death. Trees that don’t leaf out when others of their kind do or trees with bark peeling off leaving bare wood are usually dead or dying.  Trees that have few leaves or yellowing wilted leaves are usually slowly dying.  Trees with thin, sparse growth are probably unhealthy. The Emerald Ash Borer has left a lot of dead ash trees in Michigan and many other Midwest states. Where the insect has arrived are often hundreds of dead ash trees in the landscape.

Many people leave these dead and dying trees because they hope they will revive or because they just don’t want to deal with the problem.  In some areas if a dead or dying tree is near a road or sidewalk it will be tagged by government officials and removed or you will be told to remove it.  Power companies may remove some dead or dying trees near their lines.   If you want to save the tree and there are still some green leaves or there is any doubt in your mind about the condition of the tree, consult with a tree expert to see if there is anything that can be done. 

Dead trees can stand for a long time but eventually they will fall.  If they are going to fall on a home, power line or road its best to have them removed before they fall.  Sometimes half of a tree will die, and the rest remain healthy.  If the dead parts can’t be trimmed out easily the whole tree should be removed.  In some species of trees the roots will send up new shoots after the tree’s upper part dies, but these rarely make a good replacement and should be removed.

You may have heard that leaving some dead trees is good for nature.  If the dead trees are in a location where they won’t hurt anything when they fall and you don’t mind how they look, then leaving a dead tree can be helpful to wildlife.  Many birds and other animals nest in dead trees.  Dead trees have insects feeding on the wood that many animals feed on too.

Trees with poor structure

There are trees that are doomed from a young age because they grow in an unstable manner.  This can be caused by improper planting, damage when the tree is young, disease, bad pruning or just because it’s the typical growth pattern of the species.  (See the list of trees that often have problems under the species heading.)

Trees that form a deep V close to the ground, or have double trunks are very susceptible to wind damage.  Water gets in the base of the V and rot starts there.  When trees are young they should be pruned to one trunk, removing one arm of a V if need be.  Even when they are larger an experienced tree care company may be able to improve the shape and stability of these trees.

Large branches that meet the trunk with a V instead of an L shape (right angle) are also likely to break in wind or under heavy snow or ice loads.  These should be trimmed away from roofs or power lines.  Trim the branches back to the trunk, don’t just shorten them.  Shortened branches just tend to put out a cluster of smaller branches near the cut, which puts more of a strain on the branch.

Sometimes trees grow with most of the large branches on one side or they lean to one direction.  This can come from wind bending a young tree, particularly evergreens, improper pruning, a tree growing toward a sunny area, crowding by other trees or many other causes.  Unbalanced trees, especially if the heavier area is away from the prevailing wind direction, are dangerous.   A tree can generally be carefully pruned, often through several seasons to restore its balance and make it safer.   Never remove more than a third of the tree’s growth at one time, and it’s better to let an expert shape these trees, especially if they are large.

The photo shows a good right angle attachment of a branch to the trunk.



Trees with girdling roots or damaged roots

Sometimes a tree strangles itself by wrapping roots around the trunk just below the soil level.  Some species of trees are more prone to this than others and it is more common in urban areas where the tree roots may be restricted ether from spreading out or going deeper.  Root strangled trees slowly die and the trunk is very susceptible to breakage at about soil level.  If a tree is growing poorly, with a thin canopy and no disease or insect damage is present, it’s a good idea to carefully dig down close to the trunk and check to see if roots are wrapped around it.  In some cases circling roots can be trimmed to restore tree health.

Root circling often starts when a tree is planted improperly.  Plant trees so that the top horizontal root is just below soil level.  Never wrap roots around a hole when planting a tree. If you can’t spread them out trim them off. Roots that hit hard, compacted soil, bedrock or a high water table are also more prone to circling around in the narrow layer of good soil.  These trees quickly become a hazard even if the roots don’t strangle the tree because the tree is not able to anchor itself properly.  Maples and poplars are more susceptible to root circling than other trees.

Don’t however, fill a hole you dug for a tree with things like compost or topsoil, even if you think the native soil is poor.  This actually encourages roots to stay close to the original hole instead of branching out to anchor the tree.  It also encourages roots to circle in the hole, which will eventually kill the tree.  Adding peat to a hole dug in heavy clay soil may also create a bathtub effect, with roots remaining too wet.

Look at the root ball of trees before planting to make sure roots haven’t already created a circling pattern.  Everything should be removed from a root ball, burlap, peat pots, cages and so on, before planting.  Not only do these things restrict the quick establishment of a healthy root system but they prevent you from seeing what is going on with the root system.  Some nurseries and landscapers still haven’t accepted this practice but numerous studies have shown that it’s the best way to get a tree established and growing correctly.

Girdling roots

Many professionals actually gently wash away the soil from around tree roots before planting the tree so they can examine them.  Circling roots are trimmed back to before the curve and badly matted roots are trimmed or gently teased apart.  You can also see the top horizontal roots this way and these show you how deep to plant the tree- they should be just below the soil surface after planting.

Roots can also be damaged when construction cuts through them when sidewalks, foundations, utility lines, sewer pipes and other items are put in.   If a tree loses a good part of its “anchor” it is more likely to fall.  If a tree is planted where its roots are restricted, such as in a median strip, or in a container it may develop more “top” than its roots can support. 

In floods even well rooted, healthy trees may be pulled out of the saturated ground.  There is little that can be done in this case but clean up.  When a smaller tree just topples over, pulling up a big area of roots and soil on one side, it can sometimes be righted, staked and be saved, if the damage is corrected immediately.  Larger trees usually have a lot of root breakage and are not able to be saved.  
These are lichens, and they do not harm trees.
                            

Hollow trees

A tree can be hollow and still look healthy because the living parts of the tree are just below the bark.  This living tissue, called the cambium, has the tubes that distribute food and water throughout the tree.  Each year the old cambium layer dies and a new one replaces it.  The interior part of the tree, the “wood”, is basically there for support and is formed by the old cambium layers.  When you look at a slice of a tree trunk and count the rings you are counting old cambium layers.

When the wood inside a tree rots and falls apart the tree is very vulnerable to being toppled by wind.   Some hollow trees will persist for many, many years and then fall in a storm that didn’t seem that powerful.  Many things can cause a tree to rot and become hollow.  Anything that damages the protective bark layer can let disease and decay into the tree interior.  This can be improperly trimmed branches, damage to the trunk from tying a dog or clothesline to it or hitting it with the mower, lightning strikes, or birds boring into it.  Decay can start where a narrow crotch forms a V and collects water. 

You can often see holes going into the tree, such as the hole in the photo, and examining them may tell you how much of the tree is hollow.  A good sign that a tree is hollow or is beginning to rot is the presence of shelf fungi on the outside of the tree.  These are large, brown or black hard growths that protrude out from the trunk, (like a shelf) not the lacy green or gray lichens that often cover trees.  Lichens are harmless to trees.  Shelf fungi are the fruiting bodies of the fungus that is inside the tree breaking it down.

Hole in tree 

A small hollow area of the tree is usually no cause for alarm.  But if the entire interior of the tree, or a large part of it, is gone it is probably not safe.   Measure the outside diameter of the tree.  Now measure how much good wood is left on the tree interior. You may be able to measure a hollow by looking through a hole and inserting a ruler.  Or you may need to drill a small hole to see how far in you go before you hit the hollow.  If there is less than 1.5 inches of good wood left for every 3 inches of outside diameter of the tree, the tree is unsafe. There is really no way to make a hollow tree safe.

Removing a tree before it falls can save you property damage or even save your life.  Make it a practice to examine your trees frequently.


Tourtiere – French Canadian Meat pies

Meat pies are one of those items that have popularity in many parts of the world and each family who enjoys meat pies and makes their own may have a slightly different recipe.  My family is of French Canadian ancestry and meat pies have always been part of our Christmas breakfast.  First my paternal grandmother made them, then my father and now I make them, along with some of my sisters, to carry on the tradition.

Typically, French Canadian Catholics ate meat pie after midnight mass.  In our family that was moved to later, on Christmas morning.  My mom always needed to have fruit salad for Christmas morning too.  Our meat pies were spicy with black pepper and liberally doused with ketchup- which is also a common topping in Canada.

You can vary the spices in your meat pie, I have seen old recipes use thyme, rosemary, bay, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, as well as pepper and garlic.  Onions are a part of most meat pies.  Our meat pies always had potato in them- my grandfather also liked turnip in them when he had some.  But in earlier times it was said that only those poor enough not to have much meat added potatoes.  

I use ground beef and some spicy sausage in my meat pies, but others add venison, ground pork, veal or lamb.  About 3 pounds of meat will make two standard pies.  Feel free to experiment with meats and spices to make your own family recipe.

Ingredients

2 pounds of lean ground beef
1 pound of spicy (hot) ground sausage
6 cups of frozen Potatoes O’Brian (potatoes with onions and peppers)
  Or 4 cups of finely diced potatoes and 2 cups of finely diced onion
½ teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoned salt (or to taste)

pie dough for 2 double crust pies
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Put bottom crust in each pie pan.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large skillet, fry beef and sausage with spices until lightly browned.  Drain off any grease.

Add potatoes O’Brian. (No need to thaw)

Cook, stirring often to keep meat and potatoes from scorching or sticking until the potatoes are soft.  Drain off any remaining grease.

Mash the meat and potato mixture with a potato masher or spoon so that the mixture is uniform, with no large pieces of meat or potatoes remaining.  (Taste the mixture to see if more spices are needed and adjust to your taste.)

Fill pie crusts with hot meat mixture and top with the upper crust.  Put a few slits in the top crust and brush with melted butter.

Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Serve warm with ketchup.  (Some people like a beef gravy instead.)

Note: pies can be made ahead, cooled, wrapped tightly and frozen.  Defrost and heat thoroughly in oven before serving.

Hot cocoa and warm cinnamon rolls, now that’s what winter’s good for!
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….

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