Hello gardeners
We got a bit of rain last night, not enough, I’ll be
watering tomorrow. The grass is crunchy. Its amazing how things go, too wet in spring,
too dry in late summer, but since I spoke of it, it will probably get rainy and
too wet again.
I don’t mind the cooler weather we are having
though. I’m cleaning out garden beds and
transplanting things around. I’m
eliminating beds far from the house where the deer don’t allow things to bloom
any more.
In the garden this week the black eyed Susans and
coneflowers are still going strong. The
ligularia and hardy hibiscus are starting to bloom as well as the mums. Phlox and roses are blooming. The clethra is blooming. Ferns and some daylilies are looking tatty
and I am cutting them back.
I am impressed with the pansies I bought way back in
April, which have bloomed all summer in the front bed and are still going
strong. I didn’t save the tag and I wish
I had because I will surely try to buy them again next spring. Usually pansies and violas die off in the
heat of summer, but these thrived. I am
going to scour my records and see if I can find the name of the variety. I do have some violas popping up here and
there from seed for the fall bloom period.
We had some new potatoes from the garden this past
week and I have more to dig. We are
still getting tomatoes, but the plants are looking sorry. Grapes are beginning to ripen. Apples will be a while.
This week I intend to order some fall bulbs. I usually order them before now, but I am in
the process of looking for blank areas to plant them as I clear out the
beds. I always want more than I have
room to plant. I like to try a different
tulip every year. Some come back every
year, some don’t. I think all my digging
and transplanting this year may have disturbed some of the tiny bulbs so I
think I’ll replant some snowdrops and other tiny things so I will be sure to
have those early flowers.
I remember I was always sad at this time of year as a
child but excited too, with school starting back up. I don’t envy parents the school morning
routine at all. I don’t miss going to
work on foggy, chilly, dark fall mornings but missing the sunny warm fall afternoons
either. Retirement is great.
Remember when I promised a photo of the flower of violet stemmed taro? Here it is.
I hope everyone has a great Labor Day holiday. Get out there and enjoy nature if you can.
Annual Vines
If you love lots of flowers but have little room for
growing, you may want to put annual vines to use in your garden. They use vertical space instead of precious
ground level space. Vines can also cover
things you would like to hide, such as an ugly fence. And some vines are just fun to grow, with interesting
and colorful flowers. A garden without a
vine somewhere is incomplete.
There are two types of vining plants, annual and
perennial. This article discusses annual
vines, those that die after one growing season. Some vines are treated as annuals in most US
gardens but may be perennial in tropical climates. Annual vines are temporary, although many will
reseed, and this allows you to change things in the garden each year. Annual vines can also spill out of baskets or
planted in containers with proper support.
This article will briefly discuss the appearance,
needs and uses of some common annual vines.
Many vines will need to be started indoors a few weeks before your last
frost in planting zones 7 and lower. You can sometimes find started vines in
nurseries, but for many types you may need to start them from seed.
One thing to remember about annual vines is that they
can be hard to remove from things like chain link fences once the vines have
died and dried up. I think it’s easier to
remove them just after the first hard frost, while they are still pliable. If you allow them to reseed or plant new seeds
in spring, they will quickly cover the old mess, but it can look unsightly in
early summer if the dried vines remain on a fence or other support.
Morning glory
An easy vine for beginners, morning glories are
probably one of the most common vines grown in the garden. Morning glories have
glossy, green, heart shaped leaves. There
are now some varieties which have leaves that are attractively variegated with
cream or white. The flowers come in every color except yellow or orange. Morning glory flowers have fused petals
forming a flared trumpet, ranging from 3 to 7 inches across. Many morning glory flowers have lighter
throats or a star shaped pattern radiating from the center.
Morning glory flowers open in the early morning, as
the name suggests, and are closed by mid-afternoon. Newer varieties stay open longer, but morning
glories are best planted where daytime viewing is expected. Each flower lasts
only one day but hundreds of flowers are produced by the vine to keep the show
going. Morning glory flowers eventually
form papery seedpods filled with hard-shelled seeds.
Morning glories often reseed prolifically. Many of the flowers grown from these seeds
will have reverted to the wild purple form, especially after a few years. If you want larger flowers in a variety of
colors, you may want to plant purchased seed every year.
Seeds should be nicked and soaked overnight before
planting. You can plant them directly in the ground after the last frost or start
them in pots inside for earlier bloom. Transplant
outside after the last frost. They begin
bloom in mid-summer and will bloom until a hard frost.
Morning glory plants should be in full sun for best
bloom. They are not fussy about soil
types, although the area must be well drained. Morning glories will tolerate
dry conditions after they are a few weeks old but should be watered if they
begin to wilt.
Morning glories can be planted on fences and trellises,
but they can also be planted so they climb up and peek through shrubbery or
small trees. It won’t hurt the shrub if
there are only a few vines but avoid a heavy covering of vines. They will also climb sturdy plants like
sunflowers. They sometimes become a pest
in gardens if not thinned out and may overwhelm smaller perennials.
Some of the oldest varieties are still the most
charming. ‘Heavenly Blue‘- deep blue
with lighter center, ‘Grandpa Ott‘-reddish purple with a red center, ‘Scarlet
O’Hara‘- crimson red, ‘Pearly Gates‘- pure white; are all older morning glories
that perform well.
‘Star Struck’ is a newer variety of pastel colors
with darker stars in the center. ‘Sun
Smile’ only grows about 2 feet long, making them excellent for containers and
baskets. They are darker shades with a
white edge around each flower, and have foliage variegated with white. ‘Mt. Fugi mix’ has huge flowers in many deep
shades and each flower has a white edge and a white star in the center that
combine to give it a pinwheel appearance.
It has unusual lobed leaves that are variegated with white. There are many other varieties and color
mixtures on the market.
Morning glory seeds can be hallucinogenic and are poisonous. Keep children and pets from eating them,
although accidental consumption is rare as the seeds aren’t attractive. Teens, however, have been known to experiment
with the seeds.
Moonflower
While moonflower (Ipomoea alba) is a common
name given to several species, here we are referring to the vine called
moonflower. They are native to the subtropics and are native plants in some parts
of Florida. In the tropics they are
perennial but are grown as an annual in planting zones 8 and lower.
Moonflowers are related to morning glories, with
similar leaves, just a bit larger. They take
a long time to grow before blooming and must be started inside about 8 weeks
before your last frost. They will bloom
in late summer, when nights are about 12 hours long.
The flowers are huge, pure white with a pale yellow “star”
marking, and very fragrant. Rarely, pink flowers are seen. Moonflowers look
like larger editions of morning glory flowers. They open at night and are an excellent plant
to place around patios and porches that are used at night. Occasionally they stay open on a cloudy, cool
morning. They attract hummingbird moths as pollinators.
Moonflower seeds must be nicked or cracked to break
the hard seed coat and then soaked overnight before planting. Start the seeds in 6-inch pots to eliminate
frequent transplant shock about 8 weeks before your expected last frost. You’ll
need a stake for the young vines to climb up. Do not put them outside until after the last
frost and when the ground is warm. Then
you can transplant them into the ground or 10-12-inch containers.
Moonflowers need full sun for best bloom. They like frequent watering. Vines should be given sturdy supports. They can grow 12 feet long or more. Let them grow up for several feet then train
them along rails or other supports horizontally so the blooms will be more visible.
Moonflower seeds are not hallucinogenic but should be
considered poisonous. Do not eat any
part of the plant.
Scarlet runner bean, other beans
If you like both edible and pretty you may want to
try some beans as annual vines. ‘Scarlet Runner’ beans have scarlet
flowers, ‘Sunset Runner’ has salmon pink flowers, ‘Painted Lady’ has red and
white blooms. All of these climbing
beans will produce flowers for a long time if the beans are kept picked off and
eaten as snap beans while they are young and tender.
Sunset
Runner has peachy pink blooms. It’s an early bloomer/producer that will keep
producing as long as the pods are picked and is excellent for “green
beans.” Moonlight is also an early producer with large, pure white
blooms. It is semi-string less when used
as a green bean and can also be used as a dry bean Lady Di runner beans have bright red flowers that attract
hummingbirds and stringless bean pods that can reach 10 inches long and still
remain tender and tasty. The dry beans
are mottled red and black. Streamline also has red flowers and
pods that can reach 18 inches long.
Plant these beans in full sun where you want them to
grow after the last frost. Keep them well watered.
Hyacinth bean
Hyacinth
beans or Lablab purpureus have beautiful purple flowers and some varieties
have leaves with purple veins or that are purple shaded. There is controversy whether the purple
podded beans are edible or not. Most
sources claim the beans can be eaten if they are boiled with several changes of
water. The beans are eaten in other countries with proper preparation and the
young leaves of the plants are eaten like spinach.
Hyacinth bean is a vigorous vine and will cover a
small trellis. Like other beans they can
be planted in the soil where they are to grow after danger of frost has
passed. They can also be started in pots
6 weeks before your last frost. They do best in full sun.
Ipomoea lobata, formerly Mina lobata, and
a.k.a. Spanish flag
Spanish Flag gets its common name for its pretty and
unusual flowers. The flowers jut out of
one side of stems that grow on a slant, looking like flags (or maybe windsocks),
flying from a pole. They are in clusters
along reddish stems and are tubular, with only a small opening which faces
downward.
The youngest buds are scarlet red, as they mature,
they get longer and plumper, like a balloon inflating, and change from red to
yellow-orange and then a finally a creamy white. They mature from the bottom upward. Each spray of flowers will display individual
flowers in various color stages.
Once Spanish Flag begins bloom it is quite a prolific
bloomer and puts on a good show. Several
vines along a fence or trellis will be very colorful. Bees and butterflies do visit the flowers
although it would seem like they would have trouble getting to any pollen or
nectar rewards through the narrow opening.
The leaves of Spanish Flag have 3 deep lobes (think
ace of spades). In spring the young
leaves have a bronzy purple look and they later mature into green leaves along
a dark wiry stem. The vines are vigorous once the weather warms and quickly
cover a lot of space. They will climb
and smother other plants so choose your planting site carefully. They
prefer full sun in the north, in zone 8 and above they will do fine in partial
shade. Poisonous.
Black-eyed Susan vine
Thunbergia alata, or
Black-eyed Susan vine is a common trailing plant in
hanging baskets and containers. It’s not
related to the other Black-eyed Susans found in the garden, although the
flowers may look like tiny copies of them.
If helped it can climb, it climbs by twining around a support. Wrap young plants around a support to get
them started if you want a vertical look.
They will climb to about 5 feet.
Black-eyed Susan vine is a perennial in its native
Africa but is generally grown as an annual here. Gardeners in zone 9 might be able to grow it year-round.
I don’t know if it would winter inside,
but it might like a greenhouse.
The leaves of Black-eyed Susan vine can be oval, triangular
or heart shaped. The leaf stems or
petioles have little wings. Leaves are
dark green, lighter underneath and softly hairy.
The flowers of Black-eyed Susan vine look like tiny
daisies about 3 inches across. Once found only in orange with a dark center
they now come in a variety of pastel colors, yellow, cream, pink and others,
all with the dark center. A healthy vine
blooms at a young age and is usually covered with blooms through the summer. The flowers are visited by bees and
butterflies and turn into odd rounded bumpy pods with a “beak”.
Black-eyed Susan vine likes full sun and moist soil. The vine will grow in partial shade but produce
few flowers. Fertilize once a month for best bloom. In growing zones 7 and
above it’s best to start with small plants or start seeds indoors 8 weeks
before your last frost. In zones 8 and 9
you could plant seeds directly in the ground.
Cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit)
The cypress vine is native to South America but makes
a pretty delicate vine in the garden which attracts hummingbirds with its tubular
scarlet flowers. The leaves are fern
like. The vine gets about 10 feet long. It makes an excellent cover for fencing. It’s
also pretty in large containers.
Cypress vine flowers are scarlet tubes with a flare
of 5 petals on the end like a red star. They are slender and about ¾ inches
across at the bottom. They begin blooming midsummer and bloom until frost. There are now white and pink varieties of
cypress vine also.
You can plant the seeds of cypress vine in the ground
where they are to grow or start them inside 6 weeks before the last frost. Soak seeds overnight before planting.
Cypress vine prefers full sun and moist soil, although
it will withstand moderate drought. It is cold sensitive, plant outside after
soil has warmed.
In zones 6 and higher the seeds of cypress vine can
overwinter and pop up in spring and the plant is sometimes considered invasive
in warmer areas. All parts of the plant
are poisonous.
Cardinal Climber (Ipomoea sloteri.)
The leaves of Cardinal Climbers are triangular with deep
“cuts” in the margin, giving them a lacy appearance. They look like Morning Glory leaves that
someone took shears to. Although the
slightly smaller flowers of the Cypress Vine are very similar Cardinal Climber
flowers are broader at the top and Cypress Vine has fine needle-like
leaves. The vines are a little sturdier
than Cypress vines and somewhat showier in leaf and flower. Cardinal Climbers are fast growing and in
good conditions will climb or spread 20 feet or more in a season. If you like a less invasive vine, Cardinal
Vine doesn’t reseed as freely as Cypress vine.
Cardinal Climber vines need full sun and like a
loose, rich, slightly acidic soil but will adjust to many soil conditions. They will take some drought, but should be
watered when it hasn’t rained in two weeks or if they show signs of wilting.
The plants do not tolerate frost or cold ground.
Canary creeper
The canary creeper, Tropaeolum peregrinum is
related to nasturtiums and has an edible flower. It’s more of a scrambler than a climber, it
likes to climb up and over other plants.
It is being used in containers as a “spiller”. It’s a native of South America, but gardeners
love it for its pretty yellow flowers.
It can be trained up a trellis to show off the pretty flowers. It climbs by twining its stems around a
support.
![]() |
Canary creeper Kurt Stuber |
The leaves of canary creeper are blue green and have
5 rounded lobes. They are attractive
even when the plant isn’t in bloom. Vines
grow quickly and bloom by mid-summer.
Canary creeper has bright yellow flowers. Two of the petals are large and frilly and point
to either side like bird’s wings. The
other 3 petals are clustered in front and smaller with little spurs. The plant blooms much of the summer and a
well grown plant looks like it is full of small birds from a distance.
This is a vine that likes partial shade, especially
in southern areas. It needs moderately fertile soil, don’t fertilize it. It can dry out between watering. You can sometimes find starter plants in
nurseries or start seeds inside 6 weeks before your last frost. Soak seeds
overnight before planting. You can also
plant the seeds where they are to grow after the last frost.
Cup and saucer vine- Cobaea scandens
If you need something covered cup and saucer vine may
be the vine you are looking for. It’s equally good on a trellis or chain link
fence and will also climb into trees and shrubs if you let it. Cobaea scandens has
compound leaves, consisting of 4-6 oval leaflets. It climbs by tendrils
that are often forked and have a hook at the end. It grows upright as a
seedling until it finds suitable support then will branch to cover a wider
area. Stems are a reddish-purple color when young.
The flowers of cup and saucer vine are said to look
like a teacup in a saucer, but I find that quite imaginative. The
flower starts with odd looking 5-sided pale green buds which then opens and
shows off the frilly inner cup like flower. The cup has a light center spot,
markings along the petals pointing to the nectar in the center, darker veins
and long protruding clusters of stamens. When it first opens the flower cup is
pale greenish white, over a few days it darkens to pale purple and then becomes
deep purple after the flower loses its pollen. The flowers are said
to have a light sweet scent, although I have never noticed it. The
color change in the flowers makes sense because in its native habitat Cobaea
scandens is pollinated by bats.
For more about growing Cobaea scandens you can read
this article;
Sweet Peas
If you are into nostalgia or heritage plants sweet
peas will also charm you. They are a vining plant that is fairly easy to
grow in cooler weather and come in a wide range of colors. Most are
fragrant. While sweet peas are related to garden peas, their pods and peas
shouldn’t be eaten but only admired.
Sweet peas like cool weather but don’t survive hard
frosts. They are a cool weather annual, that needs to be started early
for early summer bloom. When summer turns hot they fade and die.
But if you allowed pods to form and dry you can collect seeds for the following
season.
For an article on growing sweet peas please go to:
Fall
web worms
If you are noticing those huge webs of wiggling worms
on the tips of branches on trees in your area, don’t be alarmed. The fall
webworm is a native seasonal pest that doesn’t significantly harm trees even
though they look pretty ugly. In many areas we begin seeing the “tents” of fall
webworm in late August. Even after a hard freeze kills the worms inside, or
they have become pupae, the nests may hang in the trees until winter winds
dislodge them.
Fall webworms are often confused with their spring
cousins, the Eastern Tent Caterpillar. Fall webworms enclose leaves at the end
of a branch with their white, web like tent. They feed inside the tent and
enlarge it when all the leaves inside are eaten. Eastern tent caterpillars make
their tents in the crotches of branches and they leave the tent to feed on
leaves, returning to the tent for protection from weather. Eastern tent caterpillars
appear in late spring and early summer, fall webworms late in the summer.
The nests of fall webworms are usually on the outside
branches of a tree, where the branch extends over an open sunny area such as a
road or lawn. This makes them very visible to concerned gardeners. Each nest
contains a colony of small caterpillars, busily feeding on tree leaves. The
caterpillars are either red headed or black headed. Black headed webworms are
greenish, with two rows of black bumps on the sides. Red headed webworms are
tan with orange or red bumps. Both are covered in long white hairs.
The adult fall webworm is a small white moth,
occasionally marked with a few black spots. She lays her eggs on the underside
of leaves, where they hatch and begin feeding. The young feed for about 6 weeks
then drop to the ground to pupate and over-winter. Occasionally in Michigan’s
southern counties there is enough warm weather in fall for the first generation
to turn into moths and create a second generation. Levels of the pest are
higher in some years too, with heavier populations every 5-7 years.
Fall webworms prefer to feed on trees such as wild
cherry, walnut, hickories and fruit trees but can feed on almost any tree. They
seldom feed on willows and cottonwoods. When a tent or web is disturbed all the
little caterpillars move in a peculiar synchronized jiggling movement. This may
be their attempt to make a predator think something much larger is lurking
within.
Controlling fall webworm
Since trees are near the end of their active cycle
the loss of leaves from Fall Webworms doesn’t harm them much. If the nests
offend you, you can use your garden hose to spray them out of the tree or use a
stick to knock them down, and then smash the worms. Worms won’t crawl back up
the tree when knocked to the ground. You can trim the tents out of the tree if
doing so doesn’t harm the looks of the tree. Valuable ornamental trees can be
treated with systemic pesticides early in summer. These go through the tree and
kill the worms as they start to feed on leaves later in the year.
Pesticide sprays are not recommended as the
collateral damage to the environment isn’t worth it, as trees are barely
affected by the feeding of the Fall Webworm. Most pesticides do not effectively
penetrate the webs; they would have to be torn open. Spraying foliage around
the nests may kill the caterpillars when they enclose more leaves into the web.
And burning the tents with a blowtorch is as dangerous to the tree and to you
as it is to the worms.
Fall webworms have several natural enemies including
yellow jackets and paper wasps. If you tolerate these insects on your property,
then you may have fewer fall webworms. Birds also like to eat the worms,
especially if you tear the web for them.
Pot for pain – how the US government is making
pain relief difficult
An herb that many gardeners can grow at home if it is
legal in their state is one of the most effective and safe pain relievers known. Cannabis has been used for pain and many other
medical conditions for centuries. But on
a national level this herb is illegal.
While we are exploring modern medical uses for many traditional herbs
one of the most valuable herbs, cannabis or “pot” is being left behind because of
its outdated and misguided legal status.
The Federal government makes studying cannabis for
medical use extremely difficult. While studying class II drugs like fentanyl,
oxycodone, and cocaine is not too difficult, cannabis is still classified as a
schedule I drug, which is just ridiculous.
Schedule I drugs are said to have no medical uses and research on them
is strictly limited. While there are
still some controversies over certain medical uses of cannabis, there is no doubt
that that cannabis does have medical uses and that is born out by research,
much of that done in other countries of course.
Why cannabis remains in level I classification cannot be justified and
should be questioned by every citizen.
How the Feds pressure Extension educators
and Master Gardeners
Not only is research on the medical use of cannabis
hampered by the Feds, the government has ordered Extension educators not to
help people with growing problems or to help with projects exploring growing or
processing methods of cannabis even in states where either recreational or
medical cannabis use is legal. They can
do this because the universities associated with Extension offices receive Federal
money.
Extension offices have gone so far as to prohibit
Master Gardeners from discussing or growing cannabis or risk losing MG
certification, even where such activity would be legal. Yet Extension educators and MG’s are free to
discuss growing far more harmful herbs or tell people how to produce their own alcohol.
Some cannabis research does get through the hurdles
in the US. The University of New Mexico
recently used a database that thousands of medical cannabis users report their
experiences on. This free app Releaf, (https://releafapp.com/),
is allowing researchers access to data from people using commercially available
cannabis. While users are self-reporting
their reactions to various forms of cannabis it’s similar to data bases that
are mined for information in other forms of medical research.
The research done at UNM and recently published in
the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine found that when
people used cannabis in various forms for chronic pain relief, they averaged a 3-point
drop in their pain level on a scale of 1-10. This research found that 95% of
people who tried pot for pain found some relief from it, with no harmful
effects.
Additionally, research was done at the Research
Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) in Montréal, Canada
on cannabis for pain relief. After a yearlong
study of people prescribed cannabis for pain researchers stated this: “We
found no evidence of harmful effects on cognitive function, or blood tests
among cannabis consumers and we
observed a significant improvement in their levels of pain, symptom distress,
mood and quality of life compared to controls. '' The Journal of Pain,
2015; DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2015.07.014
And interestingly, the UNM research just published found
that higher THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) levels were actually more effective in
pain relief than low THC- high CBD (cannabidiol) cannabis that is commonly
thought to be better for pain. (THC and CBD are chemical components of cannabis
that act in different ways on the body.)
This is the kind of information that needs to be established.
The whole cannabis bud is the most effective pain
reliever. This may be because the plant
contains other ingredients, such as terpenes and flavonoids, that also act to
promote pain relief and wellbeing. The whole bud elevates mood and helps calm
anxiety which also acts to make pain more tolerable. In contrast current
research found that pure CBD, often found in health food stores and touted
because it does not get you “high” did not relieve pain.
Federally approved research can be flawed
Most legal cannabis research done in the US has to be
done using cannabis grown at the University of Mississippi. This cannabis is notoriously weaker in THC
than commercial cannabis available where it is legal. The THC level of the cannabis doled out to
researchers jumping through hoops to get it, is set at no higher than 12.4%. Commercial cannabis and modern homegrown
strains usually contain between 18.7 and 35 % THC levels. And there are ways to concentrate the THC
level in various cannabis products that can make THC levels 70% or higher. So, most legal research is being done on
cannabis that does not compare with what can be bought legally in some states
or grown at home.
Using an app like Releaf, or one of the many
professional websites out there, where people discuss the various strains of
cannabis, and how they administer the medicine, such as in edibles, tinctures,
smoking and so on, can help pain sufferers decide what may work for them. And if you want to help other people and
researchers, putting your data/experiences with pain relief from cannabis on
such apps and websites can be helpful.
If the government fails to help us and puts obstacles in the way of
private research, we must help ourselves.
In a country where more than a 115 people a day die
from opioid use, a safe method of pain relief should be an extremely important
goal. No one has ever died from cannabis
overdose or use. We should be throwing every research dollar we have marked for
pain relief into studying cannabis and any other safe alternative to opioid
drugs. Millions of people suffer from chronic pain, caused by arthritis,
cancer, trauma and other things. They
deserve to have every avenue of pain relief explored fully.
Most of the opioid deaths come from a group of people
who began their use from a legal prescription for a legal drug to treat pain. Cannabis
is far less harmful than many legal “drugs” including alcohol, and the fact it’s
still illegal is simply outrageous. We
need this herb to become legal on a Federal level so people can safely treat
their pain.
More reading
Green
Tomato Pie
If you have a lot of green tomatoes and are tiring of
ripe tomatoes at every meal you could turn them into pie. Use the larger, lighter green ones for best
results. This recipe makes one pie,
which tastes a lot like apple pie.
Ingredients
3 cups chopped green tomatoes
¾ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup chopped raisins
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 double pie crust
Line a pie pan with the bottom crust. Preheat oven to
375 degrees.
Place the green tomatoes in a pan and add just enough
water to barely cover them.
Bring the tomatoes just to a boil. Turn off heat and drain off water through a
colander or strainer.
Put the tomatoes and all the other ingredients,
except top crust, and toss to mix well.
Put the tomato mixture into the pie pan and add the
top crust, crimping the top edge together. Poke the top crust with a fork in
several places.
Bake about 40 minutes, until the crust is golden
brown.
There is no gardening without humility.
Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the
class for some egregious blunder.
-Alfred Austin
Kim Willis
And So On….
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