Hi
Gardeners
 |
| Daylilies in my garden |
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and had some
time to get out and actually enjoy your garden – like sit and admire the
flowers type of enjoyment. Everyone
needs that.
It’s warm and muggy here today; we had some rain
yesterday and are supposed to get more tonight.
Luckily we haven’t had the heavy storms I know some of you have had. We
have just the right amount of heat, humidity and rain although I could do
without the humidity. The gardens are
progressing well and even the grass is still green and growing.
We have been harvesting Early Girl tomatoes and will
have cucumbers in a few days. The other
varieties of tomatoes have set lots of fruit. There are lots of little peppers, dill and
potatoes are blooming, corn is beginning to tassel. A bumper crop of blackberries is taking shape
and it looks like lots of grapes too.
Lily blooming season has arrived, true lilies and
daylilies. The deer have eaten the buds
off some of the day lilies and even some of my true lilies but there are still
a lot of them blooming. Asiatic lilies,
some OT hybrids, and longiflorums and one trumpet variety are blooming. Still to bloom are the tiger lilies and Orientals.
Also blooming in my gardens now are Rocket ligularia,
astilbe, hosta, lavender, coneflowers and helenium. The annuals are blooming well, zinnias,
dahlias, marigolds, bachelors buttons, cosmos, 4 o’clock, calendula, and of
course the tuberous begonias, geraniums, petunias, snapdragons, impatiens and
various salvias. The Jewelweed, which is
trying to conquer the world, is also blooming.
I bought a dahlia assortment this spring to plant in my
new cutting garden. So far two varieties
are blooming and I am quite pleased with those.
They aren’t too large flowered but that’s ok. There are buds on many of the others and it
will be fun to see what I get.
The
trend to smaller plants
What I don’t like is all the plants being made shorter
or smaller. I know there are lots of
smaller gardens and containers are all the rage but I like the traditional size
of some plants and those varieties are getting harder to find. I didn’t check the label for size on some cosmos
I bought; I wanted the tall ones for a particular spot and instead got short
squat ones, with smaller flowers.
Luckily I found some cosmos coming up from seed from last year’s plants
and was able to transplant them, although they aren’t the color I wanted.
I like the tall marigolds with large flowers. Now most large flowered marigolds are on
little short stems which makes them look top heavy if you ask me. Try finding
tall salvias or snapdragons now. Even perennials are being “compacted”. You have to watch the labels on things like Echinacea,
coreopsis, rudbeckia, baptisia, and monarda if you don’t want dwarf versions.
And the trend is really apparent with woody ornamentals. The buddleia I can find on the market now get
lost behind my beebalm and daylilies. Most flowering shrubs are now downsized. That’s fine for those with tiny gardens but
for those who don’t want them to get lost in a larger landscape it’s not. I like large, lush plants not teensy tiny
things in most locations.
Making plants more compact to make them sturdier and
less likely to flop is one thing. But
making tiny versions so you can stuff them in a container is another. There are lots of naturally tiny plants. And let’s not stock the stores with dwarf
stuff in exclusion of all else. Leave
the gardeners who like traditional sized plants some choices.
Are
you on my email notification list and not getting the notification?
For many years I have maintained a mailing list of
people who are interested in when I post a new blog/newsletter. It gets sent with a link to the blog right
after I publish it. Recently some people
have told me they aren’t getting the notification. If you are reading this I guess you got to
the blog from a link I posted on a garden Facebook page or just by checking the
site. But if you want the email
notification first check your spam or junk mail box. Your security system may have sent it
there. You’ll need to set it so that the
emails from me are accepted. If the
notice isn’t in your junk/spam box let me know, I’ll see what I can do.
Send me a note using the email address you want the
notification sent to at kimwillis151@gmail.com
If you aren’t on the list and want to be also send a
note to that address. For some reason
the subscribe feature on the blog won’t work. I’ve looked into it and got the
answer that the blog address is too long but it seems I can’t change the
address now without creating a new blog.
Those
of you in the Lapeer, Michigan area
I have been asked to mention that the Lapeer Master
Gardeners are having a garden tour, starting at the Garden at Suncrest, 1455 Suncrest
Drive, Lapeer on July 22nd . The
tour will cover five additional gardens you can visit between 10 a.m. and 4
p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12
the day of the tour and are available at MSU Extension (in the Lapeer County
Health Dept. Building), Burke’s Flowers in downtown Lapeer and Campbell’s
Greenhouses in North Branch Township in advance or at the Garden at Suncrest on
the day of the tour.
They are also hosting a contest for the best fairy/gnome
miniature garden on that day which is free to enter and for which you can win a
nice prize. For more information you can
contact Marlene
at 810-664-8317, gardenfairy50@aol.com Entry form is available at www.lc-mga.org.
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| It looks like snow in July from falling catalpa flowers. |
July
almanac
This month’s full moon is called the buck moon or hay
moon, depending on whether you are a farmer or hunter I guess. It’s called buck moon because the buck deer’s
antlers begin to show this month. The
full moon in July this year was the 9th. Hay has already been cut a couple times
around here as it normally has been – so I don’t get that name. I did see hay being cut and baled this
weekend though. Wheat harvest is this
month – it will begin soon if it hasn’t already and I think we should call it
wheat moon.
The moon perigee is on the 21st .
Apogee was the 6th. This
month’s flower is the sunflower- very appropriate and the birthstone is the
ruby.
It’s National Blueberry, Eggplant, Lettuce, Mango,
Melon, Nectarine and Garlic month as well as National Hotdog and Vanilla Ice
Cream month. Why isn’t it National
Cherry month? And for those secret bare
naked gardeners out there the second week of July is nude recreation week. Have fun.
There are the Delta Aquarids meteor showers on July
27-30th. Best viewing will be
after midnight to about 3 am. Look to
the south. These meteors continue into
early August.
Instructions
to Gardeners for Summer
On a summer morning when the light is still soft and
the dew glitters on your flowers, go outside with your camera to capture some
summer memories. Pick a bouquet to bring inside while the flowers are fresh and
perky. Perhaps a handful of blackberries or a juicy peach can serve as
breakfast.
In the heat of the noon sun watch the bees busy with
the anise hyssop and comfrey then find a cool spot to sip your tea, add a sprig
of lemon balm for flavor. Mid- summer
days are meant to be slow and languid.
All too soon these days will pass; take time to savor a few.
In the shade of a tree, spend the afternoon reading a
book you have longed to read for some time.
Take time to look up into the tree and wonder at the marvel of it. Think of the thousands of gallons of water it
is pumping from the ground up to the very top leaf. Each leaf is a little green factory, laboring
and sweating in the summer sun to produce food for the community of tree. Its labor cools you beneath it as it releases
its sweat upon the air.
Later in the day the pungent, clean scent of lavender
and the strong, sweet smell of lilies drift on the heavy summer air. Make sure
you dry a few sprigs of lavender to tuck among your stored sheets and other
linens to keep the smell of summer lingering long into winter.
Pluck some golden and orange calendula or nasturtium
flowers, some tender greens and slip some sun warmed tomatoes from the stalk. Search until you find a tiny cucumber hidden
in the vines. Go to the house and make a
salad that welcomes the tongue. Chill it
while you cook a bit of chicken with fresh rosemary and lemon thyme sprinkled
on it. Get some water boiling and go back to the garden for a few ears of
plump, sweet corn. Then slip the ears
into their bath for a few minutes, remove and drench with butter. Add a dish of vanilla ice cream layered with
blackberries and dinner is done.
Just before the light is gone in the evening take a walk
in your garden. If you have had the
foresight to plant some woodland nicotiana, with its stately towers of fragrant
white trumpets, you can watch the antics of the hawk moth. Like a burly
hummingbird instead of a hawk, it hovers among the blossoms sipping nectar. If
you have no moths to watch perhaps the swallows will entertain you as they dip
and swoop over your head collecting mosquitoes.
The late night air is filled with the songs of crickets
and the shrill of cicadas. A nighthawk adds its distinctive grating call as it
swoops in the dark sky hunting moths. The glow of lightning bugs mimics the
flashes of heat lightning on the horizon. Take time to sit on a porch after
dark on a sultry night and enjoy the concert.
I ask you to spend one summer day, or most of it in the
garden, without your cell phone. It’s nude recreation week so clothing is optional.
Life is short and each year’s garden is unique and will never come
again. Enjoy your life and garden while you can.
Problems
of squash and other vine crops
It’s the time of year when people are looking forward
to their harvest of cucumbers, squash and other vine crops. It’s also the time when problems begin
happening with those plants and I’m getting lots of questions about these
crops.
Here are some answers to common problems with vine
crops.
Why
are my squash/cucumber plants blooming and not making fruit?
Why aren’t the flowers on my squash/melons/ cucumbers
making any fruits? Every year new gardeners ask this question when it seems
like their vining crops are blooming and blooming but they aren’t getting any
“fruits”. Most vining plants like
squash, pumpkins, melons and cucumbers need a long growing season and warmth to
do their best. They also need full sun. But if they are flowering here is where the
confusion begins. The plants have lots
of flowers but the gardener isn’t finding any fruits. Don’t worry its normal.
All of these vining plants produce two types of
flowers, male and female. They look
similar except that the female flowers have a baby “bump” at the stem end. This looks like a tiny quash, pumpkin and so
on. Male flowers do not have the baby
bump.
Male flowers usually begin blooming first on a
plant. They will bloom and die, because
they can’t produce a fruit. But if
conditions are right female flowers will soon start appearing along with the
male and if there are pollinators around, the baby bumps will begin
growing. The withered blossom often
hangs on the developing fruit for a short time.
Most of the vining crops grow their fruit at a fast rate. Some like cucumbers and summer squash will be
ready to eat in just a couple weeks, as these crops need to be picked when they
are still small for the best eating.
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| Female flower on a gourd. Pumpkin will have tiny green pumpkins, cukes will have tiny cukes and so on |
So when you see both types of flowers on a vining plant
you should expect to see the fruit begin developing soon. (By the way you can
take those male flowers, dip them in batter and fry them for something to eat
before the fruits develop.) Some
melons, squash, gourds and pumpkins can take a long time to begin blooming –
they need long seasons to make fruit. So
check the maturity dates on these types of plants when you buy them or seeds
for them and in Zones 5 and 6 stick to those that say 120 days or less to
maturity.
Why
don’t my squash/melons/ cukes look like I think they should?
The fruit of vining crops may not look like what you
expect when they first begin developing but don’t panic. Cantaloupe develops the netting on their
skins later in development. Many squash,
melons, gourds and pumpkins have a different color from when they are mature-
melons and gourds may develop spots later for example. Pumpkins start out green like many squash and
then they develop color later. Cucumbers
should be green when picked unless you are growing one of the rare white or
lemon varieties. They will change color
to orange, yellow or brown when mature but those mature fruits don’t make the
best eating.
It’s not unusual for plants you thought were one type
of squash or melon to turn out to be something else. Plants that look similar like pumpkin and
squash sometimes get mislabeled in nurseries.
Also pumpkin, squash, and gourds can hybridize and the saved seeds may
produce something unusual. Different
melons may also hybridize. You may get one of these seeds in a seed
packet.
Even when you are growing them close together in a
garden the fruit vining crops produce this season should be as expected, the variety
of pumpkins or Hubbard squash or cantaloupe you planted, unless you got that
odd seed in a seed packet. Because they
are crossing in the garden this year does not make the fruit different. If a poodle mates with a beagle neither
parent changes, but the puppies will certainly be a surprising mix. It’s the same with vining crops. If you save
the seeds from your crop for next year the resulting plants grown from that
seed could surprise you.
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| This is a baby muskmelon. It will develop netting later |
Squash
Vine Borers
Watch out for squash vine borers as the moths are
flying now. A squash vine borer moth
looks a lot like a wasp. It has an orange lower body with black spots. The moths lay eggs on vine crops which hatch
into larvae that bore into the vine’s stems and cause them to wilt. Squash vine
borers also attack pumpkins and to some extent melon vines. If your vine crops are wilting look at the
vines near the base of the plant for a hole with some “sawdust” possibly under
it.
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| Squash borer moth. Flickr xinem |
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| The larvae of squash borer wikimedia commons |
Pesticides do little to control this moth. One suggested home control is to paint a
bucket or bowl yellow including the interior and fill it with water to a few
inches below the rim. The moths are
attracted to yellow and many will drown in the bucket. Kill any of the moths you see on the plants,
they look like wasps but cannot sting you.
Once the larvae are in the vines they may or may not
kill the vine. You can take a piece of
wire and probe into the hole in vine and try to puncture the larvae inside. Find several places where the vine is
touching the ground out beyond the hole and heap some good garden soil over the
vine. Some vines will then put out new
roots there and the vine will recover.
Downy
mildew
Downy mildew is a serious disease of cucumbers and
melons, and also damages squash and pumpkins.
It is different from powdery mildew, which is a common problem but less
destructive.
Symptoms of downy mildew are light green turning to
yellow spots on the top of leaves and the bottom of the leaves will have black,
water soaked looking areas, then a purple-brown dusty or dirty appearance to
the bottom of leaves when spores appear.
Cucumber plants quickly seem to dry up and die. Downy mildew is carried
to crops by the wind and usually begins in hot, wet or humid weather. Once in your garden it will spread
rapidly.
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| Downy Mildew on cucumber - Cornell University |
Cucumber plants rapidly die from the disease. Melons have greatly reduced production. Squash and pumpkins survive but grow more
slowly and are less productive. The best
thing to do is to prevent Downy Mildew by applying protective fungicides. Look for home garden fungicides that have
chlorothalonil or mancozeb in the ingredients and apply as directed. If caught early fungicides may help crops
that are lightly infected. Heavily infected crops won’t be helped.
There are no organic products that are effective for
downy mildew. Baking soda, milk, Epsom
salts, dish soap and so on are useless.
If you can’t bring yourself to use a conventional fungicide then pull
the plants once they are infected and bury them away from the garden or put
them in plastic bags for the landfill.
Don’t mess around with home remedies, allowing the disease to continue
spreading. Don’t compost infected plants
at home. Don’t plant in the same spot
next year and make sure all plant residue is removed from the garden in the
fall. Next year look for varieties that
are resistant to downy mildew.
Powdery
Mildew
One of the most common diseases to affect vining crops
like cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and squash is powdery mildew. It is caused by several different fungi
species. The leaves and stems of your
crops will first get yellow spots and then get a white dusty appearance, then
begin to yellow and eventually leaves turn brown and papery and fall off. It doesn’t kill plants in most cases but
greatly weakens them. Older plants and
older leaves will get the fungal infection first. New leaves will continue to form in most
cases.
Crowded plants and plants growing in less than full sun
are more susceptible. Temperatures
between 68-80 degrees and high humidity favor infection. This disease is generally blown into the
garden or carried in on plants or equipment.
It can also overwinter in soil or debris and emerge when conditions are
right.
If it occurs late in the season when most fruit has
formed it won’t be as harmful. Earlier
in the season it can lead to sun burnt fruit, smaller fruit and fruit that
doesn’t taste as good as unaffected fruit and fruits like pumpkins may not
store as well.
Fungal infections can’t be cured, only prevented. Give your vining crops lots of space, and
keep weeds out so there is good air flow around plants. Plant powdery mildew resistant
varieties. You can use preventative
fungal sprays beginning when the crops begin to vine and continuing every 7-10
days or as the label directs. If you
start spraying when you first notice any symptoms you may limit the spread of
the disease and help plants continue to grow.
Conventional fungicides include Daconil, Bravo, Echo,
Fungonil and Nova and you’ll want to look for one of these ingredients; chlorothalonil,
azoxystrobin, trifloxystrobin, myclobutanil in garden shop brands. Always follow label directions and make sure
the product is for edible crops. Note: pesticide recommendations can change
from state to state and year to year.
Organic fungicides include copper products, neem oil, Potassium
bicarbonate (not sodium bicarbonate or baking soda) and products with sulfur. As with conventional pesticides follow the label
directions and use products labeled for food crops.
Home remedies like dish soap, baking soda, milk, Epsom
salt, compost tea and so on won’t work and in some cases make the problem
worse. Be sure to rotate where you plant
vine crops each year to try and avoid overwintering fungi.
When you spray a fungicide on vine crops use a forceful
stream to try and get under the larger leaves and the undersides of leaves so
all parts are covered. After rain events fungicides need to be re-applied.
If you have a long growing season try planting your vine
crops later in the season or in shorter growing season areas use fast maturing
varieties, planted later in the season.
This seems to help a little. Also
if your crops are struggling with powdery mildew a little slow release
fertilizer near the plant base may help them keep growing.
Bachelors
Buttons
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| Bachelors Buttons |
I remember my grandmothers Bachelors Buttons. She had a huge patch of them that came back
every year but sometimes she would order seed of a new color to add to the
mix. I remember her getting excited when
a maroon color Bachelors Button came on the market and she took me to the
garden to point them out when they began blooming. My grandmother frequently made bouquets from
her garden to give people and cornflowers (Bachelors Buttons) were often in
them. I was also allowed to pick the
cornflowers whenever I wanted a bouquet.
The Bachelors button or cornflower (Centaurea cyanus), is an old fashioned
cottage garden flower every gardener should grow even if you don’t make
bouquets. The lovely blue shades of the
flowers that are common and the silvery foliage blend well with other cottage
garden type flowers like zinnias, marigolds, nasturtiums, cosmos, and
calendula.
Bachelors Buttons are native to Europe. There they grow as weeds in corn (where all
grain is called corn) fields which give them their other common name,
cornflower. They have naturalized in
many parts of the world. But the
cornflower has also been popular with gardeners for hundreds of years.
Bachelor’s Buttons are hardy in zones 2- 11, so almost
every gardener can grow them. They are
an annual flower, but they reseed freely and once you have them you may not need
to replant them every year. I don’t find
them invasive though, they rarely come up far from where they were first
planted.
Bachelors Buttons have narrow leaves of silver green
and plants grow about 3 feet high, although some dwarf varieties exist. Plants grow quickly and will bloom in about
10 weeks from seed. Each plant is narrow
and Bachelors Buttons look best when planted in dense groups rather than in
rows.
Bloom time for Bachelor’s Buttons is from early summer
to frost although really dry hot weather may halt blooming. The flowers are
about 1 ½ inch across and consist of tubular 5 petaled florets arranged in a
circle. There are a few narrow petals in the center, by the stamens. Common
colors are all shades of blue, a good true blue rarely found in garden flowers,
and they also come in pink, white, and maroon shades.
Bachelors Buttons have tiny seeds but the seeds are
loved by birds, such as goldfinches. The
flowers are visited by both bees and butterflies. They are a great plant to add to pollinator
and wildlife gardens. Cornflowers are
said to be deer resistant, although one must assume any plant will be eaten by
deer if they take a notion to do so.
How
to grow Bachelor’s Buttons
You’ll probably have to start your Bachelors Buttons
from seed. I find most nurseries don’t carry
the plants. Many seed packets of cornflowers
will be mixed colors, although you can order pure color varieties. The seed germinates easily. You can start seeds inside about 6 weeks
before your last expected frost or simply plant the seeds where you want them
to grow. Bachelors Buttons can be fall
sown, you plant the seeds in fall where you want them to grow and they will
germinate in the spring.
Bachelors Buttons should be planted in full sun. They are very tolerant of many types of soil. They are fairly drought resistant but
blooming will suffer if it gets too dry.
A light fertilization when planted may promote more blooms but generally
isn’t necessary. Plants grown in rich
soil tend to be more floppy. If
cornflowers are thickly planted in patches they seem to hold each other up
better than those planted thinly or in rows.
I plant my seedlings I start inside 2 inches apart in the garden.
Like many annuals cornflowers will bloom longer if they
are deadheaded, (keeping dead flowers cut off).
I do this quickly from time to time with scissors. You don’t have to do this, and make sure to
stop deadheading later in the season so some plants will set seed, unless you
don’t want them to reseed. You may want
to save some seed to start inside next year.
Keep it in a dry, but cold place,
like a refrigerator produce drawer or unheated garage until you are ready to
sow it.
Uses
of Bachelors Buttons
Bachelors Buttons are excellent cut flowers and are
grown for the florist trade. They are
often used in men’s boutonnière; a flower stuck in a buttonhole, hence the name
Bachelors Button.
The flowers of Bachelors Buttons are edible and can be
used in salads for color. Since the flowers are held together by a cluster of
tough sepals I would pull the petals off and sprinkle them in salads. But whole
flowers could be used for decoration on cakes. Blue cornflowers were often
crushed and used to color sugar a pretty pale blue for sprinkling on
confectionaries.
The dried petals of cornflowers are often used in teas,
Twinings Lady Grey tea owes some of its flavor to cornflowers. The teas are said to help digestion. An infusion of flower petals was often used as
a soothing eye wash. Flower extracts were also used in hair products. ( Hey is
that where old ladies originally got blue hair?) A dye or ink can be made from flower petals when
mixed with alum, although dyes are said to be not very permanent.
Infusions of Bachelor Buttons plant parts are said to
be antipruritic, antitussive, astringent, weakly diuretic, emmenagogue, and very
mildly purgative. They are used as a
mouthwash for bleeding gums and mouth infections. The seeds of Bachelors Buttons can be used as
a mild laxative.
Whether you want it for bouquets, tea or its attractiveness
to wildlife Bachelor’s Buttons makes a good addition to the garden. Even if your garden has a more formal look
you may be able to find a spot to tuck in some cornflowers.
Cherry
Pie Filling and some ways to use it
Here in Michigan it’s cherry season and since Michigan
is a top producer of cherries in the US, it’s probably cherry season for you
too. Here’s how to make some cherry pie
filling or topping and how to use that filling for some yummy summer
desserts. The filling recipe is from my
canning book, Knacks Canning, Pickling
and Preserving and it makes about 6 quarts of filling. What you don’t use up you can freeze or can.
You’ll need a colander or strainer and a large pot or
two plus containers or jars to can or freeze the extra filling. Clear Jel is found in the canning section of
stores. If you don’t use red food color
your cherry filling will be a yellow-red but will taste just fine. To make it a pretty red use a few drops of
food color.
Ingredients
6 quarts of pie/tart cherries
7 cups of sugar
1 ¾ cup Clear Jel
9 ½ cups water
2 teaspoons cherry or almond extract
½ cup lemon juice
Red food coloring (optional)
Wash, remove the stems and pit the cherries. You can
buy inexpensive cherry pitters if you don’t like using your finger nails. A nut pick, crochet hook, or tip of a potato
peeler can be used for pitting cherries.
A plastic straw can be used to poke the pit right through the cherry.
Fill your large pot with water and bring it to a
boil. Fill your colander with cherries
and lower it into the boiling water.
Leave the colander 1 minute in the boiling water, then lift, drain
cherries, put them in a bowl and repeat this until all the cherries gave been
dipped in the water. Keep them warm.
Next put your sugar, Clear Jel, water and extract in a
sauce pan and cook and stir until the mixture is thick and bubbly. Keep stirring so it doesn’t scorch. Add the lemon juice and cook for 1 more
minute. If you want to add red food
coloring to make the sauce prettier, blend it in now.
Pour the hot syrup over the cherries and fold them into
the syrup. They mix with the syrup
better if they are kept warm. You can
use the filling immediately, can the filling or let it cool to room temperature
and freeze it.
To
can
the filling pour it into clean hot quart jars to ½ inch from the rim. Stir to remove bubbles, wipe the rims and add
your lids. Process in a water bath
canner 35 minutes from 0-3000 feet altitude, 40 minutes 3001-6000 feet
altitude, over 6,000 feet 45 minutes.
Uses
for cherry filling
Pie
You can use a pre-baked crust or tart shells or make
your favorite pie crust recipe. Just
pour in the filling.
Cherry
chocolate cake
Instead of frosting pour cherry filling over your
favorite chocolate cake after baking.
It’s delicious!
Cherry
cobbler
Pour about a quart – 8 cups – of cherry filling in a 9
inch cake pan. Mix a ½ package – about 2
cups of yellow or cherry cake mix with 1 egg, ½ cup melted butter and a half
cup water until well blended. Spread
over the cherry filling in the pan. Bake
at 350 until the cake is browned on top and a toothpick inserted just into the
cake portion comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Cherry
Cheese cake topping
If you have a favorite cheesecake recipe you can just
use the cherry filling on top. Or take a
graham cracker pie crust and fill it with prepared cheesecake filling (sold by the
cream cheese in supermarkets) and use the cherry filling on top.
Cherry
pudding dessert
Fill a deep graham cracker crust about half full of
vanilla (or chocolate) pudding. Then
fill the remainder with cherry filling.
Cherry
Barb-b-cue sauce
Blend some cherry filling in your blender until smooth. Some people also like to blend in a little
red pepper. I suggest ½ teaspoon red pepper to 3 cups of filling,
taste it and see if you like the flavor or want more heat. Use the cherry filling to baste meat; it goes
really well with poultry.
Cherry
dip
For a sweet dip simply blend your cherry filling with
softened cream cheese. Blend the cherry
filling smooth first, or until it’s just slightly chunky. Use 1 part filling to 2 parts cream cheese or
whatever portions suit your taste. A bit of vanilla or cinnamon can be
added. Serve with chocolate graham
crackers or cookies, chunks of cheese or fruit and vegetables. For a spicier
dip blend in some red pepper with the cherry filling and cream cheese.
Or how about some sweet cherry wine?
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:
(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 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
