Planters Punchlines
Men’s Garden Club of Wethersfield
June 2014
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANNUAL PICNIC - MONDAY June 30th, 5:30 -8:00 p.m. at the
SOLOMON WELLES HOUSE 220 Hartford Ave. Wethersfield.
Wives, dates, guests, potential members are cordially
invited. The club will supply hot dogs,
hamburgers, etc., beer, wine & soda.
You are asked to please bring an appetizer, salad or side
dish if your name comes alphabetically between Sey Adil and Fred Odell – a
dessert if you are between Charlie Officer and Don Williams. Please bring your
own lawn chairs. Seating on the porch
in case of rain.
Call Tony ASAP @ (860) 529-3257 to let him know how many
people & what you are bringing.
A brief business meeting will be held before we dine to
elect the 2014-15 club officers and to discuss possible July/August activities.
The following SLATE OF OFFICERS will be nominated at the
picnic:
President: Tony
Sanders Secretary: James
Sulzen
Vice Pres.: John
Swingen Treasurer:
Richard Prentice
Help Maintain the WESTON ROSE GARDEN Saturdays @ 8:00 am: Fellowship, witty conversation, public service and a
modicum of exercise.
Compostable Matter
By Jim Meehan
We have in our
pre-digital archives the first photo that we took upon entering the Tar Heel
State for the initial time. It was 1983
and with our son Bram we were on our way to spend two weeks at a sight-unseen
RV set up by a family friend on land that he and his wife had purchased for
future retirement in Carteret, N.C. We
had driven down, as we still do, through the Delmarva, over the Chesapeake Bay
Bridge and onto the increasingly rural back roads of the south. It was our son’s and my first time. Mars had made a similar childhood trip with
her family.
We all joked
somewhat uneasily about the less than luxurious ambience of the surroundings
that we were driving through. Then, just
across the Va.- N.C. border we saw “the house”
– a crumbling, rotting, brown wood structure enfolded and held up by a
shroud of green, ever-expanding vines and leaves. Mars hopped out to capture the sight on
film. All of us hoped that this was not
a foreshadowing of what awaited us.
It wasn’t.
But each
subsequent time that Mars and I have driven past the site there is more and
more kudzu, and less and less building.
And I wonder – what plant is planning on devouring my neck of the
woods? And when will it (or did it)
start?
This week I
have seen two definite indicators that one or both of a pair of invasives has
begun its attack.
Up the street
from us – sad to say – is an abandoned, foreclosed abode. A casual driver-by would not notice this
condition – winter snow was removed, springtime grass is neatly mowed.
Then the other day Mars spotted something new
and strange as we drove by on our way home from the health club. Climbing up the downspout at the front, west
corner was a yellow Euonymus bush – much like the ones seen on many lawns, on
many properties in central CT – much like the one in the very same geographic
location of our front yard.
It was the
first time either of us had seen anything like that – from Euonymus anyway. We’ve both seen plenty of identical behavior
from Carolina Kudzu. And we both know
full well that – with plants as with other revolutionaries – a journey of a
thousand miles begins with a single step.
But sprawling
Euonymus is awfully obvious. Another
takeover is happening beneath our line of sight – and, in fact, largely
underneath the very earth that we walk upon.
I refer of course to the Queen Anne’s Lace uprising – or should I more
accurately phrase it underground insurgency.
In the past
two weeks I have come across more wild carrots (aka Daucus carota) than I can
recall in all of my nearly half-century of down and dirty gardening. A few years ago they were a pleasant
unplanned surprise addition to the variety of the landscape – now you can’t swing
a dead cattail without hitting at least one (if not several) of the feathery,
pinnate leaves of this biennial faux vegetable.
They are
taking over the outer borders of just about all of our perennial beds and –
worst of all and hardest to eradicate – they having taken root under (yes
under) several of the most thorny bushes in the town’s Weston Rose Garden,
which the members of our garden club maintain.
And excising
these devious encroachers from their highly fortified bases of operation is no
small thing – fraught with skin-piercing, blood-dripping danger.
On the plus
side however, since I needed to sever several little rootlets sent forth by the
terrible tubers that served as the bases of these pushy plants, it did give me
my first real opportunity to use the tiny sawing blade that’s stashed inside my
multi-weapon Swiss-Army-like garden tool.
Removing these ginormous taproots is hard work but doable. Not so with their threadlike appendages.
And, it is
these partially severed tendrils that I was not able to get to the root of that
I now fear the most. As I write this,
these insidious invaders are insinuating their way through the nurturing soil
innocently provided by unwitting gardeners and preparing to pop up where they
are least expected and most likely not wanted.
Be afraid, be
very afraid
Wethersfield Red Onion Shortcake
Description: This is a traditional recipe for a rich,
savory shortcake that became popular in Wethersfield in the 19th century:
Ingredients:
Crust
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
1/2-3/4 cup buttermilk
Filling:
8 -10 medium onions
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450°F.
For the crust: mix flour, baking powder and salt in a
bowl. Work in the butter until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Slowly add
the buttermilk, mixing until the mixture forms a somewhat sticky dough. Turn
onto a floured board and knead briefly until smooth. Line a 9- inch springform
pan with the dough and chill until ready to use.
For the filling: Saute onions in butter until
transparent. Spread them over the dough. Mix the sour cream and seasonings with
beaten eggs, blending thoroughly. Pour the mixture over the onions. Bake for 10
minutes, then reduce the oven to 350°F and bake 45 minutes more.
Slice in wedges. Serves 4 as a main dish or 6-8 as a
vegetable dish.
Discover Beneficial Weeds in the Garden
Gardener, hold
that hoe! Are there really beneficial weeds in the garden? Those wild
volunteers do have their good points.
In 1879,
botanist William Beal decided to see how long weed seeds could remain viable.
He buried 20 jars, each filled with 1,000 seeds. Then, every five years, he dug
up a jar and planted its contents to see which kernels would still sprout.
After he died in 1924, colleagues continued the work. In 1979, they watched
some 100-year-old seeds germinate.
Add longevity
to productivity (some weed plants can produce as many as 40,000 seeds), and
you'll realize why, left unchecked, weeds will usually outcompete your garden
vegetables for sunlight, nutrients and water. No wonder most gardeners have
earned the weeder's merit badges of Calloused Palm and Hoe-er's Hunchback.
But weeds do
have their good side. Under controlled circumstances, a number of beneficial
weeds can greatly benefit our gardens. They hold top-soil, pull up water and
nutrients, provide food, help control insects and more.
Then too, we
often don't make the association between the beautiful wildflowers that erupt
around us from spring through fall and the fact that most of them bloom on
otherwise ordinary weeds. We should. To do otherwise would be like admiring
butterflies but hating caterpillars.
So yes, for
beauty and utility, weeds do have their good points. You'll probably always
hack away at ones that crowd your crops. But when you think about all the good
they can do, maybe you'll see them with a more benevolent eye, and selectively
use those volunteer visitors to your garden's advantage.
Holding Topsoil
When we get
cut, a scab forms to protect the injured spot while it's healing. In the same
way, weeds bandage the earth— moving in fast wherever there's bare soil. (Any
gardener can attest to that!) This is nature's way of ensuring that valuable
topsoil won't be washed or blown away. Indeed, weeds have saved incalculable
amounts of this precious fertile earth from erosion—and with little thanks from
us.
So if you have
an idle garden area that's coming up in weeds, consider them a free cover crop.
True, if the invader is toxic (like poison ivy), a tough grass (like Johnson
grass) or a perennial that spreads by underground runners (like sheep sorrel),
you will want to root it out. But why not let nonspreading annuals like
spurges, purslane, lamb's-quarters, chickweed and ragweed anchor that fallow
ground?
Just cut the
plants down before they go to seed and compost them or—once they've wilted—turn
them under into the soil. (If the plants have matured, you can compost them in
a pile that heats up to at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit to destroy the weed
seed.)
Pulling Up
Nutrients and Water
Unlike our
pampered produce crops, weeds have had to get by without human-supplied water
and fertilizer. Hence, many have learned to send taproots down three, five or
even 15 feet in search of their supper.
This serves
the gardener in several ways. First, if we compost or turn under those weeds,
the valuable nutrients and trace minerals they've brought up will get
redistributed to the topsoil.
Weeds can also
break up hardpan, that underground layer of compacted soil caused by regular
mechanical cultivation. Hardpan keeps salts and other toxins from leaching
downward while preventing domestic plants from reaching lower soil nutrients.
It can also inhibit good soil drainage. But deep-rooted weeds like dandelions,
prickly lettuce, spiny sow thistle, wild amaranths (often called pigweeds),
cockleburs, nightshades and Queen Anne's lace can break that soil barrier and
blaze a route for domestic roots to follow.
To take
advantage of those weeds' soil-probing abilities, don't disturb a fallow area
filled with the ground breakers, or leave a deep-reaching weed every 10 or 20
feet among your crops. Over time, this practice will do a great deal to open up
your soil. Weed roots can break a trail
to underground water reserves. Moisture from those depths is also wicked upward
outside the weed roots by capillary action.
Providing Food
Once upon a
time, the year's "Pick of the Crop" vegetable selections would have
included purslane and dandelions. Lamb's-quarters would have received the seed
catalog praise we now give to tomatoes. Today we neglect such no-effort crops
in favor of ones that require hours of toil.
We shouldn't.
Some weeds make superior eating. Lamb's-quarters, yellow dock, young dandelion
leaves, purslane, chick-weed, land cress and sorrel have two or three times the
nutritional value of spinach or Swiss chard. Try these sautéed in garlic and
olive oil and drizzled with lemon juice.
Controlling Insects
Many weeds,
either in or just outside your garden, can help control harmful insects or
attract beneficial ones. Research in Florida showed that fall armyworm damage
was lower in cornfields containing repellent weeds like dandelion, cockleburs
and goldenrod. Other studies have proved that milkweeds repel wireworms and
that grassy weeds deter many pests.
Some weeds can
work as trap crops, luring damaging insects away from valuable vegetables. For
instance, lamb's-quarters attract leafminers that might otherwise attack your
spinach. And multiflora rose lures Japanese beetles away from garden goodies.
Then, too,
several flowering weeds such as Queen Anne's lace, goldenrod, evening primrose,
wild mustard, amaranth and dandelion can attract beneficial insects that prey
on harmful ones. More research is needed to identify repellent and attractant
plants, though. Observe which ones work in your garden (try making crop sprays
of some), and you could make an important discovery.
Indicating Soil Conditions
Like a good
water dowser, certain weeds can tell you what's going on underground. This can
help you when you're shopping for land, choosing a new garden site or trying to
improve an existing plot. The list below shows the preferred habitat of some
common weeds. But don't assume you've determined the ground conditions just
because you've spotted one or two weeds in a category. Look for three or four,
and check their health, as well. I've seen lamb's-quarters and sow thistle,
both of which love rich soil, growing in a gravel road, but they were doing a
bonsai imitation.
Really Bad Garden Jokes
http://home.golden.net
Two friars are
having trouble paying off the belfry, so they open a florist shop.
Everyone wants
to buy flowers from the men of God so business is quickly booming.
The florist
across town sees a huge drop in sales and asks the two friars to close their
shop, but they refuse.
A month later
the florist begs the friars to close because he’s having trouble feeding his
family.
Again, they
refuse, so the florist hires Hugh McTaggert.
Hugh is the
roughest, toughest thug in town and is hired to “persuade” the friars to close.
Hugh asks the
friars to close their florist shop.
When they
refuse, he threatens to beat the crap out of them and wreck their shop every
day they remain open, so they close.
This proves
once again that Hugh and only Hugh can prevent florist friars.
Horti-Culture Corner
“If you don’t plant, you get nothing but weeds.”
Vikrant Parsai
The nation’s farm industry depends on long-haul bee
truckers – peripatetic pollinators who cross the country and travel up and down
the coasts delivering swarms of bees to pollinate crops around the country.
It’s a lot like other kinds of trucking and then it’s totally different. The following song tells how different.
Truckin’ Bees
By Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf
I pulled out of Fort Myers with 500 hives
Crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge, they were all still alive
From Georgia to Jersey, from pumpkins to trees
I'm the bringer of stingers, I'm still trucking bees.
Truckin' bees, truckin' bees
As nice as you please
Just haulin' some pollen
Like a portable sneeze
Give me white pills and coffee and hand me my keys
And I'll drive all night long, just as buzzed as my bees.
I can drive through the daylight with no bathroom stops
Those farmers in Maine, they need me for their crops
From berries to almonds, from peppers to peas
A collector of nectar, I'm still trucking bees.
Hear the song at
http://wnpr.org/post/songwriting-colin-truckin-bees
Bee stings as therapy? Apitherapy can treat arthritis and
more
E. Huff, staff writer - http://www.naturalnews.com
A bee sting is
an unpleasant experience that undoubtedly everyone would choose to avoid if
given the choice. However a growing number of people are choosing to be stung
by bees in an alternative form of illness treatment called apitherapy.
Apitherapy contends that bee venom holds therapeutic value in treating serious
illness and that it is a viable alternative to dangerous pharmaceutical drugs
that often do not work and have harmful side effects.
Apitherapy, a
traditional folk remedy that has been used in many other countries for
centuries, takes advantage of the healing power contained in honeybee venom
which helps to alleviate serious conditions like multiple sclerosis, arthritis,
and lupus. According to 51-year-old Reyah Carlson of Vermont, a proponent of
apitherapy, bee venom helped to treat her Lyme Disease.
Carlson
recently spoke at the North American Beekeepers Conference in Orlando where she
spoke of the benefits of apitherapy. She regularly travels around the world
telling people about the alternative treatment and informing them about how it
works to treat disease.
Bee venom
contains about 40 different healing components, one of which is melittin, a
compound identified in a 2009 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts study as
an anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic element. According to Carlson, melittin
and the other components work together to boost immunity and quicken the
healing process.
Besides the
two percent of the U.S. population that is allergic to bees, most people stand
to benefit from apitherapy treatment. While it may not necessarily cure all
conditions, the venom can at least keep diseases at bay without imposing
harmful side effects like drugs do. Aside from the temporary pain of the sting
itself, there are virtually no other negative side effects from apitherapy.
Many medical
professional refuse to acknowledge the benefits of apitherapy. Despite the
roughly 65,000 Americans who use and benefit from bee sting therapy, the
medical establishment largely rejects it as a viable treatment option.
According to Carlson, many doctors believe it is dangerous and could kill
people.
Because
reactions from bee stings can vary from person to person, Carlson always
carries around antihistamines for minor reactions as well as epinephrine for
those who may go into anaphylactic shock. Typically no severe reaction should
happen in a healthy person who is not allergic to bee stings, but Carlson keeps
a safety kit on hand as a precautionary measure and advises others who use or
administer the therapy to do so as well.
Companion Plants for Tomatoes
By Marie Iannotti - http://gardening.about.com
Companion
planting is part experience, part folklore and part wishful thinking. Most
companion planting teachings are passed down by gardeners who experimented with
pairing plants and had some success. However there are a lot of things that can
impact the effectiveness of plant companions, so don't expect magic.
Luckily
tomatoes make good companions with the majority of popular garden vegetables.
Some companion plants help improve the health and vigor of the tomato plants,
some improve the tomato flavor and other companion plants are used to repel and
deter insect pests and diseases. You're probably going to grow some of these
plants anyway, so why not experiment on your own and use some of them as
companion plants for your tomatoes.
Good Tomato
Companion Plants
A lot of
plants are touted as improving the health, vigor and/or flavor of tomatoes. All
of these features are hard to measure, little scientific research has actually
been done to back up the claims and many other factors may be involved. Still,
it's interesting to try them out in your own garden.
Plants
Recommended for Companion Planting with Tomatoes:
Amaranth helps repel insects.
Basil repels
insects and disease, improves growth and flavor. Repels mosquitoes and flies
(even fruit flies).
Borage
improves growth and flavor and repels tomato worms26. (I've not found this to
be true.)
Bee balm,
chives, dill, mint and parsley improve health and flavor. Use dill early since
mature dill starts to inhibit tomato growth.
Carrots
planted near tomatoes may not get as large as they should, but they'll still
taste good.
Garlic repels
red spider mites. Garlic sprays help control late blight.
Stinging
nettle nearby improves taste.
Sow thistle
aids growth.
Bad Companions
for Tomatoes
Cabbage
(Brassica) Family - stunt the growth of
tomato plants, (incl: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards,
cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, rutabaga, turnip).
Corn - The
corn earworm is the same as the tomato fruitworm. (Also known as the cotton
bollworm.)
Dill - Mature
dill plants, as mentioned above, will start to inhibit tomato plant growth.
Plant the dill you want to go to seed away from your tomatoes.
Eggplant,
Peppers and Potatoes - These plants are in the same family as tomatoes and are
all susceptible to early and late blight, which will build up in the soil and
get worse each year. Avoid planting them near each other or in place of each
other for at least 3 years. Also planting tomatoes near potatoes can make the
potatoes more susceptible to potato blight.
Fennel -
Inhibits tomato plant growth.
Walnuts -
Don't plant tomatoes under walnut or butternut trees, which produce an
allelopathic chemical called juglone that inhibits the growth of tomatoes (and
all the members of the nightshade family). Tomatoes are also susceptible to the
disease walnut wilt.
