Today’s headlines were pretty depressing…local trees have been poisoned with herbicide, mostly likely by a human who thinks s/he deserves to see some water in a lake more than the trees deserve to have life. Then I read that the FDA has okayed irradiating spinach and lettuce to reduce bacterial outbreaks.
I’ve got to wonder if [...]
J. Laframboise (what a great name!) writes in from Rhode Island to ask:
“We have tomato blossom end rot and I would like to know if it is safe to eat the tomatoes not affected even though they’ve been sprayed with Bonide rot stop”
I’ll start by saying that this isn’t a problem I end up dealing [...]
W. Maalouf of Marshall, VA asks:
“We have a two year old fruit cherry tree orchard. I had business out of the country, so asked my 19 year son to be sure to spray the trees when I was gone because there were worms and the start of the Japanese Beatles. Anyway..I just got home and [...]
The holes have started appearing on my just-budding purple brussel sprouts and my cabbage. The green loopers are starting to emerge. I’ve seen their white fluffy butterfly parents flitting about the garden; they’re out there every year and near possible to chase away. I cheer when a sparrow snatches one in mid-flight or the cat [...]
I’ve had an ongoing problem over the last couple of years with aphids eating the tender summer growth on my Acer triflorum. Summer growth is the second surge that the tree puts on, and each year the aphids have distorted the leaves and made the last new growth of the season look pretty sad. The [...]
Usually I see the tents much earlier in the season, but then again a lot of things usually happen earlier in the season than has happened this year. Today I saw my first tent caterpiller tent. They were engulfing tiny apples on a nearby apple espalier. Hmmm…I don’t think I’ve seen them tent around actual [...]
Recently, a friend recommended Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon to me. How I haven’t read this book before baffles me. I mean, its been in print since 1981 for goodness sakes! Still, I’ve got a copy of the 6th edition sitting on my desk, and I’m finding it a wonderful read. Not [...]
J. Steele of New Boston, TX asks,
We have two pecan trees in back yard. caterpillows, cut worms or something is making nests and harming trees. IS THERE ANY WAY TO GET RID OF THEM WITHOUT USING DANGEROUS CHEM.?
J - I’ll start off by suggesting you bring out an arborist or horticulturist in your area to [...]
One of the top questions of the summer is, “How can I beat mosquitos without using lots of bug sprays?”.
Well, there are a lot of things to try, but those pestering little buggers are difficult to fully irradicate. One tiny bit of standing water — in your garden or on neighboring property — can turn [...]
A fellow horty recently emailed me a link to the UVA newspaper that reported earlier this spring that pollution is reducing the fragrance in flowers. In turn they have linked the reduction in flower fragrance to the diminishing populations of bees.
Unfortunately, the diminishing bee populations are becoming more and more apparent to me in my own [...]
