Show Date: 31 Jul 09

This is one tenacious weed.  You thought Creeping Charlie was bad, this little fella can grow a tap root 2 feet long! 

Common Mallow

Show Date: 30 Jul 09

You can keep your coleus all year if you take cuttings.  Your vinca and your geranium too.

•  Take a 4 to 6 inch cutting just above a leaf.
• Remove the lower set of leaves (this is where the roots will form) and place in a soil less mix like vermiculite.
• You can dip the ends in a rooting hormone to promote growth and help prevent mold.
• Water thoroughly and place the whole thing in a plastic bag, leaving it open.

It could take 2 weeks or 5 weeks to get roots but once you do plant them in a potting soil and you’ve just created life! And saved yourself some money.

Show Date: 29 Jul 09

Are the neighbors tired of your zucchini bread?  If you have an abundant harvest then consider sharing it with your local food shelf.

             Food Banks [MN Hunger Partners]

A study from UC-Davis Vegetable Research and Information Center found that homegrown tomatoes picked ripe have 20 to 30 percent more nutritional value than those picked too soon.

Show Date: 28 Jul 09

I use a dehydrator to dry my herbs.  Mine’s not real glamorous but it works great.  I’ll bet you could find one at a garage sale for a great price! 

I don’t pack the herbs, or whatever I’m drying, too tightly so the heated air is able to move around better.  Because the heating element is at the bottom I move the trays around for more even drying.  (btw, that baggie in the picture is full of ‘Spicy Globe’ Basil!)

Dehydrator

You can bunch your long-stemmed herbs, such as spearmint, tying them together at the stem end and then place in a paper bag with the bottom cut out and ventilation holes punched in the sides.  Hang upside down in a sunless room with low humidity. 

Paper bag herb drying

The microwave method is quick but you can scorch the herbs or even start a fire so you’ve GOT to keep an eye on them. 

If you washed the herbs, then make sure they’re dry before you nuke them.  Put only 4 or 5 herb branches in at a time and place them between two paper towels.  Microwave them for 2 to 3 mins. 

If they’re not brittle and dry, then nuke again for about 30 seconds.  Let them cool and place them in air tight containers.

Show Date: 27 Jul 09

Whether you say CLEMatis or CleMATis it’s still a beautiful flowering vine!

• Group 1 aka A – sets flower buds in July for flowers in Spring the following year.  They flower on old wood (new wood is the first year growth).  That means any pruning should be done AFTER they flower but before July.  They have the smallest size flowers.

Clematis 'Freckles' - Group 1

• Group 2 aka B – there are 2 subgroups B1 which flowers twice a year in May/June and in September.  B2 flowers continuously from June into September.  They both flower on old and new wood so pruning should happen late in Spring after the first flush of growth to take out dead or weak wood.

Clematis 'Crystal Fountain' - Group 2

Group 3 aka C – this group is the latest clematis to flower starting in July to September.  They flower on new wood only.  Prune out all the old wood in early spring so the energy goes to growing new wood which means more flowers.

Clematis 'Avant Garde' - Group 3

Show Date: 24 Jul 09

So people ask all the time, what plants won’t deer eat?

Deer headed toward my hosta

Short answer: none. If they’re hungry they’ll eat it. However, there are plants they don’t find as delectable.

Those are Coneflowers, Columbine, Yarrow and Sage. In the shade, deer leave old-fashioned Bleeding Hearts, Lenten Rose, Lily of the Valley alone. For sunny areas, plant beebalm, foxglove, barberry and heliopsis.

Think plants that are prickly like juniper, poisonous like foxglove, thorny like barberry. The same plants that tell us to stay away, tell the deer to back off.

Show Date: 23 Jul 09

Organic mulch, or what I call Muscle mulch, is my personal favorite because it performs more duties than inorganic.
Muscle mulch retains moisture, stabilizes soil temps, helps prevent weeds and will break down and add compost to your soil. You may need to add a little extra nitrogen to your bed but it’s worth it.

It needs to be replaced more often but that means you can change the look much more easily.

Shredded or chipped bark of hardwoods like cedar, redwood and oak will last longer. If you use cocoa bean, peanut or cottonseed hulls you might have some mold growing in areas that you’ve layered too thickly. Just rake it out and let air get to it. The mold will disappear.

Show Date: 22 Jul 09

Inorganic mulch, or what I call Superstar mulch, generally looks pretty. Rock and rubber mulch come to mind. They are best used in areas that you don’t intend to plant any more. There are a couple of schools of thought about recycled rubber mulch. Here’s some information for you to decide on your own from a source I’ve used called Dave’s Garden:
Is there anything good about Rubber Mulch?

If you intend on using rock, ask your vendor to take samples home so you can really get a good idea of what it’ll look like at YOUR house.
I’m not a fan of rock as it’s so heavy and hard to move but I know a lot of people really like it and when matched well with your home and your needs, it can be quite beautiful. I just like to move stuff so much that it’s a pain to me!

Show Date: 21 Jul 09

Blossom-end rot is the most typical issue we see with tomatoes.

It’s a calcium deficiency that creates that caved in rot on the blossom end of your tomatoes.  It can happen when there’s wide fluctuations in watering and/or excessive nitrogen fertilizing. 

Mulch your tomatoes with weed-free straw or shredded leaves to maintain moisture levels.  Plants in containers need to be watched more carefully as they can’t hold moisture.  Add a nitrogen fertilizer a couple of weeks BEFORE you plant. 
Leave at least 4 feet of room between your tomato plants.  Air flow around your plants will help with humid conditions which can interrupt a plants ability to take up nutrients. 

You can use foliar sprays to prevent blossom-end rot but it won’t save tomatoes that already have it. 

Show Date: 20 Jul 09

Got ‘shrooms? In your lawn, that is. Where there’s been heavy moisture including excessive irrigation, you’ll find those fruiting bodies.
There’s usually nothing wrong with your lawn. It just means you have decaying organic matter that the fungi can feed on.

If you find dark green circles in your lawn with brown spots in the middle, that might be Fairy Rings. Here’s more information and what to do about them.
Diagonosis – Fairy Rings [University of MN Extension]