Out in the garden yesterday evening, innocently checking on the ripening progress of my tomatoes, I got buzzed by a dragonfly. I barely had time to duck, much less see what was coming at me, but on its return path back to the huge bushes of asparagus, I saw that it was a dragonfly.
We seem to get dragonfies around this time each summer, and I wondered if they are good or bad bugs when it comes to the garden. Turns out, they’re good:
Dragonflies eat the larvae of other water-loving insects, including mosquito larvae. (I don’t know where they’re finding water in our neighborhood - we’re quite land locked, unless you count the neighbors’ pool) In fact, I learned that they can eat many times their weight in mosquitoes every day. Dragonflies also eat other kinds of flies and (eek) the occasional honeybee. Let’s just hope that there are enough mosquitoes to take care of that they can leave the poor honeybees alone.
I love having fresh flowers in vases scattered throughout the house, but many times it means hacking away all the flowers in my garden and not being able to enjoy them outside.
A good solution to this is a cutting garden. Many common varieties of flowers make excellent candidates for a cutting garden. Check out this list of 45 fantastic cut flowers at Organic Gardening. Simply plant extra of the flowers you wish to cut to avoid having bare spots when you do pick flowers, or separate the plants you have and place them into a separate garden designated as a cutting garden, and get cutting!
The Food and Drug Administration has lifted its ban on tomatoes weeks after the fruits were said to be linked to the Salmonella Saintpaul, which sickened more than 1,200 people.
The FDA said it has determined that fresh tomatoes now available in the domestic market are not associated with the current outbreak. However, it is continuing to follow epidemiological and other evidence showing that raw jalapeño and serrano peppers available in stores now may be linked to the outbreak. People who are considered to be high risk — elderly persons, infants and people with impaired immune systems — should refrain from eating raw jalapeño and raw serrano peppers at this time.
I am a huge fan of composting. The bin on our kitchen counter is filled up almost before dinnertime with waste from the kitchen — and other areas around the house.
There are many household items that you might throw away that can actually be put in the compost bin. Here are just five of my favorites:
- Paper towels and tissues. As long as there isn’t animal grease or cleaners on them, they’re safe.
- Human hair. Being pregnant and long haired, I find a lot of hair in my hair brush, shower drain, bathroom sink drain, etc…
- Dryer lint.
- Animal fur. The cats shed about as much as I do, so why not throw their fur into the compost too?
- Fabric. Old t-shirts that are beyond wearing, dish rags, etc., can all be put in the compost bin.
I came across a packet of seeds for Cleome, or spider plant, when purchasing my seeds to plant veggies this year. Intrigued by the unusual flowers, I threw a few seeds into my greenhouse kit and waited to see what happened.
Here are the plants a few months later. As you can see they’ve grown big and bushy, and are thriving in the outdoor (and the recent heat).
It looks like soon there will be a big round of brightly colored flowers blooming. The flowers are a great attractant to butterflies and hummingbirds, and the plant is drought tolerant.
The plant is self seeding, grows three to five feet tall, and blossoms from early summer until frost.
It’s not every day that I go to the grocery store and fall in love. But when I saw this little Micro-Tom tomato plant sitting outside the store with its buddies, all for just $1.99 each, I couldn’t resist.
The Micro-Tom is “world’s smallest tomato variety,” and was developed at the University of Florida. Plants grow up to 8 inches tall and produce tomatoes about one inch in diameter, or the size of a crouton.
I can’t wait for the fruits on this little plant to ripen. But for now he’s keeping the basil and parsley company on the back deck, strangely sitting somewhat in their shadows and getting partial sun, but lots of TLC from me.
While I’m still coming to terms with the fact that it is already July (where do the days go?), it’s time to start thinking about mid-summer gardening to-dos.
My gardening to dos are as follows:
- Water all containers regularly.
- Prune and deadhead all perennials to stimulate further blooms.
- Pull spent annuals and replace with fall bloomers such as mums.
- Weed, weed, weed.
- Pull the lettuce that’s bolted and sow some new seeds.
- Keep picking raspberries and strawberries, keeping an eye out for evidence of pests.
- Divide the bearded iris before they take over everything.
- Prune and fertilize roses.
- Keep checking on those tomato plants, watering regularly and watching for any color (other than green, of course) on the fruit.
- Keep cutting and using the herbs in the garden to encourage further growth.
- Enjoy my garden! As fast as summer arrived, fall will be here and the temperatures won’t be nearly as friendly and encouraging for outdoor activities.
What’s on your to-do list this month?
While it insists that tomatoes are still the leading suspect, the U.S. government is about to start testing several other types of fresh produce as it continues to look for the source of the nation’s record salmonella outbreak.
Items that are commonly served with fresh tomatoes what Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson said was now being looked at in the probe.
Sixty nine people are now confirmed ill since the outbreak began. Most concerning is that at least 179 of them fell ill in June, the latest on June 20. Therefore, the outbreak is continuing weeks longer than food-poisoning specialists had first anticipated, which also suggests that the culprit is still on the market.
See the FDA website for updates on the outbreak and varieties of tomatoes and sources that have been deemed safe.
I love to put a new spin on a classic. So when I was planning my Fourth of July centerpiece, my mind wandered to all the flowers and plants growing in the flower beds around our house and in the garden. I was reluctant to simply pick a few flowers and put them in a vase - where was the creativity in that? - when I thought of something I had seen in a flower shop a while back. The florist had taken ordinary daisies and dyed the petals in pretty colors.
They’re super simple to make, and a fun project for both adults and kids. Simply pick some daisies and put them in a vase (a different vase for each color). Add fresh water to the vase, then a few drops of liquid food coloring in the desired color. Leave overnight, and by morning your daisies’ petals should have taken on the color of the dyes.
Cats are lovely animals and make great house pets, but when they start to use your garden - especially vegetable and fruit garden - as a litter box, it’s time to take action.
There are natural and non toxic ways to repel cats from your garden. You can start by adding plants to your garden that will keep cats away. Herbs and plants such as lavender, rue, geranium, absinthe and lemon thyme all serve to repel cats.
You could also try the bait and switch approach by luring the cat into a different part of your garden. Instead of trying to keep him out of one spot, plant a patch of catnip in another area to attract the cat there instead. He’ll be much happier in that area, and so will you.
