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.
While there are thousands of gardening products on the market, how does a new gardener decide what’s truly necessary? Usually through reading reviews online, talking to friends and family, and by trial and error you can learn which tools you will need, and which ones are nice to have but not essential.
Here’s my list for the gardening tools that I find essential for quick, easy and happy gardening:
A hoe. Digging trenches is made easy work with a garden hoe. What’s more, you can use it to dig up weeds in the garden.
A rake. A large garden rake can help to work soil amendments into the dirt.
A hand trowel. For planting bulbs and plants, and for digging up weeds.
A shovel. For digging larger holes in the dirt.
Gardening gloves. There’s nothing worse than getting dirt under your nails — and nothing harder to get out. Use gloves and eliminate the problem before it can start.
Pruming shears. For cutting flowers and herbs quickly and efficiently, as well as for light pruning.
A watering can. For watering, of course.
Lettuce is an easy to grow annual vegetable that should be a staple in every garden. There is nothing like going out to the garden and snipping off a few cool, crunchy leaves of lettuce for a salad or a sandwich (mmm …. BLTs!). Lettuce is easy to grow - just sow the seeds right into the ground (or in a container), and in a few weeks you’ll have leaves or bunches of lettuce ready for the picking.
Lettuce is a cool weather crop so start the plants early in the spring, or later in the summer. Keep the plants shaded for the most part, and pick off a few leaves every few days so that the plants continue to grow and produce.
Here’s how my garden has been growing. The warm weather has done wonders for my tomatoes and they all have several blossoms! In fact, at last check, one of them had wilty, about to drop flower and a teeny, tiny little green tomato starting to come in.
Beans are doing well, too. In fact I am having trouble deciding whether to pick them now and eat them, or save them to dry and use later in soup or chili.
The raspberries’ blooms have fallen and been replaced with fruit buds, which are just beginning to get a blush of color.
And the blackberries are flowering like crazy; soon we will have an abundance of the dark, sweet berries.
Sadly, my peach trees aren’t doing as well. The trees seem to be fine, but they are dropping fruits. Also on the fruits themselves we are finding more evidence of pest. I think it’s too late in the season to save any of the fruit, so there won’t be the bushels of peaches I was dreaming of. The fruits still on the tree sure look pretty, though.
If you’re a pet owner, be sure to do your research before purchasing and using cocoa bean mulch. Cocoa bean shells are a byproduct of chocolate production, and frequently sold and used for residential landscaping. Some dogs find the mulch appealing and will ingest varying amounts.
In general terms, while unprocessed cocoa beans, which come from the Theobroma cacao plant, contain approximately 1-4% theobromine and 0.07-0.36% caffeine, the amount of theobromine in processed cocoa bean shell mulch can be anywhere from 0.19-2.98%. Dogs are very sensitive to these chemicals, called methylxanthines.
If a dog has eaten cocoa bean mulch, immediately contact your local veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435. Depending on the amount ingested and whether the dog is sick will affect treatment. The vet may suggest bringing your dog in for observation, inducing vomiting, and/or controlling a rapid heartbeat or seizures.
Coffee drinkers: save those used grounds (and paper filters). Used coffee grounds make an excellent garden mulch - and it’s free. I’ve been spreading a thin layer around my tomato plants for several years, and notice robust, very hearty plants and fruits with little to no bugs.
Coffee grounds can be spread all over the garden as organic matter, or toss used grounds each time you brew a pot if you wish. If you add larger quantities, you might want to work it into the soil to prevent decay or too much acid in the soil.
If you’re not a coffee drinker, you can still get grounds for free — many coffee shops offer their spent coffee grounds to gardeners to use in their gardens. In fact, Starbucks has a “Grounds for Your Garden” campaign where most stores actually have a bucket (usually near the door) with their spent coffee grounds neatly packaged and ready to go.
I can’t believe the weather we are having lately. Here in zone 4/5 we are recovering from a serious heat wave. It’s the beginning of June and temperatures have passed 90 degrees. As I sip an icy cold lemonade and enjoy the air conditioning, it’s a good time to talk about hot-weather crops.
There are several vegetable plants that love hot weather. If you haven’t already, now would be a good time to plant them. If you have them already planted, be sure to water them regularly and check for wilt. You may also need to move them to a less sunny location to prevent them from drying out and wilting too quickly - especially if they are in containers.
Six hot-weather-loving plants every garden should have are: tomatoes, corn, hot peppers, beans, squash and cucumbers. All are easy to grow and will provide an abundance of veggies in mid- to late summer. Check the plant tags for complete instructions and be sure to mulch to conserve water and help the plants grow healthy.
On my property we have to contend not only with an ever-increasing number of rabbits, but squirrels and chipmunks as well. As such, after losing one too many strawberries to the varmints, I’ve looked into several ways to deter these rodents from enjoying the fruits of my garden before I can get a chance to.
There are several methods for preventing small animals from getting into your garden:
Raised beds. Raised beds function by planting your plants about 1 foot off the ground. Simply use bricks, wood or other materials to border the area, then fill with dirt, compost, etc., and plant as usual. For some reason, the height of the beds will keep rabbits and other animals from entering your garden.
Fencing. By putting a fence around your garden, you can keep unwanted rodents from entering. Use chicken wire or other fencing materials available at the home-improvement store. The height of the fence will depend on the size and leg span of the rodents in question — higher for deer, lower for squirrels or rabbits.
Cages. We’ve resorted to cages for our strawberry plants, to keep both the rabbits and chipmunks out. Using narrow wiring, we wrapped the material around boards and built a simple yet effective cage that the rodents can’t get into, but that allows plenty of circulation and sunlight in.
Here are photos of our strawberry cages, built with chicken wire and 2 x 2s.
Last night’s trip to the grocery store found slim pickings in the produce department. Instead of finding big, red, juicy tomatoes for the burgers we were planning for the grill, we found bare shelves. Turns out, a number of grocery stores, including Wal Mart, Winn-Dixie, Giant Eagle, and Trader Joe’s have all pulled the tomatoes suspected in the recent Salmonella outbreak.
In addition, McDonald’s, Burger King, Outback Steakhouse and Taco Bell are among several restaurants that have voluntarily pulled tomatoes from the menu, in light of the recent Salmonella outbreak that has sickened people in at least 16 states.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said at least 23 people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.
The California Tomato Farmers President Ed Beckman said in a report that most of the salmonella cases have been clustered in New Mexico and Texas.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: this is one more excellent reason to have a garden, and to know exactly where your fresh produce comes from.
It’s also a good reminder to take precautions and follow food safety tips when it comes to fresh produce.
The salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has spread now to 16 states, federal health officials said on Saturday.
“We’re seeing a steady increase,” Deborah Busemeyer, New Mexico Department of Health communications director, said.
Another 50 people have been made sick by the same Salmonella “Saintpaul” infection in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The source of the tomatoes causing illnesses has not been pinpointed. Health officials say cherry and grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, and home-grown tomatoes are likely not the source of the outbreak.
The CDC recommends that consumers:
- Refrigerate within 2 hours or discard cut, peeled or cooked tomatoes.
- Avoid purchasing bruised or damaged tomatoes, and throw away any that appear spoiled.
- Thoroughly wash tomatoes under running water.
- Keep tomatoes that will be consumed raw separate from raw meats, raw seafood, and raw produce items.
- Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils and countertops with soap and hot water when switching between types of food products.
More information: FDA website
Photo: DruMcpherson.com
