11

Inside this

issue:

Weed of the

Month

2

Edible of the

Month

3

Pet Scaped Gar-

den

4

Walk on the

Wild Side

4

Backyard Medi-

cine Cabinet

5

Organic Mowing 6

Wisdom 6

Likes & Links 7

Coming Events 7

Book Review 8

Save Some $ 8

Puzzle Page 9

Last Word 10

...for discerning weeders May, 2013 An Okaloosa County Master Gardener Publication

PLANT SALE SUCCESS!

DON’T FORGET TO

LOG YOUR HOURS

ONTO THE VMS

SYSTEM!

Click here to enter

As you all know, we had our Native Plant Sale on April 13th. The plants we purchased from Dodd

& Dodd were amazing and the plant shoppers who attended were all thrilled. Here’s to hoping we

make this an annual event!

A huge thank you to the set-up crew, hospitality,

and the sale staff! Heard nothing but good com-

ments about the whole event!

22

WEED OF THE MONTH By Jenny G.

Dock, Heart-wing Sorrel Rumex hastatulus Have you noticed the weed with a reddish colored seed head which is growing along the road sides right now? It has been seen in the median of Rt. 85 between Crestview and Ft. Walton Beach for the last month! In early spring any unmown roadside, in town or in neighborhoods may be host to Heart-wing Sorrel, Rumex hastatulus. Commonly called Dock, this weed is in the buckwheat family. It is a medium to tall annual weed. Leaves are ba-sal, which means they grow close to the ground in a clus-ter. The species name hastatulus is Latin for ‘spear-shaped’ which refers to the appearance of the leaves. The flowers start out green, then turn to red when mature.

Looking at the in-dividual flowers closely, they look heart-shaped which gives it its name! It reproduces by seed. This weed is common in sandy soil throughout the coastal plain of the southeastern US. It occurs from cen-tral Florida to Tex-as, and north to Montana, Illinois and Northeast to Massachusetts.

Dock is one of the host plants for the Cowpea Curculio, Chalcodermus geneus, a tiny beetle that measures only 4.8 to 5.5 mm. It feeds on legumes like snap beans, and lima beans, but cowpea is its favorite. Other crops at-tacked are cotton, soybean, and strawberries. “Of all the Rumexes that grow in the South, Rumex hastatulus is probably the most tasty. The tart intense-ly green leaves are hard to misidentify—edible wise—and the bloom that turns from white to red is pleasing to the eye. Its nickname, Heart-wing Sorrel, de-scribes the mature red-dish, winged seed pods. Rumexes have long been used in salads and as potherbs. They make a good stuffing for freshly caught fish! But, they’re best known in sorrel soup popular in France.” Note: A nettle sting is painful because the sting contains acid. Rubbing the sting with a sorrel leaf or any of the docks/rumex can relieve the pain because the leaves con-tain an alkali that neutralizes the acid and reduces the sting. The same leaves work pretty well on bee and ant stings but soap or bicarbonate of soda may work better. Sorrel will not work against wasp stings because they con-tain an alkali. To neutralize those you need an acid such as vinegar, citric acid, pickle juice or even tomato juice. http://www.eattheweeds.com/sorrel-not-a-sheepish-rumex/ http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fw036

“What appeals to us in being near to nature is na-ture's music, and nature's music is more perfect than that of art. It gives us a sense of exaltation to be mov-ing about in the woods, and to be looking at the green; to be standing near the running water, which has its rhythm, its tone and its harmony. The swing-ing of the branches in the forest, the rising and falling of the waves, all has its music. And once we contemplate and become one with nature our hearts open to its music.”

The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan

33

IPOMOEA BATATAS By Shari F.

Who? Sounds like that girl from Brazil, right? Naw, this one is a favorite table staple in our part of the country. Sweet Potatoes! No pantry closet should be without. This golden vegetable is available at all the grocery stores in several forms… frozen as mashed, frozen as fries, frozen in chunks, fresh in the produce department, and as dessert! Sweet po-tato pie has become a Thanksgiving treat in many former Yankee households. The local life-time Panhandle farmers say “the darker the skin, the sweeter the meat”. The history of the Sweet Potato goes back to what is now referred to as BCE. In South America, Peruvian sweet po-tato remnants dating as far back as 8000 BC have been found. Dr. Daniel F. Austin, postulated that the center of origin of I. batatas was between the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela. The 'cultigen' had most likely been spread by local people to the Caribbean and South America by 2500 BC. providing strong supporting evidence that the geographical zone pro-posed by Dr. Austin is the primary center of diversity. The much lower diversity found in Peru–Ecuador suggests this region should be considered as secondary center of sweet potato diversity. The sweet potato was also grown before western explora-tion in Polynesia. Sweet potato has been radiocarbon-dated in the Cook Islands to 1000 AD, and current thinking is that it was brought to central Polynesia around 700 AD, possibly by Polynesians who had traveled to South America and back, and spread across Polynesia to Hawaii and New Zealand from there. It is possible, however, that South Americans brought it to the Pacific, although this is unlike-ly as it was the Polynesians who had a strong maritime tra-dition and not the native South Americans. The theory that the plant could spread by floating seeds across the ocean is not supported by evidence. Another point is that the sweet potato in Polynesia is the cultivated Ipomoea batatas, which is generally spread by vine cuttings (slips) and not by seeds. Sweet potatoes are now cultivated throughout tropical and warm temperate regions wherever there is sufficient water to support their growth. For example, sweet potatoes were introduced as a food crop in Japan in 1735 and in Korea in 1764. The town of Opelousas, Louisiana's "Yambilee" has been celebrated every October since 1946. The Frenchmen who established the first settlement at Opelousas in 1760 dis-covered the native Atakapa, Alabama, Choctaw, and Ap-

palousa tribes eating sweet potatoes. The sweet potato be-came a favorite food item of the French and Spanish set-tlers and thus continued a long history of cultivation in Louisiana. In the Southeastern United States, sweet potatoes are tradi-tionally cured to improve storage, flavor, and nutrition, and to allow wounds on the periderm (the secondary protective (dermal) tissue that replaces the epidermis during growth in thickness of stems and roots) of the harvested root to heal. Proper curing requires drying the freshly dug roots on the ground for two to three hours, then storage at 85–90° with 90 to 95% relative humidity from five to fourteen days. Cured sweet potatoes can keep for thirteen months when stored at 55–59° with less than 90% relative humidity. Colder temperatures injure the roots. (Too much for this person to consider!) Besides simple starches, sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, beta-carotene (a pro-vitamin A carotenoid), vitamin C, vitamin B6, manganese and po-tassium. In 1992, the Center for Science in the Public In-terest compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. Considering fiber content, complex carbo-hydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium, the sweet potato ranked highest in nutritional value. According to these criteria, sweet potatoes earned 184 points, 100 points over the next on the list, the common potato. Sweet potato varieties with dark orange flesh have more beta car-otene than those with light-colored flesh. White flesh sweet potatoes are drier and not so sweet. In North Florida planting dates are from March thru June, using transplants or slips of Beauregard, Centennial, or Vardaman varieties. Vardaman is a bush type Sweet Potato for small gardens. Slips are available locally in most garden stores mid to late May and are a breeze to plant. Somewhere while researching this luscious veggie, it was mentioned that Sweet Potatoes cannot be shipped across state lines. REALLY! That means the fresh sweet taters we buy at the grocers are raised close to home. Fresh from Florida! Ed note: Dr. Austin is affiliated with the Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida Int’l Univ., Miami; Research Assoc., Fairchild Tropical Garden, Coral Ga-bles, Fl.; Emeritus Professor, Florida Atlantic Univ., Boca Raton, Division of Sonoran Desert Studies Arizona-Sonora Desert Mu-seum, Tucson, AZ and author and eco-nomic editor of Economic Botany.

44

THE PET SCAPED GARDEN By Linda M.

As promised, last month we

began this article on pets and

your landscape. This month

we conclude with pet waste

management.

It's important to clean up af-

ter your pet. Pet waste can

contain bacteria and parasites

that can infect animals as well

as people who spend time in the landscape. These micro-

scopic dangers include E. coli, giardia, and hookworm,

which cause uncomfortable symptoms or even severe ill-

ness.

Pet waste left on the ground can wash into storm drains,

which empty into the nearest body of water. The nutrients

in pet waste encourage weeds and algae growth, and use

up oxygen in the water. Make sure to pick up dog waste,

tie it in a plastic bag, and place it in the trash. You can

even flush pet waste down the toilet (but don't flush "kitty

litter"). Never put pet waste in your compost pile. Rodent

and rabbit bedding can be composted. Do not add any cat,

dog, or ferret waste to the compost pile, many intestinal

parasites are transmissible to people. Most, if not all, pet

reptiles are carriers of salmonella, so no reptile waste ei-

ther.

When cleaning out the litter box, cat waste may be

scooped out and flushed down the toilet, and the used lit-

ter should be bagged, sealed and placed in the trash.

Dumping the entire contents of the litter box down your

toilet will cause plumbing problems and prematurely fill

up your septic tank or sewer system with indigestible ma-

terial.

Pet waste, urine especially, is a major culprit of lawn dam-

age from dogs. Turf damage usually appears as greener,

more vigorous patches of lawn or brown dead spots sur-

rounded by a dark green ring of turf. This can look similar

to brown patch and dollar spot, so it is important to moni-

tor animal behavior on your lawn to determine whether

the problem is due to dog waste or lawn disease. When

dogs urinate on grass, they are dumping concentrated ni-

trogen and soluble salts onto the turf. This produces a fer-

tilizer “green up” effect in small amounts and burn spots

in larger amounts. Urine appears to cause the most dam-

age on turf with low soil moisture, in months when turf is

not actively growing, and on over-fertilized turf.

Dog feces also add surplus nitrogen to lawns, but it is re-

leased much more slowly than through urine. Solid wastes

mainly cause damage through smothering turf, but this

can be avoided by raking it up and disposing of the feces.

You can heavily water the spot where a dog urinated on

the lawn, to dilute the urine and minimize damage.

Use fertilizers and pesticides as sparingly as possible, if at

all. Even “pet friendly” or “non-toxic” products can cause

problems, most notably gastrointestinal upset. The more

natural and organic your garden, the safer it will be for

your pet.

WA

LK

ON

TH

E W

ILD

SID

E

It’s May already, and the beginning of summer for our area.

Warmer days, but we still may get a cool evening now and

then. Here are some of the wild activities you can look for.

Birds

Brown peli-

can and white

ibis young are

now visible in

nests. Least

terns and

snowy plovers

nest on Pan-

handle beach-

es, sandy flats and flat rooftops. Bald eagles begin migrating

north. Breeding begins for many resident and summer

songbirds. The last of the cedar waxwings and goldfinches

head for their northern breeding grounds.

Mammals

Gray bats congregate at maternity caves now through mid-

July.

Reptiles

Courtship ritual of adult alligators begins, noted by the loud

and resounding bellows and water slapping. Continues

through June.

Loggerhead and green sea turtles begin nighttime nesting

on sandy beaches. Soft-shell and alligator snapping turtles

complete egg laying.

Fish

Bluegill are bedding at the full moon. Redbreast sunfish and

spotted sunfish begin spawning in rivers. Pompano running

in the surf in north Florida.

Insects

Mating season of the invasive Love Bug species begins and

lasts until September.

Don’t forget to provide a water source if you are attracting

wildlife to your landscape.

55

THE BACKYARD MEDICINE CABINET By Karen H.

Gardening for independence continues. We've grown tea and the sweetener for the tea. This month we'll look at what we can grow in our gardens to stock the medicine cabinet. The subject of al-ternative medicine is immense and has proponents and detrac-tors on all sides. For this article, I'll focus on plants that we can grow readily in our home gardens that are believed to be useful for some common ailments and problems.

Herbal remedies have a long and varied history. A book called “The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine”, was writ-ten by Emperor Huang Ti in the year 2697 B.C. and dealt with herbal remedies, acupuncture, diet, and the prevention and cure of physical and mental ailments. Herbal remedies were common in the New World as well. Native Americans used plantain for snakebites, and sassafras for fe-vers, while birch bark was used as a natural splint for setting frac-tures. A Native American doctor in the Massachusetts Bay Colony by the name of Joe Pye showed the pioneers how to harvest and recognize many herbs, sharing his considerable knowledge about good herbs vs poisonous ones. (And maybe if you also grow Joe Pye Weed you too have always wondered how it got its name. Look no further: http://tinyurl.com/bjw75qb. Herbalism hasn't always been looked on favorably around the world and in fact at certain times it has been deemed witchcraft and we all know where that led to in 17th century colonial Massachusetts.

So, what are some of these plants and the medicinal properties attributed to them? Most of us are probably very familiar with the aloe vera plant and its usefulness in treating minor burns, but other plants are known to have soothing properties for burns and minor abrasions. The use of aloe vera, goldenseal and calen-dula ('pot marigold') are described here: http://tinyurl.com/bjmngrp

Headache? There is a long list of plants that are believed to pro-vide relief, including honeysuckle, rosemary and peppermint among many others. One of the most effective is said to be lime flowers. Curses. My lime tree only blooms once a year so perhaps I'd better look into growing an everbearing lime variety! This

article contains lots of advice for what to use and how to use it to combat headaches: http://medicinalplants.us/headache

Indigestion and stomach aches may respond well to several herbs including chamomile, licorice, anise, ginger, thyme and fennel. Suggested remedies: http://tinyurl.com/ate46tj Or you can try using dandelions. I love it that they're described below as 'cost-effective'. At last, reasons to love dandelions! http://tinyurl.com/amgpv7x

For skin problems, aloe vera makes the list again along with san-dalwood, tea tree oil and neem. Neem?? Hmmm, I'm not sure I

want to use the same product on my skin that we gardeners know to be an insecticide, miticide and fun-gicide. But here's the information anyway: http://tinyurl.com/a8fu5ml

Insomnia and anxiety are both treated by many of the same prep-arations. These articles describe pros and cons of several of them. I am intrigued by the claims of the hypnotic effect of valerian but per-haps not enough to want to try it as a sleep aid. And red poppies? Not too sure about that one either. For my money, I think I'll stick to my nightly cup of chamomile tea dur-ing times of stress... and perhaps

add a salad to that! Did you know that lettuce has a calming effect? When I read that, I remembered my mother telling me that wilted lettuce, one of her favorite dishes, always made her sleepy.. It does seem that there is a basis in fact for that: http://www.botanical-online.com/remediesinsomnia.htm

This morning I happened to catch a show on the Cooking Chan-nel with the intriguing title of “Grow Your Own Drugs”. Future episodes to be broadcast include “Petals” May 1; “Shrubs and Trees” May 8; and “Wild Plants” May 15. The full episode list: is here: http://tinyurl.com/a6n56aj

And here is a handy guide to growing many of these plants:

http://tinyurl.com/bauvzcv

Natives in Bloom courtesy of Jane

M.

Spring garden courtesy of Karen H.

66

Those clever French have adopted a new organic lawn mower. It runs on grass and is being used to keep the grass mowed around the Eiffel Tower and even City Hall in Paris. The gas savings alone would justify this move but this lawn mower produces the fertilizer necessary to keep the lawns green and growing AND the fertilizer is organic and biode-gradable. Even the Louvre is getting in on the act. These mowers are motorless and inde-pendent and work with only minor maintenance. Unlike the workers who drove the gas powered mowers, these new mowers are not mindful of the 35 hour work week observed in France. Welcome to the world of ovine mowers with some of the genus capra also work-ing the lawns of Paris. What??? You don’t know your sheep from your goats? Just wait until they join the union. Paris has come up with an unconventional way to keep its urban

grass trim without costing the earth. Earlier this week, the city enlisted four black sheep as part of a pilot project to munch away a section of the city’s gardens in northeastern Paris. Eco-efficient and petite in size, the four legged lawnmowers are

Ouessant sheep, named after a small island west of Brittany. “It might sound funny, but animal lawnmowers are ecological as no gaso-line is required, and cost half the price of a machine. And they’re so cute,” says Ferme de Paris sheep keeper, marcel Collet. Between April and October, the new “park workers” will graze grounds the size of eight tennis-courts in three tow-week-long sweeps in a move to promote biodiversity and make the grooming of the capital’s green areas more sustaina-

ble—replacing both chemicals and lawn mowers. Out of work, they will be resting back at a farm on the outskirts of Paris. http://tinyurl.com/cycgm4k

GREEN LAWN CARE courtesy of Lynn F.

MOTHER’S LESSONS courtesy of Sandie O.

My mother taught me TO

APPRECIATE A JOB

WELL DONE. “If you’re

going to kill each other, do

it outside. I just finished

cleaning.”

My mother taught me RE-

LIGION. “You’d better pray

that will come out of the

carpet.”

My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL. “If you don’t

straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next

week.”

My mother taught me LOGIC. “Because I said so, that’s why.”

My mother taught me MORE LOGIC. “If you fall out of the swing

and break your neck, you’re not going to the store with me.”

My mother taught me FORESIGHT. “Make sure you wear clean

underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”

My mother taught me IRONY. “Keep crying and I’ll give you

something to cry about.”

My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS. “Shut your

mouth and eat your supper.”

My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. “Will you look

at that dirt on the back of your neck.”

My mother taught me about STAMINA. You’ll sit there until all

that spinach is gone.”

My mother taught me about WEATHER. “This room of yours

looks as if a tornado went through it.”

My mother taught me about HUMOR. “When that lawn mower

cuts off your foot, don’t come running to me.”

My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT. “If you

don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.”

My mother taught me GENETICS. “You’re just like your father.”

My mother taught me about my ROOTS. “Shut that door behind

you. Do you think you were born in a barn?”

My mother taught me WISDOM. “When you get to be my age,

you’ll understand.”

And, my favorite, my mother taught me about JUSTICE. “One

day you’ll have kids and I hope they turn out just like you!”

Don’t forget. This is YOUR newsletter!

Let us know subjects you’d like to see covered.

All submission appreciated!

77

LIKES & LINKS During the past month, we’ve had a lot of links forwarded

to us. We’ve included some really good ones for you to

check out!

Interested in wildlife? Ever wonder where our migrating

wildlife goes? Check out http://www.learner.org/jnorth/

for a cool web site for tracking wildlife migrations.

plantAnt.com is now an official FNGLA locator! By using

this absolutely free service, you’ll be able to: search all types

of plants, view FNGLA member map & directory, automati-

cally search botanical or common names, narrow your

search by distance to your location, view pictures, pricing

and descriptions, sort your results by price, distance, size,

etc. and so much more! www.plantant.com

An interesting Ted Talk on greening the world’s deserts and

the possible effect on climate change. http://tinyurl.com/

chtyecq

Chicago, home to the nation’s largest vertical farm http://

tinyurl.com/9wmbzah

COMING EVENTS

May 4 Escambia County Master Gardeners Spring Garden

Discovery Day and Plant Market, 8am-noon, Stefani Road Ex-

tension Office.

May 4 Gardening Friends of the Big Bend will host a “Birds in

Your Backyard” workshop at the Quincy, FL UF North Florida

Research and Education Center (I-10 exit 181) from 8:30 am to

12:30 pm. Registration is $20 for non-members and $15 for

members. For more info Friends@ifas.ufl.edu

May 7 Lawn Care in Northwest Florida. 10:30am at the

Crestview Public Library, Crestview.

May 10 National Public Gardens Day!

May 11 Niceville Garden Club invites children ages 8-12 to

“Make a Floral Design for Mother”. 10:00-11:30 at the Unitarian

Universalist Fellowship of the Emerald Coast, 1295 N. Bayshore

Drive, Valparaiso, FL. Reservations required. Children must be

accompanied by an adult.

May 11 Dogwood Garden Club of Gulf Breeze presents Ad-

vanced Floral Design Study course 7. Registration at 8:30, class

begins at 9am in the north room of the Gulf Breeze Presbyterian

Church. $65 for the 3 advanced classes. For more info contact

Linda Henderson 936-4950

May 13 “Monday’s in the Garden” presents “Raised Bed Gar-

dening” with Tina Tuttle, 10am. Milton Gardens at PSC Milton

campus. Master Gardener CEUs available. This will be a hands-

on demonstration so come prepared to plant the beds.

May 13 You are invited to join the Valparaiso Garden Club field

trip to the Dragon’s Mead Daylily farm just north of Panama

City. A lovely day in the garden at the peak of the daylily bloom.

You’ll view beautiful plants and have the opportunity to buy the

plants straight out of the ground.

May 16 Tri-County Horticulture Study group, an outreach or-

ganization of the Valparaiso Garden Club, to meet at Eden State

Park (Walton County, Hwy 395N) for a discussion on antique

roses. 10am. Free, no membership or dues, men are wel-

come. For more info, contact Marie Harrison at 678-2842 mari-

eharrison@valp.net or Joyce Waters-Smith at 269-2170

joycews@cox.net

May 17 Landscape Problems: Diseases and Weeds, Okaloosa

County Extension, 3098 Airport Road, Crestview. $10 8am to

12:10pm. To register call 850-689-5850.

May 17 Navarre Flower Show open to the public (Judging on

May 16)

May 18-19 PFGC hosts annual Secrets Gardens Tour. Nine gar-

dens will be featured over 2 days. $15 tickets.

May 18 Dogwood Garden Club of Gulf Breeze presents Ad-

vanced Floral Design Study course 8. Registration at 8:30, class

begins at 9am in the north room of the Gulf Breeze Presbyterian

Church. $65 for the 3 advanced classes. For more info contact

Linda Henderson 936-4950

May 23 FFGC District I Meeting, Christ the King Episcopal

Church, Santa Rosa Beach hosted by Green Thumb Garden Club

and DeFuniak Garden Club.

May 25 Dogwood Garden Club of Gulf Breeze presents Ad-

vanced Floral Design Study course 9. Registration at 8:30, class

begins at 9am in the north room of the Gulf Breeze Presbyterian

Church. $65 for the 3 advanced classes. For more info contact

Linda Henderson 936-4950

May 25 Bromeliad Society of NW Florida presents its annual

Spring Plant Auction, 2:30 until dark. 519 Palisades Rd, Pen-

sacola. For info: 476-9960 or 476-0928.

88

BOOK REVIEW by Marg S.

This time I’m going to highlight a few of the titles available

through the UF/IFAS bookstore.

First, SP 437 Invasive and Non-native Plants You Should

Know, Northwest Florida, is being discontinued. While

supplies last, they are being sold for $20.

Second, SP 467 Best Native Plants for Southern Gardens,

by Gil Nelson. This 412 page, illustrated volume is $29.95.

Third, SP 370 Common Mosquitoes of Florida ID Deck.

Helps identify 33 different mosquitoes you might encoun-

ter in Florida. $12.00

Fourth, SP 462 Sustainable Gardening for Florida. Half of

all royalties from sales of this book will be paid directly to

the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. $24.95

Lastly, SP 459 Florida Wildflowers in Their Natural Com-

munities. 384 pages with over 500 color photos and de-

tailed descriptions. $24.95

If you have a Kindle, don’t

forget to search “free” gar-

den books. There are loads of

titles under the free section

that won’t cost you a dime.

For example, there is a free

book, The Garden, You, and

I. This book was originally

published in 1906, written by

Mabel Osgood Wright. It’s a

delightful read.

“Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?”

Henry Ward Beecher

SAVE SOME $ by Marg S.

Some creative ideas for helping save some

of our hard earned dollars when it comes

to gardening.

HUMMINGBIRD NECTAR

Combine one part plain white sugar and

four parts water. Slowly heat the solution

for 1 to 2 minutes to allow the sugar to

dissolve and slow fermentation. Allow the

solution to cool completely before filling

feeders. Unused nectar may be stored in

the refrigerator, covered, for up to one

week.

PLANT MARKERS

Take a lid from a tin can or a plastic lid,

write (or stamp) the plant name you need.

Insert the lid between the tines of an old

fork and insert near the plant.

MAKE SEED SPACING EASIER

Take an old measuring stick (wood kind)

and drill holes at the one inch marks (or

whatever spacing you prefer). Make sure

the holes are large enough to allow a pen-

cil or dowel to go through. Lay your yard-

stick along the plant row and mark your

planting holes!

REUSABLE SHOPPING BAGS

Reusable shopping bags can be used as

planting containers! Remove the plastic

bottom insert and cut off the handles. Fill

with potting medium and plant away! The

bags will break down over the season and

can be composted.

CLEAN IT UP!

Gardening tools aren’t cheap. Keep the

ones you have in good working order. Al-

ways clean your tools before you put them

away. Keep the edges sharp. You’ll save

time and money in the long run.

CHECK OUT SALES

Don’t discount yard sales. Especially mov-

ing sales and estate sales. Take the time to

make the rounds and score inexpensive

containers and tools!

START WITH SMALLER PLANTS

When you get plants from a retail location,

choose smaller plants. They usually cost

less and will transplant better than large

specimens.

GROW WHAT YOU EAT

If you are growing vegetables, grow what

you’ll eat! Try growing the more expensive

foods that you buy in the store all the time.

If you find yourself spending a lot of mon-

ey on fresh herbs, get that herb garden

going!

KEEP A RECORD

Not only keep track of what you planted

where, but keep a running record of your

garden expenses. You’ll be able to see

where most of your money is going and

maybe find a less expensive solution.

AND SOME OTHERS

-Buy only the quantities that you need.

-Use local sources for heavy stuff to save

on shipping costs.

- Make friends with someone who owns a

pick-up truck.

-Be nice to garden center clerks. You’d be

surprised at the money saving information

you may glean from them.

-Purchase late in the season when there

are more likely to be discounts.

We all love to garden and saving money

while you’re at it makes it all that more

enjoyable!

Don’t forget—time is money as well. If you

can find an easier and less time consum-

ing method for doing something—do it!

99

PUZZLE PAGE

Q O Z D A Z M U L C H W D K C D X

W I Z M B A B E A E D A H S F D A

L R P R A K E Z G M T O K I I S E

M Y X Z P L R I N E L U D N S L P

Y G H C N E B L I E W U P H Q D O

D S V E F V E I D S D J O P C G T

S R O K X T Y T E Y I V U U V R T

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V O R S D A E E W L N W A B T M N

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I have come to the conclusion that I

am very glad that (a) I do not have nosy

neighbors (b) the homes in my neigh-

borhood are single story ones and (c)

that my back yard has high fences.

To begin with, I got the genius idea

that I wanted an outdoor shower. I

never liked walking through the house

after a day in the garden. Usually, you

could follow my trail of garden dirt and

plant parts.

Thankfully I had help with the con-

struction part and I now have an out-

door shower. I hook up a camp shower

when I first go out and by the time I’m

done with the garden chores, the water

is warm.

Lattice work was installed for privacy

but to be quite honest, it doesn’t hide

much. So, I installed roll up blinds. In

theory, this would have worked won-

ders—in practice....refer to (a) (b) and

(c) above.

I have to admit that I do enjoy the

shower—even with the questionable

coverage. At least it’s in the back yard

and the UPS driver only goes to the

front (otherwise he could be struck

blind).

It rained today so I know that I’ll be

out slug hunting again tonight. Sure, I

could put down slug bait but I’d rather

not. I put on my head lamp, gather up a

can with salt and a rubber glove. With

any luck it will be before midnight

(that’s when I was out there yesterday).

Refer again to (a) (b) and (c).

Then there was today, a baby bunny

decided to go into my greenhouse. I

don’t have a problem with rabbits but I

didn’t want the little guy in there. I’m

not the most nimble person in the

world and anyone who has been

around baby bunnies...let’s just say it

wasn’t pretty. He finally left but I swear

I heard him laughing as he exited.

So indeed, I’m really glad that the

neighbors can’t view my ‘escapades’

most of the time. But I can’t help think-

ing about when I was growing up and

we didn’t have all this ‘privacy’.

Back then, we lived in row houses

(what they call townhomes now). The

backyards all faced the alley and every-

one had a back gate into the alley.

There were fences between the yards

but they weren’t high wooden things.

No, these were just the right height to

lean on. Not so high you couldn’t ‘hop

the fence’ to go play with your friends

but high enough to provide a comforta-

ble leaning spot.

Those fences heard a lot of stories

during the summer months. Who was

where, prices, politics, and sports. De-

bating on who was growing vegetables

the wrong way and passing over a

warm pie.

The front porches were occupied as

well but these were for ‘visiting’ or for

watching the world go by. It was a

more proper place, to be on the front

porch. You never knew who might be

walking by so you behaved yourself.

But the backyard fences, that’s where

friendships were made, arguments

took place, and apologies were accept-

ed. Babies were admired and grief was

shared. You were raised to mind your

own business and not gawk into a

neighbors yard. You had your ‘privacy’

because everyone ‘minded their man-

ners’.

The fences marked property bounda-

ries, not boundaries between people.

Today, we build high fences. We say it’s

for privacy, to keep the kids safe, etc.,

etc. We build fences to keep the world

out. Actually, I think those fences don’t

keep out the world as much as they

keep us in.

Well, time to go hunt slugs and enjoy

the evening. The neighbors won’t see

me. Gee, I miss the leaning fences.

Marg S.—Editor

Shari F., Karen H. and

Linda M.—Co-Editors

LAST WORD By Marg S.