Growing berries, vegetables and herbs organically at home

[Evo]

He's been neutered.

 

[turbo]

He's been neutered.

AND trans-gendered? Someone has far too much money kicking around. Send it to me.

 

[baywax]

This guy's been flying around my place, taking on the mad neighbour and her critter traps.

 

[turbo]

That's just GOT to be a Photoshopped fake. (No phone booth.)

 

[baywax]

That's just GOT to be a Photoshopped fake. (No phone booth.)

This supercritter fits in a cell phone case.

 

[Evo]

This guy's been flying around my place, taking on the mad neighbour and her critter traps.

:!) My Hero!

 

[baywax]

:!) My Hero!

Mine too! You've heard of "Kal-El" (Superman's Kryptonian name) well this is
"Squir-El" Kal-El's 2nd cousin, thrice removed.

I used to have two walnut trees and I never saw a squirrel in either of them. It wasn't really squirrel country I guess... more like chipmonk territory.

When cleaning up after hulling black walnuts, it is best to place leavings in the trash. Do not compost walnut husks. Juglone, a naturally occurring chemical released by all parts of black walnut trees, can have a toxic effect on many vegetables and landscape plants.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h404blkwal.html

The husk is probably really toxic to any insects and chipmonks etc.. The hulls of black walnut are reported to be toxic enough to rid the intestine of parasitic worms...

Here's the "Wiki answer" to that...

Available scientific evidence does not support claims that hulls from black walnuts remove parasites from the intestinal tract or that they are effective in treating cancer or any other disease. Early evidence from the lab suggests that juglone, a compound in black walnut, may possibly reduce cancer risk. However, studies in humans have not been completed
Source:
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_5_3X_Black_Walnut.asp?sitearea=ETO

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_black_walnut_hull_kill_parasites

 

[karmington]

Kerrie-> interesting note on the traveling and bagging plants. Couple of weeks max though i imagine?
gnome->You guys are missing out on the joys of the chainsaw. how true. Felling a tree == killing an animal || making a house || earning a cognac bottle
enigma->_ spraypaint the concrete green. valid choice if no thing better at hand.
gardening is good. farming is the same, many want produce of some sort.
neverminding the difference, i have been forced to cultivate under synthetic restrictions for the most part. Worked stints as a gardener an went to forestry school.
It seems to give a sense of harmony with a natural growth pattern. Seeing the massive trees of age far beyond one's own may be quite profound if so inclined.
Clausius2->what a surprise! And i would have imagined visiting spain that the garden is one of the main things if one lives outside of a big city. Such lush growth everywhere. But urban life is a different story. If one accepts we live in a concrete jungle then we must bring ourselves the forest to the city. Once met a Canadian girl working as a tree doctor in ny city for example.
BicycleTree->lawn vs. pines. Absolutely agree. Most of the recreational forest cabins in Finland are 'rough', meaning they are 90% natural forest undergrowth. lawns are control things. If you have a purpose for it, like playing a game or parking your vehicle, wahtever, it will pave it's own way half and you can clear the other half. Mostly lawns are bulldust, aesthetics. But without aesthetics perhaps the ellipse might not have been found so soon. re: old story about sunking gardener.
matthyaouw-> you know the flora and fauna well. cudos. may your guineapigs develop camouflage colors vs. sparrowhawk :)

 

[Borek]

Winter home garden

 

[turbo]

I like sprouts in garden salads, though I fall out of the salad-eating habit as soon as we have to rely on produce from stores. It's just not the same.

The sprouts remind me of a salad that I used to make - spinach, alfalfa sprouts, and sliced onion with crushed walnuts and crumbled feta cheese - oil and cider vinegar for the dressing and top with ground black pepper.

 

[Evo]

Here are my squirrels (taken from my bedroom window). There are nine of them. This picture is from a couple of weeks ago.

I started to put their food out on the rocks when I got home today and there was not a squirrel in sight. Suddenly the trees came alive and the thundering of tiny feet racing through the thick mat of dried leaves at the bottom of the ravine became deafening. Then tiny gray bodies started popping up all over the rocks. They didn't mind that my dog, a.k.a. the "Fruit Bat" was with me. These were squirrels on a mission and nothing was stopping them.

 

[baywax]

Here are my squirrels (taken from my bedroom window). There are nine of them. This picture is from a couple of weeks ago.

I started to put their food out on the rocks when I got home today and there was not a squirrel in sight. Suddenly the trees came alive and the thundering of tiny feet racing through the thick mat of dried leaves at the bottom of the ravine became deafening. Then tiny gray bodies started popping up all over the rocks. They didn't mind that my dog, a.k.a. the "Fruit Bat" was with me. These were squirrels on a mission and nothing was stopping them.

Wow that is so cool... or disturbing... don't know which.

I've never seen that many squirrels in one spot like that, except maybe in Stanley Park.

They are aggressive though, with sharp teeth! My cat will chase them but keeps his distance. They don't really mind that.

The gene pool among them here is more varied... black ones, grey and brown.

 

[turbo]

Today, the temp is above normal for this time of year, but yesterday was just gorgeous - sunny and ~45 deg F most of the afternoon, so I spent the afternoon pruning my apple trees. It's amazing how many vertical suckers the trees can throw off in a single year. They leaf out and shade the more productive branches while stealing nutrients from the fruit-bearing branches, so off they go! Hopefully, next spring is a little warmer and drier than last, so the blossoms get better-pollinated.

 

[baywax]

Hopefully, next spring is a little warmer and drier than last, so the blossoms get better-pollinated.

Any news on the bee colony crisis?

 

[turbo]

Any news on the bee colony crisis?

I had a few (VERY few) honeybees show up toward the end of the summer, but none in the cold, wet spring when my apple trees needed to be pollinated. Small bees (solitary mason bees) and wasps did some of the pollinating, though the bulk of that fell to the bumble bees.

There are lots of hollowed-out trees on properties near here, and I have hopes that a wild honeybee population will establish itself, for the sake of my trees and garden.

No definitive word on CCD, but I suspect that it is a man-made problem. Lots of corn now has been genetically modified to produce the toxin secreted by bacillus thuringiensis. The absolute lack of monarch butterflies this year and the lack of honeybees may be attributable to the use of such strains of corn. Bees have been found to have problems in the gut, when autopsied, and that's exactly where BT acts on insects. It paralyzes the gut and renders them unable to eat and unable to process the food already eaten.

 

[baywax]

I had a few (VERY few) honeybees show up toward the end of the summer, but none in the cold, wet spring when my apple trees needed to be pollinated. Small bees (solitary mason bees) and wasps did some of the pollinating, though the bulk of that fell to the bumble bees.

There are lots of hollowed-out trees on properties near here, and I have hopes that a wild honeybee population will establish itself, for the sake of my trees and garden.

No definitive word on CCD, but I suspect that it is a man-made problem. Lots of corn now has been genetically modified to produce the toxin secreted by bacillus thuringiensis. The absolute lack of monarch butterflies this year and the lack of honeybees may be attributable to the use of such strains of corn. Bees have been found to have problems in the gut, when autopsied, and that's exactly where BT acts on insects. It paralyzes the gut and renders them unable to eat and unable to process the food already eaten.

Perhaps we need to get the Monsanto execs running around in the fields naked, pollinating our crops for us.

 

[Evo]

It's snowing outside, but it's 36F, so it's not sticking to the wet ground, at least it's nice to watch.

 

[turbo]

It's currently 41 deg and sunny and the snow from yesterday is slowly melting. I don't mind this part of winter so much. When northeasters dump 12-18" of snow on us at a time, that is another thing entirely.

 

[baywax]

Its not snowing below 1500 ft here (lots of mountains). But we've had two large meteors make it to the ground out in Western Canada. That makes them meteorites. Everyone is running around looking for their remains. Well, not everyone!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/128

 

[Borek]

It was white here, but temperature get up to about 7 deg C yesterday, so all snow is gone now.

 

[Math Jeans]

Its not snowing below 1500 ft here (lots of mountains). But we've had two large meteors make it to the ground out in Western Canada. That makes them meteorites. Everyone is running around looking for their remains. Well, not everyone!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/128

Really? I actually saw one hit the ground here in Phoenix last night.

It was pretty much a streak of light that hit a mountain (I saw it while in the car on my way home from seeing a movie).

 

[Moonbear]

Its not snowing below 1500 ft here (lots of mountains). But we've had two large meteors make it to the ground out in Western Canada. That makes them meteorites. Everyone is running around looking for their remains. Well, not everyone!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/128

Maybe it's the lost NASA toolkit.

 

[turbo]

Maybe it's the lost NASA toolkit.

If NASA has developed canvas tool-bags and grease-guns that don't burn up on re-entry, we should think about cutting their manned-mission budgets.

 

[turbo]

I would love to have a nickel-iron meteorite plow into my garden (spare the garlic bed, please)! I'd give it to Jerry Rados and have him make me a fantastic patterned damascus hunting knife. He could keep the remainder and make and sell other knives at ridiculous prices.

 

[baywax]

Really? I actually saw one hit the ground here in Phoenix last night.

It was pretty much a streak of light that hit a mountain (I saw it while in the car on my way home from seeing a movie).

You might want to look for it yourself... could be up to $10,000 in it for you to find it.

 

[baywax]

Maybe it's the lost NASA toolkit.

Some backyard astronomer in Ontario has tracked the orbit of the tool kit.
He had a nice telescope to find it with. NASA said that he had actually found it and were using his coordinates to track it themselves...

The guy said it will be re-entering in Spring 2009.

 

[thinkgreen95]

What are some types of decaying plant leachants? (maybe nitrates, phosphates, ammonium, ammonium nitrate, potassium, nitrites) Just wondering. I can't seem to find it anywhere.

 

[Evo]

I can't take winter anymore, I want spring. I want to open the windows and smell fresh air.

I want to start my garden.

 

[turbo]

I can't take winter anymore, I want spring. I want to open the windows and smell fresh air.

I want to start my garden.

My wife and I are looking at seed catalogs and planning our garden for this summer. It will be another 3 months before we can think of planting, though. Blah!

 

[hypatia]

I started some chives and Sweet pea seeds in my window today. I needed a bit of hope that spring will come.