tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37096946369531359172024-03-15T21:09:41.820-04:00Blog of an Ancient GardenerGardening tips plus observations about retirement life and what’s happening beyond the garden gate.Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.comBlogger362125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-86491705754150070412014-12-24T05:00:00.000-05:002014-12-25T16:24:31.720-05:00In the Bleak Midwinter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0R4dI2bOAPf9k6vXNZ6TLcAMNSnijoOGt1bIh7X40X9NnWe8qaQcuOTzLiq3T_L_hXHI7HgLuS4rr1_lqrBG4jOo0YCH_r01dXrtIbtIcckunkFsEZEPBOvR0sbOE-phF9gHsQ0udB3E/s1600/IMG_7691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0R4dI2bOAPf9k6vXNZ6TLcAMNSnijoOGt1bIh7X40X9NnWe8qaQcuOTzLiq3T_L_hXHI7HgLuS4rr1_lqrBG4jOo0YCH_r01dXrtIbtIcckunkFsEZEPBOvR0sbOE-phF9gHsQ0udB3E/s1600/IMG_7691.JPG" height="320" width="296" /></a></div>
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By Christina Rossetti, 1830-1894</div>
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In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,</div>
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Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;</div>
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Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,</div>
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In the bleak midwinter, long ago.</div>
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Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;</div>
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Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.</div>
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In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed</div>
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The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.</div>
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Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,</div>
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Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;</div>
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Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,</div>
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The ox and ass and camel which adore.</div>
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Angels and archangels may have gathered there,</div>
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Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;</div>
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But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,</div>
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Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.</div>
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What can I give Him, poor as I am?</div>
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If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;</div>
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If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;</div>
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Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.</div>
Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-14607132253707389062014-11-13T21:29:00.001-05:002014-11-13T21:29:25.761-05:00The Men's Garden Club that Was But Isn't<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FUMSbVE5A2DX6tLTksGBxWvm2yZgHQ6ZsZmGjm0oIyiqyy9ob37p1N9nkYYhD41lO4wWQZDirksWqTWgPvWJ6u5UHGYvbjrdNydXMaDxFaVhNjb5JYwcPooehSvcLaCJ929WJUMj-KM/s1600/IMG_7675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FUMSbVE5A2DX6tLTksGBxWvm2yZgHQ6ZsZmGjm0oIyiqyy9ob37p1N9nkYYhD41lO4wWQZDirksWqTWgPvWJ6u5UHGYvbjrdNydXMaDxFaVhNjb5JYwcPooehSvcLaCJ929WJUMj-KM/s320/IMG_7675.JPG" width="253" /></a></div>
Here's a blast from the past--a short posting about a men's garden club. It took less than a year in the 1940s before the guys held their first ladies' night--and the ladies judged the refreshments prepared by the men--and gave every "chef" a blue ribbon. Smart women! The story will take you only three minutes to read. Click <a href="http://groweat.blogspot.com/2014/11/joe-gardener-still-resting-on-his-hoe.html#axzz3J0OOj5d6">HERE</a> to go to my posting on the University of Maryland Extension's "Grow It! Eat It!" blog. Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-33106976871637331952014-07-24T08:38:00.000-04:002014-07-24T08:38:04.204-04:00Free Baltic Photo Tour: Thoughts of a Master Gardener<br />
Yesterday’s posting featured <a href="http://ancientgardenerblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/free-baltic-photo-tour-container-gardens.html">Baltic container gardens</a>. Today’s posting includes 12 miscellaneous photographs of scenes that this Master Gardener found thought-provoking. I took the photos last month on Ellen’s and my tour of ancient Baltic port cities aboard the Oceania Cruises “Marina.”<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuhkgF7KPwdP7GpRUcLiIshuFJfv9tsJkB5bksLFwuMgg3VG61DHigJMqg6HELxpnb3VQRSJbqk3Vi6jYR8h-LvWmwKCSh5YV3qk7nVC4NLJX3qQ4Da9H-5IQyma_-uzeFctOB1q_1YRU/s1600/1+EST+Brilliant+flowrs+Tallinn+Estonia+IMG_7174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuhkgF7KPwdP7GpRUcLiIshuFJfv9tsJkB5bksLFwuMgg3VG61DHigJMqg6HELxpnb3VQRSJbqk3Vi6jYR8h-LvWmwKCSh5YV3qk7nVC4NLJX3qQ4Da9H-5IQyma_-uzeFctOB1q_1YRU/s1600/1+EST+Brilliant+flowrs+Tallinn+Estonia+IMG_7174.JPG" height="260" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do Baltic peoples prefer brilliant flowers<br />
as an antidote to their long, dark winters?<br />
Flower shop in Tallinn, Estonia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FJd-r-P1naJR8rw1C0BDYEgssODE8Pw9KW87lbqn70yu9VLqSp8SAebc2t3t2t1XPW7nWtFvHk2YabSGpbH-Lk1ODw_EFeU5_hjlXMQG8Ui_Oean08AzZXC69pYaGVCj1yc4f-47YY8/s1600/2+EST+Permeable+pavers+Tallinn+Estonia+IMG_7172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FJd-r-P1naJR8rw1C0BDYEgssODE8Pw9KW87lbqn70yu9VLqSp8SAebc2t3t2t1XPW7nWtFvHk2YabSGpbH-Lk1ODw_EFeU5_hjlXMQG8Ui_Oean08AzZXC69pYaGVCj1yc4f-47YY8/s1600/2+EST+Permeable+pavers+Tallinn+Estonia+IMG_7172.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Streets can be permeable, right,<br />
to absorb rain water and protect waterways?<br />
Tallinn, Estonia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0FHg3hSsntP4Kz5dZ1jOc_LXJfMgsbQe792tK_WuA4cScsS2Mfg1StK9UzlFTRBsGk97Fas6aRR6wm8h2cJuzJoti_34kDrVAvmZmtncEVAfhwt4YQq4geVVqhfdfRJyOzQMNdeQvx4/s1600/3+Por+Dandelion+Porvoo+Finland+IMG_7271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0FHg3hSsntP4Kz5dZ1jOc_LXJfMgsbQe792tK_WuA4cScsS2Mfg1StK9UzlFTRBsGk97Fas6aRR6wm8h2cJuzJoti_34kDrVAvmZmtncEVAfhwt4YQq4geVVqhfdfRJyOzQMNdeQvx4/s1600/3+Por+Dandelion+Porvoo+Finland+IMG_7271.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aha! Finnish gardeners "enjoy" dandelions too!<br />
Porvoo, Finland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7MX_wKttn9uGmVg4dAglfnTqOZF23C_WepPLeyXmQn8l0Rtl0qG433hZG5WwZDAhwBFCRNMpeCOcFSl0B-yTA5gIuRNbD5xLNdN0liUCGogTL6Y491mPvYde5-ZhzlRyIlYRHu4ykfbs/s1600/4+Por+Garden+gate+Porvoo+Finland+IMG_7275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7MX_wKttn9uGmVg4dAglfnTqOZF23C_WepPLeyXmQn8l0Rtl0qG433hZG5WwZDAhwBFCRNMpeCOcFSl0B-yTA5gIuRNbD5xLNdN0liUCGogTL6Y491mPvYde5-ZhzlRyIlYRHu4ykfbs/s1600/4+Por+Garden+gate+Porvoo+Finland+IMG_7275.JPG" height="269" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you imagine the garden that must<br />
grow behind this garden gate and wall?<br />
Porvoo, Finland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjmmejCzutvoO7aIlYX4nmnlsyMZD9gngyiTqpigsAPzGKTImDjCRV5T4gmdq_M5N0d5xzP95KKBuQ0oNY9JUGfgBA6xxx5i0_Ci6lB1vlYW6QB8tS18wQiYMLi5XCZ-9pjUHLGh1WBM/s1600/5+LAT+Fern+IMG_7327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjmmejCzutvoO7aIlYX4nmnlsyMZD9gngyiTqpigsAPzGKTImDjCRV5T4gmdq_M5N0d5xzP95KKBuQ0oNY9JUGfgBA6xxx5i0_Ci6lB1vlYW6QB8tS18wQiYMLi5XCZ-9pjUHLGh1WBM/s1600/5+LAT+Fern+IMG_7327.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Latvian legend says if you find a fern in bloom<br />
in the forest, you'll have good luck forever.<br />
Does this qualify?<br />
Park in Riga, Latvia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnBdUIAh4Q0YdvcPh_UmWrTAra0YL6SX48a8KnUECZb71KZwHvWwPuHHyIfWzh4lJfUN42nEPm902-DFgaBAJIiImlGlQPaSbfHV0dIUdNBX8B3l8BtaFClNKyN8J9hBuoraSIt7BM9Jc/s1600/6+LAT+Longest+Day+decorations+IMG_7315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnBdUIAh4Q0YdvcPh_UmWrTAra0YL6SX48a8KnUECZb71KZwHvWwPuHHyIfWzh4lJfUN42nEPm902-DFgaBAJIiImlGlQPaSbfHV0dIUdNBX8B3l8BtaFClNKyN8J9hBuoraSIt7BM9Jc/s1600/6+LAT+Longest+Day+decorations+IMG_7315.JPG" height="320" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many cultures still celebrate natural events<br />
such the summer solstice, as these<br />
decorations in Riga, Latvia, attest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixtVAEquvwDt_oe5Z8eBjmnGDWPLXzfdrWwaSvSIlEQ3CCWuDN5BqA5BlehqVtYDk2fTpA6W40crsWdVHmHGVFwTzEfeM2hmLy4s2DiOIVjlJ4wOX2ADrMwl5_H8DfXU1u4gcxjaswn6k/s1600/7+HEL+Flower+plants+Helsinki+market+IMG_7280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixtVAEquvwDt_oe5Z8eBjmnGDWPLXzfdrWwaSvSIlEQ3CCWuDN5BqA5BlehqVtYDk2fTpA6W40crsWdVHmHGVFwTzEfeM2hmLy4s2DiOIVjlJ4wOX2ADrMwl5_H8DfXU1u4gcxjaswn6k/s1600/7+HEL+Flower+plants+Helsinki+market+IMG_7280.JPG" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What flowers do gardeners in northern countries<br />
buy for their gardens at the plant market?<br />
Helsinki, Finland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVPigt-7H5NAM-aliywePoldOS14wmudssr-yOG2RtImjGoJ1TA8mLk2rylOzaxDP3YFiCVYmCiKWyYMoD1a54Rxde7BlhjBOfru7iSi3j01mAMkGRqZezrAO2jOpGkhOiGbzQGFoWSbQ/s1600/8+HEL+Herbs+market+IMG_7281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVPigt-7H5NAM-aliywePoldOS14wmudssr-yOG2RtImjGoJ1TA8mLk2rylOzaxDP3YFiCVYmCiKWyYMoD1a54Rxde7BlhjBOfru7iSi3j01mAMkGRqZezrAO2jOpGkhOiGbzQGFoWSbQ/s1600/8+HEL+Herbs+market+IMG_7281.JPG" height="243" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And what herbs do Finnish gardeners plant?<br />
Cilantro, chives, basil, parsley....<br />
Helsinki, Finland, plant market</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJtjoI9tOxgbPdA4FKX8oPikUWi34VLtzbM1-sWcG9NzjyoSMsVOzI50FpJKWj6ZYLacEFXXVQiXqLuMFww7bYFYGjRthiF-S6bMTLByVnpOIavGhchmE91yxsEI4rEzaxiRqh-692QIw/s1600/9+HEL+Vegetable+stand++IMG_7285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJtjoI9tOxgbPdA4FKX8oPikUWi34VLtzbM1-sWcG9NzjyoSMsVOzI50FpJKWj6ZYLacEFXXVQiXqLuMFww7bYFYGjRthiF-S6bMTLByVnpOIavGhchmE91yxsEI4rEzaxiRqh-692QIw/s1600/9+HEL+Vegetable+stand++IMG_7285.JPG" height="237" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Grow local, eat local" is<br />
apparently also a popular trend in Helsinki</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIo0PIHmzx_TrXwyHkYwNbNYnR-62IdEsvNwQysylhWLyPxe2jujvYealuQLo41jqcG7UFnwzvIMpnyD6AsBSck4hKsjkFVlvvA1-6RDENN9K908Cu8b1cT9qA0qhKEGR6KOo3PjWf-0/s1600/10+HEL+Reindeer+menu+IMG_7291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIo0PIHmzx_TrXwyHkYwNbNYnR-62IdEsvNwQysylhWLyPxe2jujvYealuQLo41jqcG7UFnwzvIMpnyD6AsBSck4hKsjkFVlvvA1-6RDENN9K908Cu8b1cT9qA0qhKEGR6KOo3PjWf-0/s1600/10+HEL+Reindeer+menu+IMG_7291.JPG" height="204" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Finns apparently have figured out<br />
the key to sustainable deer management.<br />
Fast-food stand at Helsinki outdoor market</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKATM0-EYhUHrIWCm0iHKnEf9cSctnyQCnoV8yMe8Ne6nJuh1Fdr_AFIDRkCgX-56nNoMzIs84tNLlWyH3SrUfFsFL7UQprE2iEhpTYH1Q_j4H8F4KCW8x4T8SN168F6FLbfFFa4vb1nw/s1600/11+RUS+Hermitage+flower+garden+IMG_7247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKATM0-EYhUHrIWCm0iHKnEf9cSctnyQCnoV8yMe8Ne6nJuh1Fdr_AFIDRkCgX-56nNoMzIs84tNLlWyH3SrUfFsFL7UQprE2iEhpTYH1Q_j4H8F4KCW8x4T8SN168F6FLbfFFa4vb1nw/s1600/11+RUS+Hermitage+flower+garden+IMG_7247.JPG" height="248" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Was I the only tourist to pause at a window to take a photo<br />
of this stunning rooftop garden at the Hermitage,<br />
St. Petersburg, Russia?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqM-rLCjjFNtQHJt4j0Y3q7iIInlhbHMZ-Na1QRTWaAYxhg-0g0l_xcCHfn4jtCmeewPKMX_CJGjqIYyuYK2K37e9yDYCiFoK6CISZ2_Ty25NhJM_THcYtZXIaNhyaOrv_IeYpETdVhI/s1600/12+GER+Schwerin+castle+IMG_7400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqM-rLCjjFNtQHJt4j0Y3q7iIInlhbHMZ-Na1QRTWaAYxhg-0g0l_xcCHfn4jtCmeewPKMX_CJGjqIYyuYK2K37e9yDYCiFoK6CISZ2_Ty25NhJM_THcYtZXIaNhyaOrv_IeYpETdVhI/s1600/12+GER+Schwerin+castle+IMG_7400.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't pity the German aristocrats who in centuries<br />
past admired the garden from a window of the castle<br />
at Schwerin</td></tr>
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<br />Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-19259762562789566192014-07-23T16:35:00.000-04:002014-07-23T16:37:06.489-04:00Free Baltic Photo Tour: Container Gardens<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl5y24td0Zp_ondzD0ShBTY2opewAeY4P6bFl1QcJ3rEcB-WMUNEqdjgjTEy-e8QFbeSBDxCF7S96lJ9BBjWujCzewGuGg2fatllKPwHs6CXPRg_U5UcSMel360kMBu_s14KHrwkp8wNU/s1600/1+Geranium+purse+Helsinki++IMG_7293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl5y24td0Zp_ondzD0ShBTY2opewAeY4P6bFl1QcJ3rEcB-WMUNEqdjgjTEy-e8QFbeSBDxCF7S96lJ9BBjWujCzewGuGg2fatllKPwHs6CXPRg_U5UcSMel360kMBu_s14KHrwkp8wNU/s1600/1+Geranium+purse+Helsinki++IMG_7293.JPG" height="268" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time to clean out that purse?<br />
Helsinki restaurant sidewalk table container garden</td></tr>
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Visiting Baltic countries and their ancient ports via the Ocean Cruises “Marina” last month provided Ellen and me lots of photo ops of intriguing architecture, collections of art and other exhibits in world-class museums, and even a statue of Czar Alexander II topped by a resting seagull, but it suddenly dawned on me several days into the trip that I was spending some of my most relaxing moments taking photographs of what for the lack of a better term I’ll just call “Master Gardener Shots.”<br />
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I’ll post the photos in two parts. Part 1—this posting—includes 10 photographs of container gardens, which add greenery and towers of attractive color to cold gray cobblestone and granite centers of many ancient Baltic cities in such countries as Finland, Lithuania, and Latvia. My only regret is that I had to “click and trudge on” and couldn’t stay for a day or two to meet and chat with those who care for the containers to learn more about these beautiful creations.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgckpFq2H6iBe0ON5Xshs4MyXbGMhfG0cWmVLCFFaMrI2FYfHDGDhy-f0IGMoqQwqkDZAmGSWmhfhDH52BjKOnBedswtpTztswyfOieS7VFSIY4f2KH1y_QI06d0GYsIqBXGxdEe9_op_g/s1600/2+Pansy+shoes+Helsinki++IMG_7292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgckpFq2H6iBe0ON5Xshs4MyXbGMhfG0cWmVLCFFaMrI2FYfHDGDhy-f0IGMoqQwqkDZAmGSWmhfhDH52BjKOnBedswtpTztswyfOieS7VFSIY4f2KH1y_QI06d0GYsIqBXGxdEe9_op_g/s1600/2+Pansy+shoes+Helsinki++IMG_7292.JPG" height="244" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My garden boots have high tops, so this won't work for me.<br />
Helsinki restaurant container gardens<br />
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Part 2—the next posting—will include miscellaneous photos that I found eye-catching or thought-provoking. I hope you enjoy each photo and that it sparks a daydream about your own gardening adventure.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjks3Pgs6WN5kCDqF6XB_4Rb_nXregCUXIkON7okv7TuS-FvZ_lkbfFxrinlfl4qsolZH_4CouoXME0cJ3Qz2AaXkC1n9Fh502Vz8-VaEijZP0zH4drrQpNTTwGlj5tXM6jfiGHlUMWEEE/s1600/3+Petunia+towers+Klaipeda+IMG_7371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjks3Pgs6WN5kCDqF6XB_4Rb_nXregCUXIkON7okv7TuS-FvZ_lkbfFxrinlfl4qsolZH_4CouoXME0cJ3Qz2AaXkC1n9Fh502Vz8-VaEijZP0zH4drrQpNTTwGlj5tXM6jfiGHlUMWEEE/s1600/3+Petunia+towers+Klaipeda+IMG_7371.JPG" height="196" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petunia towers liven up the town square<br />
in Klaipeda, Lithuania<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdcYVO-vV0JoXfKZoY0akFnM0OI2FpVyfCEgD2OACinRYz_ZVKEJ47RG8bRTkW5uXZMIsoTCvObCJWlbF-BpNEz9X3gt-55OT24_NbqGe05FIkVYO55vAxDWkAxPes__CXU_HZr7jqeGU/s1600/4+Geranium+tree+Klaipeda+Lithuania+IMG_7385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdcYVO-vV0JoXfKZoY0akFnM0OI2FpVyfCEgD2OACinRYz_ZVKEJ47RG8bRTkW5uXZMIsoTCvObCJWlbF-BpNEz9X3gt-55OT24_NbqGe05FIkVYO55vAxDWkAxPes__CXU_HZr7jqeGU/s1600/4+Geranium+tree+Klaipeda+Lithuania+IMG_7385.JPG" height="320" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geranium tree in Klaipeda, Lithuania<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6QQ8pDi5GvK-f8pCcI-QTLwa38ztaCHEkFOYYmt4nFkt4ZKtXTs8SCajdpZkWAzFMdU6dcnIZ-7OZMn5iarb-1dbG8gArVFnzGVeyuFU9tyjHXfXMGcyG7lIGgGnAZkh9HZTLELl_4Cs/s1600/5+Begonias+plus+Riga+IMG_7342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6QQ8pDi5GvK-f8pCcI-QTLwa38ztaCHEkFOYYmt4nFkt4ZKtXTs8SCajdpZkWAzFMdU6dcnIZ-7OZMn5iarb-1dbG8gArVFnzGVeyuFU9tyjHXfXMGcyG7lIGgGnAZkh9HZTLELl_4Cs/s1600/5+Begonias+plus+Riga+IMG_7342.JPG" height="210" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flowers separating restaurant seating from street,<br />
Riga, Latvia<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2YS3zawisH0bHUsa-ZtKN0jKogN4OQFhOAiMrLomy14szbzjRnaS5cTNqbToYFtQYwGFeYax0vrKzjPENT5mxHhyphenhyphenEKz5NhRe2Bii-YAG1qDD3sPb_XjEno1OEe576Zd_CdUOvpWXZ1M/s1600/6+Geraniums+plus+Riga+IMG_7329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2YS3zawisH0bHUsa-ZtKN0jKogN4OQFhOAiMrLomy14szbzjRnaS5cTNqbToYFtQYwGFeYax0vrKzjPENT5mxHhyphenhyphenEKz5NhRe2Bii-YAG1qDD3sPb_XjEno1OEe576Zd_CdUOvpWXZ1M/s1600/6+Geraniums+plus+Riga+IMG_7329.JPG" height="223" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geranium trough in Riga, Latvia<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjC7Lhp4LCUEcDzrSDIiwZHeMRoBR7e6dj36gbq8xYb11rA-xpk-0jwzRkmb2vIf1T7lGdBYxW6vHF7msLMDt8rFl0cRefTJqfb8QSH9kB2PT2Zsm4xBLBTDoE1t5KjEiGBRJpjm7M0Y0/s1600/7+Restaurant+extended+into+street+Riga+IMG_7349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjC7Lhp4LCUEcDzrSDIiwZHeMRoBR7e6dj36gbq8xYb11rA-xpk-0jwzRkmb2vIf1T7lGdBYxW6vHF7msLMDt8rFl0cRefTJqfb8QSH9kB2PT2Zsm4xBLBTDoE1t5KjEiGBRJpjm7M0Y0/s1600/7+Restaurant+extended+into+street+Riga+IMG_7349.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Containers used to expand restaurant into street,<br />
Riga, Latvia<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGgJEu3smaUxkOkpSYc3C39AqhspYw9DwcnPjVoze4OztMi2BMs5VTJqohOV6lMA1aNCYObo2aW-qPqcVK7EZtCmBRj8XWPasttylbZxJdtM1erjkfTU7Q5MfY6LpJDY5zaVvKlFl_OKw/s1600/9+Streetside+outdoor+market+Riga+IMG_7343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGgJEu3smaUxkOkpSYc3C39AqhspYw9DwcnPjVoze4OztMi2BMs5VTJqohOV6lMA1aNCYObo2aW-qPqcVK7EZtCmBRj8XWPasttylbZxJdtM1erjkfTU7Q5MfY6LpJDY5zaVvKlFl_OKw/s1600/9+Streetside+outdoor+market+Riga+IMG_7343.JPG" height="320" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Containers separating outdoor market from<br />
sidewalks and streets, Riga, Latvia</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWvIe6SeSK3AJ5zuX8EwHWqV-Ujg8IKys-xaVEnQw6CyOfuYIsrJARi8qp2GVvith-nMNN0XIue4u8GsHT2RAXyR5MqAV93-qulq9nmhRPKek6NQupe9u7V9kSIVkcCHavQogmFkqbfI/s1600/8+Public+square+Riga+IMG_7354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWvIe6SeSK3AJ5zuX8EwHWqV-Ujg8IKys-xaVEnQw6CyOfuYIsrJARi8qp2GVvith-nMNN0XIue4u8GsHT2RAXyR5MqAV93-qulq9nmhRPKek6NQupe9u7V9kSIVkcCHavQogmFkqbfI/s1600/8+Public+square+Riga+IMG_7354.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Containers separate large restaurant and traffic<br />
in Riga, Latvia</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjClvYyWQRLKD1JdjH44Zhs68Inn3yfAY-WbgdNRzbRAefHzjNtG5vqCBZK3j_KBJhc4XIXceeob4HQzJbYxfPhVzTEgjSJuTWp9yGtcDo-fJCAzEmzJvJWgk2Ej0JrHG-TBSDl4Y1h7OE/s1600/10+Grass+the+ultimate+Riga+IMG_7357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjClvYyWQRLKD1JdjH44Zhs68Inn3yfAY-WbgdNRzbRAefHzjNtG5vqCBZK3j_KBJhc4XIXceeob4HQzJbYxfPhVzTEgjSJuTWp9yGtcDo-fJCAzEmzJvJWgk2Ej0JrHG-TBSDl4Y1h7OE/s1600/10+Grass+the+ultimate+Riga+IMG_7357.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grass--the ultimate cover crop for a container garden?<br />
Restaurant, Riga, Latvia</td></tr>
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Yes, I did take a photograph of a Finnish seagull</div>
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visiting the statue of Czar Alexander II </div>
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Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-41079976282321849072014-06-06T18:42:00.000-04:002014-06-06T18:42:12.566-04:00Strawberries, strawberries, strawberries<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPjIP4Z3r5XKWobSQOp3ma5zor08TbF5TbQPCm-DpzW_2Wp4SWl8Jselv9nBm8ew0Uu1Av57qtmNMkb97EFSyT64qN0AK6t5HlOpIehyphenhyphenyHXE2lOCF4PN7s4IiIUyrOIPF-PvpBfLmGsA/s1600/IMG_7093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPjIP4Z3r5XKWobSQOp3ma5zor08TbF5TbQPCm-DpzW_2Wp4SWl8Jselv9nBm8ew0Uu1Av57qtmNMkb97EFSyT64qN0AK6t5HlOpIehyphenhyphenyHXE2lOCF4PN7s4IiIUyrOIPF-PvpBfLmGsA/s1600/IMG_7093.JPG" height="320" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Allstar strawberries ... pan after pan after pan</td></tr>
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When it rains, you raise your umbrella. When your strawberries ripen, you pick and pick and pick.<br />
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I had feared the “Polar Vortex” inspired deep freeze of winter 2013-2014 had damaged our strawberry patch, but the Allstar plant variety I planted two years is producing well this spring, and Ellen and I this week have picked more berries than we can possibly eat.<br />
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Wednesday morning, for example, in about 15 minutes we filled our aluminum garden pan with the bright red fruit. Curious, I got out our kitchen scale and the needle pointed to just under four pounds (1.8 kg). We had picked almost that many Tuesday. And Friday morning I picked even more—heaping the garden pan and a smaller plastic container.<br />
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We’ve been eating fresh strawberries on our cereal every morning for more than a week. Our daughter has volunteered to eat some—and did some picking herself one evening. I’ve recycled tomato clamshell packages to gift two neighbors with prime berries. Our resident catbird couple has been enjoying some of the sweet fruit too.<br />
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And still we have too many strawberries. Wednesday night we got panicky and baked some shortcake on which we heaped berries, berries, and more berries. Love that panic! And we enjoyed leftover shortcake with strawberries again Thursday evening. And every morning we heap berries on our morning cereal. What next—freezer jam?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXuFNWCbRJmkOsnZwHfof1bIbcgbd0NXoLz4FLaz3RzIW1OaDY8wvIRudslFa3KXfUoIBzch3NuUkGuwFjwcqBRVe5EjiyLwOIeXLk4jIp1lOFPcU9uzTn69T9Gsp8OmfP0j2pzuqQbc/s1600/IMG_7094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXuFNWCbRJmkOsnZwHfof1bIbcgbd0NXoLz4FLaz3RzIW1OaDY8wvIRudslFa3KXfUoIBzch3NuUkGuwFjwcqBRVe5EjiyLwOIeXLk4jIp1lOFPcU9uzTn69T9Gsp8OmfP0j2pzuqQbc/s1600/IMG_7094.JPG" height="241" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panic supper for Ancient and Mrs. Gardener</td></tr>
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I figure our strawberry harvest is peaking this week and that we’ve picked more than 15 pounds of berries. Say we pick another eight pounds. That would be 23 pounds of fruit from the original 25 plants of 2012 and their offspring, called “daughters” in berry ads. A local farm charges U-pickers $2.75 a pound. A pound clamshell of berries at our local Giant Foods supermarket recently have averaged $2.99, so our $26.50 investment in the plants in 2012 this year yielded fruit worth nearly $60.00 Not bad—or more appropriately—how sweet. This Frugal Gardener wishes our bank paid interest at that rate.<br />
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I followed directions that came with the plants from the Indiana Berry & Plant Co. and kept my two small beds narrow to maximize yield. In addition to producing beautiful fruit, the two narrow strawberries beds serve as borders of two small vegetable gardens.<br />
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This Ancient Gardener sees only one downside to growing strawberries. It seems that over the years strawberry plants are growing shorter. Or maybe my legs are growing longer and my arms are getting shorter. Oh, my Aching Back. I need to start working in the price of a bottle of acetaminophen tablets into my strawberry cost analysis. But certainly the harvest is worth a few aches and pains.<br />
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In about five years, when it’s time to plant a new bed of strawberries and I’ll be zeroing in on 80 (age, not miles per hour), perhaps I’ll have to start planting only “tall” varieties of our favorite fruits and vegetables, ones that don’t require me to stoop and stand and stoop and stand. Or maybe by then some genius will have invented a portable garden elevator so I can just hop on, push “up,” and won’t have to struggle to stand upright after berry picking.<br />
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Life is good in the gardens at Meadow Glenn. And that’s the real lowdown. Really.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6a8UZCTQxNHljkV4ZpttAU78bE1NRBJa_xeSraWy6CFsXLsGuOQgU1JORRNtGxAzFhTRwqEUpbB0s9YquqUdmyoBt8noBpPpeisfbE4dX2HhACiaGkbrZcv-AFKAi2Arl-VIYXCWdJU/s1600/IMG_7095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6a8UZCTQxNHljkV4ZpttAU78bE1NRBJa_xeSraWy6CFsXLsGuOQgU1JORRNtGxAzFhTRwqEUpbB0s9YquqUdmyoBt8noBpPpeisfbE4dX2HhACiaGkbrZcv-AFKAi2Arl-VIYXCWdJU/s1600/IMG_7095.JPG" height="267" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strawberry shortcake--again?<br />
Yes!</td></tr>
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Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-29050383105131936552014-06-04T17:22:00.000-04:002014-06-04T17:22:20.435-04:00Tomato Patch surprise: Going against the grain<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTs3x9_BIH3pK8-B4LSeaeI3UAQ684sJn2Pn_MQeuF7tr3K8sC42hIt3bh8QNaExT77LVro6lbbbfM1QWs8gBJ-yFio-cFw1uvJtzxY2C9lEhrW69cz3tc2Yql6-4m4d3jUGVdNpO-nkk/s1600/IMG_7085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTs3x9_BIH3pK8-B4LSeaeI3UAQ684sJn2Pn_MQeuF7tr3K8sC42hIt3bh8QNaExT77LVro6lbbbfM1QWs8gBJ-yFio-cFw1uvJtzxY2C9lEhrW69cz3tc2Yql6-4m4d3jUGVdNpO-nkk/s1600/IMG_7085.JPG" height="294" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Cape Cod weeder, tool of choice<br />
to uproot wheat seedlings</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I took a shortcut when I mulched my tomatoes with straw this year. I didn’t put sheets of newspaper under the mulch. And this week I’ve had to uproot hundreds of bright-green wheat seedlings that were poking up through the beige straw.<br />
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Taking care of the seedlings was relatively easy. I used my Cape Cod weeder (see photo). Wherever I saw a wheat seedling, I just pushed and pulled the weeder’s angled blade at the soil line under the mulch. The young wheat plants easily yielded their grip of the garden soil. As I finished weeding around a tomato plant, I fluffed up the mulch—leaving the Tomato Patch looking “like new.”<br />
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Time: Less than two hours. I probably would have spent that much time easily if I had put down sheets of newspaper before I put down the straw—so I’ll call time for both approaches a draw. My only second thought was that putting down paper probably makes for a nicer looking bed and prevents growth of lots of nuisance weeds. Lesson learned: I think I’ll put down paper again next spring.<br />
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A wheat plant growing in the Tomato Patch is a weed, to my way of thinking. Any plant growing where someone doesn’t want it is, well, a “weed.” I want white clover to grow in most of our yard—so it’s a welcome ingredient of our turf. Someone else who wants a “perfect” fescue lawn, of course, would consider white clover—you got it—a “weed.” <br />
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But with all the wheat weeds, I’ve been wondering why so many wheat seeds were in the beautiful bales of straw I bought at a local farm. Was the combine not operating perfectly? Were the seed heads a day or two too “green” to yield all of their seeds to the machine? Or was this “not that unusual harvest byproduct”?<br />
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I don’t know the answer, but my spring surprise in the Tomato Patch is over. The uprooted wheat plants shriveled when the sun dried their roots and became part of the mulch protecting my tomato plants from rain-splashed garden soil that may carry a variety of tomato-disease organisms.Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-77836598374648923492014-05-26T16:57:00.001-04:002014-05-26T16:57:48.947-04:00Always peonies on Memorial Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8MSOHlTUNVPebmPN1mmyQbQsjegtIqraPr1zPUSGSc7Wv1QdcOA59MfzTjwvy6nksRAH94-X8T1G1plS6jNNjRqj3BdU3KjC9cNC6IfxUuLFhxqGeVxiDtgpjNS9X_Pwuo0gpRfEYP0/s1600/IMG_7056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8MSOHlTUNVPebmPN1mmyQbQsjegtIqraPr1zPUSGSc7Wv1QdcOA59MfzTjwvy6nksRAH94-X8T1G1plS6jNNjRqj3BdU3KjC9cNC6IfxUuLFhxqGeVxiDtgpjNS9X_Pwuo0gpRfEYP0/s1600/IMG_7056.JPG" height="320" width="291" /></a></div>
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Dad used to let me go with him in the 1940s when he made his annual trip on Decoration Day, as Memorial Day was called then, to the cemetery where his parents were buried, but when we got there, he always said, “Stay in the car. I’ll be back in a minute.”<br />
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I’d watch him walk across the grass, stop in front of his parents’ gravestone, stand in silence as if thinking, and then stoop to leave a Mason jar filled with peonies.<br />
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I often wondered what my dad was thinking when he stood there—because I don’t think he could remember his parents, Warren and Angeline Nixon. They died two days apart in October 1918, both age 29, of the “Spanish Flu,” leaving six children, the oldest nine, the youngest two months, who were divided between maternal and paternal relatives for safe keeping and raising. <br />
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What does a man who became an orphan when he had just turned three think about when he stands at his parents’ grave?<br />
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Answers to that question have crossed my mind through the years, but, really, I have no idea because I really believe Dad didn’t remember his parents. He never told me anything about them other than a few facts that others had told him. On our cemetery trips he never hinted about what the annual visit meant to him. I’ve always thought that his wanting me to “wait in the car” meant his thoughts were deeply personal.<br />
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Maybe the peonies were a clue to his thoughts. If our own peonies were dropping petals as Decoration Day approached, Dad would scour the county to find a fresh bunch. Whatever sense he had of his parents must have been positive—or why would he go to all that effort? Or perhaps he had some instinctive love for the man and woman who gave him life.<br />
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When I walked out to the Shop this morning to get my wheelbarrow and tools to do some landscaping work, I notice that the buds of our red peonies had broken open during the night. Memories of ancient trips to a New Jersey cemetery—of my dad pausing in thought at his parents’ grave—and of peonies in a Mason jar—flooded my thoughts.<br />
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I have no doubt that Dad loved my brother, Jay, and me deeply, as only a parent can, and as Ellen and I love our children, Brian and Lynn. <br />
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Peony blooms last just a few days and are gone. Love and memories last forever. Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-85476249961677527352014-05-22T17:05:00.001-04:002014-05-22T17:05:46.730-04:00Oh, hail!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVuBHsiZsaOk_ss6NXjMd0Qy3GqnqFc_-lI84OeEuV88LfzKqo-mDt9s4G2oxtuOhG24lylh-Hm8x0nC03HCC1DCZcgrg4_a7pxifbLFc8daVfwrcDEL8UN2UfsigybVfhkd7INg85ss/s1600/IMG_7027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVuBHsiZsaOk_ss6NXjMd0Qy3GqnqFc_-lI84OeEuV88LfzKqo-mDt9s4G2oxtuOhG24lylh-Hm8x0nC03HCC1DCZcgrg4_a7pxifbLFc8daVfwrcDEL8UN2UfsigybVfhkd7INg85ss/s1600/IMG_7027.JPG" height="320" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"All hail broke loose!"</td></tr>
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What a beautiful late-spring day—sunny, temperature reaching into the upper 80s by mid-afternoon, with a touch of humidity reminding us that summer will soon arrive at Meadow Glenn here in Central Maryland.<br />
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About 3 p.m., the sky clouded over. By 3:30 hail—big pieces of hail—started dropping here and there as the temperature plummeted within minutes to 70. Soon our gardens became a war zone—with pellets the size of dimes punching through rhubarb leaves, blenderizing young Red Sails lettuce plants, and ripping leaves off tomato plants. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcDjz9vuKMMgPdOkuzkylQCoJ_gWGPme3z2m8hMFIEOEnmvrapV_i6OF32S0cH2uh7iPT0D4XEqL9D1xIY8tCep83icRTex5toJQVZRGOrBtrzrAzmnx4dwnt8rr56P8Y7IxwJt8vb-w/s1600/IMG_7039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcDjz9vuKMMgPdOkuzkylQCoJ_gWGPme3z2m8hMFIEOEnmvrapV_i6OF32S0cH2uh7iPT0D4XEqL9D1xIY8tCep83icRTex5toJQVZRGOrBtrzrAzmnx4dwnt8rr56P8Y7IxwJt8vb-w/s1600/IMG_7039.JPG" height="236" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blenderized Red Sails lettuce plants</td></tr>
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One of our garage doors was open, and nickel-size hailstones bounced the full length of the garage and stopped at the kitchen door. What if our cars had been outside?<br />
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By 4:20 the sun was shining brightly again. The hail was rapidly melting as the thermometer crept into the high 70s and thunder faded as the storm clouds headed east. I checked releases by the National Weather Service, and they reported hail the size of “quarters” and “gold balls.” I’m glad the storm exited here before the hail became the size of “bricks.”<br />
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It’s time to wait and see what happens with our damaged garden plants. I hope our tomato plants—and our lettuce too—will recover. I think the tomatoes will recover nicely—but the lettuce plants are so damaged they may have to releaf from their roots.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbFv9iTQ8flmP4578MJPhxeEg_eemXuAccpeY7wQ8maoOrlOC-bQMWMUZyCzhBHw4FN-U7O7E7tJGkno5MzQqdrqyhV-5-rHvti0UGS70hEqt1CwAa9gtf-q31Z_vAax04ccmFu8wWWAg/s1600/IMG_7036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbFv9iTQ8flmP4578MJPhxeEg_eemXuAccpeY7wQ8maoOrlOC-bQMWMUZyCzhBHw4FN-U7O7E7tJGkno5MzQqdrqyhV-5-rHvti0UGS70hEqt1CwAa9gtf-q31Z_vAax04ccmFu8wWWAg/s1600/IMG_7036.JPG" height="320" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Damaged Sungold tomato plant</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In our gardens I could find only one survivor of the storm—a Garden Gnome riding a tortoise that some suspect is Testudo, the official mascot of the University of Maryland. I posed a question to the unhappy Garden Gnome: “What was it like out in the storm?”<br />
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The Gnome simply replied, “All hail broke loose!”<br />
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Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-56787869134532228272014-05-22T12:22:00.001-04:002014-05-22T12:23:30.097-04:00My old wheelbarrow: free flat or flat free?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDGjW02zH2Ob4Ys2MX59vJLGLwYQJDINGsVqN5zB-QYiJkmZkWwpzh-ZwkeYQ31zA8pitSKq4o6oC_oONPlDoafrM7iT3mIxbv0BnejqeEUf5Nfl6Pq5gBtaQsZkN6EEPLlm4E_qBCcsA/s1600/IMG_7009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDGjW02zH2Ob4Ys2MX59vJLGLwYQJDINGsVqN5zB-QYiJkmZkWwpzh-ZwkeYQ31zA8pitSKq4o6oC_oONPlDoafrM7iT3mIxbv0BnejqeEUf5Nfl6Pq5gBtaQsZkN6EEPLlm4E_qBCcsA/s1600/IMG_7009.JPG" height="276" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flat wheel off, no-flat wheel on</td></tr>
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I never cease marveling at our unknown ancestor who invented wheels. Without wheels civilization as we know it would grind to a halt—which is what happened when I grabbed the handles of my wheelbarrow recently and discovered its tire was flat—absolutely and irreparably flat.<br />
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I had put a small bale of straw into my barrow to move it to what would be Tomato Patch 2014. What does a small bale of straw weigh—25 pounds or so? Whatever it weighed, it was too much for the wheelbarrow tire, which in a few seconds went from apparently OK to absolutely flat under the weight of the bale.<br />
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I was surprised by the flat because a year ago I had gotten tired of pumping up the tubeless tire because it constantly leaked at a rate roughly equivalent with the load being carried. So I invested in a tube and installed it myself—not an easy task because I had to remove the wheel assembly from the wheelbarrow, loosen the tire from the rim, insert the tube, position the stem through the rim, and pump up the repaired tire.<br />
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I learned from that experience why we don’t repair our own tubeless tires. It’s tough work without the proper equipment and tools. A mechanic or helper at a tire store or auto service shop can do the job in a few minutes. It probably took me more than an hour, and the result wasn’t something to brag about because the new stem made a weird angle where it exited through the rim.<br />
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And that weird angle probably was what caused the flatter-than-a-pancake flat. An extra heavy load of four bags of LeafGro probably made the tube and stem rub against the metal edge of the rim, slicing the stem as cleanly as if I had used a penknife or razor blade.<br />
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So after years of minor frustration over having to pump up the leaking tubeless tire and then finding the irreparable damage to the tube I had inserted to solve the problem, I surrendered—absolutely. I got out my socket set and removed the four bolts holding the flat tire to the wheelbarrow handles and removed the complete tire/wheel assembly. I wrote down tire size (4.00-6), diameter of the axle and of the assembled wheel and tire and went to our computer to do some window shopping.<br />
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I searched “4.00-6 solid wheelbarrow tires” or something like that and after a few false starts found that two nearby Home Depot stores stocked a “universal” solid tire for wheelbarrows. Before I knew it I was checking out at one of the stores with a solid tire in my shopping cart. At home, I put the wheelbarrow on the back of my Tacoma’s bed and in short order installed the new tire.<br />
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Time: Oh, maybe 40 minutes—probably four times what it would have taken an expert to do the job—but the service charge was “right.” <br />
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And the cost: $34.98 for the new wheel and tire assembly, only about 70% of the cost of a new wheelbarrow.<br />
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Was that an outlandish price for this ole Frugal Gardener to pay? I don’t think so. A new wheelbarrow would have a tubeless tire that doubtless would have started leaking annoyingly at some point. A new barrow would probably have a plastic tray or bin that probably would crack or otherwise fail long before the steel bin of my old barrow will. I also like the dents and scrapes in my old wheelbarrow. They’re sort of “garden tool art” that we created together, one ding at a time as we happily carted who-knows-what from here to there in our gardens or to the compost piles. In the fall I get a small degree of satisfaction as I hose out the bin and wipe down my work buddy with a light spray of WD40. <br />
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Finally, I smile just a bit because, really, I’ve recycled my old wheelbarrow and hopefully we’ll work together hands-around-handles for many more years.<br />
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Junk crusher at the Alpha Ridge Landfill recycling center, I’ve cheated you again.Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-4228510808666073012014-04-20T20:26:00.000-04:002014-04-20T20:34:38.008-04:00I love Erica!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDq40E__VWdKYvKf1CJlLV6nEu9Pf-CMU5tM87wpibQtI5hPXmoC9l8cB6eKKzLTVDiadD-epPZ2gohQ2aOqjzvNI5pPSCqflfVmd2GniFX7D3gGVcD2_LzYCpoarxyMw7qoIwnmMnswo/s1600/IMG_0739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDq40E__VWdKYvKf1CJlLV6nEu9Pf-CMU5tM87wpibQtI5hPXmoC9l8cB6eKKzLTVDiadD-epPZ2gohQ2aOqjzvNI5pPSCqflfVmd2GniFX7D3gGVcD2_LzYCpoarxyMw7qoIwnmMnswo/s1600/IMG_0739.JPG" height="314" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winter-blooming Erica</td></tr>
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Yes, I love Erica and was shocked when I found her dead in our garden this spring after our frigid winter—when nighttime temperatures in early January approached zero degrees Fahrenheit.<br />
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I love <em>Erica x darleyensis</em> ‘Mediterranean Pink’, sometimes called heather, for two reasons. First, it’s the only plant that blooms through the winter in our gardens, usually from October into May. I love finding Erica’s pink flowers poking through a crust of snow. And second, our local bambits here in Deer Country don’t browse on Erica.<br />
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But the “dead of winter” 2013-2014 left our mature Erica dead indeed. Just days after I had cut back its brittle, dry branches and dug up its roots in late March, I found and bought a new Erica at our local Lowe’s Home Improvement store. Within hours I had planted the new Erica where we can admire it for many winters to come. It’s still in bloom, and when the temperatures rise into the 50s, bumblebees already have come to sip nectar.<br />
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I love winter-flowering Erica. The deer don’t. Long live Erica.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc58JT9SAaTOR_9565f8JdUT-Cb1LuwVTcmjJnLzFHviEbpszqHYjXREn1SKrif2Ad8egqYZ9bez8AhEUYP_m76wy9d1wUJqRbvkP_c4I2hBYzIO22cbxMKQ4UbDM-kYfampZTiumGaog/s1600/IMG_6826.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc58JT9SAaTOR_9565f8JdUT-Cb1LuwVTcmjJnLzFHviEbpszqHYjXREn1SKrif2Ad8egqYZ9bez8AhEUYP_m76wy9d1wUJqRbvkP_c4I2hBYzIO22cbxMKQ4UbDM-kYfampZTiumGaog/s1600/IMG_6826.JPG" height="194" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Freeze-killed Erica, guarded by Teddy</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeNPH__p9I6rneeNbmUdaQ4ZZtTMP0oYaA2_NBHTYgXhSWZ9AGgaGwnjp5FZuIvzDIolFztGWUnyCRkb_Swpa0l9waojPB-_tosKGYz3BB03JUNjItseSD5nq_re-GuTFioRvNs_wE04/s1600/IMG_6900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeNPH__p9I6rneeNbmUdaQ4ZZtTMP0oYaA2_NBHTYgXhSWZ9AGgaGwnjp5FZuIvzDIolFztGWUnyCRkb_Swpa0l9waojPB-_tosKGYz3BB03JUNjItseSD5nq_re-GuTFioRvNs_wE04/s1600/IMG_6900.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long live our new Erica!</td></tr>
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<br />Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-2730509464151479802014-03-17T21:49:00.000-04:002014-03-17T21:49:10.708-04:00St. Paddy’s Day Snow Visitors<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XTsxV_iDeO84xIamLrDHTJ5yplxH4FbzTRPTUK3EVMczHoqqcDZYrLCb1u0YMcPXdAklg7HQ0Ko30MkPANzVwYtgT_tV5FCe2x5lFoXc9g5Z54gYPbeVxo8prVAXVb4o03Gkb5olV8I/s1600/Deer+red-hot+poker++IMG_6761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XTsxV_iDeO84xIamLrDHTJ5yplxH4FbzTRPTUK3EVMczHoqqcDZYrLCb1u0YMcPXdAklg7HQ0Ko30MkPANzVwYtgT_tV5FCe2x5lFoXc9g5Z54gYPbeVxo8prVAXVb4o03Gkb5olV8I/s1600/Deer+red-hot+poker++IMG_6761.JPG" height="277" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nosing for red-hot poker leaves</td></tr>
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St. Paddy’s Day 2014 snowstorm left us with about nine inches of snow—and some unusual visitors to our bird feeders. With the extra snow and ice cover we’ve had this winter, I think I now know why I uncharacteristically bought 80 pounds of sunflower seeds last fall, rather than the usual 40.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHcRPC7xsoOU5YneveA9fc7iyNsc1GROjskNe6Eu_DUyRp9ikPI1Me5jDODBJsJnbEJMqC-rrA_xgRDRhG1wgicAXOqErYjgOtoohyMJCb6j5CkSxtmKiPovJj1poLjnjX6FA0KT03Mk/s1600/Deer+sunflower+shells+IMG_6771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHcRPC7xsoOU5YneveA9fc7iyNsc1GROjskNe6Eu_DUyRp9ikPI1Me5jDODBJsJnbEJMqC-rrA_xgRDRhG1wgicAXOqErYjgOtoohyMJCb6j5CkSxtmKiPovJj1poLjnjX6FA0KT03Mk/s1600/Deer+sunflower+shells+IMG_6771.JPG" height="249" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleaning up sunflower-seed shells</td></tr>
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Bird feeders, of course, are for birds—and we see lots of them. Typical birds scrounging for seeds under our feeders are white-throated sparrows, song sparrows, juncos, and cardinals. Chickadees, titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, and downy and red-breasted woodpeckers feed at the suet and seed feeders.<br />
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St. Paddy’s Day snow, however, brought several new visitors. One was a rufous-sided towhee that was ground feeding with several juncos and white-throated sparrows. Then arrived three deer, which normally don’t come so close to our house during daylight hours.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkFbY8Q7yDF19mDZyJj9EFNFsv2t1A4NwF9TtuJ3gtE4aPqLlRzGnecOvYirgAJeB7_gXj1Imn9J51pGrAF1YSneBDTy1V1ViGR9WYiJpWdVsoNUuSXAksEBRFkuYO7efhbiopuISPHsE/s1600/Towhee+IMG_6790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkFbY8Q7yDF19mDZyJj9EFNFsv2t1A4NwF9TtuJ3gtE4aPqLlRzGnecOvYirgAJeB7_gXj1Imn9J51pGrAF1YSneBDTy1V1ViGR9WYiJpWdVsoNUuSXAksEBRFkuYO7efhbiopuISPHsE/s1600/Towhee+IMG_6790.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Towhee deer-watching</td></tr>
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But the deer apparently were desperate for food—any kind of food. One doe pushed her nose through the snow and pulled out several dead red-hot poker leaves, which normally deer don’t browse because the leaves are so tough and stringy. And then the three all but inhaled sunflower-seed shells discarded by birds, while the towhee watched from a kousa dogwood tree.<br />
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Nearby a garden gnome, with green jacket and, hopefully, insulated underwear, poked his head through the snow to deliver a “Happy St. Paddy’s Day” greeting. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6jb2fsIanR3Q606h63sL1lvStsyiyS-4GDm6aUnAqwnU-c600ba-Tci7ZGazVHjSXVzFdLjp2b9jSASY4-DLFyvJy0xWPYnOk1lnDPq0XG_HqVSO-2XDKfGWT5sstdlx8c1pd1azYTnU/s1600/Gnome+in+snow+IMG_6808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6jb2fsIanR3Q606h63sL1lvStsyiyS-4GDm6aUnAqwnU-c600ba-Tci7ZGazVHjSXVzFdLjp2b9jSASY4-DLFyvJy0xWPYnOk1lnDPq0XG_HqVSO-2XDKfGWT5sstdlx8c1pd1azYTnU/s1600/Gnome+in+snow+IMG_6808.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Happy St. Paddy's Day!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-64128046437073530832014-02-11T21:01:00.000-05:002014-02-11T21:01:59.703-05:00Winter Tragedy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pprAnnCISHFRQ1Nr11SRe23CN9_4iB-O_hAmXyJEbx0iJnk7yOhxssWTNy9FpLMCiFH1RRgPMS90B4wJ5bNxz9NEyVVktcFVn3c6y-llCDYXL2Zth1R7RD0olREY8aH86PQP1Cs-Hgg/s1600/IMG_6724.JPG" height="220" width="320" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sheathed by freezing rain<br />pine boughs kiss the earth<br />until with resounding crack<br />death snuffs life,<br />vital sap oozing onto ground.</span> </div>
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-- Robert W. Nixon<br /> February 5, 2014</div>
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Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-75614715800313176492014-01-27T19:25:00.000-05:002014-01-30T19:49:39.246-05:00Book Review: “Eating on the Wild Side,” by Jo RobinsonHave you ever wondered how to pick the perfect watermelon out of the bin at the supermarket? Or how best to store that salad mix you just bought? Or whether there’s a nutritional difference between white and yellow corn, green or red lettuce, or the 15 varieties of apples available at your local produce stand? Or whether strawberries will become sweeter if you let them sit on your counter for a day or two?<br />
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If you like answers to questions like that, you’ll enjoy Jo Robinson’s book “Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health” (Little, Brown & Co., 2013), available at books stores in your neighborhood or online and at public libraries (where I checked out a copy), and also in audio and E-book editions. <br />
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“Eating on the Wild Side” is not about searching for wild asparagus along country lanes or picking mushrooms under your pine trees. Its 17 chapters cover commonly available vegetables and fruits, each chapter covering such topics as: history and how each vegetable or fruit has changed, usually for the worse, through its encounters with us humans over centuries and sometimes millenniums; how to forage for nutritious varieties when you’re buying at the super market, farm stand, or U-pick; how to best store and prepare them; and recommended varieties, with some basic details about each. Each chapter ends with bulleted “Points to Remember” that cover main points and will comfort you if you are time challenged.<br />
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Here are a few of the many things I learned from this book:<br />
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1. As a general rule, darker colored vegetables and fruits are more nutritious than their lighter colored cousins. Red or bronze lettuce is better than green. Yellow corn is better than white. But there are exceptions to the rule. For example, a light-green Granny Smith apple is more nutritious than a Pink Lady (my favorite in recent years), and a white peach is more nutritious than a yellow one. <br />
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2. Sometimes a cooked vegetable or fruit has more nutritional value than a raw one. An example is sweet potatoes: “Steaming, roasting, or baking them can double their antioxidant value, but boiling reduces it. Ounce per ounce, the skin is more nutritious than the flesh, so eat the whole root.” What, eat a sweet-potato skin? I find that suggestion hard to swallow.<br />
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3. Red cherry tomatoes have more of the anti-oxidant lycopene than large red beefsteak tomatoes.<br />
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4. Green tomatoes sometimes are gassed with ethylene to turn them red—but sometimes the gas is also used to turn green oranges orange and green grapefruits and bananas yellow. Who would have suspected?<br />
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Vegetable chapters cover lettuce and other salad greens (arugula, radicchio, spinach); alliums (garlic, onions, shallots, leeks, chives, scallions); corn; potatoes; other root crops (carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes); tomatoes; crucifers (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale); legumes (beans, peas, lentils, edamame); and artichokes, asparagus, and avocados.<br />
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Fruit chapters cover apples; blueberries and blackberries (loganberries, boysenberries, marionberries); strawberries, cranberries, and raspberries; stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, plums and prunes); grapes and raisins; citrus fruits (sweet, cara cara, blood, and Valencia oranges and tangelos, mandarins), grapefruit, lemons and limes; tropical fruits (bananas, pineapples, papayas, mangoes, guavas); and melons (watermelons, cantaloupes, honeydews, casabas).<br />
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I like the book because it contains so much good, practical information, and I am reluctant to mention a debatable downside: Some possible medical or health benefits mentioned, such as phytonutrients in vegetables and fruits, are based on test-tube or animal research and not yet duplicated in human health studies.<br />
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For a general example, sometimes referenced are oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) values researched by the United States Department of Agriculture. Wikipedia says this about ORAC: “A wide variety of foods has been tested using this method, with certain spices, berries and legumes rated highly in extensive tables once published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), but withdrawn in 2012 as biologically invalid, stating that no physiological proof in vivo existed in support of the free-radical theory. Consequently, the ORAC method, derived only in in vitro experiments, is no longer considered relevant to human diets or biology by the USDA.”<br />
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Of course, as nutritional research and human studies continue, researches may eventually prove what today is not scientifically accepted by the majority. <br />
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The dust jacket of “Eating on the Wild Side” identifies Jo Robinson as a “health writer and food activist” and author of 14 books. If you want additional information about the author’s approach to food and nutrition, check out her website at <a href="http://www.eatwild.com/">www.eatwild.com</a>.<br />
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If you’ve read this book, please share your thoughts in a Comment below.<br />
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Update: The January 30, 2014, print edition of the Washington Post, p. A2, carries an <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/new-study-raises-questions-about-antioxidant-use-in-lung-cancer-patients/2014/01/29/c37b51a8-88ef-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html">article by Ariana Eunjung Cha</a>, “Study questions antioxidant use in cancer patients,” that indicates some current research findings about antioxidants.<br />
Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-52736740864253494292014-01-24T22:20:00.000-05:002014-01-24T22:25:25.050-05:00Gardening in January<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Temperature at dawn this morning was 7°F, and
it topped out mid-afternoon at 19°.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
landscape is crusted white with Tuesday’s six-inch snowfall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's time to inventory the left-over packets
in my seed jar in the fridge, page through a stack of new seed catalogs, and dream about
veggie and flower gardens 2014.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, gardening
begins in January.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Illustration courtesy of Seed Savers
Exchange.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-72516576550427260872013-11-26T17:00:00.000-05:002013-11-26T17:00:00.239-05:00Tomato Patch: Grandpa Henry’s paste tomato<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS5GrIyVn4mzsDvv3P_gyksRauF5wd1EvndLiIG_4YZNCfCP8E03wAQBD_fEclgb3ciUnHOelMEUuNn2qM9kxyTjpO4EvGAruX2u5rnmcDh8jS8LsOwhOavQwnn7iiu_HlceM__GToGMc/s1600/IMG_6168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS5GrIyVn4mzsDvv3P_gyksRauF5wd1EvndLiIG_4YZNCfCP8E03wAQBD_fEclgb3ciUnHOelMEUuNn2qM9kxyTjpO4EvGAruX2u5rnmcDh8jS8LsOwhOavQwnn7iiu_HlceM__GToGMc/s320/IMG_6168.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandpa Henry's heirloom tomatoes</td></tr>
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One of the most unusual paste tomatoes I’ve “trialed” in years is Grandpa Henry’s, the seeds of which were a gift late last winter from Henry Lysy, a Carroll County Master Gardener.<br />
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The Grandpa Henry’s I’ve grown this summer averaged just over 10 ounces. They were long, narrow, with pointed ends, reminding me of a few other paste tomatoes I’ve seen in catalogs—such as Jersey Devil and San Marzano Redorta. When visitors saw them, they often thought they were hot peppers, not tomatoes. <br />
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Henry said his dad received the original seeds from an Italian immigrant neighbor in Rhode Island and passed seeds on to Henry, who’s been growing them at least 30 years. For Henry’s family and his many gardening friends, Grandpa Henry’s paste tomato is truly an heirloom variety. Thank you, Henry, for carrying on a grand gardening tradition—and for sharing seeds with me and many others.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fwlWepdoodS14FOTQ8HEOBmVaCJMzXjJj_6AhyKeZ_BzqLd6XuqdnW9b_WKRlZNGVkNTyxNtz7vt6hvvSb2TIs1tvVNAtaPcR_YoSGClrMZ1EnhTqyeIlzMvGqESQBptf9EUaMp00wk/s1600/IMG_6170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fwlWepdoodS14FOTQ8HEOBmVaCJMzXjJj_6AhyKeZ_BzqLd6XuqdnW9b_WKRlZNGVkNTyxNtz7vt6hvvSb2TIs1tvVNAtaPcR_YoSGClrMZ1EnhTqyeIlzMvGqESQBptf9EUaMp00wk/s320/IMG_6170.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Solid, little juice...just perfect for making sauce'</td></tr>
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“I’ve really seen nothing like them,” Henry said when he gave me the seeds. “I gladly share seeds and just ask that they call them Grandpa Henry’s. They’re prolific producers and are solid with little juice—just perfect for making sauce.” <br />
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Though many of Grandpa Henry’s sported green shoulders when I picked them to avoid damage by brown marmorated stink bugs, they were mostly deep red inside. The green shoulders turned red in four or five days on a counter in our garage. I made several batches of sauce in late summer, and this open-pollinated family heirloom has been a welcome ingredient, along with my other trial paste tomato, Burpee SuperSauce, which I blogged about a few days ago.<br />
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Thank you, Henry Lysy for sharing a family treasure. Maybe you’ve just proved again that some of the best things in life are free. <br />
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If you've grown Grandpa Henry's, please post a Comment about how this heirloom performed in your Tomato Patch.Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-34259833933111211942013-11-24T19:28:00.000-05:002013-11-24T20:34:32.908-05:00Tomato Patch: Delizia, a French import<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_AEpl4iQxTI03XOm2Jio1AJEo94J76TdROrD6lO6xp6_TRzdPiysuuqJmbr3fn2xeiOReyuOeYiWdF-ko0bDlPkxmlj8TERDUC0mCIUmGqt5mQbaKHtl40QBCv18XAwu0b8_xVaVNdQ/s1600/Delizia+tomatoes+IMG_6158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_AEpl4iQxTI03XOm2Jio1AJEo94J76TdROrD6lO6xp6_TRzdPiysuuqJmbr3fn2xeiOReyuOeYiWdF-ko0bDlPkxmlj8TERDUC0mCIUmGqt5mQbaKHtl40QBCv18XAwu0b8_xVaVNdQ/s320/Delizia+tomatoes+IMG_6158.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delizia Hybrid tomatoes</td></tr>
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Howard County Master Gardener Kent Phillips and I swapped plants of our “trial” varieties last spring, and in the transaction I got a transplant of Delizia Hybrid, seed of which Kent got from <a href="http://www.cooksgarden.com/">Cook’s Garden</a>.<br />
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The Cook’s Garden catalog describes Delizia, a “customer favorite,” this way: “Tomato connoisseurs rave about the marmande variety's meaty flesh and sweet deliciousness. This hybrid brings a new level of disease resistance to this flavorful classic French beefsteak. 'Delizia' is exceptionally vigorous, producing heavy yields of large, succulent, pumpkin-shaped 1 lb. fruits. A standout tomato in our 2010 and 2011 summer trials.”<br />
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I’ve grown tomatoes, it seems to me, longer than they’ve been invented, but I had to look up the meaning of “marmande” variety. “Marmande” is the French term for tomatoes that the English call “beef” and Americans call “beefsteak.” If I were alert and not dreaming about tomatoes, I should have figured out the meaning from the catalog description.<br />
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Does Delizia rate a “rave” notice?<br />
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I may not be a “connoisseur,” but I’ve tasted scores of tomato varieties, and Delizia’s flavor is, well, delicious. Ok, I give it a “rave.” It also has been disease resistant with heavy yields. The fruits are shaped something like small, squat pumpkins with modest ribs, but the ones on my plant averaged about the 7 or 8 oz. given in the second catalog description, not the one-pounders of the first catalog description.<br />
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This yummy variety has one downside. It’s so squat—most less than two inches tall—that core removal takes away a significant part of the fruit, leaving relatively little flesh left for eating. With so much of the tomato going into the recycle bucket rather than onto a plate or into a sandwich, I think I’ll have to call Delizia a great “chunker” but not a good “slicer.”<br />
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Will I grow Delizia next year? I will if Kent gives me another plant. Hey, Kent….<br />
<br />Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-23486655722647923522013-11-22T17:06:00.001-05:002013-11-22T17:13:06.874-05:00Tomato Patch: Three grafted Burpee varieties<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipsCmYV39UqG6wc9u57SNNXaVDnteF6QEXoyuH3IXzwz_62BMw1X93BHU9ZhMv3as_bI-cfpt-9jaRbRVd5NPbj0bQLrDN3HzT2QOVOUA1SZOqLksPZXG-khrRKTb6Tp13mafxevkndo/s1600/Burpee+Grafted+Brandywine+Pink++IMG_6066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipsCmYV39UqG6wc9u57SNNXaVDnteF6QEXoyuH3IXzwz_62BMw1X93BHU9ZhMv3as_bI-cfpt-9jaRbRVd5NPbj0bQLrDN3HzT2QOVOUA1SZOqLksPZXG-khrRKTb6Tp13mafxevkndo/s320/Burpee+Grafted+Brandywine+Pink++IMG_6066.JPG" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burpee grafted Brandywine Pink tomatoes</td></tr>
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In March <a href="http://groweat.blogspot.com/2013/03/graft-in-tomato-patch.html#axzz2bPgvSgYB">I wrote</a> about my purchase of three grafted tomato plants (Brandywine Pink, Mortgage Lifter, and Rutgers) from <a href="http://www.burpee.com/">Burpee</a>. <br />
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They were expensive—more than $10 each, including shipping—but how could I resist trying the tomato fad of 2013—grafted plants with heirloom tops and disease-resistant roots that reportedly could give superior yields.<br />
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The three transplants arrived nicely and securely in a plastic clamshell package in the week I had requested for delivery. I planted them according to directions—on pain of death, don’t plant the graft joint below soil level—and watched the three plants grow and produce.<br />
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Have I been I impressed? Not really.<br />
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If you grew grafted tomatoes this last summer—Burpee or other brand—please post a Comment about your experience.<br />
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Were they each worth the better part of $11? No. The plants grew well, but their production was ordinary or less.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15Enc4XWq1ovaAp0h8jpBCTsp8zSs3qt8mlI4GLeTeqEj2IBdUH-Fjjg1yiHgzN-bGVamIzEpi4D1Qcy0tVpIqjKKIYHoqQgy4lb8hFCIR3b7fPVBzV3iHqfDV7pkKL_1KR0Iyo2LMHA/s1600/Burpee+Grafted+Rutgers++IMG_6064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15Enc4XWq1ovaAp0h8jpBCTsp8zSs3qt8mlI4GLeTeqEj2IBdUH-Fjjg1yiHgzN-bGVamIzEpi4D1Qcy0tVpIqjKKIYHoqQgy4lb8hFCIR3b7fPVBzV3iHqfDV7pkKL_1KR0Iyo2LMHA/s320/Burpee+Grafted+Rutgers++IMG_6064.JPG" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burpee grafted Rutgers tomatoes</td></tr>
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Brandywine Pink produced only six tomatoes of medium to small size—fewer and smaller than Brandywines I’ve been growing for years from seed—but they were mouthwatering delicious as a Brandywine should be.<br />
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Rutgers produced a dozen or so mostly baseball-sized fruit with good flavor. I haven’t grown any of the Rutgers varieties, so I cannot compare to past crops.<br />
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The best of the three was Mortgage Lifter, which yielded about 10 medium to large fruit with outstanding “true, old-time tomato flavor,” better tasting than even Brandywine Pink, at least to my tastebuds. <br />
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For me the grafts were an interesting “trial” but the results were disappointing. I feel I could have grown equivalent fruit from seed, or even from plants bought at a local nursery, at a fraction of the cost.<br />
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Grafts again next year? I think I’ll stick with seed packets, thank you.<br />
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If you grew grafted tomatoes this past summer—Burpee or another brand—please post a Comment about your experience.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FZBsPNosWBQX3NNOJKNrTcDZwN-xMlOm7NZ_3-U5ybBWXgcuC7Og74KylDs16qsEIG42vO7ulaxoGTRfmmqQpytH3Jt3OlHlsBBK8DjrHCnnPxEYyLffViHKBlXhbFx8NUlpyDOPcbM/s1600/Burpee+Grafted+Mortgage+Lifter++IMG_6065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FZBsPNosWBQX3NNOJKNrTcDZwN-xMlOm7NZ_3-U5ybBWXgcuC7Og74KylDs16qsEIG42vO7ulaxoGTRfmmqQpytH3Jt3OlHlsBBK8DjrHCnnPxEYyLffViHKBlXhbFx8NUlpyDOPcbM/s320/Burpee+Grafted+Mortgage+Lifter++IMG_6065.JPG" width="284" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burpee grafted Mortgage Lifter tomatoes</td></tr>
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<br />Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-38435786163665447462013-11-18T17:28:00.001-05:002013-11-18T17:28:12.348-05:00Tomato Patch: Buckets of SuperSauce<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1nOQh9P4yuLEIgmX5Lz_U58PkbyEFOybHGU0HUIUBiyrIpOyzddGrHZRZmom-4p0vTMNxZR1qRCz8Xsf9WIDylDaiCPbKH2MoIHwSIt_WchCZi5OQH_Zrz8aqpeziN5d4hXQsqvS8QGw/s1600/Burpee+SuperSauce+green+tomatoes+IMG_6062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1nOQh9P4yuLEIgmX5Lz_U58PkbyEFOybHGU0HUIUBiyrIpOyzddGrHZRZmom-4p0vTMNxZR1qRCz8Xsf9WIDylDaiCPbKH2MoIHwSIt_WchCZi5OQH_Zrz8aqpeziN5d4hXQsqvS8QGw/s320/Burpee+SuperSauce+green+tomatoes+IMG_6062.JPG" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large SuperSauce tomatoes are eye-catching</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was skeptical but intrigued by <a href="http://www.burpee.com/">Burpee’s</a> 2013 description of a new paste tomato called SuperSauce: <br />“It’s SuperSauce! The new tomato superhero. A whole lot bigger, a whole lot better, a Roma with aroma. Weighing in at 2-lbs., a whopping 5.5” tall x 5” wide, SuperSauce produces gallons of luscious, seedless sauce from a single plant harvest—one tomato fills an entire sauce jar.”<br />
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The description continued: “Very few people in the gardening world consider a paste tomato for anything other than to make paste or sauce. SuperSauce is extraordinarily delicious and versatile as a salad tomato, as well as having a distinctive quality in that its large segments of fruit often make a shape that is perfect for a meaty and tasty hamburger slice, quite different from the horizontal slice commonly used from a large round tomato. Easy-to-grow, indeterminate, disease-free plants yield a summerlong supply of the exquisitely-flavored marinara, tomato gravy or meat sauce plus plenty for slicing and salads.”<br />
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How could I resist ordering a packet of seeds to try, even at a pricey $6.50 plus shipping?<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVElw0i1cBwzUs-BbqKjz5LAdriG3II6OfdQQhdk9h-Z7ZYRjjSuTrYz-Gy9-4NRCdhLrJ30FeUx8eyf9EpmzF4gYgyQ9QVvsBzul2IqQlWJUkiHJHJERVxwbvQOuCw0_9dnOlRwd6ELw/s1600/Burpee+SuperSauce+tomato+sliced+IMG_6167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVElw0i1cBwzUs-BbqKjz5LAdriG3II6OfdQQhdk9h-Z7ZYRjjSuTrYz-Gy9-4NRCdhLrJ30FeUx8eyf9EpmzF4gYgyQ9QVvsBzul2IqQlWJUkiHJHJERVxwbvQOuCw0_9dnOlRwd6ELw/s320/Burpee+SuperSauce+tomato+sliced+IMG_6167.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SuperSauce is solid, as a paste tomato should be</td></tr>
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My first impression of SuperSauce was negative. When the seeds sprouted and the plants began to grow, they were what you might call “leggy,” “scraggly,” or “spindly.” Their leaves seemed odd shaped, healthy but somewhat droopy or turned down. I wasn’t expecting much from SuperSauce, but I transplanted them into the Tomato Patch at four weeks, and SuperSauce grew, blossomed, fruited.<br />
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What do I think of SuperSauce now? I like it—I like it a lot. SuperSauce is a SuperPasteTomato.<br />
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How does the fruit coming out of my garden compare to Burpee’s advertising hyperbole?<br />
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<em>“Two pounds and 5.5” long and 5” wide”?</em> Mine averaged 5” long, about 2 1/2” wide. From four SuperSauce plants I picked several bucketsful during just two weeks in August. Fruit of an early picking averaged about 11 oz. and of two later pickings averaged 14.5 oz. and 18.75 oz. In mid-season, one SuperSauce weighted 1 lb. 13 oz. Fruit production peaked in August, but I picked numerous smaller fruit into October.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxZ6ylvhuqldhvfRhE_epaCbe8-jMYwyA9vLF__-dj0CLIIkL7zk47TVe7MgkqmH0F0nqjDdUtOzFF4hvveXTpOAntHJP4y0jAegDbQSR61uyvxR5MpLVIBeHmKwdZrG8qVO_8GiaVfqA/s1600/Burpee+SuperSauce+tomatoes+ripe+IMG_6201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxZ6ylvhuqldhvfRhE_epaCbe8-jMYwyA9vLF__-dj0CLIIkL7zk47TVe7MgkqmH0F0nqjDdUtOzFF4hvveXTpOAntHJP4y0jAegDbQSR61uyvxR5MpLVIBeHmKwdZrG8qVO_8GiaVfqA/s320/Burpee+SuperSauce+tomatoes+ripe+IMG_6201.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One SuperSauce almost filled a quart container</td></tr>
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<em>“Gallons of luscious, seedless sauce from a single plant harvest—one tomato fills an entire sauce jar”?</em> I originally thought that Burpee ad writers need to get out of the office and into a kitchen, but by mid-season I thought that one SuperSauce plant might, over a season, produce enough fruit to make up to one gallon of sauce. One average SuperSauce tomato may pretty much fill a sauce container, as you can see in the photo of one fruit in a 4-cup container, but one large tomato does not yield, by far, a “jar” of sauce, at least any jar a respectable sauce maker would use at home. Compared to the Amish Paste variety I’ve preferred in recent years, the average SuperSauce weighs about the same but has less waste from cracks and blossom end rot when processing for sauce making. It also may be a few shades lighter red than many paste varieties.<br />
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<em>“Delicious and versatile”?</em> Reasonably tasty, yes, more so than some paste tomatoes, and flavorful enough to pass as a slicer or salad tomato, especially tomato gourmands who find the flavor of supermarket varieties such as Compari acceptable. Solid and meaty, a slice or two of SuperSauce on a sandwich doesn’t send juice racing down the eater’s arms to drip off elbows—a definite plus.<br />
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<em>“Easy-to-grow, indeterminate, disease-free plants yield a summerlong supply”?</em> Yes, yes, yes. And the size and number of the growing fruit gives even a tomato fanatic cause to pause and admire.<br />
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Enough, already. I plan to plant SuperSauce hybrids again next year. It has replaced Amish Paste as my top choice of paste tomatoes.<br />
Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-87639467056264865012013-11-15T19:55:00.002-05:002013-11-15T19:55:53.201-05:00Tomato Patch: Cherokee by another name is Chocolate<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiygRrCI6sEozTFqfwHSp6uo0MvfLgcXNGHy456XjgD-ultWcmtskqJa5xJ4IGzwrvdRPBFdovkUiD5t42UOQNzDpn7_m58pCgjqRW6n84ntk8nfa1K3SIa2lKvEhHvaBTgFnALHLyQMR8/s1600/Cherokee+Chocolate+tomato+IMG_6071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiygRrCI6sEozTFqfwHSp6uo0MvfLgcXNGHy456XjgD-ultWcmtskqJa5xJ4IGzwrvdRPBFdovkUiD5t42UOQNzDpn7_m58pCgjqRW6n84ntk8nfa1K3SIa2lKvEhHvaBTgFnALHLyQMR8/s320/Cherokee+Chocolate+tomato+IMG_6071.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical Cherokee Chocolate tomato</td></tr>
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When I received my seed order from <a href="http://www.tomatogrowers.com/">Tomato Growers Supply Co</a>. last winter, it contained a complimentary packet of Cherokee Chocolate tomato seeds. Hey, chocolate, I thought—what is there not to salivate over?<br />
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Here’s how Tomato Growers describes Cherokee Chocolate: “A stabilized version of Cherokee Purple, this 10 to 16 oz. mahogany-colored variety has excellent flavor and beautiful large fruit. Very productive plants are vigorous and yield a large harvest of these chocolate-colored tomatoes with the ample size and wonderful flavor associated with Cherokee Purple.”<br />
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I’m not sure I know what “stabilized” means in a tomato variety, but my Cherokee Chocolate plants produced more fruit per plant than the Cherokee Purples I’ve grown. Fruits are larger, mine averaging just under 16 oz., though Chocolate seem more irregular in shape than the global Purple, and slightly more juicy and less “smoky” in flavor, as some catalogs describe the Purple. I found it more convenient to cut the irregular-shaped fruit in half and then to slice or chunk the two halves.<br />
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Will I grow them again next year? I have left-over seeds stored in the fridge from this year’s complimentary packet, so why not? But I probably wouldn’t buy another packet unless I really wanted to grow a Cherokee that produces more and larger fruit than Purple.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXmWeRtrklbiz2EaBaEu4ewF4FP0oiO-8ONFaM4tcmEN8bAVOMeSV3TknlX4VoowfI7RqcQfiTpib6ltvlMqGbJ6pvvRYrbkuwGQn0KxcwuaIzmkYtkCOmMnK6RBFEumH7Dbkyasv_rI/s1600/Cherokee+Chocolate+tomatoes+IMG_6157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXmWeRtrklbiz2EaBaEu4ewF4FP0oiO-8ONFaM4tcmEN8bAVOMeSV3TknlX4VoowfI7RqcQfiTpib6ltvlMqGbJ6pvvRYrbkuwGQn0KxcwuaIzmkYtkCOmMnK6RBFEumH7Dbkyasv_rI/s320/Cherokee+Chocolate+tomatoes+IMG_6157.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cherokee Chocolate tomatoes<br />
sometimes challenge your slicing skills</td></tr>
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Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-86192125858661785532013-11-12T17:00:00.000-05:002013-11-12T17:00:47.501-05:00Tomato Patch: A Solid Gold investment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGQI6ybL683anbHgdOyRxLQr1CKPAX6QuYilGjT5UoU5xpUJYc6ijsgaP3dnn8ba0nTK8MzC7unD56DFWCJ3N0Axr3bMjym_9AsnmPq0x1dtmSmfU38oseuqRFmM0SAdv5cxECOYqENE/s1600/IMG_6053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGQI6ybL683anbHgdOyRxLQr1CKPAX6QuYilGjT5UoU5xpUJYc6ijsgaP3dnn8ba0nTK8MzC7unD56DFWCJ3N0Axr3bMjym_9AsnmPq0x1dtmSmfU38oseuqRFmM0SAdv5cxECOYqENE/s320/IMG_6053.JPG" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solid Gold tomatoes hang in long clusters</td></tr>
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The price of gold may have been less than solid on the commodities markets in recent months, but my purchase of a packet of Solid Gold Hybrid seeds from <a href="http://www.tomatogrowers.com/">Tomato Growers Supply Co.</a> turned out to be an excellent investment. <br />
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I was attracted to Solid Gold because I wanted both a change of pace from the Sweet 100 and Sungold cherry varieties I’d grown in recent years and also a variety that wouldn’t crack after every shower or rain, as Sweet 100 and Sungold usually do.<br />
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The Tomato Growers Supply Co. catalog description of Solid Gold seemed just what I was searching for: “Clusters of one-inch long, golden yellow grape tomatoes appear in great numbers through an impressively long-growing season. This plant just seems never to give up! In our trials, it was the first tomato to ripen and the last one to stop producing. The tomatoes are very crack-resistant and once harvested have a long shelf life while retaining their delicious, sweet taste.” <br />
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That description turned into reality in the Tomato Patch. I’ve been amazed at the many cascading clusters—most with 16 to 22 tomatoes—growing from the vigorous plants. The first tomato I picked this season was a Solid Gold, and they joined Juliets in the last colander of small tomatoes I picked before frost ended Tomato Patch 2013. Solid Gold did not crack early in season, but about 50% of the fruit did in the last month or so. Shelf-life seems eternal—well, almost—with Solid Gold fruits sitting on our kitchen counter for days sometimes without wrinkling or showing any signs of collapse. When fully ripe, Solid Gold is both sweet and tomatoey, but not candy-sweet like the smaller Sweet 100 and Sungold cherry varieties. <br />
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Bottom line: Solid Gold is a fine variety definitely worth a repeat next summer. It is my current favorite “snacker.” For Tomato Patch 2014 I’ll have to decide whether to plant Solid Gold again or return to the super-sweet Sungold.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqaq6rXQhUlTx4GYCJDKGsud-uuSudG6VVOUIx2-911kDAR3GfRIIUrOfeDutGNlt0afQ991tuGFpjKnfLvyo91AsrI_LH2EaU2S_jlZKOrb8Fm3_AMWPHoJz6VVTJNSL8Uaj3QiYb2c/s1600/IMG_6203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqaq6rXQhUlTx4GYCJDKGsud-uuSudG6VVOUIx2-911kDAR3GfRIIUrOfeDutGNlt0afQ991tuGFpjKnfLvyo91AsrI_LH2EaU2S_jlZKOrb8Fm3_AMWPHoJz6VVTJNSL8Uaj3QiYb2c/s320/IMG_6203.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solid Gold: Solid and semi-sweet snacker</td></tr>
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<br />Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-12626082896554118132013-11-03T19:59:00.000-05:002013-11-03T19:59:34.217-05:00Leaf-peeper’s Delight<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNNC0Sv7I3TchJTfzYeq78zyAO-Yd2dIIvYIg_X08ca5TeD_rOrTO4aTT6c_RjTVNC1t1ojMG7z0J4YigmEtZkxMRfMPP1W7FcWmNe1mxTSzwKCwb_XNamRNx7byphkLCJacVJCah2yw/s1600/IMG_6589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNNC0Sv7I3TchJTfzYeq78zyAO-Yd2dIIvYIg_X08ca5TeD_rOrTO4aTT6c_RjTVNC1t1ojMG7z0J4YigmEtZkxMRfMPP1W7FcWmNe1mxTSzwKCwb_XNamRNx7byphkLCJacVJCah2yw/s320/IMG_6589.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The last week has been a leaf-peeper’s delight here at Meadow Glenn and throughout the Mid-Atlantic states as red maple trees—<em>Acer rubrum</em>—have displayed unusually brilliant fall colors. A month ago I would have argued the lack of rain would mean dull fall leaves, but then the rains came and the leaves of the red maples turned into colors that stun the eye. <br />
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I’ve planted at least a dozen red maples at Meadow Glenn over the last 15 years or so, and many now are of a size to be noticeable when their summer green turns to fall red, orange, and gold. Here are some photos that I took over the weekend. I’ll save for last a photo of the tree we love the most—an ancient red maple now in the decline of age—aren’t we all?—that Ellen and I see every morning in the golden light of the rising sun as we gaze out our kitchen window.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfDtrJVaUUdF9_59-44afK8wai4nQDH6qk0qmHrKwt6i-W-4IsEGr9Bqtq5zI1Y_cugEyWhy90TfkSOvw6mhMr7lglDMr3Tz89eIOussp3MGoli27gRLWIYdbTxn3J2HOxlWQTxRnhj0/s1600/IMG_6600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfDtrJVaUUdF9_59-44afK8wai4nQDH6qk0qmHrKwt6i-W-4IsEGr9Bqtq5zI1Y_cugEyWhy90TfkSOvw6mhMr7lglDMr3Tz89eIOussp3MGoli27gRLWIYdbTxn3J2HOxlWQTxRnhj0/s400/IMG_6600.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIEGKk_rAqicZtr9ke2uxKRdx1oWn-JzgTVXxLDFZhfV1hYmoBLpc1FKCA7gcbh2ByEOv95xuzDJhEKnv4qzPl517NLmq6SckOJmCeaDE7u1eGawaV1PwgwbRG3BpKRGMT_CpzJGBr4NU/s1600/IMG_6609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIEGKk_rAqicZtr9ke2uxKRdx1oWn-JzgTVXxLDFZhfV1hYmoBLpc1FKCA7gcbh2ByEOv95xuzDJhEKnv4qzPl517NLmq6SckOJmCeaDE7u1eGawaV1PwgwbRG3BpKRGMT_CpzJGBr4NU/s400/IMG_6609.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Ancient Red Maple at sunrise</td></tr>
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Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-79319468734370330742013-10-26T20:33:00.000-04:002013-11-03T20:17:21.662-05:00Frosty-morning beauty<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUalFB9d23d9K9zWdC3ic0eM0rnIIYLd1y5VFj54BgV_7Oukc4yecObu0hNu6gNp3BcyECaWXTiNuv_joY57Sj5qN4y-v_z-bd4bLS4eaDp59D9PhAmG-6EW08Bc1-5CKC1Lu8t2Kbc1o/s1600/IMG_6540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUalFB9d23d9K9zWdC3ic0eM0rnIIYLd1y5VFj54BgV_7Oukc4yecObu0hNu6gNp3BcyECaWXTiNuv_joY57Sj5qN4y-v_z-bd4bLS4eaDp59D9PhAmG-6EW08Bc1-5CKC1Lu8t2Kbc1o/s320/IMG_6540.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strawberry leaf</td></tr>
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What comes to your mind when you hear the word “frost”?<br />
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An ancient wrote: “By the breath of God frost is given” – Job 37:10 (KJV). <br />
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A modern definition: “Frost: Ice crystals formed on grass or other objects by the sublimation (direct transfer) of water vapor from the air at below-freezing temperatures” – National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Weather.<br />
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When I looked out our kitchen window this morning and saw a frosty landscape, my first thought wasn’t “breath of God” or “sublimation of water vapor” but “where’s my camera so I can take some photographs before the sun melts the ice crystals.”<br />
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Here are several frosty designs I captured this morning: <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61JywmbrG6dQJSfLKiTgKUGGWoVbE0K91RXvPH3ItRQ0E3zqtJDdFRx3MC-AHQ65S2Oq-2CN0J80aqUHQLMjjGPYA4Q6cw5Rmjf8jVSaBsbr06i457_sTNrGij3290Ubsvyk4uDSfNEE/s1600/IMG_6544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61JywmbrG6dQJSfLKiTgKUGGWoVbE0K91RXvPH3ItRQ0E3zqtJDdFRx3MC-AHQ65S2Oq-2CN0J80aqUHQLMjjGPYA4Q6cw5Rmjf8jVSaBsbr06i457_sTNrGij3290Ubsvyk4uDSfNEE/s320/IMG_6544.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amish Cockscomb blossom</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaaG0ejOPfFz4b5BrUL9uh35dmjDTIZY8CYSFWGh0kSdou4z2qiHYuJVtcgC7IFy5lvsc9sKpGUS60XAfnjYK2x6fr0H9Qo0GWpgqneMrxDwp6lu3dCQhbLArEHw1OLDBs9I7o0TvdNk/s1600/IMG_6541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaaG0ejOPfFz4b5BrUL9uh35dmjDTIZY8CYSFWGh0kSdou4z2qiHYuJVtcgC7IFy5lvsc9sKpGUS60XAfnjYK2x6fr0H9Qo0GWpgqneMrxDwp6lu3dCQhbLArEHw1OLDBs9I7o0TvdNk/s320/IMG_6541.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kamtschaticum sedum</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiktWc5IdtnyoH4jHIg6wd7bv-p5gVnsXsAzQXdY6VovUGVkh50WLMJUjpm8dowha4F_DSLuRqkOH4MKPC9FmDCnWEU49_fMZU6yYz2RBlSuIii-8t98Os-e3v8ypramBPk4-X_cbWvGuI/s1600/IMG_6556.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiktWc5IdtnyoH4jHIg6wd7bv-p5gVnsXsAzQXdY6VovUGVkh50WLMJUjpm8dowha4F_DSLuRqkOH4MKPC9FmDCnWEU49_fMZU6yYz2RBlSuIii-8t98Os-e3v8ypramBPk4-X_cbWvGuI/s320/IMG_6556.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruby Red chard</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgys53qLbt_inFflY7-D8GuuYrTW7e3xLqXR2kqQhI_wQ-6KcqDmZjqrEVjbw-OLYJ_0L2v9AML2Z9tb93vjF6r8Db_-TIsfNQ_Sskf-7urNv1_9D9Y_cFTH31qASt8IXRzhfNM7M3ri9k/s1600/IMG_6545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgys53qLbt_inFflY7-D8GuuYrTW7e3xLqXR2kqQhI_wQ-6KcqDmZjqrEVjbw-OLYJ_0L2v9AML2Z9tb93vjF6r8Db_-TIsfNQ_Sskf-7urNv1_9D9Y_cFTH31qASt8IXRzhfNM7M3ri9k/s320/IMG_6545.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grass (fescue)</td></tr>
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<br />Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-68937390339483332672013-10-22T20:38:00.000-04:002013-10-22T20:38:08.768-04:00Tomato Patch 2013: The end—and a look back<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxS8WMlxIWWbnQY-Fw0O0E_jpNhqzzvoyQ-6BwpXAZrQ7oLB2rFbzrGBuR_P8o_f6Z82EI7TRxpVkWH59_P_n9d5oxoIrfZqSxS8JRmqSUpxUlV_JYQtXtLEb2B1W86ALRXgh_xFi8Qw/s1600/IMG_6505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxS8WMlxIWWbnQY-Fw0O0E_jpNhqzzvoyQ-6BwpXAZrQ7oLB2rFbzrGBuR_P8o_f6Z82EI7TRxpVkWH59_P_n9d5oxoIrfZqSxS8JRmqSUpxUlV_JYQtXtLEb2B1W86ALRXgh_xFi8Qw/s320/IMG_6505.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hint, hint: Frost on lamb's ear</td></tr>
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I finished taking down Tomato Patch 2013 yesterday. Maybe I could have waited another few days, but the weather was perfect for outdoor work—sunny and in the low 60s—and the light frost on our roof and the leaves of our Lamb’s ear plants Monday morning hinted it was time to pick a last few tomatoes, cut back the vines, and take down the cages.<br />
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The frost wasn’t a “killer.” Our most frost-sensitive plants—tomatoes, peppers, and basil—were growing in our garden and not on our roof and escaped damage. Forecasts for later in the week, however, call for nighttime temperatures in the mid- to low 30s, so I decided to take down Tomato Patch.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxFfNQQ_U-4qFUuoO4ViYZDcDL8s7Sovbc8KsOWCNszoc8quMmPo7XzFoy2pP2P7auLA5SRSWc1rXGssECBSMxI1G5bycmVvQiytfgPnmUGKqyblu5TFSkcf838s_a_9xt5E_vzZBvsE/s1600/IMG_6520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxFfNQQ_U-4qFUuoO4ViYZDcDL8s7Sovbc8KsOWCNszoc8quMmPo7XzFoy2pP2P7auLA5SRSWc1rXGssECBSMxI1G5bycmVvQiytfgPnmUGKqyblu5TFSkcf838s_a_9xt5E_vzZBvsE/s320/IMG_6520.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last pickings</td></tr>
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First I picked about 10 Celebrity and Better Boy fruits and about a half colander of smaller varieties—a few Solid Gold but mostly Juliet—with a bit of color and deposited them on newspaper in our garage, where they should finish ripening over the next week or so. Then I cut back, pulled out, and carted the plants to a compost pile at the edge of our woods and stacked the drip irrigation buckets, cages, and iron posts for closer attention later. <br />
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As I dismantled Tomato Patch 2013, I thought back over the growing season and made some mental notes:<br />
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1. Tomato Patch 2013 was the best I’ve had in years—perhaps the best ever. I don’t know why. Perfectly timed cool and hot weather through spring and summer? Lots of gentle rain both in spring and early summer and again late in the season? Garden gnomes that guarded my 25 plants 24/7? Other Maryland Master Gardeners have told me horror stories. A Master Gardener in Harford County told me brown marmorated stink bugs ruined most of her crops. A Master Gardener here in Howard County said overall his tomato crop was disappointing. It must have been the gnomes.<br />
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2. Though brown marmorated stink bugs were a big problem for the Master Gardener in Harford County, they were a minor irritant here—not the disgusting plague of 2010 and 2011. Yes, I saw a few stink bugs, but I sprayed with a commercially available bifentrin (a synthetic pyrethroid) when I found them—perhaps three or four weekly sprays in June and July, and then no more. I had near zero tomato damage—but near 100% damage to the pods on my two Crimson Select sweet pepper plants—though I sprayed them too.<br />
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3. Once again I planted too many tomatoes this year—25 plants. I’ve been trying to cut back a bit each year. I used to plant 30 to 35 plants. I was planning on just 22 plants this year—but Burpee advertisements for grafted plants captured my imagination—so I ended up with 25 plants. (I’ll post blogs later on my experience with the grafted plants and other varieties that I grew for the first time.) We ended up with buckets and buckets of tomatoes—and with nearly 30 containers of sauce in our freezer.<br />
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4. My goal for next year is to plant just 20 tomato plants—about equal numbers of slicers, paste, and grape. Oops—20 doesn’t divide by 3 when you’re thinking plants, so will I plant 21—or 18? I’ve got until spring 2014 to answer that question.<br />
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Tomato Patch 2013 was a great one here at Meadow Glenn.<br />
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How was Tomato Patch 2013 at your place?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5omgnm8Z9oGwoew93xphggAzg3x2EHezV4CFD2w0MshN14eI7ET2KzH_zTA_ZTZgnCSfVXkf8iLKSB13bOe_TF5GaB8DsT1VziTPZq7zemQOqhi_IvLVIiaQAdiJaGXN-5cfsBv1TbfY/s1600/IMG_6525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5omgnm8Z9oGwoew93xphggAzg3x2EHezV4CFD2w0MshN14eI7ET2KzH_zTA_ZTZgnCSfVXkf8iLKSB13bOe_TF5GaB8DsT1VziTPZq7zemQOqhi_IvLVIiaQAdiJaGXN-5cfsBv1TbfY/s320/IMG_6525.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good Bye, Tomato Patch 2013</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-66489764392864261492013-09-30T21:51:00.000-04:002013-09-30T21:51:57.531-04:002013 Stink-bug Damage Update<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysQ38Kdv54fBFTaFnMLTUDjItuStGQSxAFsUP6lNyEbtr5Lqbze6KUrjQ1N8qkY1Qw9FhadFDcjVZKlJ_x7QyWGPW9um3uKePmYY_RhFeQmlxPqpnb-9zrkZvm81Q0vPbyTjp290lmIE/s1600/Stinkbug+G.T.+Pepper+IMG_6490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysQ38Kdv54fBFTaFnMLTUDjItuStGQSxAFsUP6lNyEbtr5Lqbze6KUrjQ1N8qkY1Qw9FhadFDcjVZKlJ_x7QyWGPW9um3uKePmYY_RhFeQmlxPqpnb-9zrkZvm81Q0vPbyTjp290lmIE/s320/Stinkbug+G.T.+Pepper+IMG_6490.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stink bug on Golden Treasure pepper, with<br />
serious damage beginning near stem</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Damage to vegetables by brown marmorated stink bugs was “mixed” here at Meadow Glenn this summer.<br />
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Early in the vegetable growing season I noticed a stink bug or two, but not enough to concern me. They got my attention later, however, when I found 10 or 20 on the small green pods of my two Crimson Select pepper plants—and a few more on my two Golden Treasure pepper plants. I then closely examined my tomatoes and found a few more stink bugs.<br />
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Since stink bugs are skillful at avoiding capture when I try to remove them manually from garden plants, I had researched possible insecticides and chose bifenthrin, a commonly available pyrethroid, to spray when needed. I follow directions to the “T” and use the longer California standard for “Days to Harvest” for both tomatoes and peppers. So when I found the bugs, I sprayed the pepper plants carefully, and I sprayed the main stems of my 25 tomato plants and any stink bugs that I found on fruit. I sprayed once a week another two or three times—and was relatively free of stink bugs for most of the remainder of the growing season.<br />
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“Most of the remainder” means that I didn’t notice stink bugs again until today, when I noticed two stink bugs on two of our remaining Golden Treasure peppers. I hadn’t sprayed for more than a month. Today I noticed two stink bugs on two of our few remaining Golden Treasure peppers. I just squished the bugs thumb and finger—not a disposal method I recommend to squeamish gardeners or those with sensitive noses—since this late in the season I see little value in spraying again.<br />
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How much damage did my tomatoes and peppers suffer from stink bugs this year? <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9uqlfs7CikAwX0yjkOGhKmsddNOqfuQPSS56sUMLl5uXfWdCU7nqBmr4I3kWA-0jD87Uglb05C8fLM8olHhilg774w1Eu8cmNuPsxc8EhwgOPBlqePvmTIKo68vtcZMDxwQmDxUnGUI/s1600/Stinkbug+damaged+peppers+IMG_6491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9uqlfs7CikAwX0yjkOGhKmsddNOqfuQPSS56sUMLl5uXfWdCU7nqBmr4I3kWA-0jD87Uglb05C8fLM8olHhilg774w1Eu8cmNuPsxc8EhwgOPBlqePvmTIKo68vtcZMDxwQmDxUnGUI/s320/Stinkbug+damaged+peppers+IMG_6491.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stink-bug damaged peppers,<br />
Crimson Select (top) and Golden Treasure (bottom)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Tomatoes showed little to no fruit damage. Loss of Crimson Select peppers has been nearly 100% on my two plants despite multiple sprays. When the stink bugs puncture pepper cells, bacteria enter through the punctures and in most cases the peppers over time become unattractive before totally collapsing. Even though my two Golden Treasure pepper plants were next to the Crimson Selects, I lost only two or three of the early pods, though several more showed minor damage.<br />
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Bottom line: Stink bug news here at Meadow Glenn was good for tomatoes and bad for peppers. Now that nighttime temperatures are sinking, we’re finding a few adults inside our house, likely looking for cozy wintertime hiding places. Today we found four or five, and they’ve all failed their first swimming test in a bottle of soapy water.<br />
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My experience with the stink bugs in 2013 may not be typical. J.S., a Master Gardener in Harford County—about an hour away—in an email recently told her sad story: “I read the GIEI blog … about the wonderful tomatoes and the lack of stink bugs. I could have cried. I lost about 60% of my corn, all my cherries, peaches, pears, and apples and now am losing about 40% of my tomatoes to stink bugs. I guess they just love me best. Oh, whoopee!”<br />
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What impact did brown marmorated stink bugs have on your gardens this year?<br />
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In the Environment section of Monday’s Washington Post, Darryl Fears reviews regional stink-bug happenings in his <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/stink-bugs-are-plentiful-in-mid-atlantic-states-and-theyre-ready-to-come-indoors-for-winter/2013/09/29/32dd1fe8-2493-11e3-b75d-5b7f66349852_story.html">article</a>, “Stink bugs are plentiful in Mid-Atlantic states, and they’re ready to come indoors for winter.”<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0vhVZek81u_BHHsasLU4llt_kuxw_sqIQX71ft1jkYT1zjg1ZBia304AuATVzr-9oL132-JC5zlyOGnLsFTxenRWnNCNgKs7wGSfO0LUISYbM2f_7UnUl2GQ0UwgKDi9COLKJdwb1B0/s1600/Stinkbug+front+door+IMG_6485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0vhVZek81u_BHHsasLU4llt_kuxw_sqIQX71ft1jkYT1zjg1ZBia304AuATVzr-9oL132-JC5zlyOGnLsFTxenRWnNCNgKs7wGSfO0LUISYbM2f_7UnUl2GQ0UwgKDi9COLKJdwb1B0/s320/Stinkbug+front+door+IMG_6485.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Knock, knock. Got a cozy place for winter?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3709694636953135917.post-7050775447440470622013-09-11T20:59:00.000-04:002013-09-12T17:44:47.742-04:00A Prince & Princess—and a Monarch too<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Prince--or Princess?</td></tr>
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I must be a monarchist. I’ve been concerned all summer because hundreds of butterflies were in our gardens—but not one Monarch. I read emails from Master Gardeners questioning why the Monarchs had disappeared: Misuse of pesticides or herbicides? Natural cycle? Deforestation of Monarch wintering grounds in Mexico? Some unknown factor?<br />
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One posting left open some hope—saying that perhaps the Monarchs were just late in migrating from their northern territories and would be migrating through later than usual. So I kept looking for a Monarch among the many butterflies visiting our coneflowers and zinnias and at our five plantings of milkweed—<em>Asclepias tuberosa</em> and <em>Asclepias incarnata</em>—the host plant on which Monarchs lay their eggs and on which their caterpillars feed.<br />
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For weeks I found nothing. Not good, I worried.<br />
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And then about 10 days ago I found two Monarch caterpillars chomping on milkweed leaves when I checked our two <em>Asclepias incarnata</em> plants, gifts of Corliss G., a Howard County Master Gardener, during an exchange of perennials. I promptly named them Princess and Prince—true offspring of Monarchs. But where were the adults—flying about in Eastern Tiger Swallowtail disguises?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A visiting Monarch</td></tr>
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Then for two days last week a Monarch—or was it two?—visited the blossoms of our backyard zinnias and coneflowers.<br />
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Two Monarch caterpillars and an adult or two! I’m relieved, but how relieved should I be when I should have expected to find 10 caterpillars and seen a score of adults?<br />
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Here’s hoping I see scores of Monarchs in Summer 2014. In the meantime, I’m thinking that perhaps I should consolidate our far-flung milkweed plantings into one or two larger beds to encourage the beautiful insects to stop here at Meadow Glenn for some fast food on their annual travels.<br />
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P.S. Today’s (Sept. 12) Local Living section of the Washington Post contains three articles by Adrian Higgins on butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Click on the blue to go to “<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/creating-a-haven-for-butterflies-and-bees/2013/09/10/edd9cd60-10f1-11e3-b4cb-fd7ce041d814_story.html">Creating a haven</a> for butterflies and bees” (subsections on Monarchs, Honeybees, Bumblebees, and Pesticides); “<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/planting-for-pollinators/2013/09/10/14687d08-0f5f-11e3-8cdd-bcdc09410972_story.html">Planting</a> and gardening for pollinators” (breaks down common pollinator-supporting plants into these lists: “Milkweeds,” “Trees and shrubs,” “Herbs,” and “Perennials” and then Spring, Summer, and Fall bloomers); and “<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tips-on-beekeeping/2013/09/10/58593400-166f-11e3-be6e-dc6ae8a5b3a8_story.html">Tips on beekeeping</a>” ( lists local beekeeper organizations).<br />
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<br />Bob Nixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15640977102535139641noreply@blogger.com3