Petee

I particularly love starting plants, and some of the fun is seeing what the babies grow up to look like. Yes, once the petals have fallen off all that's usually left is the center seed part. Once it is dry and some of them have shattered or startto fall to the ground, that's the best time to collect seed. Make sure it's dry and put it in a waxed paper envelope. Mark the name, year and where you go them from. Place in a small jar in the bottom back of your fridge, and wait for spring. If you need help sprouting them, just ask. There are various ways of doing it.

I would pack on every kind of natural nutrient filled humus type product you can find right now and bury it all under all the leaves you can get this fall. As a matter of fact you can put up a fence to keep them in place. Next spring till everything in and cover it all with newspapers and a layer of peat moss. Keep any weeds pulled but there shouldn't be a lot. In spring 2011 get a soil test done, amend as directed and till everything in. You should have a great garden. In Jewish tradition a field was to lie fallow (or untilled) every seventh year to allow it to rebuild resources.

We have a nice lending library for the BUDS Gardeners. I'm pretty sure there are a couple of PA Gardening books in there.

There are a few different variations of plants that people call Black Eyed Susans, so if you see some that you particularly love, then pick some of the very dry seed heads. You can multiply your garden plants very quickly and efficiently that way.Make sure they are very dry and fold just the seeds into a waxed paper envelope. Mark the year and name of the plant, and where it came from. Put the envelope in a small jar in the bottom back of the fridge and wait for February or March to start them.

Deer will eat anything if they get as starved as they are at TL. There is very little natural browse because of the high and dense tree canopy. That's why you see them along side of or in clearings. You can try both spreading some seeds this fall and saving some for outdoor spring seeding plus indoor sprouting. That way you are sure to get plants. Send me some seeds and I will try starting some for you too.

I finally made it to the one garden and there are not only ripe tomatoes but the plants are healthy! They need fed because I assumed they were also going to die and didn't make arrangements for anyone to care for them! Now to make the walker trek to the other bed.

I would think that as long as you are adding something such as Citric Acid on a regular basis they should still be safe to can. I always used it anyway just in case I accidentally got some low acid tomatoes.

Actually they sell exactly the booby trap you are taling about. It's a high pressure hose that is attached to a motion sensor that activates when anything comes within range then it turns off again. I posted the link before.

That seem to be how it happens. In two days my beautiful plants started flopping over with the stems turning black. Ugh. My daughter has a ton of plants in Portage so maybe you will be able to buy them elsewhere at fruit stands where the blight didn"t hit.

Once the rose has bloomed and the petals have fallen off, the part that is left is an ovary or a seed capsule. In some roses they get very large and full of nutrients.

Yep, shrub rose hips! They're great for jams and jellies, and very healthy.

I suppose it might help in a year when there's not a ton of rain to deal with. It's always better to reinforce a plant's immune system to fight off disease which sounds like what the milk spray might do. In normal times an all round vitamin is good for humans but in terribly stressful times they don't stop a serious disease. Plants are probably the same.

It's on the left just as you are going into Penfield from the Sabula end. It was there for years but I've not been that way this summer.

Want to plant it in a pot so someone else can experiment with it?

There was mention in another thread of two prisoner of war camps here in our area. I've found that the one they turned into a church camp I attended was in Marion, PA. I should have some pictures of the buildings if I ever find them. Anyone know anything about them?

I've seen a plant growing in Penfield and on the way to the Gateway Humane Society after Falls Creek that looks like a huge sunflower that never flowers. Anyone know what they are? I've wondered for years, and I think they almost have to be a hardy perennial.

Is this it? http://www.gardenguides.com/plants/plant.asp?symbol=MAAC On the bottom left? It's definitely not a Sassafras.

What is a Cucumber Tree?

I love the way you placed the Yuccas. They are center stage in the picture!

http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/lateblighthg.htm

This is an excellent web siteto learn all about late blight. There is hope. http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/lateblighthg.htm

They also reseed around the base of the parent plant so if you have extra, dig them out and share them. They don't like to be crowded.

Are you kidding? I forget everything! Just remember that the sale is always the last weekend of May, and ther may be one before or after that. It depends on the last frost date and how mature the plants are.

I would check Agway or DuBois Feed and get a big bag. It's not that expensive and can be used everywhere as a basic fertilizer. Toss some in your compost too.

Plants almost "eat"the nutrients out of the soil so you want to giveyour garden at least one treatment of 10-10-10 every year, then feed each type of plant according to the individual needs of the plant. Tomatoes like a higher middle number just like most flowers. Corn is more balanced and likes 10-10-10 while root crops like something with a higher last number. Think leaves, fruit or flowers, and roots. Each fertilizer has a ratio on it somewhere so you can use the correct one for the best growth. Miracle Grow is marketed as an all round for general use but even they have some special formulas like for evergreens or flowers or tomatoes. I'm not certain but I think the purple is caused by a nutrient deficiency, maybe Magnesium? Alias.....Epsom Salts! In most cases you need one teaspoon per plant applied directly to the soil around the base of the plant, once a month. And I would suggest that you get a soil test done next year before planting. Agway has the Penn State test kits, about $8 and you get amazing results if you follow their directions to amend your soil.