Petee

Fall gardening is an excellent practice to learn.  You can also make a hoop house/low tunnel and grow things like spinach, kale, lettuces, radishes, carrots, beets, etc, right into December.  Then the root crops and things like Kale can be harvested through the winter although they won't really grow any more.  In the spring some things will just start growing again and you will have an extra early crop.  If anyone wants to try it I have several trays of plants that were meant for a winter garden but I didn't get it assembled.  I'd be glad to donate them to someone to try out.

Beautiful.  How could anyone manage such exquisite sculptures today?

I went back through the seed list from the BUDS and we grew Keystone Resistant Giants.  If you have a lot of peppers but they are small then just cut out the top of the plant.  You will get fewer but they will be larger.
 
A lot of the size has to do with watering too so if they seem dry, water them well.  You may see larger fruits.

Ummm, teeny, new potatoes in their skins, creamed with sweet peas.

Ummm, teeny, new potatoes in their skins, creamed with sweet peas.

We found a female Monarch at the canoe pick up point up near Ridgway yesterday.  She looked a little ragged and was hunting for minerals in the parking lot.  I still hadn't put the butterfly net into the van or we may have had one to nurture and eggs to raise.
 
If anyone sees a patch of milkweed where one if hanging out, please check for eggs or instars.  The BUDS Gardeners will raise them and release them at Charlie's Alternators at the Pollinator Bed.
 
Just snap off the leaf an egg or caterpillar is on and place it in a quart jar or large zip lock bag.  Call us and we will come to pick it up or meet you somewhere.
 
This is what we will be looking for, or live Monarch Butterflies.  You may want to take along a good magnifying glass to identify them.
 
 

I've been reading a lot about hoop house growing this past year.  The next garden will be under cloth or screening, especially broccoli.  Keeps the varmints out too.
 
The Master Gardeners are also going to attempt a winter garden with carrots, different greens and beets.  There will be a trial garden at the DuBois Community Garden courtesy of the BUDS Gardeners also.

I've been reading a lot about hoop house growing this past year.  The next garden will be under cloth or screening, especially broccoli.  Keeps the varmints out too.
 
The Master Gardeners are also going to attempt a winter garden with carrots, different greens and beets.  There will be a trial garden at the DuBois Community Garden courtesy of the BUDS Gardeners also.

There's always something new and it's always from Asia!
 
This year it's the Lily Leaf Beetle, and continuing to be the Hemlock Wooley Adelgid which is going to kill off most of our Hemlocks.  All the Ash are gone or going.

The more that end up in the traps, the fewer there are to lay eggs for the next year.  I think you caught most of the adults so there were fewer young.  When they are making a Beeline for the trap they aren't munching on your plants.  They have a date on their minds, not supper.

The more that end up in the traps, the fewer there are to lay eggs for the next year.  I think you caught most of the adults so there were fewer young.  When they are making a Beeline for the trap they aren't munching on your plants.  They have a date on their minds, not supper.

It is turning out to be absolutely beautiful!  Thank you for your efforts!

You can check Tractor Supply or any other nursery department for the little ant cups.  Possibly Terro or some other brand.  The ants take it to their nest and it kills everything that eats it.  Best solution.

Around here they come in white, yellow and pink blossoms, and yes, it's horribly invasive.  Don't worry about tearing it out because for every one you destroy a hundred more will spring up.  The game commission, as they have done in numerous situations, brought it in to reforest strip mines and provide food for animals.  Each different colored blossom creates a different colored berry.

So sorry for her children.  Then must have been so well cared for and loved by her.  It will be a huge missing link for them.

Possibly this guy?  He's cute!
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/american_toad.htm
 
I already snagged my Mother's Day gift.  It's an Alaskan Red Cedar.  Found it for a relatively decent price at Bonnie's Gardens in Osceola Mills on Saturday.  I'll happily relieve you of the toad too!    He can live in my toad house.

I have been planning a field trip for the BUDS Gardeners and the Jefferson County Master Gardeners and happened to trip across this website!  Excellent reading for those who would like to understand the Amish better.
 
http://karenannavogel.blogspot.com/

This summer the BUDS Gardeners will be carrying out a project to encourage local Butterfly lovers to collect Monarch eggs and raise them safely to maturity when they can be released.  We're hoping to develop a program where people who cannot help, can watch!  let us know if you would like to be involved in anything from egg hunting and collecting, to raising them, to being part of a series of releases.
 
I will add info here as we develop it.  This list is a series of U Tubes that are great!
 
Raising Monarchs from eggs
 
Part 1           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I5F4AHyQHs
Part 2          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehq__6MQP3w
Part 3          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJU8-FpGI78
Part 4          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84Ha_TjUpEk
Part 5          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-E71kVxFtI
 
 
Grow a Butterfly Garden
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u96-EblEUec

We've been told about it from the time it was first distributed but it takes time to do research studies.  They have to wait till something happens, then prove how it happened, then they will deal with it.
 
The solution, eat as organic as possible, grow as much of your own food as possible, eat as healthy as possible.  Something's going to get everyone of us but if you want to die peacefully in bed, then it's probably not going to happen if you make your bed with chemicals.

Today I found blooming Crocus, and Daffodils and Hyacinths poking out of the ground.  It has arrived regardless of the date!

My daughter's teensy little old Jack Russell has occasional seizures.  Other than the scare it gives her, the dog just seems to sleep it off when it's over.  They've become less frequent, sometimes months apart,  Vet has no definite idea what causes them.

There are quite a few in the Sabula area and I doubt that the families and churches who maintain them would look kindly on an invasion of curiosity seekers.   Sorry to be so abrupt but they are sanctuaries for families who have buried their loved ones, not entertainment. 

He's waiting for you to come back and finish your homework!

I figured if you could get your finger out of the soil it would be a plus!  

I figured if you could get your finger out of the soil it would be a plus!