Farmer’s Markets getting busier; drip irrigation workshop

By David West

Farmer’s Markets in Calhoun County are busier this month thanks to July rains. The Market at the county Adminsitration building on 17th and Noble has been very busy this past Wednesday and Saturday. Okra, tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers and melons were all avaialble from local growers. While some of the fruits and vegetables were small, I’m sure they are quite tasty. The tomatoes I’ve tried were great. The Market at Buckner Center on Saturday has reportedly also seen increased sales. A little rain can go a long way. If growers had adequate irrigation installed prior to the drought, we could have been enjoying locally grown produce 2 months earlier.
Installing a simple drip irrigation system can save you time, money and frustration in relation to your gardening efforts. A drip irrigation workshop will be held at Cane Creek Community Garden on August 24th. This will be a hands on activity, and you can see for yourself how simple and inexpensive it is to install a garden sized drip system. To register, call 256-237-1621. Our efforts at Cane Creek were also set back by the severe drought, so we are installing drip irrigation there. We want you to see how easy it is, so register early and then attend the workshop ready to get your hands dirty. See page 14 of our current newsletter for a look at the beginnings of Cane Creek Gardens.Newsletter see page 14.

Poison Ivy

By Ms Sherry

When you garden you deal with a lot of factors–insects, drought, too much rain, great successes and failures, weeds, beauty, and even illness. Just last week the doctor confirmed that I had poison ivy. After looking carefully at my rashes he asked me if I had been in the yard. I sheepishly admitted that I had–probably without proper protection–gloves, long pants, long sleeves–the whole protective gear. But every gardener knows what it is like: walk in the yard–a stray weed catches your eye and, before you know it, your hands are dirty and your clothes are stained. Since suffering with several bouts of poison ivy, I have tried very hard to be careful—following that old warning “leaves of three let it be.” I thought, perhaps, a refresher course in poison ivy (a.k.a. p.i.) recognition might be necessary. A trip down google lane to a site with edu in the address—to help me get the most accurate information—seemed in line. So in hopes of sparing you an itchy episode please let me share what I learned with you:
• 70 percent of folks who rub up against p.i. are allergic to it
• Best way to avoid it is to stay away from it; the best way to stay away from it is to know what it looks like—seems pretty sensible. If we all recognized this weed,  companies producing thousand of jars of healing potions would soon be out of business. From the rows of product lined up on the shelf, apparently we are doing a pretty poor job of recognizing this plant enemy.
• “Poison ivy is a woody perennial that forms vines. Its appearance can change depending on where it grows; p.i. can form a carpet on the ground, climb tree trunks, walls, fences, etc; the edges of the leaflets can be lobed, smooth or toothed; it can grow in the open, in deep shade, along a path, the edges of a road or among other vines.” Guess that is why a diagnosis of p. i. is so common.
• It is true there are three leaflets on a leaf stalk; two leaflets grow on opposing sides of the stem and the third is at the end of the stalk by itself. The stems are woody.
• P.I can have a slightly different color and appearance at each season; new growth can be reddish and shiny; plants have have a cluster of green flowers after the leaves emerge; p. i. fruit has a white waxy appearance and can look like mistletoe.
• Summer foliage is either dull or glossy green; fall foliage can be red, orange, or yellow.
• It can grow and turn up anywhere—from birds dropping the seeds to creeping roots.
• The culprit in p.i. is a very toxic substance called urushiol found in the leaves, stems, fruit, flowers and root; if you are sensitive to p.i. and touch any of those parts, a rash will soon follow. If you touch contaminated hand tools, pets, or inhale smoke from plants being burned, you may develop a rash depending on your sensitivity and your exposure; the oil can stay harmful for two weeks or longer, especially when it is dry.
• P.I. is toxic in all plants, all year, but worse in the spring
• Even a little bit of urushiol can give you a reaction–how much oil and how quickly you can wash it off may affect how bad a rash you get. Thicker skin (like your palms) is less susceptible, unless you wipe your palm across your brow; then you have it on your face. If you are hot and sweaty, the pores open up and you become much more susceptible (and typically the summer gardener in the south is sweating); voila–poison ivy.
• Some folks say p.i. doesn’t bother them at all; not everyone gets a reaction the first time they come into contact with the plant. Repeated exposure will result in more severe reactions. Some folks “seem” to be immune, but probably it just takes exposure to larger amounts of urushiol to get a rash.
• When I have to remove p.i. in my garden, I use the double bag trick. I put my hand inside a plastic grocery store bag, pull it up by the root (if I can) then turn the sack inside out, being careful not to touch the ivy, stuff the whole thing inside another sack and dispose of it.
• Most of us know what the symptoms are; as a precaution, however, I will alert the uninitiated–a terrible, burning itch and a rash with watery blisters. Someone else touching your rash can’t contract p.i. It does not spread from one part of the body to another. A well meaning person told me that I would spread my own particular case everywhere I scratched—but scratching itself doesn’t spread the rash, unless you still have urushiol under your fingernails. But if you still have urushiol on your skin or clothing and someone else touches that substance, then the p. i. can spread from one person to another. And if you spread urushiol from one part of your body to another, then the p.i. can spread all over you. That is how it gets everywhere—from our hands to our faces, to our necks–well you get the idea. A pet frolicking in the woods or the grass makes an ideal carrier. As soon as you pet your pet, the urushiol is on you, too. Hand tools that have been contaminated also can spread the chemical.
• Possibly the only defense against poison ivy is the same defense as against other illnesses–good hygiene. If you think you have been exposed (or just as a good preventative) wash your hands and under your fingernails with plenty of soap and water–as soon as possible. Even 10 minutes exposure can cause a reaction. If you have any concerns as to what else may have been exposed, a good shower never hurts. But wash with cold water as the hot water opens the pores and will help the oil to be absorbed.
• If your case isn’t too bad, something over the counter from the local pharmacy may help as does cold compresses. It takes about two weeks to finally disappear. But if you are really miserable (scratching, fever, loss of sleep, lots of coverage, or a rash very close to your eyes), you may need to see a doctor.
• There are products sold over the counter that are supposed to help keep you from getting a rash if you touch the urushiol. I have not used any of them, so I am not sure how they work. But if you already have a rash, the product can’t help.
• Getting rid of poison ivy can be tricky. You can try constantly mowing or cutting the young shoots until they die. You can pull up the vines, You can dig up the roots. But if you leave any part of the root it will be back. (But remember–cover yourself good when attempting any of these methods; launder your clothes; clean your tools.)
• DO NOT BURN POISON IVY! The poison goes up in smoke, which can produce an allergic reaction in your eyes, or on your skin, or in your respiratory tract. Beware areas where folks are burning portions of their property or woodlands if you are sensitive to poison ivy.
• A product such as glyphosate (i.e., Round Up) can be used to control the vine. READ THE LABEL before applying to protect nearby planting. Best time to apply a weed killer is in late August to October. It may not be necessary to spray an entire plant to destroy it; you can just paint the leaves. Here again you must be cautious as this kind of product can kill anything around it; never spray on a windy day.
• Your best protection is to know what poison ivy looks like and then avoid it. Wear protective clothing when you think you may come into contact with it. Keep an eye on your pets. If you do touch it, wash immediately. Apply chemicals carefully in late summer.

• This article was written with information form the Home and Garden Education Center at the University of Connecticut College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and my own experiences.

Gardening for the Birds

By Ms Sherry

I love birds in the garden. With a little imagination and some knowledge it is possible to turn your yard into a bird habitat. Watching birds around a feeder or a bird bath can provide hours of entertainment. We have a birdbath, a fountain, and a feeder we keep stocked 12 months out of the year. We provide extra energy in the winter with a suet feeder also. But even more importantly, our landscape has the ingredients to make our feathered friends feel welcome. To make your yard hospitable just think like a bird. Actually, birds require the same things we want in a home: shelter, food and water, and a place to raise babies.

It is easy to make your garden a haven for the birds. Look around to see if there is food (the right food), water, safety from predators (such as cats or hawks), a place to build a nest, or to get out of the rain. Then decide if you, the gardener, make good choices as to the use of herbicides and pesticides and other garden practices.

Water
Birds drink the water and bathe in it too. Your water source can be as simple as a bird bath; the sound of running water, however, is irresistible to the birds. When I turn on the sprinkler, birds appear from all over to splash in the water. One morning I looked out to find more than a dozen yellow finches sitting on the edge of the fountain taking turns getting a drink or a bath. A small puddle in the driveway can bring a gathering. Keep your birdbath clean and filled with fresh water. Catalogues are full of devices to prevent the water from freezing in the winter as birds need water during the cold months just as during the warm months. 

Safety
Shelter is of prime importance. As birds are always alert to predators, four-footed and flying, provide plenty of places to escape and to hide. A mixture of deciduous and evergreen shrubs provides a hiding place for all types of birds. (If you plant shrubs or trees with berries or nuts you can supply shelter and sustenance with the same plant.)
Places to perch–birds will perch on tree and shrub limbs to survey the area; different birds like different levels and types of places to perch. The birds who eat in our bird feeders perch in the close-by trees and then fly down to eat from the feeder and then return to their perches.
Seclusion—Secluded areas of shrubbery provide great places to build nests as well as to hide.
Dead trees are always popular; birds can carve out a nest or a place to roost and the insects tunneling under the bark are a special treat. Of course if a dead tree is a danger for humans, you can’t keep it for the birds either. Brush piles also make wonderful hiding places (and spots for building nests).

Food
Be sure to add plants to your garden that provide natural sources of food: berries and seeds. Berries with a low fat content such as those that appear in the winter are not as attractive to birds as those that often appear in the fall (like dogwood berries). Supplement the natural foods in your yards with a feeder; birding catalogues and area stores are full of different types of seeds from niger to thistle to black oil sunflower; sunflower seed hearts being the food of choice at the Blanton home.  The initial cost may be a bit higher but you don’t get the mess of piles of discarded hulls, and there is much less waste. Place your feeder carefully so there is always an escape route and a safe place to go should a wandering cat come by. It is hard not to mention bird feeders without mentioning the enemy of the bird watcher, the squirrel. It was not until we began to feed the birds that I learned how smart squirrels could be. (The same squirrels that robbed my bird feeder also dug up whatever plants were new to the garden.) No matter what solutions we tried—hot pepper powder (purchased from a garden store) mixed with the seed, baffles to keep the squirrels from climbing up the poles or down them, hanging the feeder in different locations, even supposedly “squirrel proof” feeders—the squirrels emptied the seeds as fast as we filled the feeders. We had so many squirrels the birds could not eat. That is, until in a catalogue we discovered the miracle bird feeder, a feeder that gives tiny little shocks to anything that weighs more than a bird. Don’t worry it is humane, my husband has tried it more than once. It worked–one squirrel did a cartwheel, and must have sent message to all his or her buddies, because now the squirrels stick to what the birds drop on the ground.

Making a home
If you have plenty of shrubs you will be providing ideal places to build nests but for birds who prefer to nest in cavities (such as bluebirds, chickadees, wrens and woodpeckers), you may need to give them some help in the form of bird houses. There are special houses designed for different birds. Do a little research before you place your house to see what will be attractive to your local birds.

Good choices
As you plan your yard it is also necessary to make some smart choices–smart for the birds and smart for the environment, in general. Stay away from harsh chemicals. Use products that are safe for your birds, your pets and your children. Don’t get rid of all the insects in your yard; they are food for the birds. If you use fertilizers choose natural or organic ones, especially on your lawn. As birds search for food most anything in your lawn can become a possible food source including your chemicals. If you spray a fertilizer, water it in as quickly as possible. Consider making a rain garden; a slight depression where your gutters end filled with moisture loving plants will be an instant draw for birds such as robins.
Another good choice is something we as gardeners do naturally: to mulch our gardens. Birds look in the mulch for worms. At my house they use the pine straw mulch to build their nests. When you mulch you get the extra benefits of helping to retain moisture in the soil (so important in these drought-filled days), keeping down weed growth, and decaying in time, amending your soil.

There is so much more to be learned about gardening for the birds; various web sites and books are excellent sources of information.

Most gardeners dread the gray days of winter when we can only stare outside and dream of spring. But a yard full of birds can quickly change that dreary landscape into a cheery one. Start planning today for your bird habitat. 

                 

Butterfly Gardening

By Ms Sherry

One of the most wonderful rewards from a garden full of color are the visits by the butterflies. It is easy to make your garden hospitable to these wonderful winged creatures. For me late summer and early fall provide a feast for the eyes when the yellow butterflies visit. At times there have been actual clouds of them flitting around my pineapple sage. This plant sports bright red tubular flowers (as well as leaves that smell like pineapple when they are crushed). This plant is not only attractive to butterflies but also to another welcome visitor to my garden–the hummingbirds.

It is important to know and recognize the four life cycle stages of the butterfly so that you can be a good host to each of the four stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and the winged adult, the butterfly. Once you know and recognize the four stages, it is necessary to accommodate the four stages with whatever their needs are: food or shelter. The adult butterflies will lay their eggs on host plants so that the larvae will have the necessary food to grow to the next stage, the caterpillar. Most butterflies are fairly specific about what they like to eat. One of the most picky is the monarch who will only lay eggs only on milkweed. The black swallowtail which is very common to this area lays eggs on dill, carrot, fennel, or parsley. I frequently see the caterpillars crawling up the stems of my parsley plants so I plant lots of those so there is enough for me and the caterpillars. Caterpillars need a sturdy protected place to attach and form the chrysalis. Adult butterflies live on the sweet flavored nectar found in flowers. Since butterflies are near-sighted, large sweeps of flowers half attract them. They suck the nectar with their mouths which are straw-like, so they are partial to long tubular flowers found on butterfly bushes, lantana, pentas, and butterfly weed. They will also visit pansies, marigolds, and impatiens.  Flowers such as verbena and daisies are good because they have compound flowers which provide many nectar containers for sipping. Butterflies have a great sense of smell which guides them to the flowers with rich nectar. Humans and butterflies are attracted to flowers that smell sweet.

Butterflies are cold blooded; their body temperature depends on the temperature. They prefer full sun. But the flowers that are especially attractive to butterflies also tend to be ones that do well in full sun. Butterflies like to warm themselves on stepping stones or gravel. I have a cluster of smooth black stones that I purchased at local big box store in case the visiting butterflies need a resting place. Male butterfly adults like to puddle; they get their water and minerals from a wet place.  Take a shallow container and fill with sand and then keep it wet for them. On a recent visit to the butterfly garden in Houston Texas, I noticed bowls of fruit placed around for the butterflies to drink from and I have seen special containers in garden catalogues to hold the fruit.

Butterflies also need shelter on cloudy, windy, or rainy days so include woody or blooming shrubs in your butterfly garden. These sturdy bushes can also provide a place for the caterpillars to attach their chrysalis. Many hosts plants, like fennel, can also provide a sturdy place for the caterpillar to attach the chrysalis.

The most important point to mention in butterfly gardening is to be really careful with chemicals sprayed near your plants. It is best to spot-treat insects with insecticidal saps or oils which leave no chemical residue which can harm the caterpillar.  Even better is to pick some insect pests off by hand. Or try a big spray of water from your garden hose.

A few well-chosen plants (and the knowledge of a butterfly’s needs) can provide you, the gardener, with many delightful hours and as, Martha Stewart would say, “a good thing.”

Trees in the Home Landscape

By Ms Sherry

Of late in Jacksonville, Alabama, there has been a controversy regarding the removal of three old pecan trees that had grown up in the power lines. There are pros and cons on both sides of this now emotional issue: whether they should be removed or be left and merely trimmed. Safety and aesthetic issues have been discussed; all parties involved have made valid points. The only sure way to avoid this possible scenario in your yard is to follow the golden rule of gardening “Plant the right plant in the right place.” In this case do not plant trees whose mature size will take them into the lines. If you follow this guideline it may be possible to avoid many (perhaps not all) future problems. Most of my failures in the garden have come because I did not follow the simple guideline: planting the right plant in the right place–taking into account a plant’s needs: light, soil, fertilization, and water requirements; size at maturity as well as pest and disease prevention requirements. With a tree, size, and width at maturity as well as the location of above-ground and underground utilities and sight lines (at driveways for example) are very important considerations. When planting a tree along the edges of your property, it is essential to consider what the utility company’s right-of-way rights are as it pertains to trimming tree branches or removal of an entire tree. Another consideration should be how close a tree is to the power lines if there is any concern about children’s safety –especially if there may be any danger to a child who likes to climb a tree. As a young girl, even I liked to hide away in the shelter of a big tree in the front yard. As you add trees to your landscape, if the trees’ mature size may be too close to a line, consider a different location, or choose lower growing trees so that when they mature they will not get tangled in the lines. As much as we love our trees, most of us can feel awfully inconvenienced when there is any type of power outage. 
As you choose a tree, placement in your yard may also increase your home’s energy efficiency. Leafy shade trees to the south, east, and west can provide shade from the hot summer sun; when they lose their leaves in the winter the sun’s warmth can help warm your home. Evergreens planted to the north can help provide a windbreak in the winter. The shade of a large tree in the summer is one of the garden’s most wonderful pleasures. How many glasses of lemonade have been drunk in swing under the canopy of a wonderful old tree.
As Joyce Kilmer says, “I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree.” A well placed tree can add value, beauty, and energy-efficiency to any home. Plant one today.