GET COMFORTABLE IN YOUR GARDEN, BUT PROTECT YOUR SKIN AND EYES

Unless a resourceful inventor develops revolutionary technology for skin replacement, we get one skin for life. Even though new cells are made in the deepest layers (where you can't see), the outer "dead" layers of skin cells play a significant role in protection. So keeping it healthy is important. This includes not letting it become dry, irritated or overexposed to the sun, very hot shower or bath water, extremely cold air, and so on.

Besides aging the skin and causing burns that range from irritating to painful, solar radiation can cause skin cancer. It may also contribute to cataract formation.


Gardening, even on a cloudy day, can produce a sunburn, especially when one is unprotected. Don't overlook the value of including a wide-brimmed hat for protection. When tolerable, long sleeves and pants are a good idea. Coolibar.com sells some good sun-protective clothing, so you can dress a little more up-to-date than a traditional Chinese rice-paddy worker to tend your garden. My reversible bucket hat, which I purchased during the late-summer of 2007 clearance sale, gets worn daily. Besides the skin protection, it shades my eyes -- a definite plus for this migraine-prone person.

A full ounce of sun protection creme is recommended for each application to provide adequate coverage. The old saying about an ounce of prevention seems to apply here.

Many lotions designed for sun protection do an excellent job of moisturizing my skin, so I tend to wear them year-round. On my face, I use something with less oil to avoid blemishes that still happen even though I'm 40-something.

In midwinter, the aroma of exotic ingredients (coconut, cocoa butter, and others) is a welcome reminder of summer. Sun protection, or more precisely UV radiation blockage, is beneficial year-round. This includes the use of sunglasses. If you've ever stepped out of the midwinter darkness indoors into a sunny, snow-covered outdoors without protection for your eyes, you probably experienced snow blindness. When the sun reflects off snow, it's beautiful, but can be hard on the eyes. * Imagine the temporary blindness from a camera flash, but with pain, longer-lasting, and from a source much brighter than a flash bulb.

I'm usually itching to get into the garden. Getting outdoors relieves that, but can also generate a physical itch. "Don't scratch," is easy to say if you don't have a persistent itch from "hives" (a rash), inadequately moisturized skin, sunburn or any number of reasons. Like me, if you find that your skin is highly sensitive to plant materials and other triggers, I recommend seeing a dermatologist for an accurate diagnosis. The doctor will probably (and should) provide recommendations on how to avoid aggravating your skin.




I choose not to give up gardening, hiking and other outdoor activities in the process of avoiding triggers of my eczema (skin rashes). Gloves, long sleeves and pants are a good barrier. Taking anti-histamine before exposure can help prevent the problem, although I only do this when conditions are really bad.

Gently washing any area that gets irritated as soon as possible after exposure helps. Sweating even irritates my skin if I don't shower or wipe it off soon enough.



http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/skin-care/SN00003

Eczema:


If you find that your skin develops something unusual, such as the rash in the photo, a raised area or mole, an area that won't heal or other change in appearance, don't hesitate to get to your doctor, or preferably a dermatologist.

Americanskincancer.org

* Snow blindness is not referring to the phenomenon of being lost in a snowstorm because all is white. That's called a whiteout.

I'm sorry I haven't written an entry in a while. My plot in the community garden is going and so are the containers on my porch. Here's a tour in photos.

The rhubarb grew flower shoots. I removed them to redirect the plant's energy into the edible stems. It's best in cool weather.
The black speck in the middle is a gypsy moth caterpillar. The area was infested with them this spring. They prefer trees, but they will eat some other plants. They float on a thin web-like thread in air currents until they find a place to land. They have defoliated large areas of forest in the Northeast over the decades when their population is high. So, this year the borough did aerial spraying. Borough employees also wrapped burlap around tree trunks and folded it over to make a pocket, then secured it to the trunk. At night, the larvae crawl down the tree (I guess they feed on the leaves in the day and go into the ground at night). They are trapped in the burlap, which is removed each morning and the bugs are disposed of.



When the tulips were done, I captured what I take to be seeds on the plant. I had to hold the stem still because of the wind.


Portuluca: a groudcover with lovely, delicate flowers and a reputation for drought-tolerance; however, we have had a lot of rain, so they aren't growing really fast.


















My first year growing potatoes here. Vigorous plants. Potato beetles thought they were wonderful, so they feasted, mated and grew their eggs on the leaves. I constantly picked them off -- the orange eggs, larvae (which are slimy and red with black spots), and the yellow and black adult beetles. I couldn't help but laugh when I thought that my first harvest was bugs.




Containers in midspring:





I may become known as the weird neighbor lady who wraps her plants in tin foil, but I stopped loosing so many seedlings to slugs, snails and cutworms after wrapping these collars around the plant base.

Cutworms are the larvae (young) form of flying adult insects. The worms live in the top inch or two of the soil; at night, they come out and climb the plants to get a meal. They may be best-known for their tomato plant destruction. However, they like my morning glory seedlings very, very much. Without the foil, the long green container toward the top of the photo would be nothing but stems. They have eaten my basil, lobelia and spinach, but thankfully have left my lettuce and cabbage alone.

I think I've heard a worm burp in the middle of the night. ;) But I have the last laugh. Here are two of my morning glory containers now! Maybe the nieghbor lady isn't so weird. :)



This is a 5-gallon container, although from this angle you might think it's a plate of greens with dirt. The plants are much bigger now. It contains lettuce, cabbage and fennel.









The people who rented a plot next to mine last year grew strawberries. A few plants crept into my plot and I won't complain.




My lilies have established themselves well. I can't wait until the pods open. I did not plant any sunflowers this year, but they came up anyway from seeds shed by previous plants. They're all over my plot; I've had to pull some out because they were shading items that need sun, like my pepper plants.

The flowers will be medium size (about 8") with burgundy, rust and dark orange leaves if they are like the parent plants.

DAFFODILS AND OTHER SPRING BULBS

When I'm tired of dreary days at the end of winter, and long sunny days are still on my wish list, it's wonderful to see the beautiful colors of spring bulbs break the soil surface and bloom. Daffodils are very popular. They're easy to grow and have a reputation for being easy to force; that is, you can grown them indoors sooner than they would bloom outside.

I am new to growing spring bulbs. An excellent fact sheet can be found at this link.


Other fact sheets can be chosen here.

Last fall I bought a bag of tulip bulbs and planted them. They produced quite a variety:

A LITTLE "FUN"GI

Mushrooms are very cool organisms. In my opinion. They grow in places we find quite undesirable (like manure). They also look alien.

Never did I know of a beautiful mushroom outside of Alice in Wonderland. Sometimes, over the last couple of decades since I have had houseplants, I discovered Leucocoprinus birnbaumii, also called lepiota lutea growing in the soil of some of my plants. The beautiful bright yellow fungi are small, and never last long. I shamelessly pilfered this photo from Wikipedia; I have none of my own for this shroom.

It doesn't harm the plants, but don't eat it. It's unknown whether it's poisonous. Jut enjoy its beauty. Oh, the common name is yellow houseplant mushroom. Here are a couple of links with more information about it:

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/feb2002.html

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/leucocoprinus_birnbaumii.html

WHAT A FUNNY NAME FOR A VEGETABLE!

My great aunt Mary had a garden. As kids, my younger sister and I played nearby, but tried to avoid trampling anything. Rhubarb, a very attractive plant with crimson stalks similar in shape to celery, grew there. If you've seen one, you know its green leaves are prehistorically large and broad, giving the plant an appearance similar to squash. Young stalks remind me of bright lights swiss chard, too.

I call it an old-fashioned vegetable. Why? Mostly older people seem to know of it. Grocery stores seldom carry it, and it's unheard of to many people I've met. But, serve it with strawberries in a pie, and they'll probably never forget it!!


Until it has become established with a good root system, harvesting should be spare. The first year nothing should be harvested. At all times, only the stalks can be eaten. The leaves contain a high amount of oxalic acid, which makes them toxic (slightly to extremely toxic, depending on the information source). Oxalic acid can contribute to the creation of kidney and/or bladder stones. So, just dispose of the leaves. Whether or not they are safe for the compost pile also depends on who one asks.

When something like this grows on your rhubarb:
it will probably become a seed-bearing stem. This should be removed so that the plant's energy can go into producing the stalks for harvest.

Another important thing I have learned. Fertilze, fertilize. It's a heavy feeder. My dad, who grew up in a semi-rural area outside of St. Louis with a neighbor grew the plant, told me, "If you want good rhubarb, put horse manure around the bottom of the plant." Thanks dad.

According to this web site, "rhubarb is as hardy as a weed." However, regular shallow cultivation to remove weeds is needed, as well as watching for Rhubarb curculio, an invasive beetle. The same web site has great detail about growing, harvesting, nutrition and use of rhubarb, as well as many other vegetables and some fruits. Check it out.

I can't help but notice birds in my garden. Besides the potential fertilizer they may leave behind, birds can transport seeds in that same "fertilizer", both desirable and weed seeds. They eat some insect pests as well, plus beneficial bugs. In the balance of a garden's miniature ecosystem, attempting to destroy an entire population of destructive insects may chase away (and poison) the good guys.



I have seen gold finches quite a bit in the community garden. The beatiful yellow birds with black detailing, among others, are eye-candy as surely as the flowers that attract them. A nice video of deer and several types of birds was filmed in Murrysville, Pennsylvania. To watch it, click here.

I know that furry critters can run away with bulbs one has planted. I've wondered if birds abscond with recently sown seeds, too. Crows and small birds show up in the garden community where I rent my plot. If they do, it hasn't affected germination as far as I can tell. I will have to keep my eyes open.
My sunflowers attract birds. I will gladly grow them each season I can to provide food. In fact, sunflowers are one of the top 10 flowers for birds, according to Birdwatcher's Digest, Mexican sunflowers included.

Supporting sunflowers against strong winds is a challenge I have yet to meet, but so far only one windstorm totaled mine. That was at the end of the season in 2006; frequent heavy rainfall all summer had already washed away a great deal of soil, no doubt contributing to my sunflowers' literal downfall.

Our local newspaper featured an article on bluebirds last Sunday. I have learned that their numbers have declined quite a bit.Sparrows, among others birds, have taken their place, so some people have chosen to learn how to attract and host blue birds. Some advice? Well, they naturally nest in open areas rather than wooded spaces. More advice? Check out this article:
All About Bluebirds

Maybe if we bring them back, happiness will come, too. Why do I say this? Because of the phrase "bluebird of happiness". It reminds me of "Mister blue bird's on my shoulder", a line from the celebratory song Zip-a-dee-doo-dah .

Top ten flowers for birds, according to Bird Watcher's Digest:

1. Purple coneflower
2. Zinnia
3. Sunflower
4. Black-eyed susan
5. Buddleia or butterly bush
6. Bee balm
7. Larkspur and delphinuim
8. Fuschia
9. Salvia
10. Coral bells
Details on these flowers can be found at the link:
Bird Watcher's Digest


Bluebird Society of Pennsylvania

Freebies

Here's something to grow on your desktop; suited to you and I, the garden lovers. The lovely peach dahalia in this photo is from this location. They are free:

desktop


Free gardening newsletters are available many places. Here's a sample of some I've found:

P Allen Smith's Garden Home

Backyard Gardener

Burpee seed company (subscribe in lower left corner of page)


The Garden Glove

A "Miracle" Liquid

Every gardener knows that water is as essential to plants as it is to all of life. It seems ordinary probably only because it's so common. Yet it is able to absorb and dissolve many things into it. This makes it a great conduit for nutrients. It also changes form without significant loss of its essential charactertistics. It changes its state constantly in many cases, absorbing and releasing oxygen, nitrogen, minerals, nutrients and various other substances.

It's the only substance known that expands when frozen rather than contracting.

Want to see how much you know about water? Here's a quiz:

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sc3.html

I'm happy that I got 9 out of 10 correct. Number 7 is the one I got wrong.


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I planted two types of onions, red and sweet white, last week. The week before last I put in daisy gold potatoes; according to the vendor (Burpee) they are nematode resistant.

A tip: put the seed potatoes or cut pieces in a paper bag with agricultural sulfur and coat them lightly. It can help to protect them against fungal diseases and perhaps other problems. I found gardening sulfur at Lowe's. Besides the application on potatoes, it can be added to soil that needs to be more acidic.

I need to put in my blueberry plants soon. They need acidic soil.

(Source of tip: The Vegetable Gardener's Bible)

Signs of Spring

The people from New York set up their annual tent to sell Easter flowers. It's up every year in the mall parking lot. This means that Patchwork Farms' nursery stand is not far behind!

The days are longer and the snow doesn't lay on the ground very long. I saw a flock of geese flying northward a few days ago. Tomorrow (Thursday) is the first day of spring. This means the Earth will slowly begin tilting its Northern Hemisphere into the sun.

Clothing stores are selling colorful items made of lighter fabric. Garden departments of various stores began stocking seed packets, seed-starter kits and gardening tools in the last month in their displays.

You can't get out in the garden yet, perhaps. So, here's a little virtual fun to entertain you -- at least for a little while. Thanks to my friend Mary for sending it to me! That's her hand holding the flower in the picture below!! (tee hee)

Click on the link below. You will get a black page.




http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf

Click your mouse anywhere (& everywhere) on the
page & see what happens! If you click repeatedly on the same spot you will get multiple blooms!
Better yet, click & drag
your mouse over the page... Enjoy!!

So The Plot Thaws

I've been thinking of the smell of "fresh" soil since I visited my plot yesterday afternoon in the 51-degree, sunny conditions. By fresh soil I mean earth that has thawed after winter's coldest phase, with enough moisture to make it rather workable but not muddy. I only went to dig the remaining leeks out of the ground. I wish that on my day off tomorrow (Sunday), the weather would not just be barely above freezing as is forecast. That's probably too cold to do anything. Instead, I'll be indoors, starting plants from seed.

Many of the remaining leeks had "leaked" their innards and become mush. Still, I harvested one healthy root and two partially healthy ones. I intend to try a recipe for leek and potato soup I found here: curried potato and leek soup with spinach. I shall use soy milk, just as one of the people who commented mentions. This will elimate lactose intolerance issues for me.

They feature recipes for Irish Soda bread due to St Patrick's Day on Monday. I made it once, and it wasn't bad. I prefer scones.



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