9/07/08 CONTROLING SOME PESTS AND DISEASES

Sunday, 7:45 AM. 47 degrees, wind SW, light to moderate. The channel is dimpled. The sky is almost cloudless, and the barometer predicts partly cloudy skies. We had a fire in the fireplace last evening, it felt and smelled good. I hope to keep the furnace off for a few weeks yet, but the woodshed needs to be replenished; there is no such thing as a free lunch, or free heat.
Speaking of fires, there have been some obvious sign of fire blight, a bacterial disease affecting members of the rose family, around town. I lost a large branch on the old apple tree, and the damage pictured here is on a mountain ash tree on 9th and Manypenny. The disease affects mainly apples, crabapples, hawthorns and mountain ash, but can attack roses and others in the Rosaceae as well. The symptoms mimic the name, the leaves and branches looking as though scorched in fire, the young branches becoming brittle and the bark sunken. The spores can be spread in many ways, and when diseased material is removed it should be burned, buried or taken far from susceptible plants. Pruning tools must be sterilized with alcohol or bleach after each cut to prevent spreading the disease. Orchardists may use antibiotic sprays but that usually is not practical for the homeowner, and sanitation is the best preventive.
The paper wasp nest pictured has been on the deck all summer and seems to be effective in keeping wasps and hornets away from the environs (wasps have always tried to nest under our eaves and I have had to spray them). These insects are territorial and it is thought that the presence of a nest will keep others away. The summer, paper nests do not contain over wintering larvae or adults, and can be safely kept inside the house. I have always found them decorative, and I am now pretty well convinced of their utility as well. I will look for additional nests this fall and will keep the experiment going next summer.
I have been very busy, and will be so next week, starting with a tree symposium in Ashland tomorrow morning, so today is going to be a day of church and rest and not much else.

9/06/08 BEAUTY AND UTILITY, WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?

Saturday, 8:00 AM. 49 degrees, wind NW, light. The channel is slightly wrinkled. The sky is overcast and we got a trace of rain last night. The barometer predicts mostly cloudy skies.
The Hydrangeas, some pictured here, are among the most valuable genera of ornamental shrubs. They have been long in cultivation throughout the northern hemisphere, and as a group they are mostly quite hardy, and although many die back to the ground each year they grow vigorously every spring from the roots. Hydrangea arborescens and H. grandiflora are hardy to zone 3, and most of our hardy hybrids are of one or the other of these species. The Hydrangea ‘P.G.’ is probably most often grown, it is the big “mop head” Hydrangea we all know. That said, everything is pretty confused in the nursery trade, and if you see a Hydrangea you really like, ask to take a root division of it and you will get what you actually want. Hydrangeas are very sensitive to PH, and many if fertilized with an acid fertilizer will have pink flowers, and if with an alkaline, blue flowers. There are now hybrids that flower blue or multi-colored without the application, but I think all that rather superfluous. There is also a beautiful climbing hydrangea, H. quercifolia, oak leaved H., native to the southeast. It is hardy to zone 5, but I have not tried it here. One problem with the Hydrangeas are heavy flower heads which often bend to the ground, necessitating tying, etc. but they are beautiful nonetheless.
Hydrangeas are known in herbal medicine as gravel root, and along with Joe Pye weed and corn silk are an effective preventive/cure for kidney and gall stones. As always with herbal comments, you have to do your own research. But this works!

9/05/08 A GREAT PARTY FOR GREAT PEOPLE IN A GREAT PLACE

Friday, 7:45 AM, 46 degrees, wind W and changeable, light. The channel is dimpled. The sky is mostly clear, with big storm clouds in the east. The barometer predicts rain.
The Chamber of Commerce farewell party for Curt and Ruth Johnson was well attended by members, friends and neighbors. Curt is an ordained Lutheran minister and members of various churches he has served were also there.
The Johnsons have been entrepreneurs as well as people of faith and charity, growing flower and vegetables at their Good Earth Gardens. Ruth is a talented flower arranger, and Curt an equally talented agriculturist. They have lived an active life, living and serving the church and the military all over the country, including serving an Inuit community in Alaska for a number of years. The established Kinship, a Midwest nonprofit that arranges mentoring for young people. They are the very embodiment of faith in action, and we all know that wherever their lives lead them, they will continue to serve, perhaps in ways not yet revealed to them.
The party was held at beautiful Blue Vista Farm, a premier orchard and berry farm with a great view of the Bay and a wonderful old red barn which now serves as their store. Eric Carlson and Ellen Kwiatkowski are young folks working hard to make their living from the land, and their apples, raspberries and blueberries rank with the most delicious anywhere. We thank them for their service to the community and for hosting the Johnson’s farewell party.

9/04/08 GOOD ENOUGH AFTER ALL

Thursday, 7:30 AM. 48 degrees, wind WNW, just enough to make the aspen leaves tremble. The skies are overcast with ominous dark clouds, and the channel is almost calm. The barometer predicts partly cloudy skies but it looks and feels like rain, and the indicator red maple tree has some leaves turned up.
The garden, which I have despaired of all summer, is really quite nice in an unkempt fashion: purple cone flower, yellow yarrow, red sedum, pink and red phlox, purple Joe Pye weed, white Hydrangea and multi-colored hollyhocks are blooming profusely as are all the bargain basement roses, and the New England asters are ready to pop.
The pine, sumac and Juneberry all need pruning to allow more light, the weeds need to be pulled and the Iris divided, but looking past all that, the garden is more than O.K.
Tonight is the Chamber’s going-away party for Ruth and Curt Johnson, who have sold Good Earth Gardens out on Hwy. J and are moving to a retirement community in Minnesota. We are happy for them, as it is what they feel they must do, but we will miss our friends greatly.

9/03/08 IMPATIENT FOR FALL

Wednesday, 7:45 AM. 46 degrees, wind SW, moderate with gusts. The channel is crawling. The sky is mostly clear, and the barometer predicts partly cloudy skies. We had a brief, hard shower yesterday afternoon that left four-tenths of an inch of rain, and brought much cooler, less humid air.
The white flowered plats are of course the elephant ears, the Japanese knotweed we have discussed before. One can almost forgive the USDA botanists who first saw it covering Chinese mountainsides for introducing it. All we can say is, here is a prime example of the law of unintended consequences.
The delicate orange flowered plant is jewelweed or touch-me-not, Impatiens biflora, a native plant of wet places, damp ditches, etc. The genus and common names both allude to the fact that the ripe seed pods, when touched, shoot the hard little seeds forcefully out quite a distance, and little kids and big kids alike get a kick out of firing off the little artillery pieces. The ample juice of the stems is an effective antidote for the discomfort of poison ivy, a fact that should be known by all who spend a lot of time outdoors. All parts of the plant are toxic, however, and should not be ingested.
Whereas yesterday seemed the last day of summer, today seems the first day of fall.

9/02/08 SUMMER'S LAST HURRAH

Tuesday, 7:45 AM. 68 degrees, wind WSW, calm with gusts. Skies very hazy. The barometer predicts rain. The holiday weekend was truly filled with “those lazy, hazy days of summer,” that Nat King Cole used to sing about. The channel and the Island are pretty well obscured by fog.
The picnic last evening was a great success, enlivened by two much younger guests of Myron's, Nonelle and her daughter Mary, recent immigrants from the Ukraine who live in Madison. They have adjusted well, Mary being a typical high school senior, her mother now successful in a banking career. That’s a lot to accomplish and absorb in a mere five years.
The fish boil was wonderful, even with headless fish. The recipe is simple: boil new potatoes with the skins on, with onions, add salt and pepper, boil until tender, add fish (chunks with bones in and skin on) and continue boiling for several more minutes, drain and serve with plenty of melted butter. We also had roasted corn on the cob, and Judy’s fresh apple and blackberry pies with ice cream for desert. A vodka toast topped things off.
Our Ukrainian guests are city people and I don’t know what they thought of the rustic setting, but they sure liked the fare.
Lucky and J.D. got lots of fish boil over their dog food and were happy puppies.
Today I have to get myself back into some semblance of a productive life.

9/02/08 BEARLY NUTS

Monday, Labor Day, 8:15 AM. 62 degrees, wind SSW, calm. The channel is wrinkled. Te sky is blue and hazy with a few thin white clouds. The barometer predicts rain, the advance notice of the landfall of hurricane Gustave, almost 1500 miles to the south.
We had a bit of excitement last night around 9:00 PM. Neighbor Sherman shouted from across the street “Ode…Hey, Ode...” and I could tell from the sound of their little Harrier (looks like a somewhat bigger version of a Beagle) Pebbles that she had a bear treed. I grabbed the camera and scooted out the back door into the dark. Joan wouldn’t let Lucky come along so he missed all the fun. Sure enough, Pebbles had a young bear (bigger than a cub, about 100 pounds, a yearling) up in a poplar tree in their back yard. He just sat there impassively looking at all the noisy creatures unable to climb trees. I took a few flash pictures but only one turned out, and that very poorly, only showing a black blob in the crotch of the tree.
Pebbles would look at the bear, and satisfied it was properly treed, she would go howling of into the woods and we would hear some crashing about, so maybe mama bear was out there keeping an eye on things, although yearlings are usually on their own. None-the-less, we stayed close to the open back door to the garage, just in case she decided enough was enough.
The American chestnut up the street has borne fruit and when it is ripe I will ask for some to propagate.
This evening is the fish boil out at Andy and Judy’s. We picked up the fish at Halvorson’s fishery in Cornucopia on Saturday, but they wouldn’t leave the heads on so Andy will be disappointed, as he insists that the fish should be boiled whole. I am just as happy the heads are off. There will be eight of us old fogies, and we will have a good time. Who says you need to be young to have fun?