All the Dirt on Gardening

Start saving plastic jugs from milk, vinegar and tea to use this spring.  Heat mats are used to keep the soil around 20-degrees F warmer than the surrounding air and eager gardeners are using them to start tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tobacco, savory, sedum and other warm season plants this month. To use plastic milk jugs as seed starting hot houses, first wash the bottles with soap. Cut them in half horizontally to make a planting pot on the bottom and a greenhouse on the top. Poke or cut a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Fill the bottom with 3-inches potting mix and moisten it. Plant the seeds according to the seed packet instructions and water gently to settle the seeds. Close the lid and tape the two halves together. Put your mini-greenhouses in a sunny location. The moisture inside will condense and water the seeds but check them once a week. You can use a heatmat or make a warm-soil box with a little wood and a rope light. See https://bit.ly/2SY8R5z. Make...

The materials you take to the recycling center are sold to companies to make new products out of them. Many products we buy every week contain recycled paper, plastic bags and bottles, glass, metal and cardboard. Recycling is the process of turning used materials into new ones, reducing waste, as well as reducing the use of energy and raw materials.  We all benefit from recycling by improving the health of the environment, employing fellow citizens and cutting the landfill bills. In our area, there are several recycling centers available where the public can drop off paper, metal, clear plastics, glass and cardboard. Our neighborhoods, streets, vacant lots and roadsides are thick with recyclable litter that could be in a bin at the recycling centers to be re-purposed by local industries. Some statistics may help convince you to make the effort to recycle instead of throwing more into our landfills. Recycled aluminum requires 95% less natural resources to prod...

In our family and probably in yours, there are things you can do and foods you can eat that are believed to increase luck. For example if you carry a rabbit’s foot on a keychain or eat black eyed peas for New Years.  Lucky Bamboo is also thought to attract luck, happiness, success and health and it is for sale in many oriental stores as well as big box garden centers. Dracaena sanderana or sanderiana is not a Bamboo at all but a tropical plant from West Africa where it grows to 3-feet tall. Eastern cultures, Chinese in particular, assigned Lucky Bamboo with mystical properties in Confucian times.  The art of Feng Shui, arranging work and living spaces to attract the best energy (chi) has been practiced for a thousand years but became popular in the US 30 years ago and Lucky Bamboo was a part of that system. Bamboo is said to be strong even in a storm, swaying with the wind so having a container of Dracaena sanderana brings an element of that strength into homes a...

Taking care of indoor plants involves watering, pruning, and pinching, plus watching for diseases and insects. The heated air inside our homes is dry. Plants need moisture to maintain healthy cells but too much water can lead to problems. Check your container-plants’ moisture level before watering. Press a finger an inch into the soil and if it is dry at root level, water it. Allow the excess water to drain off,  then empty the saucer. Recently repotted plants need less water because the soil keeps roots moist. Slip plants out of their pots to see if roots fill the space. If so, this is a good time to give them a bigger home or divide them. Pruning and pinching makes plants more attractive and strengthens them. Bare stem sections between leaves or between the container and the end of the stem is an indication that the stem should be pruned. Stem cuttings can be used in vases and to start new plants. Pinching back the top-most leaf buds will reduce plant stretching and mak...

Indoor plants are a rewarding hobby whether they are grown to be used as room dividers, cheerful decorations, or to reduce inside air pollution. Some plant varieties sold as houseplants thrive indoors only if you give them plenty of care, such as daily misting or if the live in a terrarium, under a glass cloche or inside a glass house called a Ward.  Those plants make excellent hobbies, too, but only if you enjoy providing daily plant care (See https://bit.ly/2CvBmlz  for more information.) Since the appearance of a houseplant is the main reason to have it around, shop for plants in person rather than on the Internet. Look for insect-free, healthy leaves and notice their environment. Are they under grow lights, protected from direct sun or in filtered sunlight? Office plants have to be especially tough since they are abandoned on weekends, watered by everyone or no one, receive minimal light, breezes from heat and air conditioning, and have to survive variable r...

For thousands of years, greenery such as holly, ivy and mistletoe have been used to decorate the dark interiors of homes. The Romans exchanged evergreens in January to bring good luck and the ancient Egyptians brought palm branches indoors in the winter.  During the Middle Ages, red apples were hung on greenery to represent the fall of Adam during Paradise Plays. Other historical references to holiday red include holly berries and Catholic Bishop’s robes. According to Religion News ( https://religionnews.com )  Christmas as we know it was not celebrated much at all until 1849 when New York declared it a holiday. By 1785 NY was banning guns and fireworks on the day because such festivities were considered rowdy by the Puritans. Washington Irving invented Santa Claus to draw all the diverse American nationalities and traditions together.  Then, in 1823 Clement Clarke Moore wrote “A Visit from St. Nicholas” that began with the words, “Twas the night before Chri...

Snow and ice on our driveways, sidewalks and streets are safety hazards and salt is one of the primary treatments. Unfortunately,  heavy applications of salt cause problems for waterways, wildlife and plants. There are better ideas for the health of your driveway, pets and landscape.  Deicing salt is so strong that it can degrade concrete, stone and metal. Each teaspoon of salt applied can pollute 5 gallons of ground and stream water, killing fish, insects and amphibians. Salty water around landscape plants is absorbed by their roots, dehydrating and burning the plants. Use push and scoop shovels to remove and scrape snow off surfaces. Then, sweep away as much snow as you can so ice does not form and then let the rest melt.  If deicing salt is necessary, remove the snow first and use as little salt as possible, applying it on critical paths. Spread it sparingly and evenly with about 3-inches between salt grains. A 12 ounce coffee mug of salt is enough to t...