Well the Sun is shining and temperatures over 50 degrees, which makes me think of gardening. So I thought I would come up with a list of my favorite 12 vegetables (not all are actually veggies) that I like to grow. I just posted the list on Lunch.com here: Favorite Vegetables To Grow. I'm sure your favorites are different than mine. What are your favorite vegetables to grow?
My top 5 in the list are below:
A pesticide may be a chemical substance, biological agent (such as a virus or bacterium), antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest. Pests include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, mollusks, birds, mammals, fish, roundworms, microbes and people that destroy property, spread or are a vector for disease or cause a nuisance. Although there are benefits to the use of pesticides, there are also drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other animals.
Pesticide use raises a number of environmental concerns. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, including non-target species, air, water and soil. Pesticide drift occurs when pesticides suspended in the air as particles are carried by wind to other areas, potentially contaminating them. Pesticides are one of the causes of water pollution, and some pesticides are persistent organic pollutants and contribute to soil contamination.
Below are two lists from the Environmental Working Group on the fruit and vegetables with potentially the most and least pesticides.
The Dirty Dozen: Fruits & Vegetables that contain highest pesticides load
- peaches
- apples
- bell peppers
- celery
- nectarines
- strawberries
- cherries
- kale
- lettuce
- imported grapes
- carrots
- pears
Clean Fifteen: Fruits & Vegetables that contain the least pesticide residue
- onions
- avocados
- sweet corn
- pineapples
- mangoes
- asparagus
- sweet peas
- kiwis
- cabbages
- eggplants
- papayas
- watermelons
- broccoli
- tomatoes
- sweet potatoes
You can peel your fruits and vegetables and trim outer leaves of leafy vegetables in addition to washing them thoroughly. Keep in mind that peeling your fruits and vegetables may also reduce the amount of nutrients and fiber. Some pesticide residue also collects in fat, so remove fat from meat and the skin from poultry and fish.
So how do you possibly avoid pesticides totally? The answer is either grow your own food or going Organic. Or both. Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and control pests, excluding or strictly limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives, and genetically modified organisms. Since 1990, the market for organic products has grown at a rapid pace, to reach $46 billion in 2007.
Think before you buy. I'm starting to do that and buy organic foods. There are more and more options because demand is increasing. Be healthy and eco-friendly.
The temperatures are getting cooler and the leaves, they are changin' colors. In my corner of the world in Kentucky, I get
red from burning bushes,
green from evergreen shrubbery,
yellow is from maple trees,
golden brown from oak trees and
white from pampas grass.
Notice the Moon showing itself off in the photo below: 
Well that it for my neck of the woods for this autumn. These colors are about as peak as my colors seem to get. Do you have photos of your Fall colors?
My tomato plants have done their job for the year. No more good
tomatoes or blooms are on the vine so today I picked off all of the respectable
tomatoes and heaved my tomato plants into my compost bin. Alas, colder
weather is near (in Kentucky anyway) and this is just one of the things to do to
get ready for autumn. My tomato plants won't be lonely, a lot of leaves
will be joining them very soon.
Don't fret, I made sure there were no bugs or diseased areas on the plants.
You don't want to spread disease into your compost bin. That just wouldn't
be good for your compost bin at all. Speaking of compost bin, mine has
seen better days. It has gotten pretty sad looking. I made it around 8 years ago out of wood.
It has done its job, but I plan
to get or make a new one for this coming spring.
Don't have a compost bin and don't know how to compost, and would like to?
Do It Yourself Composting At Home
Last year I received a white trumpet flower plant from a friend and I liked it right from the beginning.
I mean you have large white blooms and nice foliage. It is what my little flower garden needed: some green
with a Pop of white. What's not to like, right? Then as I always do, I did some research on the internet,
and I found out some interesting information about the Datura Inoxia (Devil's Trumpet) plant that I now possess.
This plant has a dark side.
The most obvious item is the ominous Devil's Trumpet name. Many have heard of the Angel's Trumpet flower, in
which the blooms droop down. Well, my friends, the Devil's Trumpet blooms upward as in a trumpet from not heaven
but hell. Devil’s trumpet is
grown in all but the coldest climates as a flowering
ornamental. There are white, purple, and yellow
varieties with large, single and double blossoms
available. Devil’s trumpet grows naturally in
disturbed areas such as eroded sites, old fields,
vacant lots, overgrazed pastures and rangeland,
roadsides and abandoned roadbeds, and fencerows.
Apparently, disturbance and reduced competition
are required for the plant to become established
and grow. A wide variety of well-drained soils on
both igneous and sedimentary parent materials are
suitable.
The Datura Inoxia (Devil's Trumpet) Dark Past, Present and Future: Use With Caution
From ancient times continuing to the
present, the taking of Datura tissues,
particularly the seeds, was used in shamanistic
rituals as a path to enlightenment. Today, people frequently
experiment with it for the hallucinogenic effect,
but the results are so unpleasant (dark visions,
disorientation, amnesia, blurred vision, dry mouth,
and incontinence) that they seldom recommend the
experience. Overdoses can result in
death. The plant has been used to treat impotence,
asthma, diarrhea, as an analgesic, to control fever,
kill parasites, and as a drug for criminal purposes. Devil’s trumpet
contains a host of phytoactive chemicals including
atropine, hyoscyamine, hyoscine, scopolamine,
norscopolamine, meteloidine, hydroxy-6-
hyoscyamine, tiglic esters of dihydroxytropine,
and a number of withanolides. It causes erratic
behavior and even death of livestock that have
eaten it, but it is seldom a problem for pastured
animals because they carefully avoid consuming it.
Hummingbirds sometimes visit the flowers,
but are affected by the alkaloids in the nectar and
must limit their consumption. Honeybees are
apparently unaffected. The flowers have an intense
night fragrance, which
perhaps helps attract night-flying moths.
I like my Devil's Trumpet flower, but with all that is going on with this plant, I couldn't
recommend it to everyone. Come to think of it, I guess it has Devil in its name for more reasons than one. You've been warned.
Source: John K. Francis, Research Forester,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
International Institute of Tropical Forestry,
Jardín Botánico Sur, 1201 Calle Ceiba, San Juan PR
00926-1119,
in cooperation with the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, PR 00936-4984
If you like hot and spicy food, I'm sure you've had your eyes water from jalapeño peppers a time or two. Have you thought
about growing them yourself? I'm grown them a few times and there are many reasons for doing so. Jalapeño peppers have more benefits than just clearing out your sinuses while
ingesting them. There are some health benefits. Hot peppers have shown to reduce blood pressure, may
protect against some forms of cancer, may boost metabolism and, believe it or not, improve digestion. They contain vitamin A and C
as well as beta-carotene and are low in fat and calories.
They are very easy to grow; just make sure they get plenty of sun. The growing period for a jalapeño plant is
70–80 days. When mature, the plant stands two and a half to three feet tall. Typically, a single plant
will produce twenty five to thirty five pods. You will probably only need one plant. Jalapeño plants have
shown to be a good repellant against some insects and critters. Many gardeners plant jalapeño pepper plants
near their other crops to take advantage of this natural repellant and protect them.
Some say that
jalapeño are really hot. Well, yes and no. They can be pretty hot, but if you compare them to other
peppers they are child's play. From jalapenomadness.com
below are the hotness rankings of peppers from 'very mild' to 'are you kidding me?':
- El Paso (Very mild)
- Anaheim
- Jalapeño
- Hidalgo
- Serrano
- Cayenne
- Tabasco
- Red Chile
- Chiltecpin
- Tabiche
- Bahamian
- Kumataka
- Habanero (One of the hottest grown - 30 to 50 times hotter than a jalapeño)
- Bhut Jolokia!
It is an interesting list. Frankly, I like spicy food, but I'm scared of anything below
Tabasco. I'll stay with my jalapeño
peppers, thank you very much. As the above photo shows, my jalapeño peppers are close to pickin' time.
Soon I'll be enjoying sliced jalapeño peppers with cheese on tortilla chips. Yummy.
Do you have any recipes involving jalapeño peppers?
Over 20 years ago, my Dad planted a few Shasta daisies in our garden. I didn't think too much about them
at that time. However, when they bloomed I was surprised at the impact that they made. I was just as
surprised seeing how they propagate themselves into more and more every year and how they are easy to divide and
replant. I found that out when I took a few of the Shasta daisies he planted and replanted them at my house.
I've had very good success with my Shasta daisies in my garden. The photo above shows my Shasta daisies
blooming this year. They are a major bright spot in my flower garden. They give it that needed 'pop' my
flower garden was lacking. I'm very happy with them.
Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) are perennials (they come back every year) and are pretty hardy from zones 4 through 9. They were formerly classified
in the genus Chrysanthemum, these daisies were transferred to their own genus of Leucanthemum because
they lack some traits of true Chrysanthemums. The Shasta Daisy originated as a hybrid produced by the famed
American horticulturist Luther Burbank, who developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants
over his 55-year career.
My Dad always loved gardening and it was a passion I didn't quite share back when he planted the Shasta
daisies all of those years ago. I have to say that now I sure do. Unfortunately, gardening didn't appeal to
me until after he passed on. That would have been a great thing to share with him.
Shasta daisies are fun and easy to grow. They do like good garden soil; this means a well-drained soil,
not clay soil, but one where moisture is present and organic matter is excellent. They will also thrive
better is you practice deadheading, which means to cut off the flower and stem as it starts to fade and
die but before it has a chance to set seed. One potential problem I see is that after a few
years you need to have plenty of room for them or you'll need to thin them out. One great resolution for
this is to divide them and give a few to friends. They can then enjoy Shasta daisies at their home as I
have enjoyed the ones I received from the ones my Dad planted over 20 years ago. Thanks Dad.
