Back from too long a hiatus- and sharing a PSA via Charlie Berens (of Manitowoc Minute):
What harm do a few dandelions do?
weeds
Poisonous Plants (Wild Parsnip)
Wild Parsnip (via DNR)
I had previously been aware of Giant Hogweed‘s dangers, and noted when it was reported in Wisconsin recently. Certainly glad there was none of it around here, and then I found wild parsnip! Same theme; different plant.
This strikes a little closer to home- literally. I found a few plants in our yard, thankfully in an easy to access area from all sides. I don’t recall hearing anything about the plant up until now, and I don’t remember seeing it growing anywhere from when I was a kid. Other than the small patch of plants, it’s not close to our area that I’ve seen, but we don’t have to go far to see whole ditches and edges of fields full of it. The DNR and local media have shared more information now that the plant is in bloom with the summer season.
It looks fairly innocent, almost like tall dill!- nothing that would suggest that precautions are needed to deal with this thing. Mainly, my concern is for friends, family, and their kids who visit our place. It seeds like crazy, and the sap causes burns on skin in conjunction with sunlight (cloudy weather doesn’t make it safer!)
I’ve taken precautions to eliminate this noxious greenery– unfortunately, I didn’t catch it sooner. I’ve taken steps to kill the weeds at the roots, and dressed appropriately to remove and burn all the seedheads. Thankfully, it all was still fairly green, so I think we got to it in time before seed dispersal.
I’m not sure how it traveled to our yard since there’s not much else close around. Perhaps via creature travel… Watch out in your own outdoors and adventure safely to save yourself some trouble!
Happy New Year! (A Future Toast and Dandelion Redux)
Dandelion Wine (from Allrecipes)
Happy New Year to all! Wisconsin’s January still means we are still in winter’s grip, but that reality doesn’t stop my thoughts of upcoming warmer days or garden planning! I’d be lying if I wrote that I wasn’t thinking about what to plant and harvest in the upcoming year, even though we are still a ways away from anything resembling spring planting weather. New this year for our family and for my blog will be recipes for homemade baby food. I am hoping to avoid store bought mush as much as possible. But first- a springtime recipe more for adults!
We are in pre-dandelion status, and I have written before about my ‘natural’ and dandelion-strewn lawn. Now that we have a larger yard and undoubtedly a forthcoming abundance of the not-a-menace-for-me, I thought I would find a recipe to eventually try making dandelion wine. I never have before, but there appears to be no shortage of recipes online. (It almost goes without saying that it likely is not a good idea to spray your lawn with herbicide if you intend to make some…) Cheers to 2015!
State of the Garden Address
Friends and Fellow Gardeners,
My wife and I had the blessing of quite a bit of outdoor space with the purchase of our new house. I wasted no opportunity to start our garden this spring. I had a box full of old seeds, so I wasn’t expecting a true garden of eatin’. Space was no issue (though I do remember the days that our patio was our garden). It took a few passes with our trusty tiller to carve out our space. The previous owners had no garden, so the sod stood in our way. Given this reality, it has been quite the battle (as you may note) to keep the weeds out. 
I’ve had others tell me that it takes about three years to eliminate some of that, so the tiller will be busy.
One other battle has been with the critters of the area: birds, chipmunks, deer, and rabbits. All seem to frequent the garden at different times. We lost most of our peas that were already on the vines, and something has been digging by/eating our potatoes! I cannot say I have seen that before. I had a garden out in the country growing up and had seen my share of creatures. Being near a somewhat large highway doesn’t do much to scare anything away.
Yet another battle has been with what I think is an occurrence of a plant disease. I mentioned something similar earlier on the blog. So far, much of our tomato crop is in the process of succumbing.
Whatever it is, it has also affected the nearby clover and a flowering vine. The tomatoes have all had similar issues- the leaves have turned grayish silver and seem to have stopped growing. We still have had some tomatoes ripen (though some critters have helped themselves…) Regardless, we’re not planning to compost any of these so nothing spreads, hopefully.
The weather has been somewhat bizarre. We had a cool spring, so no early start this year. We had a steady pattern of rain, but now we are behind for July- and only one day above 90 degrees so far.
On a more positive note, our vines seem to be growing well enough. More of the garden germinated than I was expecting, but the weeds have kept some of that in check. The potatoes may hold out if something stops eating them. The radishes earlier this season were robust, and the cucumbers have been producing.
Thus, there is much to improve on for next year, but a garden is a process- with fun and frustration (emphasis on the fun for me).
Keep gardening, friends!
What have you planted this year? Successes/difficulties?
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