True or False- Mosquitoes need water to breed.

TRUE- Mosquitoes lay their eggs in shallow, still water. That’s why it’s important to empty ALL standing water on your property. Buckets, planter trays, tools, toys, even mud puddles can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

True or False- Mosquitoes can detect a human from 75 feet away

TRUE-Mosquitoes find their prey by detecting CO2  as you breathe, and other chemicals in your sweat. Although they can’t see you until they are very close, remember that any mosquito in your yard knows when you come outside, and will come looking for you!

True or False- A mosquito can produce 3000 offspring in a season. TRUE.

With much of the country experiencing a wet spring, it could be a bad year for mosquitoes. Protect yourself by being vigilant. It only takes 4-7 days for a mosquito to hatch and become an adult, so don’t let water stand for any length of time.

Protect ponds and birdbaths with Mosquito Dunks or Mosquito Bits. They are all natural, perfectly safe for birds, wildlife and livestock, but will prevent mosquito eggs from maturing.

Protect your yard with Bonide Mosquito Beater. It uses essential oils of geranium, cedar, garlic and others to repel mosquitoes for 3 weeks. Just sprinkle granules around your deck and other outside areas for a barrier of protection.

Browse All Our Mosquito Control Products

A single week’s fruits and vegetables from community-supported agriculture share: peppers, okra, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, garlic, eggplant, squash. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are You a “locavore?’

You’ve heard of carnivores, herbivores and omnivores, but do you know what a locavore is? It’s someone who consumes food that is grown and produced locally in his or her area.

I know, what in the world are you going to eat that’s made in your area. It sounds impossible, but it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.  You don’t have to limit your diet, but try to choose local foods when available.  It takes a little thought, and maybe a change in your habits.  Here are some ideas for getting started, and some of them look a lot like fun!

Visit your local farmer’s market. In addition to fruits and vegetables, you may find eggs, bread, canned goods, and even meats that are produced locally.

Grow your own food.  In your own garden, grow the things you and your family enjoy. Eat them fresh, then freeze and can for the winter, and you’ll always have a supply of local food ready.

Frequent small, independant businesses. You may find locally produced wine, beer, coffee, jams, jellies, cheeses, baked goods and candy and more, produced in your area and offered by businesses in your town.

Ask questions at your grocery store. Find out where the produce comes from. How about the meats? Tell them what you’d like to see. If more customers speak up, it drives stores to re-think how and where they purchase.

Join a CSA (community supported Agriculture). These farms usually charge a monthly or seasonal membership fee, and provide you with a box of whatever is harvested that week.

Why eat local? Lots of reasons:

Better for your body. Produce in your grocery store may have been shipped 2000 miles to get to you, losing freshness and nutrients during the journey. Local food is eaten sooner, so it’s fresher, tastes better, and is more nutritious.

Better for the environment.  Did you know most food is trucked 1000 miles or more before it hits your grocery shelves? That’s a lot of fuel and a lot of polluting emissions

Better for your community. Spend more of your dollars supporting the businesses right in your neighborhood.

Better for your tastebuds. Fresher food tastes better, and local providers often take extra care in producing the best quality food they can, instead of the cheapest, or most efficient.

Better for your air. By supporting local farms, you help ensure their success, thus keeping greenspace green!

What steps are you willling to take to eat locally?

Using fertilizer correctly grows healthier plants, saves money, and is environmentally responsible. Follow these 10 tips for success:

1. Apply water soluble fertilizers only when plants are actively growing. Nutrients must be taken up quickly by plant roots or they will simply be washed away.
2. Slow-release fertilizers and compost can be applied any time, since nutrients remain in the soil and are available to plants over a long period of time as needed.
3. Avoid excessive feeding; this can lead to rapid over-growth that attracts pests, but doesn’t help the plant’s health or appearance.  Also, excess fertilizer ends up in streams and lakes where it will pollute the water.
4. Mix as directed on the package. Too strong a solution can “burn” plant roots, and also end up washing away into waterways.
5. Do not use lawn fertilizer on flowers; the high nitrogen content may encourage the growth of foliage at the expense of blooms.
6. Don’t feed trees, shrubs, and perennials with a fast-acting fertilizer in autumn. Plants are preparing to go dormant for winter, and should not be encouraged to put out new growth.
7. Have your soil tested every few years. You can use a home Soil Test Kit  or send a soil sample to a testing lab. Your local cooperative extension office can recommend a lab.
8. Make sure the soil pH is appropriate for the plants you are growing. Most plants prefer a slightly acidic soil with a pH of around 6.8. The soil’s pH affects how available the nutrients in a fertilizer are to plants.
9. Avoid fertilizing lawns during very hot weather, when they are essentially dormant.
10. Remember that with fertilizer, more isn’t necessarily better.

I wasn’t necessarily going to show you products today, but I was looking at these, and they are so good in so many ways that I couldn’t resist.

These Cedar planters are responsibly made here in the USA. They are crafted from sustainable Western Red Cedar. Western Red Cedar is perfect for planters because it lasts beautifully in outdoor conditions. It doesn’t need to be finished it will weather to a lovely gray patina. And the nature of this wood is such that, when you plant the container, the wood swells gently, sealing the planter so that you don’t even need a liner. The bottom has a drain hole, and is made from  rot-proof 100% recycled plastic.

I KNOW! How can one planter have so much going for it!Let’s recap:

• Made in the USA
• Made from sustainable wood
• Plastic bottom is 100% recycled material
• No maintenance-Weathers beautifully outdoors
• Seals itself naturally when you plant

So the only question is….. which style do you need?

But when I learned  what makes Smart Pots better, and started reading what other gardeners were experiencing with their Smart Pots, I was sold!

Why They’re Better:

The fabric sides are the genius of the Smart Pot. In a hard planter, the roots grow until they hit the side, then grow down and circle round and round the bottom until the plant is root-bound. That won’t happen in a Smart Pot. When roots reach the side they “self-prune”.  So instead of a few long roots growing round and round the perimeter of the soil, new roots keep growing and branching and spreading throughout the soil, where they can take advantage of all available moisture and nutrients.

Second, the roots stay cooler than in a plastic or ceramic planter. Air can circulate all up and down the fabric sides, so heat is released instead of building up.

Third, they’re re-usable. Empty Smart Pots at the end of the season and let them dry. Then you can brush them clean, OR even put through the washing machine! (no dryer).

So, are you ready to try them for yourself?

Sizes:

• 7  Gallon- use for salad greens, herbs, garlic, small annuals
• 10 Gallon-Use for peppers, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, patio tomatoes, larger annuals
• 15 Gallon-for cucumbers, potatoes, summer squash, eggplant
• 20 Gallon- for tomatoes, melons, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, winter squash

Insect Protection

But that is just one in a long list of  things Harvest Guard is good for. It can also be used through the growing season to keep bugs away. Light and air will penetrate, but destructive insects can’t get to your plants. Keep in mind that if you need pollinators for your crop, you’ll have to remove the cover every couple of days to let the pollinating insects in.

You can also use it on berries and fruit trees to keep birds from eating your fruit.

Seed Germination

Use Harvest Guard after seeding a lawn to keep seed in place until it germinates. It works better than straw and here is why:

• Better  germination rates – 90-95% with Harvest Guard vs. 50-70% using straw.
• Faster germination because Harvest Guard warms the soil 10-15 degrees .
• Less watering. Since the fabric retains moisture, one watering will usually see the seeds through to complete germination unless it is very hot or windy.
• The fabric keeps birds from eating your seed.
• Dramatic reduction in weeds because the Harvest Guard completely covers the soil.

To use Harvest Guard for patching bare spots, just cut with scissors to the desired shape, and anchor with garden staples or pegs.

See what I mean about how versatile Harvest Guard is?

It’s just a swath of lightweight fabric, but it can do so many things in your garden.

To order yours, just go toSeedlover.com.

Image via Wikipedia

You know how you really need to kill those lawn weeds, apply some pesticides, or fertilize all those flower beds? But every time you think about lugging out that giant sprayer, measuring out the concentrate, mixing it all up and hauling it around the yard, you decide to go have a snack instead? Yea, me too.

That’s why I love The Bonide Auto Mix Sprayer.

It’s a 36 oz. jar that attaches to your garden hose.  Pour your concentrate into the jar, and set the dial on top to mix at the correct dilution.  It’s easy-if you are supposed to mix 1 tsp per gallon, then just turn the dial to the “1 tsp” marking.

It automatically mixes and applies the proper dilution.

Just turn on the water and start spraying. There are 3 spray patterns too- a fan spray for lawns, gentle shower for flowers and a stream to ready up into trees.

Unused concentrate can be returned to the original container. No waste!

Even if you are applying gallons and gallons of product, you’ll only ever have to carry a 36 Oz. jar. What a difference!

Ideal for insecticide, fungicide, herbicide and fertilizer concentrates.

• The mountain changing colors as leaves turn
• Fewer mosquito bites
• Clear blue Saturday skies

What I’m not looking forward to is stink bugs trying to get into my house.  Perhaps you’ve been battling stink bugs all summer in your garden. Well, things are about to change.  Instead of devouring your harvest, stink bugs are now focused on finding a warm place to spend the winter – like your house.

RESCUE to the rescue!

If you’ve been using Rescue stink bug traps outside, there’s good news. You can adapt your traps to work indoors too, by adding a light that will lure bugs that are inside to the trap.

Stink Bug Trap -Outdoor Use

Stink Bug Trap -Indoor Use

During the spring and summer, stink bugs are attracted to your traps by the pheromone lures.

In winter, the pheromones don’t work, but the light will continue to lure bugs into the trap. Just place it in the attic, basement or where ever stink bugs are congregating in your home.

There are no chemicals or toxins involved.

Just the light to attract them into the trap where they die naturally from dehydration.

All you need is the Rescue Stink Bug Trap and the Stink Bug Trap Light attachment.  There’s nothing to refill or replace, they will continue to work all winter long.

Image via Wikipedia

There are so many ways that water ends up where we don’t want it.

• Rain causes flooding
• Water heaters break
• Soil gets waterlogged
• Pets make messes
• Things spill

Then there’s the secondary damage, like rot,  mold, stains, odors. The quicker, and more thoroughly water gets removed, the better. You can mop, vacuum, bail, pump, or blot depending on the size of the problem.

We just discovered Stall Dry. It’s made to use in pet and livestock areas, but that’s just the start.

Stall Dry Water Absorption Agent absorbs 140% of its weight in liquid-repeatedly!

So let’s say you have a window well that accumulates water and leaks into the house. Pour a layer of Stall Dry, and soak up that rainwater before it can flood.

Suppose the water heater leaks on your basement carpet? Cover it with Stall Dry to soak up every last drop of water, before mold and mildew can grow.

Have a low spot in the yard that just won’t dry up? Stall Dry can help there too, while it improves soil texture.

You can use Stall Dry on wood, metal, concrete, carpet and soil.  It’s made from diatomaceous earth and clay, and it was designed for use with livestock, so you know it’s safe to use around your pets and family. Might be a good idea to have a bag on hand, because, unfortunately, flooding can often occur without warning.

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 6,100 times in 2010. That’s about 15 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 73 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 130 posts. There were 172 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 17mb. That’s about 3 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was January 7th with 89 views. The most popular post that day was Make an Easy Raised Garden Bed.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were yardlover.com, networkedblogs.com, WordPress Dashboard, mail.yahoo.com, and mail.live.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for skyscraper garden, wet n forget, yardlover coupon code, lilies, and holly tree.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Make an Easy Raised Garden Bed May 2009

Skyscraper Garden January 2010
2 comments

About October 2009
6 comments

Add some lily to your garden! March 2010
2 comments

Contact Us October 2009