Mumsy's Romantic Garden Advice

[armorfirelady]

Remember how I sprayed LAB on my tomato plants with blight? Well I wandering in the garden last night and checked a few of the plants that had it on its leaves & stems and there are no more leaves with it and the spots on the stems seem less. So maybe it did work? I think I will make another batch and pour it in the compost. Its where I threw the leaves/plants with blight before I found out you are suppose to burn them. I want to make more so I can put in the veggie garden soil as well before I rototill it before putting the ground cover in for the fall. Maybe it I will get rid of the blight in the soil as well?

I haven't seen any squash bugs either. But the LAB didn't seem to have any effect on the powdery stuff on the pumpkin or zucchini leaves.

The LAB certainly wont hurt the soil

 

[MumsyII]

Does anyone grow wild chicory? I love the color. I have dug up a couple to transplant... they have a huge taproot and they never made it. I'm trying to find seeds now. If you have them in your garden, how invasive are they?

I forgot to respond to this flitter. Sorry it took me so long. But I don't know anything about chicory. Usually long tap root things don't transplant well during the growing season. But I just don't know much about it at all.

 

[BlueMouse]

looks like the common parsnip has white flowers rather than yellow? The poinson parsnip in our area is an escaped landscaping plant (surprise surprside). That looks more like hogweed or poison hemlock, although that only grows in boggy/wet areas and has purple stems.... The giant hogweed is a spectacular plant. It's too bad that it's equally dangerous and invasive. After seeing my friend's back I am careful to never touch the poison parsnip, and I've eradicated it from the areas my children commonly go. They know they have to ask me before they pick anything outside our yard.

 

[midnightroo]

http://eatingmymoccasinsnow.blogspot.com/2009/04/dock-rumex-crispus.html. A blog that talks about eating dock. Not the only blog I have seen about eating it. I think it depends on the lense you are looking through. Garlic and onions are bad for dairy cows because if they eat too much their milk doesn't taste good, but it isn't harmful for them. And I am not going to stop growing onions and garlic!

http://www.moonwiseherbs.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=126. Elderberry is a highly regarded herb and food for people.

I am growing stinging nettle which most people would pull out because it stings you, but it too is highly nutritious for people, good for the garden and is a host plant for butterflies.

That said, like Mumsy said many plants are just too invasive and can't be controlled so it is best to not grow them because they do more harm then good. That is why I like natives.

Is mock orange on your list of invasive? My neighbor has one and I was going to ask her for a cutting, but I think I will do some research first.

Chicory is a very pretty flower and the roots are a native alternative to coffee. A place that sells the seeds. http://www.localharvest.org/blog/48630/entry/how_to_grow_and_the

 

[midnightroo]

I just googled native plants maryland and I found a 85 page book on the natives for my specific watershed.

 

[flitter]

Thank you Mumsy and Midnighttroo for the response.
I have a Russian Sage that must be on some invasive species list. I cut it down every fall but it sure wants to spread!

 

[BlueMouse]

I grow stinging nettle too! it's high in protien and nutrients. I chop it and feed it to my meat birds, and I dry it for winter feed for the chickens. my nettle patch cracks my husband up, it's taller than I am and wider than it is tall... I may try cream of nettle soup in the spring, I hear it's wonderful.

Remember that stump?? Well, yesterday while I had the kids outside I divested it of all of the henbit, dandelion, and dead nettle. I made a happy discovery. there were several creeping Jenny plants already growing on it! They had just been nearly smothered by the other plants. I managed to avoid pulling them up. Any bits I accidently pulled up I just buried half the stem. Most stems had little roots on the bottoms anyway, and I expect they will make new plants.

My second happy discovery was that the very pretty spotted plant I was not letting my husband mow over next to the garage was liverwort. I had enough to divide and plante six plants around the base of the stump. Hopefully it will like this new location better than the old where it was being invaded by grasses and choked by over eager hostas. I hate hostas.

ETA: I hate hostas except the cultivar "blue mouse ears" which my mother bought for me, and is tiny, adorable, and well behaved.

 

[armorfirelady]

Hostas as are my lazy plants. I just planted them in areas I wanted plants but didn't want to put flowers in. With a year or 2 no bare spots

 

[AletaG]

Remember how I sprayed LAB on my tomato plants with blight? Well I wandering in the garden last night and checked a few of the plants that had it on its leaves & stems and there are no more leaves with it and the spots on the stems seem less. So maybe it did work? I think I will make another batch and pour it in the compost. Its where I threw the leaves/plants with blight before I found out you are suppose to burn them. I want to make more so I can put in the veggie garden soil as well before I rototill it before putting the ground cover in for the fall. Maybe it I will get rid of the blight in the soil as well?

I haven't seen any squash bugs either. But the LAB didn't seem to have any effect on the powdery stuff on the pumpkin or zucchini leaves.

The LAB certainly wont hurt the soil

Remember how I sprayed undiluted FF liquid on my pumpkins and tomatoes? Thankfully, no damage. They seem sprightlier... Might be my imagination however. Should have taken Before and After pics...

 

[midnightroo]

Blue, glad things worked out for you regarding the stump.

I am still experimenting and slowly adding one thing to our eating habits. This year I made pesto out of chickweed and dried some nettle for tea. I don't have anyone knowledgeable to help me so I am taking it slow and careful,

I have a hard time growing hostas. I would like a few, but the chickens ate the new plants I put in and all the leaves off the transplanted azaleas too.