Time to Plan Your Garden

These long winter days are the perfect time to plan your garden. Time to dream about the possibilities of your spring plantings and summer and fall harvests. You will leaf through all kinds of seed catalogs, check out vegetable gardening books, and click on gardening websites to get new and fresh ideas and crop information. Dave's Garden has helpful information in a guide to gardening by mail, mail order gardening, garden books, and catalogs.

Dream on. Gardener's know that the next garden will be the best garden they ever planted!

Frosty Florida

We've had several nights of frost and freezing temperatures. The blankets, sheets, and towels have been put to good use and are doing their job of keeping our veggies from freezing. I am amazed at the resilience of the lettuce and those young pea plants. We have had hard freezes which the weatherman defines as more than 3 hours of temps between 27 and 32 degrees. (Just a note: plastic should not be used to protect plants from freezing temperatures.)

We have given up planting tomatoes and peppers in our Florida garden. This winter is the prime reason. Oh yes, we are trying beans, green, yellow, purple, this year. Believe me they are covered with the thickest blanket we have and so far only some leaves are damaged. I still see blossoms on the stems. Of course we have a lot of winter to go here.

We are about 40 miles north of Tampa, not exactly a tropical climate here compared to southern Florida and the Keys. But we do enjoy not scooping snow, driving on ice, or blasts of blizzards. So I will refrain from whining about the freezing temps anymore and rejoice in the fact that we have beat Mother Nature's cold temps---so far.

Freezing Temperatures in Florida

Brrrrr----------freezing temperatures and winter storms are all over the country this week. Even here in sunny Florida. (I am sure the Florida Chamber of Commerce doesn't want this word to get out..LOL) The next several nights are going to be in the 20's...a hard freeze warning for our area.

Our vegetable plants are cold hardy, but we have covered our cold weather garden. With these kinds of temperatures and for so many hours each night, we don't want to take a chance on losing the plants.

Tonight my DH has rigged up a tent over the garden and added a lamp under the covers to help generate heat. We hope this will keep away the chills.

I'll update you for the results later.

Season's Greetings

Season's Greetings to One and All!

I never imagined that our home-grown cabbage and a pot of red poinsettias would be sitting on the table together as we enter the holiday season in December. My husband's dream has been to garden twelve months out of the year. This year I can say he has done that! The veggies in the bowl are from our Florida garden--spinach, cabbage, lettuces, kohlrabi, and broccoli. What a delight to have our own vegetables in the winter. Not only does it save money on the grocery bill, but it also provides fresh, healthy meals for us.

I am trying more recipes again and will give you a report on the results. I am planning to take the recipes from the blog, add some more favorites, and put them in a free recipe book to share with readers. Now if only I can figure out how to do that!! It will be in ebook format so you can print whichever recipe you want to try and there will be no postage to pay to get it to you. Do you have a favorite garden vegetable recipe you would like to share with the readers? You are welcome to send it along to include in the ebook.

Wishing for you all the true gifts of the season--hope, joy, love, and peace.

Thanksgiving Dinner 2010

We thoroughly enjoyed ourThanksgiving dinner 2010 with our neighbors and their family. We traveled to Lake Tarpon, Anderson Park, near Tarpon Springs, FL on a gorgeous warm day. This was a Chamber of Commerce day because Florida's sun was shining, the air a comfy 82 degrees, and the flora and fauna were in high display.

Lucky are we there are so many great cooks in this family for they brought a variety of tasty dishes. Of course, I shared the bounty from our garden--three kinds of lettuces, green onions, and radishes in a salad full of veggies, raisins, cheese. We had smoked turkey, roast turkey, ham, and smoked venison and lots of pies. Deeee-licious!

Friendly, curious ducks swam by on several occasions while a couple of small alligators lounged in the waters. I think they had their eyes on the pet dogs on shore, not the turkey feast, but too lazy to come close.
It was a delightful, memorable day. Thank you Bartons!

Radishes, Lettuce, Onions, Oh My!

Super salad with fresh grown veggies from our garden...radishes, lettuce, onions, and spinach. I added craisins and slivered almonds too. A refreshing lunch on this warm day in Florida. The lettuces are growing healthy, strong and lots of it. No rabbit problems lately...Hooray!

Toilet Paper and Beet Seeds



Yes, this is Scott's toilet paper with beet seeds glued to it.



My ever resourceful DH is using toilet paper to plant beet seeds. He mixes flour and water in the cap of a gallon milk jug, lays out the TP on the table, dips the beet seed into the flour glue with tweezers and then sets the seed in a row. After they are glued on, he gently folds the paper over, digs a trench in the garden soil, and places the strip into the ground and covers.

This method of planting beets is certainly easier on the back and knees. He also plants radish seed this way now too. He experimented this summer in our Michigan garden using newspaper, but the little roots couldn't get through the newspaper. The TP is perfect for the roots to establish themselves.

My DH also mentioned that after the seed sprouts, remove extra sprouts in order to make a nice size beet.

Florida Garden Update Fall 2010



I am happy to report that our Florida garden is growing very well. The plants that were a snack for the bunny are continuing to grow and look very healthy. Hmmm. maybe rabbit saliva is good for plants??

The garden consists of three raised beds each measuring 6' x 10'. In the foreground are the hardy, cold crops of Winner, Golden Acre, and Charmant cabbage, Gypsy broccoli, Snow Crown cauliflower, Early Vienna kohlrabi. My DH planted Red Derby lettuce and Romaine, Ruby Queen beets, and spinach.

In the background is a bed of plants which are not so cold hardy and can be covered when the frosts come this winter. And yes, nights get cold north of Tampa in December and January. Last year was a disaster. You can see the green, red, and purple bean plants looking so healthy now. The Crista tomato plants are taking a set back, so keep your fingers crossed. My DH also planted German radishes.

He reports that about half the garden is planted.

The weather has been very warm for a week into the 90's during the day and only cooling off to the low 70's at night. This is unusual weather for this time of year and has broken records for the high temps. Maybe that's why everything is looking good and popping up quickly.

Here we go again planting with high hopes for a successful growing and harvesting season.

Planting the Florida Winter Garden 2010-2011

I have missed posting to this blog because we were on the road to Florida where we spend the winter. Endeavoring to keep my DH's dream of gardening twelve months of the year, he again started the plants for the FL garden while we were in Michigan this fall.


Cabbage, broccoli, lettuce plants ready for planting in FL Garden. Cover crop of perennial rye growing in the MI garden in the background.



The day after we arrived in FL, my DH put the plants in the ground. The soil in the garden is so improved after all the horse manure he dumped in before we left this spring. This is the third season for our FL garden.  He brought the electric fence along to string around the garden after laboring on the small plot.

They snatched the heart of the Romaine lettuce right out of it.

 Just as the rabbits in Michigan loved his plants, so it goes with the Florida rabbits. Not even the electrified fence stopped the hungry bunnies from eating the delicious broccoli and Romaine lettuce plants.

Rabbits munched on the broccoli plant.

DH added a fence, but again the bunnies got over or under the fence and around the electric fence to get their evening meal. He is going to raise the wire and try cayenne pepper to stave off the attack.

Do you, dear readers have any suggestions? Keep your fingers crossed...



Community Gardens

More and more people are discovering the pleasure of gardening because of the opportunity to grow vegetables in a community garden. Gardeners enjoy harvesting, preparing, eating or preserving the fruits of their labor. Many gardens are planted to help feed the hungry. Often, low income people work the gardens too with the help of the experienced gardeners. It is fitting that we can share our knowledge and skills with others, because in this land of plenty, there is no excuse for people to have to go hungry or to be unhealthy.

The cost of fresh vegetables at the grocery store are out of the reach for those who are low-income or on a fixed income. Poverty can lead to obesity because moms can feed their families cheaply with the fast food value meal. If community gardens are established, they can provide healthy vegetables inexpensively when those income folks are taught how to garden and raise their own food.

I would like to share an article with you about the difference made in a community that operates a community garden. In this example folks pay $5. to become a member, then they work at the garden, and receive the delicious vegetables wrought from their labor.

Is anyone involved in such a community garden? How did you start it? What is your source of funds? Are you having success or failure? Are you interested in establishing a community garden? With just that small bit of hope and vision, great things can and DO happen.

It's the end of the season for vegetable gardening and about time to button up the garden until spring. We still have some green tomatoes which we will pick, then wrap in newspapers to ripen. Broccoli and cabbage and lettuce will be good because they can stand the frost.

I wrote an article on End of Season Vegetable Gardening Tips for Life 123. I have no idea why it is formatted with capital letters starting each word...Not my formatting. Click here to read it. I hope it helps you put your garden to bed for the year.

Happy Fall Season

This fall centerpiece is made of a pumpkin from our garden and pumpkins-on-a-stick grown from seeds our daughter collected last year from an arrangement at her workplace. We don't know the official name of the small pumpkin-like fruit, so we call them pumpkins-on-a-stick

Tonight at 11:09 pm is the official time Fall arrives. Of course Mother Nature doesn't always go according to our calendar...yesterday was 81 degrees in Michigan...more summerlike than fall...and another 80 degree is forecast for tomorrow.

Fall brings mixed feelings to gardeners...a sense of loss for food production, but a sense of joy that the work and responsibility for tending a garden is coming to an end. If the harvest has been preserved through canning or freezing, then winter days offer the opportunity to continue enjoying the fruits of the labor.

Wishing you all happy Fall season!

Plant Rye in Your Garden

My DH planted rye last week in the garden. It will winter over and grow again in the spring. He will turn it under next spring to add nitrogen to the soil. Rye is such a fast grower. Plant it and it seems it pops up green in a couple of days. Try and plant it when you hear a shower is forecast so you won't have to water it in the ground.

A reliable weather man/woman is a gardener's best friend. Not only do they help you know when to water or not water, but also to alert you to when the first frost and killing frost will occur so that you can get your veggies in before losing them to the cold.

Rye in the foreground, broccoli on left and strawberry plants for next spring.

Rye. tomato plants, sunflowers weighed down with seeds

Pumpkins look lonesome in this corner of the garden.

Potato and Watermelon Harvesting with Grandpa

You know how much work it is to dig up potatoes, then bend over to pick up the harvest. My DH has solved the problem and made it a lot of fun...Get the grandkids to do the work! Below are photos from harvesting the yellow German and Yukon potatoes and Red Pontiacs. The total on the potato yield is 125 pounds, a record for us. The potatoes are a good size and well-formed thanks to the new compost he has put on the garden the last couple years. Soil really does make a difference!

The watermelons are a favorite of our family. This year they were exceptionally nice and sweet. They ranged in size from 14 lbs - 25 lbs. What a refreshing treat on these hot summer days.

Very proud of his find.

Grandpa let each child pick out his watermelon in the summer, then carved their names in each one. The name became bigger as the watermelon grew.

It's more fun to get on your knees and pick up the dirty potatoes.

Lots of delicious watermelons for seed spittin'....

Fresh Sweet Corn Time is Over for Us

My DH picked all the ears of sweet corn from our patch and pulled up the stalks. The garden looks so different without those stately plantings of tall corn with waving tassels. We froze the last 60 ears. We were pleased with our harvest of tasty corn this year.

If you want to try something different this year when freezing your corn, click here for a recipe.

The powdery mildew is on our squash leaves and cukes. Cukes are about done.

Sad time to see the garden in the end of the season, but already my DH is making plans for next year's garden. New varieties, size adjustments, rotation of crops. I love the gardener's never ending hope for a better garden next year.

Slimy Slugs Update

Yes, we are still battling slugs, those voracious creatures that look like shell-less snails. Read my post  Grudge Against Slugs, June 15.

In that post I reported that my DH sprayed the veggies with a mixture of water and ammonia receiving slight victory. It didn't last.

Last week my brother-in-law was here for a visit. Although he tried to drink all the beer he bought in the 24 case pack while here, he couldn't. I understand that after being cooled, beer is no good if it warms up and then re-cooled. So he left it for us....we, who are not beer drinkers...However, we discovered the slugs love, love, love it!

Ted put it out in the garden and immediately attracted herds of slugs. He is elated with the results.
We will definitely use this weapon next year for battling these disgusting pests.

County Fair Time

The excitement in the air, the buzz in the fair goers, the delicious aroma of kettle corn and elephant ears...It must be county fair time!

Celebrating their 55th year, there are over 8000 exhibits at our 2010 Newaygo County Fair this year including FFA, 4-H, open youth and adult classes. In 1955 there were 800 exhibits and it was held on the high school grounds. The bus garage was the exhibit hall and the animals were housed in tents located on the football field. They have come a long way from the first fair with ups and downs along the way.

Of course this year I would call it an excellent year because our grandson, Corbin, entered vegetables into the fair. The state does not contribute to the fairs anymore so there are no paid premiums for entries, but it doesn't seem to matter. Kids and adults like earning their ribbons. I am proud to say Corbin won several blue ribbons on his veggies.

Picking out the veggies for the fair

Every year I am amazed at the talent on display in the exhibit barn. I also am thankful that there are volunteers, parents, family, and friends who take the time to work with these kids. A BIG thank you to all who make the County Fair a huge success!

Recipe: Freezing Sweet Corn

Hooray! It's finally that time of year when sweet corn grows abundantly. If you can't eat all your harvest right now, freeze sweet corn for a taste of the garden in the winter. This year has been a fantastic growing season for us. We grew Northern Extra Sweet and How Sweet It Is. Both varieties are filling out the cob well and I can't decide which one I like better.

My girlfriend gave me the following recipe to add to your bags of corn before you freeze them.

FREEZING SWEET CORN ADD-IN

9 c. Corn  (I blanch the corn for about 4-6 minutes, cool, and cut kernels off the cob.)

3 c. water

1/4 c. sugar

1 T. salt

Mix the water, sugar and salt together. Add a small amount to each bag, then freeze.

When cooking, dump the contents of the bag into a microwaveable bowl. Depending on your microwave and amount in the bowl, cook for about 3 minutes.

Deliciously sweet, sweet corn!

Tomato Bonanza

Last year, tomatoes were hit by the blight, but this year we have had a perfect growing season producing a bonanza of tomatoes. Pictured above are the Crista tomato which came from our garden. We are pleased with this meaty tomato and selected it because of its disease resistance.

  

Brief History

Tomatoes were discovered in the Aztec culture about 500 BC. The Spanish explorers brought the plant which produced small yellowish tomatoes back to Europe where it became popular. In the 1590's the British believed it to be a poisonous fruit as it was a member of the poisonous nightshade family. But with the mingling of cultures, especially Italian, the tomato became a popular item on tables. Now tomatoes are developed  for cooking, canning, shipping, fresh sliced, salads, etc. Next year you may want to try this new variety.

I hope you have plenty of tomatoes peeking out from your vines. What variety/varieties of tomatoes do you grow? What is your favorite and why?

Corbin's Cabbage

Corbin deciding how to go about cutting the behemoth cabbage.

Today is the day Corbin cut his cabbage. On July 5 I posted about the cabbage growing contest sponsored by our local high school FFA (Future Farmers of America) and Bonnie plants. He (and all of the family) have been watching this cabbage take over the garden. It dwarfed our cabbages. Needless to say we were all excited to see the final product.

 I have had readers interested in his project, so here is a photo of the nearly fourteen pound cabbage with its proud grower. Even if it doesn't win the contest, it was a lot of fun this summer with our grandson.

Recipe--Roasted Vegetable Sauce and Rigatoni

It's that time of year when the garden produces quicker than you can pick. If you are enjoying a bonanza of produce, use this recipe to help you use all those zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers in one large dish. This is easy especially if you can talk your DH into helping chop up the veggies. Enjoy!!

ROASTED VEGETABLE SAUCE WITH RIGATONI

3 c. zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 c. eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 med sweet onion, peeled, diced into 1-inch pieces

3 c. freshly sliced mushrooms

2 c. red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used green and banana peppers as that is what is in our garden)

1/4 c. freshly chopped basil

1 T. fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried

3 T. olive or walnut oil

2 T. balsamic vinegar

6 med red ripe tomatoes, washed, cored, and left whole

12 oz. rigatoni, cooked according to package directions

1/4 c. walnuts, toasted and chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

2 c. tomato sauce or favorite pasta sauce, optional

3/4 c. crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large shallow sheet pan or jelly roll pan with parchment paper or use non-stick pan. (I used a pan covered with foil, then sprayed with cooking oil.) In a VERY large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Sprinkle with the oil and vinegar and toss well to coat vegetables. Spread veggies on prepared pan. Place the tomatoes on a separate pan.

Bake the vegetables and tomatoes for 30 to 40 minutes, turning vegetables every 10 minutes or so to promote even cooking. After 30 minutes cut through the tomatoes with a sharp knife and fork to chop them up and add them to the pan with the other vegetables. Meanwhile, drain the cooked pasta and transfer to a warm serving dish. Toss with the roasted veggies and walnuts.

Serve garnished with crumbled feta cheese. (I used mozzarella and parmesan cheese and let my guests add the cheese to their serving.) If you would like more sauce, add the 2 cups pasta sauce. Makes 6 generous servings. (to me it looked like enough for 12 people!! especially if used as a side dish.)

This recipe is found in Carole Sutphen's inventive cookbook, There Must Be 50 Ways to Fix Your Zucchini (with apologies to Paul Simon).

Carole put this recipe book together with all proceeds going to the Fremont United Methodist Women's mission projects.

Cucumbers and Zucchini Galore

The cucumbers and zucchini ramped up production big time this week. The hot humid weather and good rains have contributed to making a monster! In the last two days, my DH has picked 24 cucumbers. The zucchini, as usual this time of year, are turning from darling little green veggies to enormous baseball bat size in a matter of hours it seems...LOL.
I believe it is about time to celebrate the annual "Leave-Your-Zucchini-on-the-Neighbors'-Back-Porch Weekend."

Deer, Deer, Go Away

At this moment, deer are not beautiful or graceful anymore to me. They are destroying our garden. They are as pest-like as having a colony of rats in the neighborhood. We started the garden with a small fence to keep out the rabbits this year as they were a problem in previous years. The rabbits have not appeared, so we thought all was going great until this infestation of deer began feasting on the garden. As the weeks wore on the height of the fence grew. Nothing helped. I guess our veggies are delicious.

Last week, DH put up deer fence netting seven feet tall attached to steel posts. The next morning, the netting was in shreds. These hungry creatures just went right through it. Not only do they eat the lettuce, strip the leaves from the scarlet runner beans, chomp on pepper plants, etc, they leave their droppings in the garden. (I don't know if you can say poop on the web...)

The next day Ted put up a fence of three feet of welded wire with four feet of chicken wire on top. I dislike the look of the fence as seen below in the picture, but that seemed to stop them finally. However they are now munching on our flowers. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Fremont FFA Partners with Bonnie Plants Cabbage Contest

The Fremont FFA (Future Farmers of America) of Fremont High School, Fremont, MI is partnering with Bonnie Plants and their "Bonnies Crazy Cabbage" program to supply third grade students across the state with an O. S. Cross cabbage plant. Students will be responsible for growing the plant throughout the summer. In August students from West Michigan will send their applications to the Fremont FFA and then the FFA will select third grade class winners and send the apps onto Bonnie Plants. One student from Michigan will be chosen to receive a $1000 scholarship from Bonnie Plants.

Needless to say our  grandson, Corbin, is all gung-ho to grow the biggest cabbage and win this contest. Little did we know that this small cabbage plant in May would grow to be this monster in the garden. It makes the rest of the cabbages look like miniatures and it isn't done growing yet!

The literature that came with the contest states that the Giant Cabbage can grow to 40 pounds or larger. It is named O. S. Cross which stands for Oversized! Corbin is very proud of his cabbage, especially that it dwarfs the rest of the cabbages in the garden.

He will cut the cabbage in order to show it in the Newaygo County Fair Aug 7 and hopefully win a ribbon. Only size matters I guess since nothing is said about tasting the monster. I'll be anxious to test the flavor. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather and no pests!

Tree Take Down

Ths morning my DH helped our neighbor take down a huge old tree that bordered our properties. The older neighbor gentleman was afraid a storm would take it down and cause damage. It needed to come down, but it is sad to see any tree chopped down. It did shade our garden on the east side and towered over a lovely lilac bush. Now with it gone, the garden is opened up to a lot more sunlight.

One of the major considerations when planting a garden is the availability of sunshine. Most garden vegetables like a lot of sun..at least eight hours a day. Always check the seed packages or information with your plants to find out the optimal placement in the garden to produce your finest veggies.

The garden is filling in with healthy plants. We are getting broccoli, cauliflower, cukes, zucchini now. Strawberries are done now.

As you can see, most of our garden is in a lot of sun. Next year even more sun on our strawberry beds after this tree take down. We will see the results next spring. It is exciting to get into this time of year when gardeners can reap the rewards of their labor.

Tomato Cages

Tomato cages are used to cage tomato plants...Getting the plant off the ground and supporting it is the purpose for these cages so that the tomato will ripen beautifully instead of rotting on the ground. Indeterminate plants grow all over the place, so this caging helps to keep them in one spot as well as produce beautiful fruit. These supportive structures sometimes need to be staked in case of high winds.

We take 4' x 6' sheets of concrete re-enforcement wire and bend it into a circle to make the cage. The cost for this cage is about $5.00 and can be used again every year.

It's Summertime

There's nothing better to cool you off in the summer time than a delicious, cold watermelon.

The first day of summer and I picked our first cucumber. It's a refreshing treat on a warm day.

For supper tonight we had cole slaw and chef salad and cauliflower with cheese sauce all compliments of our veggie garden. I hope you are enjoying the fruits of your labor. My DH said he planted the seed for the cauliflower on March 4 never realizing he'd be enjoying it on his plate the first day of summer.

                                  

Cheese Sauce for Veggies

2 T. margarine melted in pan

Stir in 2 T. flour

Whisk in a cup of milk over medium heat and let it thicken for about a minute.

Add about 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese to your taste and let it melt. Sprinkle on salt and pepper if you wish.

OR

If you want to make a cheesy dish real fast, just throw on a slice of American cheese (I usually get the slices made with 2% milk.) Place the dish in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to melt over the veggie.  Sometimes the cheese melts as soon as it is placed on the hot vegetables.

Enjoy!

Update on Noah's Garden

Noah, in white shirt, cousin Corbin, and Grandpa had a weeding party the other day weeding Noah's Garden.

 

Noah is carefully clearing Every weed from his garden. See that concentration?

This has been quite a learning experience for our almost ten year old grandson. This year he is gardening in his own garden, not Grandpa's, and he lives about thirty minutes from us. Grandpa is not there all the time, so Noah is in charge. He learned a good lesson this summer. He watered the garden and shut off the nozzle, but forgot to turn the water off at the outdoor faucet. After the hose which was filled with water baked in the hot summer sun, it exploded. I am sure he will never forget to turn that faucet off again!!

Click here to see the spring planting photos of Noah's garden.

Alert: Entry Registrations for Your County Fair are Due Now

If you or your child plans to enter veggies,flowers, or projects in the county fair, you must sign up by July 1 in Michigan. Our county fair is Aug. 7, but registration is done at least a month ahead of the actual fair. Check with your fair to see when the deadline is...Our grandson Corbin's cabbage is "ginormous", heads above ours...okay, yes the pun is intended.

See ya at the Fair!

A Grudge Against Slugs

Yeewwwwww----there is nothing more disconcerting than cleaning a beautiful head of Might Joe lettuce and discovering slugs....Slugs, imagine a snail without its shell, are a problem for us this year. These slimy creatures which could star in a B Hollywood horror movie are voracious eaters and leave a trail of slime on the plants as they eat through your garden at night.

They love moist habitat, so if overwatering or rains occur, be prepared to battle the nasty invaders.

There are many home gardeners methods of ridding the garden of slugs. The simplest is to hunt them down and squish them or take a salt shaker to the garden in the night. Shaking salt on them will cause the slug to dry out, but don't over do it since salt is deadly for growing plants.

We also have the drinkers solution to killing plants. Placing a saucer of beer near the infested area will draw the slugs for party time, but when they decide to crawl in for a sip, they will drown in the beer. Be sure the saucer is deep enough that the slimy creature can't crawl out after imbibing. Spreading coffee grounds is a much touted method of killing slugs, however, we have not used them. From research on the Internet it appears that it is more of a wive's tale that coffee grounds actually kill, but may be a deterrent. Most of the information does not give credence to the use of coffee grounds.

My DH mixed up a combination of one part ammonia to nine parts water and sprayed only in the areas where he found slugs in our lettuces. He said the varmints aren't so evident now, but it could be that the areas are drier now.

Do you have any ideas on killing these disgusting creatures? We would all be much obliged to hear your method. Thanks.

Our Vegetable Garden on Memorial Day 2010

We remember those who have died in the service of our country.

God bless their families on this day of remembrance.