June, 2014

Below are links to articles posted in June, 2014

The Health Risks of Gardening

Say what? You hear all the time about the health benefits of gardening, usually amounting to moderate activity for otherwise sedentary adults, but what about the health risks? Believe me, they exist. Sporotrichosis Recently I encountered one. I was dealing with old roses, the polar vortex killed every last one I had down to the […]

Dealing with Scale Insects on Pear, Apple, and Other Fruit Trees

There doesn’t seem to be a crop out there that doesn’t have a perfectly adapted insect pest (or score thereof) to attack it. Last year I my pear tree did not produce well. Overall it looked sickly, with yellowish leaves, smaller fruits, and black spots (sooty mold) on the leaves. I noticed small bumps on […]

Damage from a Polar Vortex Winter

The coldest winter in decades, what damage did it do to the garden? Well, so far, I don’t know I lost any plants, nothing actually died, though a few I’m wondering about. I’m not sure if it was the cold or something else, but my pear tree barely flowered, my honeycrisp apple tree didn’t flower […]

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