Seeing Jewelweed and Poison Ivy together reminded me of the practice of companion planting in the garden.  Often it occurs naturally, but we can use the techniques in our own gardens.

 

Companion planting is the practice of deliberately planting, or allowing to grow, plants that compliment each other. They may provide shade or physical support, enhance growth or flavor, improve soil quality, deter bad or attract good insects and animals to the garden, etc.

 

There are many good resources for companion planting, like the Farmers Almanac and home gardening books.

 

Here are a few companions I count on in my garden:

 

Marigolds are pretty to look at,  and they deter many plant pests like nematodes, whiteflies, and bean beetles.  The deer don't like them either.

Borage planted near tomatoes deters tomato hornworms (which can devour your crop overnight.)   Borage also attracts bees to the garden to pollinate tomatoes, peppers, squashes, well...everything.

Basil improves the flavor of tomatoes (as every Caprese salad lover knows) but it also repels flies and mosquitoes.

 

Rosemary and Thyme improve the flavor of lots of things, and they deter the moths and worms that eat cabbages and other Brassicas.

Daffodils and castor bean are toxic to gophers and moles, so they stay away.  Deer won't eat them either.

 

Another good example is the "three sisters."  Native peoples have planted corn, beans, squash together for centuries.  The corn provides support for the beans to grow up, and the squash shades the roots of the other plants.

 

So you see, flowers are more than just pretty faces in our gardens, they provide many services too.

 

IMHO, (OK, not so humble) companion planting is far superior to pesticides, even though it is probably more work.  But when we kill insects, we kill the good ones along with the bad ones.  I don't want cabbage moths, but I do want Monarchs in my garden.  I don't love yellow jackets, but we NEED honey bees.  So we just put up with some things for the good of the whole.  That is a life lesson in itself!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

 

 

Kit project.  20" x 20" wall hanging.  I want to learn how to make Bargello style quilts, and decided that a small trial could tell me a lot about the process, without the huge commitment of a full size quilt.

 

What I learned:  the process is very fiddly:  small pieces to keep organized, and do-able with a good pattern.  

Just THE kind of project I LOVE!!!

 

So maybe this winter will be the time for me to take the leap into the world of Bargello.

 

Anybody have Bargello style experience?

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!

I only got one comment on my Quilter quote, and that was from a non-quilter.

 

Mark suspects an "army of quilters" across these ridges,

and even mentioned a "quiltfest."

 

I'd really like to know how many of us are quilters, and WHO you are.

I don't know what a "quiltfest" is, but it sounds like FUN!!!

 

I'll post some of my quilting projects, and hope for more comments.  

Maybe somebody can even start a "Quilting in the mountains" blog.

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!

 

This is Impatiens capensis,  aka Jewelweed or Spotted touch-me-not.  Perfect specimens down by the Chestnut trees, dense stand, right by the creek, about 3 feet tall.  Poison Ivy close by too.

 

Fabulous story to go with it:

 

The sap of the leaves and stems is said to relieve itching from Poison Ivy, and they often grow side by side!   

If you accidentally brush through Poison Ivy, you can crush a handful of Jewelweed and apply it to the affected area, for temporary relief.  Of course, it's best to wash with soap and water as soon as you can.  

 

When I see Spotted Touch-me-not, I look around for Poison Ivy.  The orange flowers are a lot easier to spot than Poison Ivy.  And I NEED to KNOW where IT is:  we are NOT friends!!!

 

Other interesting facts:  hummingbirds, as well as butterflies and bees are attracted to the orange flowers.  And because of its fungicidal qualities, Jewelweed has been used to treat athlete's foot.

 

Oh, wanna see a good example of Poison Ivy?  I took this picture right beside the Jewelweed.

 

 

Careful out stomping around in the woods.  It's everywhere.

 

 

 

The goldfinches love these coneflowers.  Other small birds visit them too, for the seeds.

 

They will eat the seeds all through the fall, until there are none left.  It gets a little ugly, but hey!! we're feeding the birds naturally.  And we get to see them up close.

 

I've got plenty of seeds to share.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

I don't know about you, but I LOVE rainy days in the garden.

 

First of all, I think I can hear my plants drinking up the moisture, especially after a long dry spell.  They just sound happy.  Secondly, it's definitely cooler, and you can plant little plants without them wilting immediately.  Third, you don't have to follow the shade around, all areas are accessible without sweating to death.  And fourth, nobody bothers you, they're all inside.  

 

And best of all:  the weeds are easier to pull out!!

 

So, get out there today, and try gardening in the rain.  That's where I'll be...

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

 

 

These sunflowers also grew from seeds on the compost pile.  The deer didn't find them in time to eat the heads off.

 

George and Rose weren't so lucky.  Deer got a few of theirs.  Fortunately, they left most of them to bloom.

Be sure to notice them next time you're on Beacon hill near Stonebriar.  They are beautiful.

 

Sunflowers take about 80 days to mature, and some varieties can grow as tall as 12 feet.  There are many varieties. Choose one that makes you smile,  and try them, they are fun to grow.

 

It's a little late to start sunflowers, but if you hurry, you should be able to see blooms by Halloween.  But, that's pushing it.  You will get more enjoyment out of seeds you plant in May and June.  I'll remind you when planting season is upon us.  

 

In the meantime, notice them in your travels.  They're always good for a smile!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

We have been talking about this young bear who has been hanging around the neighborhood this past month and last night he had yet another zany adventure with him.

 

First here is the classic video of him lumbering around looking for bird feed, apples, or just enjoying the moonlight...

 

Then, having found no bird feeders out, he decides the Arlo camera look pretty good for a tasting!

Mmmmmmmmmm good. I like the taste of Arlo on bark!

 

I guess once he decided it really needed more salt he just left it, all bear spit, hanging up side down now point upward into the tree.

 

But thats not the end of the story!

A couple hours later Mr Racoon wandered down the tree and wondered why Mr bear left this tasty Arlo pointing upward into the tree..

 

But of course Mr bear, now annoyed that there was no salt on the Arlo to make it a wonderful snack, decided to express himself once again. And... flattened my bear cut out before he left! This is the second time he did it. The first time he pushed it over and bent the 14" metal spikes into a curve when he flattened it. Nice guy :P

 

 

 

So yet another zany eve with, Mr pushover.... his new name...

 

These are butternut (left) and spaghetti (right) squashes.  They grew from seeds on my compost pile.

 

I really have to be careful what I plant, because everything grows!!  I just stuck seeds in the ground!!

 

The deer don't bother the squashes, only the leaves.  So if they leave enough leaves for the plant to survive, we will have a few squashes.  They are worth the trouble.  I'll post how to use them in the recipe section.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

Naturally, you have to start with a decent internet in your house. We have been quite satisfied with the SkyTek services. Even though its only 6 MBs they don’t limit how much data we use. That’s a huge deal for only $40/month! You may be able to get a faster speed from other services like AT&T but pay attention to how much data they give you each month. It can get really expensive fast when your grandkids visit and use up your data plan. 

 

This is actually the most fun solution for TV and you can enjoy a lot for not that much money. Even though the Over the Air solution is basically free, you don’t have to climb on the roof to place the antenna with this solution.

 

To start you need an internet streaming box. My favorite is the Roku because you can put many free apps on it for all kinds of TV channels and movies. The other good choice is the Amazon Fire Stick. Both of them connect to your internet through the wireless system so they can be anywhere in the house and no running wires all over. These units are really easy to connect to the wireless network and setup and have great support with them.

 

For this article lets focus on the Roku. There are a number of units you can choose that cover a range of prices. You get additional features and increased loading speed as the price increases. The box I like best is the Premiere model with a good balance of speed, features, and cost. You can buy these anywhere from Walmart to online. So do shop around.  Even some of the new TVs have the Roku built into them!

 

Here is the unit I like the best: https://www.roku.com/products/roku-premiere

 

OK stop a moment and look at the TV you want to hook up to this. You may have an older TV that does not have a connector that these Rokus and other internet TV boxes use. You will find the easiest connection if you have an HDMI connector on your TV. This does not mean you cant use an older TV but you will need a converter box to connect the HDMI cable. I can offer advice on what to get if you write to me.

 

Now that you have installed this nice little box on your TV so what can you do with it. When you install the Roku you setup an account with them. There is no cost for this at all. You can pick out apps and channels through the Roku box or login into their web site and pick channels to add to your unit. One of the channels I chose was to find a news channel in Atlanta that streams the TV news from there. With so many of us coming from Florida you will want to find a local news channel from your florida home to keep up with what is going on there. Again there is not a cost for channels like these. Check out what channels and apps you can choose from here: https://www.roku.com/whats-on Some channels have a fee associated with them but many are free.

 

The channel/apps that Karen and I enjoy the most are Sling TV and Netflix. Start with Sling TV. Remember the 5-6 channels you watched for crazy money on DirecTV? How about getting those and 20 more for $20/month? Go read about Sling here: https://www.sling.com You just setup an account, download the app to your Roku, and you have all you favorite TV channels!  The really nice thing is that you can place Rokus and Amazon Fire Sticks on every TV in your house and you can use the same account on all of them and not pay any more than the one $20 fee per month! There is a plus if you have a tablet. Sling works on that too so you can watch you favorite channel while hanging on the porch.

 

We also enjoy binge watching TV shows and finding our favorite movie. For that we also loaded the Netflix app on the Roku and subscribed to a Netflix account. This adds another fee of as low as $8 a month. I like the $10 one so I can use the same account on multiple Rokus in the house. Imagine that Karen and I don’t always want to watch the same movies together all the time?  Head over to the Netflix site to learn more about the subscription plans and movies you can enjoy here: https://www.netflix.com/#this-is-netflix

 

There is so much available online through these streaming boxes now it seems crazy to keep paying DirecTV for 800 channels we don’t watch. Even with the subscriptions for Netflix and Sling we are easily saving $100 a month and have exactly the channels we always watched. I don’t think the TV knows any other channel other than HGTV though for some reason ? :)