The tang of vinegar gives pickled foods flavor and acts as a preservative. To insure a safe quality pickled product, pickle with distilled white vinegar or cider vinegar of 5 percent acidity.
Be sure to read the vinegar bottle label when purchasing vinegar for pickling. There are 4 percent and even 3 percent acetic acid vinegars on the market shelves bottled similar to 5 percent vinegar. This is not a high enough acid content to produce safe pickled cucumbers, asparagus, green beans or other low-acid vegetable products. Saturday, August 28, 2010
While we are all anticipating the first tomatoes to ripen in the garden, some are having problems with tomato blossom-end rot.Ê Affected fruit is easily spotted and will have a tan to black spot at the blossom end of the fruit.
Blossom-end rot usually begins as a small water-soaked area at the blossom end of the fruit. This may appear while the fruit is green or during ripening. As this lesion develops, it enlarges, becomes sunken and turns black and leathery. In severe cases, the entire lower half of the fruit may become flat or concave. Secondary decay bacteria often invade this lesion resulting in rotting of the fruit rendering it unusable. Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tomato season is coming up quickly and with our warm humid weather, it is important to be watchful for diseases affecting tomatoes. Alternaria leaf spot (Alternaria solani) and Septoria leaf spot (Septoria lycopersici) are two fungal diseases commonly seen in tomatoes. Characteristic symptoms of these diseases start with the lower leaves of the plants turning yellow, then brown, and then drying up and falling from the plant. Saturday, July 17, 2010
I have had several calls about treating ants in the home lawn. Homeowners have been reporting large numbers of ants in their lawns. Although their presence and volume may be alarming, their damage is usually minimal. When you see ant mounds in the lawn, the ants did not kill the grass, but instead are taking advantage of pre-existing problems in the lawn.
Cornfield ants are commonly found in lawns where they construct a small mound that is found in exposed areas in the soil as well as in the cracks of sidewalks, patio bricks and driveways. Saturday, July 10, 2010
No, they are not "army worms!" Those conspicuous white masses of webby material that are seen in the forks of branches of trees are created by the eastern tent caterpillar. Populations of this insect fluctuate from year to year; there were high populations two years ago and judging from the number of webs present, 2010 appears to be another year of high populations. Thursday, April 29, 2010
Don't Bury Me: A hole dug too deep is a sure way to kill a tree
Earth Day is coming soon - April 22. Celebrate the wondrous benefits of trees and make a wise investment by planting a shade tree in your yard! But before you plant, take some advice from the experts to help your new tree live a long time. "Too often, consumers waste hundreds of dollars on trees that will die because they were planted too deep," cautions Tchukki Andersen, staff arborist with the Tree Care Industry Association. Sunday, April 18, 2010
The codling moth has become a serious insect pest of apples in many home orchards. Although this insect has caused damage to apples for many years, it appears to have become a greater pest in recent years. Whether it is because of weather patterns, insecticide resistance, timing of sprays, or some other factor, the population and resulting damage to apples has increased. Friday, April 16, 2010
Linda Eisenreich shared several photos of goldfinches she shot in her back yard Monday afternoon. Thanks, Linda!
The American goldfinch moults twice a year, and their color of the feet, legs and bill changes at moulting time: dark grayish-brown in winter, and buffy yellow-orange during breeding season. They breed later in the summer when thistle seeds and down are abundant. Goldfinches prefer thistle (nyjer) and sunflower seeds, and they will visit any feeder. They are acrobatic and can hang upside down to feed, if needed. Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The unusually warm March weather has melted away nearly all our snow, leaving our lawns bare. The empty turf seems to extend an open invitation to homeowners to begin spring chores, including the application of fertilizers, weed killers and crabgrass killers. It is, however, nearly a month too early for these applications, especially weed and crabgrass killers!
The key to effective crabgrass control is proper timing of application of the control products. There have been some major breakthroughs in home lawn care the past several years in the development of organic as well as chemical methods of controlling crabgrass and other annual weeds in the lawn. As a result, the homeowner can choose to use a form of non-chemical control that is much less labor intensive than digging the crabgrass or weeds by hand. Thursday, April 01, 2010
Although late spring snowstorms are still a possibility, we will soon be able to plant something! An ideal time to plant trees and shrubs is as soon as the frost has gone from the ground in April. Bare root stock should be planted as early as possible in the spring and nurseries that sell bare root trees and shrubs usually have them available in early April. This month is also one of the best times to plant evergreen trees and shrubs.
The least expensive way to add trees and shrubs to your landscape or fruit trees to your orchard is by planting bare root stock. The key to success with bare root materials is planting them in early spring, just as soon as the soil is dry enough to work. Early spring is also an ideal time to dig up and move trees from one place to another in the yard.
Sharpen those pruning tools because fruit tree pruning time is here! Mid-February through the first week in April is the best time of the year to prune fruit trees. Dormant pruning of fruit trees minimizes the possibility of fireblight in crabapples, apples, and pears, as well as canker diseases in cherries and plums. Pruning too early in the winter, however, may result in winter injury and branch dieback.
When pruning, it is important to use strong, well-sharpened tools. Pruning equipment will last for many years if properly cared for; making an investment in good-quality tools a wise choice. A home gardener needs three basic pruning tools; a pair of lopping shears, a pair of pruning shears, and a good pruning saw. It is important to use tools made specifically for pruning and to keep them sharp and clean.
What do you see as you gaze out your window at this time of the year? Is your landscape white, maybe even dingy white, accented with a green conifer or two? How about putting some color and texture into that winter landscape? Now is an excellent time to do some planning and selecting of trees and shrubs that will add color to your winter landscape.
There are more than 200 species of lilies and countless numbers of hybrids. Therefore, it is little wonder that we become confused when we are trying to select from Asiatics, trumpets, Orientals, martagons, tigers and then add crosses between two of the types like orienpets. It is important to distinguish between them because each type of lily may require slightly different care. By planting a wide variety of lilies, you can have a long season of bloom.
To help you distinguish the differences between the types of lilies and to provide you with information on how to grow lilies, the Benton County Master Gardeners are sponsoring a free seminar at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, in the Community Room of Sauk Rapids City Hall, 115 Second Avenue North, Sauk Rapids.
The presenter will be Diane Hansgen, Stearns County Master Gardener and Perennial Specialist at Thomsen Greenhouses. Diane has a passion for perennials and is a collector of many plant varieties. She enjoys passing her knowledge and her secrets of success to everyone.
Seed catalogs with their enticing plant pictures and descriptions have been showing up in the mail for a month or more. As the holiday season ends, many gardeners will get them out and become serious about planning the gardens and flower borders for next summer. These catalogs boast many new flowers and vegetables and, unless the gardens are of a monstrous size, the gardener cannot try them all. Some choices must be made, but which new introductions does the gardener choose?
A good place to start is with the All-American Selections (AAS).
We expect most deciduous trees to drop their leaves in the fall. We wait for this to happen so that we can rake, chop and compost the leaves and prepare our yards for winter. It is nearly Halloween and we are still waiting for many of the leaves to drop and homeowners are impatiently wondering why many trees have not shed their leaves. We expect pin oak, red oak, blue beech and ironwood to hold their leaves through the winter, but what about some of the other species?
If you have an old or damaged rural mail box or one supported by an illegal structure, now is a good time to repair or replace it before the ground freezes, advises the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Finding environmental information about Minnesota communities is just a click away with the updated "What's in My Neighborhood?" (WIMN) Web application from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
With the tools on the Web page www.pca.state.mn.us/WIMN, visitors can search for information about local environmental permits and notifications filed with the MPCA, as well as potentially contaminated sites. Users can search using an interactive map or by a text search. Monday, November 02, 2009
Vole damage was heavy again last winter. As the snow melted this spring, many homeowners found large areas of tunnels and bunches of grass thatch in their lawns and, even worse, the bark chewed off the trunks of small trees and shrubs below the snow line. Although the damage to the lawns can be repaired, the trees and shrubs that are girdled by this gnawing rodent will not survive. Saturday, October 24, 2009
It appears that this is going to be another year of dramatic fall needle drop in conifers. We had a large number of evergreen trees and shrubs damaged by winter desiccation and now we are seeing many pine and spruce trees with yellowing and falling inner needles. At a time when so many of our trees are plagued by insect and disease problems, it is easy to worry about the health of these conifers. Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The boxelder bugs (BEB's) are gathering on the outside of some homes in large numbers and the multi-colored Asian lady beetles (MALB's) will probably arrive soon. They congregate on the outside of homes as they search for sites to overwinter. Many of them may find their way into the home, and although they do not feed or reproduce there, they certainly can be annoying. Monday, September 28, 2009
Bob Mugaas, University of Minnesota Extension turf specialist, provides homeowners with a list of lawn-care tips for September. Although we all seem to have more energy for lawn care in the spring, it is the maintenance activities in the fall that result in a healthy, weed-free lawn that greens up early in the spring. Thursday, September 17, 2009
