Slugs are attracted to beer? FACT Leave out a dish, and snails and slugs drown themselves in pure pleasure. This method gets varied results, though; some gardeners report escapees. For optimal results, don’t change the beer daily (the nasty things are attracted to the bloated bodies of their own kind).

The caffeine in used coffee grinds kills slugs and snails? MYTH High doses of caffeine are fatal to slugs and snails, but there is no caffeine in used grounds; the water leaches it out. Spreading fresh grounds won’t work either. There’s not enough caffeine in the grounds, and it could affect your soil pH. All you’d get is hyped-up slugs.

Copper deters slugs and snails? FACT Their slime reacts with the copper to create an unpleasant sensation. Organic gardeners have used copper wire around plants and it has worked for them.

Diatomaceous earth is the best way to rid a garden of snails and slugs? FACT AND MYTH Diatomaceous earth (think ground-up sea creatures) will kill snails. The diatomaceous earth contains silicone , which works its way under the snail’s shell, seperating the snail from the shell and causing it to dehydrate. While it’s unpleasant for the snail it isn’t fatal. Lime, ashes and sawdust act as a deterrent, but they lose their effectiveness when wet and can damage your soil. If you want to go the irritant route, try eggshell fragments.

All commericial slug baits are dangerous? MYTH That was true for years. The chemicals used in slug baits could kill small animals and children. Now, baits using iron phosphate are becoming more common. Escar-Go and Sluggo are popular brands.

Taken from The Progressive Farmer June/July 2006

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Both snails and slugs have gel-like bodies, travel on a trail of slime and have four tentacles - to on the top of the head with eyes on the end and two below the head for sensory purposes. The main difference is the most obvious one: The slug doesn’t carry a shell, although some may have plate on top of the mantle, which is just behind the head.

Now you know!!!

Taken from The Progressive Farmer June/July 2006

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by Farmers Almanac Staff
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Make your own soothing comfrey soap for the gardener’s hands.

Directions:

Grate a few bars of ivory or homemade soap. Stir in 2 T. baby oats cereal and set aside. Make a comfrey tea by picking fresh comfrey leaves and chop fine. The herb comfrey can be found growing wild in undisturbed fields. Comfrey is very healing to a gardener’s hands. Put 1 c. chopped leaves in a warm jar and cover with boiling water. Screw on lid and let this steep at least 20 minutes.

Add a little of this comfrey tea to the grated soap a little at a time until you can work up a bar of soap. Or place in a soap mold if you prefer. Allow drying completely before using.

Variation:
Calendula or plantain, or a combination of all three herbs, including comfrey could comprise the 1 c. of herb leaves used to make this soap and would produce a great soothing gardener’s soap, as all are of great benefit to the hands.

~Excerpted from Pearls of Garden Wisdom by Deborah Tukua and Vicki West. This lovely book contains over 500 helpful tips, recipes and resourceful ideas. It is on sale now at the FATV shop.

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© By Deborah S. Tukua
www.hollycreekbooks.com

Hummingbirds are beautiful to watch and can be easily enticed into your flower garden.

The first important fact to know is that hummingbirds are attracted to flowers by color. They are particularly drawn to red, orange and pink blooms for the nectar. A second factor to consider is the shape of the flowers. Plants with tubular, bell-like blooms are the hummingbird’s favorite. Tubular flowers grow not only on perennials but also on vines, bushes, herbs and wildflowers. Providing this natural botanical nectar will supply essential nourishment and energy to visiting hummingbirds. To lure hummingbirds to linger long in your flower garden, plant any of the following botanicals.

Azalea
Bee Balm
Bellflower
Borage
Butterfly weed
Columbine
Cypress Vine
Flowering Quince
Foxglove
Fuchsia
Hibiscus
Lilac
Lily
Mock Orange
Morning Glory
Petunia
Phlox
Rhododendron
Salvia
Spotted Touch-me-not; Jewelweed
Sweet William
Trumpet Honeysuckle
Weigela
Zinnia

Deborah Tukua is co-author of the resourceful gardening guidebook: Pearls of Garden Wisdom. This lovely, hardbound book is on sale now at the FATV shop.

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©By Deborah S. Tukua

Roses have long stood as a symbol of love in the gift and ceremonies in which they are integrally woven. Roses retain their preferred standing on the top ten most popular list of flowers for weddings, graduations and special occasions and are popularly used through out all four seasons of the year.

If you are blessed with roses in your garden, here are ten ways to use them to add a special touch to your June celebrations and gifts.
1. Boutonnière – Make memories for years to come, present a rose boutonnière from your very own garden to Dad or your husband for Father’s Day.
2. Add organically grown rose petals to cups of hot tea.
3. Float organically grown rose petals in bridal or graduation ceremony punch bowls.
4. Sprinkle the table with fragrant rose petals when hosting teas or receptions.
5. Decorate iced cakes and cupcakes with fresh, organically grown rosebuds and petals. Cut rosebuds in half first.
6. Make sachets for graduation and bridal gifts with rose petals and lavender.
7. Chopped rose petals add a special touch when making soapballs.
8. Cut tiny rosebuds in half with scissors and glue one half to a place card for each guest at your next garden party.
9. Tie a fresh, stemmed rose around each dinner napkin with ribbon for a lovely token of the event that your guests may carry home. Be sure to remove the thorns from each stem first.
10. Present a rosebush as a gift for Father, the bride or the graduate. Give the gift that lasts, plant roses to commemorate any special event in your family.

~Deborah Tukua is co-author of Pearls of Garden Wisdom. Many lovely ‘Gifts from the Garden’ projects and ideas abound in her book, including the directions for making soapballs and sachets. Purchase a copy today at the FATV shop while on-line. To receive Deborah’s free e-newletter sign-up at www.hollycreekbooks.com

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©By Deborah S. Tukua
www.hollycreekbooks.com
With an abundance of sugar snap peas in our raised garden bed still producing this month, we’ve frozen some in bags to enjoy later. While I am a proponent of home-canning, a surplus of these peas should be frozen instead of canned. Most freezer preserving guides don’t include sugar snap or snow peas, so we’ll provide the how-to-freeze directions here.

Harvesting~
Both snow peas and sugar snap peas have edible pods. Pick ripe pea pods from the vine every few days to ensure tender, crunchy freshness. Harvest snow peas when the peas in the pod have just begun to form and the pod remains tender and flat. Harvest sugar snap peas from the vine once the peas have begun to fatten, causing the pod to round.

Preparing to Eat, Cook or Freeze~
Pinch off the ends and pull to remove the strings along the seams of the pods before eating or freezing. The fresh peas can now be eaten raw, stir-fried, steamed, stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for two weeks or frozen.

Freezing~
The peas must be blanched before storing in the freezer. To blanch, add 4 quarts of water to a pot and bring to a boil. While water is heating, prepare the pods as instructed in previous paragraph. Add 2 to 3 cups of pea pods to the boiling water and cover. Time for exactly 2 minutes and remove promptly from heat. Drain off water and place the pea pods immediately in a bowl of ice water for 2 minutes. Remove from bowl and dry pea pods on paper towels. Place snow peas or sugar snap peas into freezer bags or containers, seal, label and store in freezer.

~For more food preserving recipes and helpful instructions, you’ll benefit greatly from the resourceful trio set of ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ books by country author, Deborah Tukua, on sale now at the FATV store.

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