1. Harvest your vegetable plants often. The more you pick tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash, the more they’ll grow.
2. Place freshly picked, green tomatoes in a brown paper bag to ripen. (Contrary to what many people believe, its temperature, not sunshine, that makes tomatoes turn red).
3. Animal pests don’t like strong-smelling plants. Surround your garden with marigolds, zinnias, or wormwood. Sneaky yet easy: To keep small animals out of your garden, cut an old hose in three-foot lengths. Place the pieces around your garden. These fake snakes will scare away small animals.
4. Plant dill near tomato plants to prevent tomato worms. It works.
5. Start seeds in eggshell halves. It’s economical and earth-friendly. Fill shell 3/4ths of the way to top with planting soil and seed, then store in egg cartons. This will keep the shell safe and allow you to easily carry the seedlings to sunnier locations or out to the garden. When ready to plant, leave the seedling in the shell. The roots will break through and the decomposed shell will act as a fertilizer.
6. When choosing annuals, bigger isn’t always better. When shopping at your local greenhouse, choose the plant that is well proportioned, not the tall one that has become root bound. Watch out for signs of insects or diseases.
7. Sprinkling the lawn out of habit is wasting a natural resource and money, too. A healthy lawn will signal it’s thirsty when walking on it makes footprints.
8. Some vegetable gardeners use newspapers as a mulch when cold weather threatens. This practice is ecologically good but don’t use the colored sheets. They contain harmful chemicals.
9. Position garden stakes so the wind blows plants toward the supports, not away from them.
10. To catch slugs, put a dish of beer in the garden at night. They will desert the plants and drown in the brew.

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Did you know that a cyclone and a hurricane are the same type of storm, with different names. In the Western Pacific, they are also called typhoons, and around Australia they are known as willy-willys.

What about tornadoes?

In terms of overall size, a tornado is much smaller storm system which meteorologists suspect evolve from the rotation of clouds associated with severe thunderstorms. While a hurricane can attain a diameter of 300 to 500-miles, a tornado is generally less than a mile in diameter. However, while the peak wind gust in a hurricane can reach perhaps 200 miles per hour (in the most extreme case), the most extreme tornado winds have been estimated to reach to over 300 miles per hour!

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Learn What Johnny’s Selected Seeds Recommends:

By Guest Blogger: Joann Matuzas, from Johnny’s Selected Seeds

Peas and fava beans are the first seeds planted in my garden when the soil is workable. Both seeds thrive in cold, damp weather. When I moved to Maine an old-time farmer told me you “plant your peas and pay your taxes on the same day.” It has worked for me for the last five years.

The key to growing strong bean and pea plants is to use inoculant at planting time. Inoculant is a beneficial bacteria that helps the roots bind nitrogen resulting in stronger plants with higher yields. It is easy to use and inexpensive. I put the inoculant in a zip lock bag and then roll the peas or beans in it as I am planting.

I like to trellis my peas to conserve space, make picking easier and to add a vertical element of interest to the garden. I found a great trellis design in Eliot Coleman’s “Four Season Harvest” book. You take two 8 foot 2″ x2″ posts (or 3 for a longer trellis) and sharpen them to a point at one end and drive them about 1 1/2 feet into the ground 5 feet apart. Thread the trellis down the two (or three) posts and then thread the trellis through a crossbar that is secured on top of the uprights. By the Fourth of July you will be harvesting peas.

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A dog may be man’s best friend, but who (or what) is a cow’s best friend? The other day I was driving past a farm and saw something kind of neat: a cow resting her head on the cow next to her. They were both lying down, as were a lot of the other cows, but these two had a connection. They didn’t seem like mother and calf, more like friends.

Can cows have friends?
For many of us who have pets, we know the joy (and work) they bring to our lives. They rely on us, play with us, and sometimes keep us from feeling lonely. We enjoy our relationships with them, but at times may not stop and observe their interactions with other pets or animals of the same or even different species.

A Lesson to Be Learned
Seeing the cows on the side of the road reminded me of how important it is in our every day busy lives to stay connected to friends and family. Next time you have some time, watch your pets interact. Check the zoo or farm and see how even animals are connected to each other in some way. Connection is important for all of us, whether we walk on two legs or four.

In the 2008 Farmers’ Almanac, we have a great story that offers ideas and ways to stay connected on all levels. Here are a few useful tips from this story, written by Deborah Tukua:

How to Stay Connected:

• Find ways and times to have special time with others. Go walking together. Plan a lunch. Find routine ways to stay in touch with family and friends.
• Plan date nights with your spouse. Not only will you have a chance to have an intimate conversation with your spouse, but also the children can get special nights with the grandparents, other relatives, or best friends while you’re out.
• Be a good listener. We learn when we listen.
• Spend time with each child individually, doing something he or she enjoys. Take an interest in their interests.
• Put the welcome mat out. Make your home a place that others will enjoy visiting.
• Establish a regular phone time (don’t just rely on e-mail and texts either!).
• Write a monthly family (news)letter and mail (e-mail) it to friends and family.
• Prompt children to write thank-you notes and letters, especially to relatives who live in other areas.

For more great ideas, be sure to read the whole story on page 72 of the 2008 Farmers’ Almanac.

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Spring is here! Gardening season is fast approaching. For many of us in northern sections of the country, warmer seasons also mean fresher vegetables and fruits. Growing your own vegetables and/or buying them locally are great ways to eat healthier and live more green.

Coming soon to farmersalmanac.com will be ideas on how you can grow your own vegetables even if you don’t have much of a backyard. If growing them isn’t in your plans, what about checking out a CSA – community supported agriculture plot.

A CSA is usually a local farm that offers “shares” from its garden. You purchase a share which means you help cover the costs of farm operation, and in return you are able to share in the farm’s harvest. There is an upfront cost to this but the rewards are fresh, organic foods that are healthier are locally grown.

Spring and summer are great seasons for being outdoors. Why not make this season the one you try to get in tune with nature by growing flowers, vegetables, or herbs. Start small and see how well it goes. It’s exciting and rewarding to grow your own “ingredients.” You may also have a new found respect for farmers.

Happy Spring.

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Rhubarb is the old faithful of any garden. As sure as yellow dandelions show their faces in the spring, unfurling rhubarb leaves herald a season of new growth.

Rhubarb thrives wherever the average temperature doesn’t hover above 90ºF for very long. It actually prefers a cool season and freezing winters which nurture the ruby red color of its stalks. Rhubarb has been known to take over and may bear profusely throughout the season.

Generations before us used rhubarb traditionally as a spring tonic. Today our appreciation for rhubarb goes far beyond the medicinal. While the stalks have a sour taste, you can combine them with a variety of ingredients to make tempting dishes. Try substituting rhubarb, either raw or cooked, or as strained juice, in recipes where you’d use other sour foods such as lemons, vinegar, and sour cream. Try using rhubarb in your chutney recipe. When stewed it has a similar texture to applesauce and can be added to your favorite applesauce cake. A favorite is rhubarb strawberry pie.

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That’s what an envelope says in our house. It’s our family’s leap day time capsule.

We started it two leap years ago – back in 2000—8 years ago.

It’s moved two times. It’s been lost once, but thank goodness found.

It’s nothing fancy but inside this sealed envelope we wrote things like what our favorite food, TV show, color, hobbies, movies, and a few more that I can’t remember and since it’s the day before leap day, I won’t know until tomorrow. It’s a fun thing to do and something my children look forward to.

Four years is a long time when you’re a kid, and I’m sure what they liked four years ago is a lot different than what they like now.

We will add the answers to this time capsule and then seal it up and then write do not open until February 29, 2012. It’s a fun way to save time and look forward to leap years. Give it a try!

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Can you imagine seeing over 400 frogs and salamanders trying to cross your road? Can you imagine the massacre that might happen if your road is busy? In my local paper the other day, there was a story about a township in New Jersey that is actually closing one of its roads during a time when hundreds of frogs and salamanders have been known to cross this street.

The crossing is habitual, occurring usually on the first warm, rainy night in Mid-March. The amphibians cross the road from where they hatched to better swamps and ponds across the street. Local volunteers and the wildlife associations have stepped in to try to help these creatures cross the road, but they can’t keep up with the masses. By the time they get back from carrying some of the frogs and salamanders, traffic has taken its toll on hundreds more.

The article also reported that in another area in NJ, traffic has wiped out the local population of blue spotted salamanders, an endangered species.

So this year, this nature-oriented town has decided to close the road (for a night or few hours) and save the amphibians! Our kudos go out to this town and I felt the need to share with you. With some much bad news out there, isn’t it nice to know that some people are paying attention to the little guys, the amphibians that need a little help crossing the street?

As more and more of us live in rural areas, we all need to take the time to consider the natural residents of our towns and figure out how we can protect them or at least live in harmony with them. Our hats are off to this township in NJ! Way to go!

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. . . that really counts.

Over the holidays my mom had Christmas Eve at her house. It was crazy - 9 kids ranging from 2 to 13, 10 adults, and lots of food. While good times were had and memories made, a few days later when she was sweeping up the “garbage” left behind, she looked down and found a pile of stuff that made her grateful.

No, she’s not a dumpster diver or a garbage freak, but it was within this pile of refuge — a broken balloon, pieces of ribbons, crumbs of candy canes…garbage, but to my mom this garbage had a special meaning.

It was proof that we had a good time, that kids and parents alike were able to get together to celebrate a special holiday and share in good times. It was in looking at this pile that she was reminded of how grateful she was for her life, family, and health.

Fast Forward to Today

Are Valentine’s wrappers left behind from yesterday’s activities?

Are your kids’ toys “decorating” the living room?

Is the snow outside pure and white?

Before you tackle any clean up or shoveling, take a few minutes to look at what has been left behind to see if there’s another message in this mess. Sure the wrappers should be in the garbage, but savor the fact Valentine’s Day is a special time to appreciate loved ones.

Toys everywhere may be annoying, but one day there won’t be any toys and instead they’ll be driving around in cars.

Yes, that snow needs to be shoveled, but is the sunshine making the snow look like there are diamonds shining on your lawn?

Sometimes it is what’s left behind that counts. This also goes for the environment. Sometimes what a package or garbage leaves behind is what really matters.

My thought for the weekend ahead. Oh and yes, my mom did sweep up her pile and put it in the trash, but not until she took a picture of it.

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In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 21st, I thought it would be appropriate to think about the many different colors, varieties, and types of flowers, plants, trees, weeds, and other living things that make nature so diverse and so wonderful to appreciate. In the spring, a walk in the woods or the park is filled with tons of colors, scents, and variety. How boring would it be if we saw only daisies on the side of the road or if green grass was the only plant that grew in our yard, in the forests, and in the fields. Think of the fall and the vibrant picture that the colorful leaves paint for us.

Even animals come in many shapes, colors, and varieties. Take note of the many different song birds that visit your feeder or can be seen from afar.

We’ve all heard the saying “variety is the spice of life.” Life and nature is more interesting when you experience more, see different things, and when what you see changes often. Perhaps we should take a few minutes and think about how lucky we are to live in a country where diversity in people and culture exists. How boring would life be if we all looked the same, ate the same foods, and observed the same holidays and traditions.

This week take a few minutes to honor the inspirational efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On Monday, January 21st, in honor of Dr. King, why don’t’ you try a different food from another culture, read about a tradition of someone from a different race or culture, or go out of you way to help someone less fortunate. Spread the idea that kindness and actions speak louder than violence and harsh words. Through your actions, you may realize that diversity is the spice of life.

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