Tent Caterpillars Pitch Their Tents

Tent caterpillar tent.

Tent caterpillars have hatched and you’ll see them in saplings everywhere. My father hated these wooly pests and his method was to twist up a newspaper real tight, light it and set the tent-webs ablaze. The caterpillars would fall out, escaping the blaze.

Caterpillar eating a young leaf.

Tent caterpillars are only mildly harmful. They will devour the young leaves on the tree where they have pitched their tent, occasionally they’ll travel far enough to eat leaves on a neighboring small tree, but generally they stay on the tree with their tent.

The caterpillars live in a community and travel in groups to eat.

The the eggs which become the caterpillars were laid by a moth the previous fall, and their hatching is timed so they hatch just as the young, tender leaves are beginning to appear. Once the leaves get larger, the caterpillars have quit eating and gone dormant.

Tent caterpillars are social, going about their daily habits in groups. Appearing in early spring when the weather is much cooler, the tents are built in layers. When the night is cold, the caterpillars all move into a group in one of the inner chambers of the silk web where the temperature can remain as much as 50 degrees warmer than the outside air. They venture to the outer layers in the sunlight as the temperature warms, then during the day they travel in groups into the limbs for feeding. By evening, as the air cools, the caterpillars move back into the web.

Rain crow, or American cuckoo, is a natural predator of tent caterpillars.

The American cuckooo, also known as the rain crow, is the natural predator of tent caterpillars. Cuckoo populations have been on the decline over the past decades due to loss of woods habitat as land is cleared for more farms and house development. (To hear the sound of the American cuckoo, or rain crow, click here for an audio clip).

Bacillus, sold under the brand name of Thuriside.

Setting the web ablaze may be satisfying, but it can also damage the branches of the tree. A less harmful method is to the spray tree foliage with a Bt mix (Bacillus thurenginsis, the same organic control we use for cabbage loopers and other caterpillar pests). It’s non-toxic and not harmful to other insects. They have to eat and digest it for it to work, so spraying the leaves of the tree is helpful.

Tent caterpillars look messy but they don’t do a lot of serious damage. They prefer wild cherry, persimmon or fruit trees and seldom move far from the tree where their tent is located. While it may look like they are spreading to other trees, those are usually completely different colonies where other moths have laid their eggs.

Caterpillars grow fast and typically complete their development in seven to eight weeks. They leave their tree and move to the ground or under the eaves of buildings to spin their cocoons. About fourteen days later the moth emerges and begins laying eggs for the following spring.

Happy spring (or is that summer?)

Free Food in Your Own Backyard

In the community where I grew up, most people foraged for food. My family, and all of our neighbors looked for spring food in our backyards, in the woods and along fencerows. Everyone knew morel mushrooms and wild asparagus. Wild greens were looked forward to and a point of discussion when neighbors met on the street corner. “I picked a mess of lambs’ quarters, dock, chickweed and violet leaves” was a common conversation starter in our town in spring.

Violets

Besides those plants there are lots of others, equally tasty. Violet leaves and flowers are edible (leaves in the greens pot, flowers for jelly). Tulip flowers make good “cups” for chicken salad on a plate. Red bud blossoms get tossed into spring salads. (The red bud is a cousin of the pea and if you like English peas, then you already know the flavor of red bud flowers). The red bud pods taste a bit like garden pea pods - just pick them when the pods are under an inch long, to be tender.

Red bud flowers work well in salads.

I still have kale in the garden that over-wintered. It’s now in flower and those are perfectly edible, along with the blooming stalks. Cornflowers, soon to be in bloom, can be added to salads. Dandelion greens are a favorite of many in the Ozarks (boil twice to remove the bitter, then add some butter or bacon crumbles) and the dandelion flowers make an outstanding wine.

Pansies go well in salads for some color.

Johnny Jump-ups and pansies are both colorful additions to a spring salad. The menfolk will grumble about flowers in their salad, but the women in the family will think they’re decorative. And flowers actually have flavor, as well! Sweet Williams flowers, for example, make an outstanding sorbet or jelly.

Lilacs make very tasty sorbet, ice cream and syrups.

Lilacs, too, are quite tasty. You can use the flowers, without the green parts, to make ice cream or sorbet. Lilac jelly and lilac pancake syrup are bit hits on the dinner table, as well. Plum blossoms, as well, are used the same way.

Roses in my rose cake. Recipes are in my book, How to Eat a Rose.

Roses of all kinds, as long as they haven’t been sprayed with chemicals (and not roses from a florist, which aren’t edible) are all tasty. Rose ice cream is a favorite flavor in India and you can easily make it yourself. Roses combine well with regular tea for a boost in flavor. Rose sorbet, rose jam, rose jelly and syrups are all easy to make. The more fragrant the rose, the better the flavor. Rose hips (the fruit of the rose) are also used for tea and jelly. (Lots of recipes are in my How to Eat a Rose book; also you'll find recipes on my Herb of the Year blog, too).

Roses in mint patch.

Be sure you know any of those flowers before you try eating them; consult a good book or on-line to be sure if you’re in doubt. Don’t eat flowers that aren’t listed as edible; for example, narcissus and daffodils are not edible.  But there are a lot of flowers that are edible and fun to eat.
Happy spring!

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2012

New Plant Hardiness Zone Map for 2012

You may have noticed the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has revised the Plant Hardiness Zone Map this year, the first revision in a decade or more. The Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a particular location. The Map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperatures, which are divided into hardiness zones. For the first time, the Map is available as an interactive map accessible on your computer. You can view the map by state as well as type in your zip code to see the hardiness zone for your specific location. The drawback to the Map is the hardiness zones, based on minimum cold temperatures, do not take into account the summer heat levels, which can actually be more important information than the low temperatures are, to gardeners.

When I moved to the farm in 1979 I was fully in hardiness Zone 6. All of Southern Missouri was in that zone. Over time the weather patterns have changed. It wasn’t unusual to have -5 degrees F. here, or lower, in winter. That’s unusual now. The new USDA Map has southern Missouri now fully in Zone 6b, with the Bootheel in 7a. What that means for gardening is a number of plants that couldn’t survive our winters 30 years ago, will survive and grow now.

Figs, which I’ve written about many times here, are doing fine. Muscadines, that Southern version of a grape-relative, thrive in our newer climate. Herbs such as Mexican mint marigold (Tagetes lucida) won’t live in Zone 6, but are now fully hardy in my garden. This year, I even have lemongrass -  coming back again, having lived through our mild winter (although I don’t expect that every year).

American Horticulture Heat Zone Map

The Heat Zone Map was created under the direction of an acquaintance of mine, Dr. Marc Cathey, for the American Horticulture Society a few years ago. It is based completely on maximum summer heat temperatures for all regions of the U.S., just as the Cold Hardiness Map. It’s a good idea, when trying to figure out what plants will do well in your garden, to consult both the new USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, for cold, as well as the AHS Heat Zone Map. The two maps give a good balance than either by itself.

I still think we may have a cold snap before our last frost date this year, but I’m just as convinced the earlier I can get my garden planted, the better the chance of success. If we have another summer like the past two, then an early spring garden, and a late fall garden will be more rewarding than expecting everything to produce in the summer.

Water standing in pathways on first day of Spring.

Sunlight on far hill after rains.

Visit my gardening blog for more information about gardens, what I'm growing and more.

Plant Some Goober Peas

You’re a Goober!

Ever wonder where that phrase comes from? It means common, ordinary, like a goober pea, also known as a peanut. We seldom hear the term, “goober” any more but that was once the common name for the peanut. Since peanuts and peanut butter prices continue to be on the high side, how about planting your own peanuts this  year?

You’ll need to buy peanut seed from a seed company, and the seed should still be in the shell in order to be fresh. Most peanuts require 120 to 140 days to mature from planting time. When you’re ready to plant the seed, remove the shell and plant 2-3 seeds in a pot indoors, about 3 or 4 weeks before the last date when frost is expected, to give the plants a head start. When the weather is warm enough, carefully transplant your peanuts to a prepared bed in the garden. Add a bit of lime to the soil as you are preparing it to keep the pH in balance. Be careful when transplanting so as to not disturb the roots. Plant the peanut plants about a foot apart in rows and thin to 1 plant per spot. Most people grow peanuts in hills or berns, but raised beds work well, too.

Ready for transplanting.

When the plants begin to bloom, they will put down what’s called, “pegs” from each flower. The pegs are like little rootlets that grow downward from the plant’s limbs into the soil, several per stem. Each peg will grow a peanut in the ground. Don’t cut those off and don’t till around the plant once the plant starts flowering. Each plant should produce from 30 to 50 peanuts per plant.

There are both vining and bush-type peanuts and most gardeners plant the “Virginia” or bush variety. If you have a lot of space, the vining types produce well, also. Those will take up about as much space as sweet potato vines. But most gardeners like the bush types to conserve space.

Water the plants like you would green beans or similar crops. When the peanuts are ready in the fall, the plant will begin to yellow and wilt. When that happens, pull up the entire plant and hang the plants in a warm, dry place for a couple of weeks to let the peanuts cure. You can pull the peanuts off the plant at that time and let them continue drying for another couple of weeks. They are then ready for roasting or boiling. Or you can leave the peanuts in their shells and keep in the refrigerator or freezer for about 6 months. You can make your own peanut butter or just eat them from the shell, after oven-roasting. If you grow a lot, you can store them raw, still in their shell, for about 3 months, in a well-ventilated place that is both dark and dry.

Several companies offer peanut seed. One is Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Also Gurney’s,  Burpee and Local Harvest offer peanut seed.

You will find more facts and information at the Peanut Institute, too.

Quick & Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup butter or shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup Truvia sugar substitute (made from the stevia plant)
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup favorite peanut butter
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup roasted peanuts


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cream shortening til fluffy. Gradually add sugar, mixing til creamy. Beat in eggs. Add peanut butter,  blending well. Add dry ingredients, mixing again. Shape dough into small teaspoon size balls and press flat with a fork on a cookie bake sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Prune It or Lose It

One year old lavender plant, 24 inches wide, 18 inches tall.

February is the month for pruning. Grape vines should be cut back to the main trunk in order to produce the new growth needed to produce grapes. Muscadines, those Southern grape cousins, can be treated just like regular grapes, cutting off all of last year’s vines back to the main trunk.

Peach and apple trees get their pruning this month, as well. One old gardener told me  years ago that a peach tree should be gleaned of all the interior limbs so that, “You can sail your hat right through the middle.” If sunlight can’t get into the interior of the tree, you’ll only have peaches on the outer branches.

Half the plant has been pruned. Notice how much of the plant I am removing.

Because I grow considerably more herbs than I do fruit, I’m keen on pruning those plants now, as well. Waiting too long can damage the plants, so most things are pruned while still dormant, like now. Sage, lavender, santolina (some call it “lavender cotton”), hyssop and thyme - especially the taller, French thymes, are all cousins in the same overall plant family. Natives of the Mediterranean, and left to their own devices, these plants like to wander over rocks and cliff faces. The sprangly limbs root in the soil and the old centers of the plants die off. It’s a normal thing for sage and lavender to do that, and the others in the list, as well. If you’ve wondered why your garden sage plants only last about 3 or 4 years in the garden before unexpectedly die, that’s the reason. They have to be pruned to keep them alive.

A small, one-year sage before pruning. It's about 20 inches wide and 16 inches tall.

The same sage, after pruning. I cut away two thirds of the plant.

I prune lavender, sage and santolina, all in February, just as the tiniest signs of new leaves are forming down deep in the plant. I cut back two thirds of the height and width of each plant. The first time you do it, you’ll likely think the plant won’t come back, but in the next month or so, you’ll see plenty of new growth from the base of the plant. Not only will these plants be more vigorous, they’ll bloom better and the flavor of the leaves will be much better than on old plants that weren’t pruned.

French thyme plants. This one is 24 inches or more across and about 15 inches tall.

The thymes have been cut back by half and the lower hanging limbs removed, too.

Green santolina, partially pruned.

French thyme and hyssop both get cut back by about half, again in height and width. Those, like the other plants I mentioned, will die out in the center. All of these herbs will live for many years if renewed each year by pruning. February is also a good time to add an application of garden lime to the top of the soil in the beds where these specific plants are growing. All thrive in soil with lime and even though we think of the Ozarks as being full of limestone, it’s not in a form that plants can use.

I hope you'll vsit my regular garden blog, too: http://jimlongsgarden.blogspot.com

The Truth About Marigolds

French marigolds (Tagetes petula)

I’ve been hearing tales for years about how one should always plant marigolds in the garden to keep away inspect pests. Never quite believing the stories, I decided to search for the truth. Like many stories and myths, there is a grain of truth inside this one. Fortunately lots of research has been conducted on the subject. I looked at research from the Universities of Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, Arizona and California. Here’s what I learned.

First, companion planting, meaning scattering marigold plants among vegetables, has no proven beneficial effects. Second, what marigolds truly are useful for, is combating root nematodes. Root nematodes are microscopic, not seen by the human eye and whether you have them or not can only be confirmed by a soil nematode analysis from a University Extension Office.

All soil has nematodes and some of them perform good soil-building functions while. others will attack the roots of vegetables. The symptoms are excessive wilting, with stunting or weakness in a plant. (Once that is observed, provided the cause is root nematodes, there is no treatment other than to remove the plant and destroy it).

What is true and proven about planting marigolds is this. First determine that you have nematodes with a soil analysis. Next, devote the entire bed or that part of the garden to growing marigolds as a cover crop for one season. Nematodes don’t thrive when soil temperatures are below 64 degrees F., so you could potentially grow a spring crop of peas, radishes, lettuce, etc. As soon as those are done, plant that entire bed in a variety of marigolds that are proven to combat root-knot nematodes. It’s recommended you plant a marigold every 7 inches, in all directions and keep the area weeded. Weeds attract destructive nematodes, so keep them pulled.

You can follow the total-bed marigold planting with vegetable crops the next season. However, to be effective, you will have to alternate planting marigolds then vegetables, season to season. Fortunately, most gardeners in the Ozarks aren’t severely bothered by nematode infestations.

Calendula flowers on the left, French marigolds on right, they're not the same plant.

If you do plan to do this crop rotation with marigolds this year, here are the varieties that work best and some to avoid. (Keep in mind, we are talking about the little French marigolds (Tagetes patula) we plant in the flower bed and not the “pot marigold” (Calendula officianalis) some people confuse with marigolds).

Bolero is a good one to use for nematode control.

Red Sophie is another good one.

Bonita mixed, another excellent choice for nematode control.

Best varieties for combating root-nematodes: Bolero, Bonita mixed, Goldie, Gypsy Sunshine, Petite Harmony, Petite Gold, Scarlet Sophie, Single Gold, Petite Blanc, Sophia and Tangerine. Avoid “signet” marigolds (Tagetes signata or tenufolia) IF you have nematodes, because nematodes feed and reproduce on those and will make the problem worse. Included in the signet series are: Lemon Gem, Red Gem and Tangerine Gem varieties.

For controlling nematodes, avoid any in the Signet series.

February is the month to prune grape vines, clean beds and dispose of old garden debris. Turning the soil now is a useful, to help expose grasshopper and cucumber beetle larvae where the sun and cold weather will destroy them. Happy gardening!

Move Over Corn, the Peas are Coming

Early ancestors on their homestead.

I think most people aren’t interested in learning where their ancestors came from, the study of genealogy, until they’re in their 40s or beyond. That was the age when I started wondering where all the Longs came from and started my searching. What I learned was we date back pretty far, 1640 to be exact, and that the various parts of the family moved Westward, every 20 years.

Puzzled by why the whole family would pack up and move with such regularity, first to Pennsylvania, to Indiana, then Illinois, Iowa, Kansas Territory and finally Missouri, I thought they must simply be wanderers. A few years ago I was eating lunch with several other conference speakers at a conference in North Carolina and the subject turned to genealogy. I expressed my concern about my family’s habit of up and moving with such regularity. One of the people at the table said she wasn’t surprised at all, that most families did that. Why, I asked? It’s simple, she said. Corn. It turned out she was a sociologist, one who studies population movements. She went on to explain the method of gardening back then, was to move into an area, girdle or cut the trees and till the land for corn. Corn was the main crop to sustain farm and family. Once the land was exhausted of all of the soil nutrients, the family had no choice but to move on and start all over.

Our Billy, eating corn stalks.

Unfortunately I haven’t applied that lesson to my own garden. I have been raising sweet corn in the same 2 spots in my garden for over 30 years. Sure, I’ve added compost, bags of peat moss, even small applications of vegetable fertilizer over the years, but by and large, my 2 corn plots are severely exhausted. It’s not good to keep growing the same thing in the same place year in and year out. Every year my sweet corn has produced fewer ears of corn, on increasingly shorter stalks.

Cooking corn.

One option, of course, would be applications of chemical fertilizers, which do nothing for building up the soil and only support corn for that one year. I prefer to use more organic methods if possible. While I am not completely opposed to fertilizers, if I can use something like compost and cover crops, it is overall, better for my soil and my own health.

Peas of any kind help rebuild tired soil.

This year I’m doing something different. First, I’ve made new beds for the corn in “new” soil - soil I moved from another location. It has a lot of composted straw and manure and has never had corn planted in it before. Second, my old corn patches are getting planted with peas, lots and lots of peas. I bought several pounds of bulk peas, sugar peas and shelling peas. Peas are good at fixing nitrogen in the soil, so I’m planting them with the sole purpose of building up the soil. When they’re through, I’ll till them under and plant a crop of another cover crop, probably hairy vetch or wheat, which will also be tilled under to help build the soil. The corn beds will get a rest from corn for at least 3 years and during that time, I will work on building the soil.

Peas, by tradition in the Ozarks, are to be planted by Valentine’s Day, so I have mine ready. Onions, peas, lettuce and potatoes are all fair game now, as well. To see links to more information about cover crops as well as earlier Ozarks Gardening columns from this newspaper, go to ozarksgardening.blogspot.com. Happy gardening!