Beekeeping 101 Recognized For On-line Excellence: by Tom Butzler

The web-based Penn State Extension beekeeping course I helped design and create with Penn State Public Media and Maryann Frazier (senior extension associate in entomology) to allow beginning and experienced beekeepers gain the knowledge they need to be successful has been recognized for online excellence.

Tom Butzler (left) and Maryann Frazier (right) in
production studio

Beekeeping 101 was named an official honoree in the 2013 Webby Awards. The course was one of 11 honorees in the Education category. This year's awards program received 11,000 entries from all 50 states and more than 60 countries worldwide.

"The Webby Awards are the leading international awards program honoring excellence on the Internet," said project co-manager Diane Espy, senior producer/director with Penn State Public Media. "As the first Webby Award given to a project at the University, this is a prestigious recognition for Penn State."

You can visit the site here and view a few sample pages to get a feel for the course.

Screen shot of Maryann Frazier in one of the many videos in the
course explaininig the why and hows of beekeeping

The War on Weeds – WMD* (*Weapons of Mass Destruction): by Tina Clinefelter

Today as I write, it is the first day of the Vernal Equinox – Spring – and there’s snow in them thar hills, and more on the horizon…

Eventually, the season will get underway properly and the annual war on weeds will commence, and to be quite honest – it should begin now. I’ve already mentioned in previous articles that the hairy bittercress is flowering and will soon enter seed production mode, so it would behoove you to monitor the yard closely (even bending over to get a closer look) and yank the offending rosettes out before they can complete their life cycle. As they used to say in Chicago – weed early and often – as prevention is half the battle, and weed preferably after a shower to soften the soil. Of course, if we have a monsoon season, stay out of the garden while the soil is soggy to prevent compaction.

Another prevention idea is to simply stop tilling the soil and only dig holes where needed – mulching all other exposed soil. Tilling tends to bring to the surface buried seeds that need sunlight to germinate – giving them a helping hand, so to speak. I gave up tilling years ago, about the time I gave up double digging, and now concentrate on building raised beds, feeding the soil from the top with applications of compost as top-dressing. Weathering and worms do the job of mixing in the amendments.

Using a pre-emergent weed killer is a tool most likely to be misused by the home gardener. Timing is everything in the application of a pre-emergent – temperature is paramount, and be aware that it will only work to prevent germination – not kill existing weed seedlings. Please read the label carefully!
• Wheat gluten is a more environment-friendly product but will likely need more than one application.
• Boiling water poured directly upon an offending weed will work wonders, but be careful not to include your feet, or a prized nearby plant.
• Leftover vinegar from a jar of pickles can be used to spot-treat a weed in a flower-bed – again pour carefully.
• A propane-powered flame thrower (garden strength) may be used to gently tickle the leaves of the weed; no need to create flames! The seared cells will simply shrivel! Try that sentence as a tongue-twister!
• Some weeds are delicious – salad anyone? This could be self-sufficiency at its finest…

If you must bring out the big guns and resort to chemicals I must insist again that you read the label! There are temperature restrictions against using such products when it’s too hot or cold; too cold and the desired effect will not occur; too hot and the product may vaporize and float away to perhaps your neighbor’s yard, and do unforeseen damage to some prized peonies…

I’ve noticed that certain packages of glyphosate have different colored lids – one means that you will get a quick knock-down but maybe not a complete kill, and the other works much slower with a better end result. This may cause the impatient gardener to re-apply the herbicide when all that was needed was to be patient!

Mowing the lawn a little higher than usual is a good way to shade out some weeds, but the overall good health of the lawn is the best defense. Proper fertilizing, aerating, and watering can prevent a lot of weeding problems.

Here is a recipe for a homemade weed-killer: I gallon distilled vinegar, 1 cup household salt, 1 tablespoon dish detergent (spray bottle).
Mix all ingredients in a large pan, heat over medium heat until the salt dissolves.
Let cool then transfer to the spray bottle.

Caution: this will kill any vegetation so spray with care. Only target the undesired plant! Do not use on the lawn or in a crowded flower bed! Store the solution out of the reach of children.
Best of luck in your war against weeds – deep sigh!

Love Apples: by Tina Clinefelter

Question: What is America’s favorite vegetable?
Brussels sprouts, you say? Perish the thought! I’m sure you said the tomato!
Well, just to set the record straight – although the US Supreme Court ruled that the tomato is a vegetable, botanically speaking it is a fruit – a flowering plant that produces seeds in a fertilized ovary – therefore the tomato is a ‘berry’, along with cucumber, squash, pepper, green bean and egg-plant. (The parts we eat of a true vegetable are the leaves, roots, tubers and stems, as in onions, potatoes, greens and rhubarb).

Before I go any further, let me clarify the above reference to the Supreme Court.
On May 10th 1893, an importer of vegetables named Nix, sued the port of Hedden for imposing a tariff on tomatoes, claiming that as they were a fruit they were exempt. (The tariff on imported veggies was to protect the US growers). The Supreme Court, in all its wisdom, declared the tomato to be a vegetable based on the fact that it was used in savory dishes – not sweets – to heck with scientific facts!
Let’s proceed with some interesting factoids about Solanum lycopersicum, otherwise known as the love apple or a dozen other different nicknames around the world. The specific epithet ‘lycopersicum’ means ‘wolf peach’, and the generic name – ‘Solanum’, identifies it as a member of the nightshade family which is why the English regarded the tomato as poisonous when first they encountered it, and indeed, it was not widely consumed prior to the middle of the 18th century.

Besides being yummy, the tomato is a great source of the antioxidant lycopene which is more abundant in cooked tomatoes than raw, and helps prevent prostate cancer, decreases the risk of breast cancer and helps improve the skin’s ability to protect against sunburn.

Most gardeners, serious or casual, know that tomatoes like plenty of sun and heat, (after all, they are a native of tropical highlands), but too high a temperature can cause the blossoms to not set fruit, and below 50* the tomato refuses to grow – a bit like me – I tend not to function well below 50* or above 90*…

Here are some more ‘tomato-lore’ items:
Borage is thought to repel the tomato hornworm moth, and marigolds repel root nematodes; tomatoes protect asparagus from asparagus beetles; bumblebees and the wind are the best pollinators; in terms of companion planting, carrots love tomatoes, and tomatoes are best kept at room temperature in the kitchen (cold inhibits the flavor).
An ‘heirloom’ tomato is a self-pollinator that has bred true for at least 40 years, and a ‘hybrid’ tomato will not come true from seed – reverting back to one of the original parents in the hybridizing process.

I was asked recently to recommend some ‘low-acid’ varieties of tomato, due to the enquirer’s health concerns, and found that most ‘low-acid’ types on the market are merely more sweet to mask that distinctive tartness and are only slightly less acid than others.

For those super-sensitive souls out there I would mention that the tomato plant may cause dermatitis in those susceptible – wear gloves!

While I know that New Jersey celebrates the tomato as its State Vegetable and Ohio elevates the tomato to State Fruit, I must confess I do not remember which fruit or vegetable the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania chooses to honor…

One more thing – our word for America’s favorite fruit/vegetable comes from the Aztec word ‘tomatl’ meaning ‘plump thing with a navel’. Cute – eh?

Weed Watch: by Tina Clinefelter

There’s peppermint, spearmint, orange mint, chocolate mint and mint chocolate chip ice cream (oh, my!) and then there’s creeping Charlie…What? In the same sentence as all those beloved smells and tastes there is one of the gardener’s most detested weeds? – Sorry, but they all belong to the same family and therefore share the same characteristics –being rampant spreaders with the tentacles of an octopus, and a reputation of being very difficult to eradicate.

In the beginning this weed had a botanical name – Glechoma hederacea – and then it became known to us as Creeping Charlie, Creeping Jenny, Gill-over-the-ground, Cat’s-foot and Ground Ivy. With that many common names it usually indicates a widespread and notorious plant – in this case, well deserved! It came to us from Eurasia, and conquered the New World quicker than the Colonists and the bad news is that it’s still attacking new territory.

Ground ivy is a perennial weed that likes damp, rich soil and doesn’t mind shade (in fact, it has been used as ground cover under trees and hedges), but it does equally as well out in the mid-day sun (like mad-dogs and Englishmen). It spreads by seed and creeping stems that root as they touch the ground, and although it is shallow-rooted, even a small amount of root will re-generate enthusiastically. Are you getting the idea that this weed is well able to survive and thrive? Yup!

Control: Two words – very difficult!

In the lawn, the best defense is a healthy lawn – no bare spots, regular fertilizing, proper mowing and watering and the correct choice of grass species in the first place. Any bare spots created by hand weeding should be immediately seeded with the appropriate grass seeds to prevent the weeds from moving in again. For large-scale infestations when multiple applications may be necessary, use a different formulation of herbicide each time to prevent a build-up of resistance to just one product. There are items on the store shelves of varying strengths, so it is very important to read the labels and apply the product as directed. If you are one of those people who thinks that if one teaspoon is good then two must be better, you may wind up killing more than just the weed! Fall is the best time to mount an attack, as the plant is withdrawing nutrients to sustain it over the winter, but flowering time (April-June) will work also. By the way, the flowers are quite pretty…
(It should be noted that some herbicides are labeled for Ground ivy and some for Creeping Charlie. Don’t forget that they are one and the same!)
In flower beds, the best strategy is hand-pulling and constant vigilance, or very careful use of the above-mentioned herbicides.

I can’t leave you thinking that this plant is totally bad, as throughout history it has had various uses concerning such important stuff as cheese and beer. My own ancestors (the Saxons) used it as a flavoring and a preservative in beer-making which gave rise to yet another common name – Alehoof. In cheese-making it was used in place of rennet.
It has been used to treat eye inflammations, tinnitus, kidney diseases, indigestion, bronchitis and nasal congestion; as a freshly rinsed herb it can be steeped in hot water to make an herbal tea rich in vitamin C, and its mild peppery taste adds zip to a salad.
On the down-side – it may be toxic to cattle and horses in that is may irritate the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys.

In closing, concerning the “Borax” treatment for the eradication of various weeds, including Ground ivy, I may be contacted through the Extension Office for a copy of the article from the Iowa State University Horticulture Department. 726-0022.