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Over the Garden Fence

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Cranberries for more than the Holidays

Cranberries have long been associated with the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. Cranberries, once eaten only a couple times a year, can now be found in the grocery aisle just about any time of the year. They can be used in many different ways, outside of the holidays. As with so many other fruits...
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Keep on Giving the Gift of Compost

Raise your hand if you are cooking for the holidays? My guess is there are quite a few of you. Ever think about all the fresh vegetable waste that goes in the disposal or garbage can? Cooks can get busy and not think about the compost pile or bin sitting just outside. If the pile or bin is large,...
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Hosting Holiday Plants in your Home

For many, giving holiday plants is an annual tradition. The one we likely think of most often is the poinsettia; yet mums, azaleas, cyclamen, and Christmas cactus are given frequently too. How well these holiday plants hold up and continue to give us enjoyment depends on their care. Proper...
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Choosing & Caring for a Fresh Holiday Tree

Whether you and family head out to a cut-your-own tree farm, visit a local organization's tree lot or buy from your favorite garden center, there are some points to remember as you shop: Take a tape measure Holiday trees can be deceiving by looking small out...
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Prevent Pantry Pests

Bakers in the family, and everyone else who enjoy their benefits, really like the holidays. Lots of cookies, cakes and pies are baked during the season. Pantry pests are those tiny grain beetles and flour moths that use the leftover flour to feed on and live in. This phenomenon is common, as many...
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Yard Equipment Maintenance Tips

Gardeners have reluctantly decided the gardening season is at an end given our current and future weather patterns. It is now time to "put to bed" a lot of gardening and yard equipment until next spring. While each piece may have a different garden function to ease our workload, they can have a lot...
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Bird Feeding is Not a Part-Time Job

Bird feeders are part of many backyards during the winter months. We enjoy the activity around the feeder, both by the birds themselves and the additional wildlife that feed on the leftovers knocked to the ground. We can attract specific birds by choosing an appropriate feeder and feed. One of our...
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What's Left to do in the Yard?

Many of our fall yard and garden efforts have been delayed by weather. So what should we be getting done? One of the ongoing efforts has been to keep the lawn mowed, and, if we haven't already, now we need to contend with the leaves that came down in great numbers. There is very likely more than...
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Don't "Leave" Behind Opportunities this Fall

The fall foliage show is back by popular demand (and because we cannot stop it anyway). Those reds, yellows, and oranges now have begun to subside, and soon enough a night of really below freezing temperatures will bring that to a close. Then, all those leaves will end up in the landscape. Our...
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Get Fired Up for the Winter

Over the last week and more, we have experienced frost and even freezing temperatures, kind of offsetting the warmer than normal temperatures earlier. About now, the outdoor fire pit and indoor fireplaces are looking pretty good. Whether you cut, split and dry your own firewood or buy it for the...
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