Green Speak 2016

I love parsnips. Often parsnips (large white carrot-like root vegetable) are substituted for celery in my soups and stews. The cultivated parsnip that we eat heralds from the appropriately named Wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa). Wild parsnip has recently been making the rounds on social...

Three. As of writing this blog on August 9, 2016, I have only seen three monarch butterflies. It seems year after year I encounter fewer and fewer monarchs. But don't take my word alone. According to Monarch Watch with the University of Kansas, the evidence is clear: Monarch...

Sublime- for most of my young life my understanding of this word was misplaced. It wasn't until the pursuit of my graduate work that sublime was made clear. Sublime is a feeling experienced when encountered with unspoken beauty and possibly terror that leaves us in admiration. Think about standing...

As winter approaches, there seems nothing better than to cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie. Watching movies is a favorite hobby of mine. And when movies mix horticulture into a plot, it gets my rapt attention. Toss in a little science fiction and you had me at the opening credits. The thing...

It's always a good idea to have a plan before you start digging up your yard. Sometimes a location seems like the perfect site for a garden, until you start digging and find the soil is like concrete. Or you start growing and realize the water supply is way out of reach. Now you're hauling buckets...

It sounds improbable. How can one have too many earthworms? Such is the case for a property owner in Henderson County. A recent phone call led me on my first investigation to discourage earthworms, or in this case night crawlers (or 'dew worms' from a fisherman's vernacular). The yard in question...

If I may steal a line from Doug Tallamy- For decades the prevailing notion of developers is that humans are here, therefore nature needs to be elsewhere. In our minds we always think of nature as elsewhere, but certainly not in our very own yards. With the expansion of housing and commercial...

If your HOA covenants, city codes, or neighbors disparage wildlife habitat, make the natural landscape easily recognized as a 'garden' and more intentional. Some tips for success: Borders – This can be a mowed edge, fence, or an edge of low plants. (I like prairie dropseed as a...

When confronted with lawn weeds, typically we think of dandelion, creeping Charlie, and violet. These aforementioned plants and many others are classified as broadleaved weeds (dicots), and are easily distinguished from grasses (monocots). Scientists are able to engineer herbicides that target...

Today, I caught my first imported cabbage moth in the high tunnel. More importantly, the moth crossed my radar before its larva, the imported cabbage worm, has had a chance to eat all of my turnip leaves. Scouting is an important tool we use in the garden and landscape to stop problems before they...

After a series of excessive rain events, some gardeners may find their beloved produce underwater. In this situation a key question surfaces: Are my vegetables safe to eat? Floodwaters that are runoff or overflow from streams, rivers, lakes, roadways, and agricultural fields are likely to be...