11

Inside this

issue:

Edible of the

Month

2

Weed of the

Month

4

Events 5

Sweet Stuff 6

Pets & Gardens 7

Book Review 8

Walk on the

Wild Side

8

Puzzle Page 9

Last Word 10

...for discerning weeders April, 2013

This is a fascinating time of year to be a

master gardener. The calendar conveys the

message that we are almost two weeks into

our much-welcomed season of spring. And

yet, the weekly weather forecast continues

to manifest the struggle that shows our

stubborn winter has not totally acquiesced.

As I write this message, I note that today’s

high in Crestview is 81 degrees and tomor-

row morning’s low is expected to be 38 de-

grees. Furthermore, in the 10-day forecast,

by mid-week, the daily high is projected at

59 degrees with the overnight low dropping

to freezing. This is followed, of course, by

expected highs in the 80’s to kick off April.

So, ultimately, the vicissitudes of the sea-

sons are inevitable, and re-assuring. De-

spite the day-to-day oscillations in tempera-

ture, the trees and plants are confident that

spring is prevailing. Everywhere you look

now the dogwoods, azaleas and trees and

shrubs of all shapes and sizes, are boldly

and bravely affirming that spring will not be

delayed further. I hope that, in your busy

lives, you take a moment to get outside to

enjoy and savor it………before it gets too hot

and humid!

An Okaloosa County Master Gardener Publication

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE By John B.

BIA Home Show

Manning the booth

Bill B., Les C., Ed S.

A Note from the Editor:

This edition of The Compost Pile was not sent to the co-editors prior to distribution to

find all the needed corrections. In gratitude of their hard work on editing and composing

articles, I wanted to give them a vacation. With that being said, any typos etc., etc., are

the sole responsibility of the Editor.

DON’T FORGET TO

LOG YOUR HOURS

ONTO THE VMS

SYSTEM!

22

LOVELY, LEAFY LACTUCA SATIVA By Shari F.

Say what? Okay, then just call it lettuce One of the easiest vegetables to grow, especially from transplants and one every garden should contain. Starting from seed is an option many gardeners prefer, but what do you do with what looks like hundreds of seeds? Saving the extra for the next cool season garden and there will still be many more of the same remaining. The preference for this gardener is obviously transplants. Purchasing small plants of sever-al varieties lessens the work and the time it takes to produce lessens the work, brings quick color to the garden, and taste to the sal-ad bowl. A little late, you say? For seed, the probable answer is yes, but transplants are still availa-ble at retail stores. Since we all prefer instructions from the ex-perts, the following is an article by Rob Trawick, Jackson County Horticulture Exten-sion Agent published in the January edition of Gardening in the Panhandle Newsletter: “Cool days and chilly nights are just the kind of weather lettuce enjoys. Lettuce is a vegetable that is easy to grow, delicious and so attractive that any gardener – whether you have a vegetable garden, flower garden or even a gar-den in containers on a balcony – should include it in the garden. Vegetable gardening in containers for balconies and other small areas is an interesting topic in and of it-self. Dr. James Stephens of the University of Florida has an excellent article (HS708) if you would like more infor-mation on growing a mini-garden here in Florida. According to references, lettuces were cultivated 3,000 years ago by the Babylonians and possibly earlier by the Chinese. Lettuce seeds were sealed in Egyptian tombs, and lettuces were served to Roman emperors. On Europe-an tables during the Middle Ages, lettuce was mostly eaten hot. By 1865, seed companies offered 113 kinds to Ameri-ca’s gardeners. Today lettuce is so popular that new and interesting varieties of lettuce appear in seed catalogs eve-ry year. Although you may read about cultivat-ing lettuce during the summer in north-ern states, our summer temperatures are way too high for lettuce to endure them. Lettuce is a cool-season crop here in North Florida. Our planting season ex-tends from September through March, with harvest ending in May. Garden lettuces can be divided into three classes based on habit of growth – leaf or looseleaf types, semi-heading

types such as butterhead and romaine (or cos) and head-ing or crisphead types. Crisphead lettuces, such as the iceberg types available in supermarkets, are more of a challenge to grow here, so I recommend that you stay with the leaf and semi heading cultivars. Other than avoiding the heading types, feel free to try just about any cultivar

that strikes your fancy. Leaf lettuces are the most decorative, least demanding, and among the most heat-tolerant lettuces we can grow. This type of lettuce grows in a loose rosette of foliage, and the leaves can be smooth or crinkled, pointed, lobed, curled or ruffled. Foliage color runs from deep ruby red to dark green to pale greenish yellow, with just about every combi-nation in between. Leaf lettuces are fast maturing and can be ready to begin harvesting just 40 days after planting. Harvesting is best done by cropping the plants regularly. When cropping, only the largest leaves are removed, which allows the

plants to continue to grow and produce. A bed of leaf let-tuce harvested this way can produce salads for a month or more. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to plant several crops in succession through the growing season for contin-ued harvests. The butterhead lettuces have soft, tender leaves and rela-tively loose heads. Their fragile leaves make them difficult to ship and pricey at the supermarket. However, these delicious butterheads are quite easy to grow. They can be harvested by cropping, or an entire plant may be harvest-ed as the center leaves grow over and form a loose head. Varieties to choose include Bibb and Buttercrunch. Romaine, or cos, lettuces are tall, upright and thick-leaved. Their thick midribs and sweet, juicy texture have made them especially prized for salads. They range in size from tiny 8-inch heads to large heads that can reach well over a foot tall. The foliage can be red or green, smooth or ruffled. Lettuce transplants of various types generally are availa-

ble in area nurseries and can be planted now through late March. You will find a much larger selection of cultivars availa-ble from seeds, which may be obtained locally in seed racks or from mail-order companies. Continued on next page

Don’t forget that the ‘Gimme 5’ initiative is still going on! Perhaps you could get those extra 5 hours by help-

ing in the office, setting up prior to a meeting, working in the nursery, helping with the plant sale, writing a

couple of articles for this newsletter......there are loads of tasks that could use your help?

Join the Gimme 5 team! You’ll be very glad you did!

33

LETTUCE continued

Plant lettuce seeds into well-prepared beds that have been amended by digging in a 2-inch layer of organic matter, such as compost or rotted manure, and an all-purpose granular fertilizer. Lettuce seeds need light to germinate, so they are simply pressed or lightly raked into the soil sur-face. Water frequently until they germinate, and once they come up thin the plants to the appropriate spacing. The average spacing is about 10 inches between plants. For best quality, lettuce must be encouraged to grow rap-idly. This is accomplished by keeping the plants well wa-tered and fertilized. Water thoroughly during dry weather, and keep the plants mulched to prevent drought stress. Side-dress with granular fertilizer every six weeks or apply a soluble 20-20-20 every two weeks during the growing season. Stress from drought, heat, or low fertility encour-ages the lettuce to become bitter. Even though lettuce is best grown here in the winter, hard freezes can damage the foliage. If temperatures in the mid-20s or lower are predicted, throw a layer of pine straw or sheets of fabric over the plants to prevent frost burn. Lettuce is wonderful harvested moments before the dress-ing is applied and the salad is served. Looseleaf lettuce is best harvested by cropping. Butterhead can be harvested by cropping or cutting the entire plant, and romaine is best

if the entire plant is harvested when ready. All lettuce should be harvested by early to mid-May, since high tem-peratures will cause the lettuce to become increasingly bit-ter and to bolt (send up a flower stalk). Its beauty, ease of culture and delicious foliage make let-tuce an excellent choice for any gardener. Even you flower gardeners should give it a try – you’ll be glad you did.”

Work progressing at the

Annex. To see more pictures,

click here

44

WEED OF THE MONTH By Jenny G.

Speedwell Veronica officinalis

Perennial or annual, broadleaf

Clusters of Speedwell present such an attractive

sight that they are bound to “speed you well”.

There are nearly 500 species of Speedwell - also

known as Common Speedwell, Gypsyweed, Bird's

Eye, Paul's Betony, Groundhele, and Fluellin.

Common speedwell is a European introduction to

the ”New World.”. It is known to be important in

European traditional medicine, with uses ranging

from internal, as a cough remedy and tonic, to external, as a

salve. Speedwells are roadside plants that grow in dense masses

bearing tiny, pretty, blue flowers. Speedwells are among the ear-

liest of lawn weeds to appear, greening up as early as late winter.

Speedwell plants can grow easily in any well-drained garden soil,

usually in partial shade.

Speedwell is native to Europe and western Asia but is widely pre-

sent along the North American coastal area. It is a tiny, creeping,

hairy broadleaf that grows only a few inches high and sends up

flower spikes which originate where the leaf and the stem fork.

Of the 20 or so Veronica species that occur in North America,

almost all are naturalized weeds from Europe and Asia. They are

often found growing on lawns in the United States. Most species

have blue veins on violet-blue flowers, and a whitish center.

There are several types of Speedwell, all characterized by numer-

ous paired, small- lobed, hairy, opposite and scallop-edged

leaves. And by tiny white, blue or purple 4 petaled flowers - the

lowest petal being smaller than the other three. Flowers are posi-

tioned towards the end of the stems on the axils of leaves. Some

Speedwells have an erect growth habit as they mature. They all

thrive in cool, moist soils where turf has thinned.

Heart-shaped seed pods grow on the stems

below the flowers and the creeping stems root

at the nodes. Reproduction is by rooting

stems, seed, and spreading rhizomes.

To control Speedwell apply a pre-emergent

herbicide like pendimethalin, balan, or dac-

thal to prevent seed germination in the

spring. Spot spray with post-emergent broad-

leaf herbicide containing triclopyr, clopyralid,

or 2,4-D, MCPP, and dicamba.

http://www.vannattabros.com/plant39.html

http://medicinalherbinfo.org/herbs/Speedwell.html

http://turfgator.com/identify-your-lawn-problem/lawn

http://www.delawarewildflowers.org/veronica.php

http://www.weedinfo.ca/en/weed-index/view/id/VEROF

http://herbs-treatandtaste.blogspot.ca/2011/05/speedwell-

veronica-officinalis.html

http://lawncare.about.com/

od/weedprofiles/p/

speedwell.htm

http://

www.luontoportti.com/

suomi/en/kukkakasvit/heath

-speedwell

Check out the pictures of our

recent field trip! Click here

55

66

Last month I wrote about growing tea in your own garden. This month we're going to sweeten that tea, also from your garden! First, let me say that I drink unsweetened tea and black coffee and I don't drink diet soda very of-ten. Yes, I'm one of those! So, I'm not per-

sonally familiar with the sweeteners that people use in their drinks, aside from sugar. However, my husband uses artificial sweeteners in his coffee and tea and my mother is diabetic and, since the rest of planet Earth also seems to use them, I've looked into the subject a bit. I've learned that there is but one sweetener we can actually grow in our gardens, from a practical standpoint, and that is stevia. There are, of course, other plants such as sug-ar cane, sugar beets and sorghum that we derive sweeteners from, and there is honey. But not many of us are prepared to launch the operations that those require!

First, I did some checking into comparisons of sweeteners and I learned a lot by that and some of it rather alarming! My husband and my mother use a fair amount of Splenda (sucralose) and it has some properties I would prefer they both did without: http://tinyurl.com/3r6ntr8

http://tinyurl.com/bdmorn3

And here, for balance, are two articles that compares artificial sweeteners in a more positive light: http://tinyurl.com/ak3nr9v

http://tinyurl.com/a8ykbnz

There is a lot of information available on the pros and cons of various sweeteners and what I noticed in most of it is that stevia consistently tops the 'best' list! So what is stevia and why is it a good thing? Very simply, stevia is an herb. It's native to South America and has been cultivated for about 1,500 years. It has properties that make it possibly the ideal sweetener for drinks. And best of all, we can easily grow and process our own.

Growing stevia is apparently about as simple as growing any other herb. Sow the seed and grow the seedlings as you would for mint, basil, etc. Stevia is frost-sensitive but you may be able to overwinter it in our area. Deadheading the flower buds dur-ing the growing season is recommended to keep the plant pro-

ducing leaves that can be harvested. When harvesting, the stems are discarded as they have very little of the desired sweetness in them. The leaves may be used fresh from the garden or they can be dried or processed into an extract. This is a very good sum-mary on the subject of growing and preserving stevia and con-tains useful links to further information: http://tinyurl.com/a6693ur And here is a video that contains some good views of the plant as well as information on growing and propagating stevia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBN2t4-o9XE

Stevia is occasionally described as 'rare' but it seems to be any-thing but, with seeds readily available from Burpee: http://www.burpee.com/herbs/stevia/, from Whatcom Seeds: http://seedrack.com/indiv/stevia.html and from Park Seed Co (Park offers both seeds and plants): http://tinyurl.com/ad27q3u

And I noticed that the man in the video mentioned he bought his stevia plants at Target and Home Depot, so it shouldn't be hard to find seeds or plants. I'll be staring my crop soon. I look for-ward to updating you on life at my tea and sweetener plantation!

Ed. Note: Hint for growing stevia. #1 it doesn't like cold weather BUT you can hold it over if you cover it when a frost is predict-ed. #2 Do not let it bloom--otherwise it gets leggy. #3 Keep harvest-ing! The leaves take a while to dry but as long as you provide air circulation they don't seem to get moldy. #4 Remember that these things are 2 to 3 times sweeter than sugar! Plus, the re-sulting 'sweetener' will be brown. I use it in tea--not crazy about the taste in coffee. You can use it in cooking but you won't have the browning effect that you get from sugar. Yeast also doesn't work as well with Stevia.

HOW SWEET IT IS! By Karen H.

In the spring, at the end of the day,

you should smell like dirt.

—Margaret Atwood

77

Many of us gardeners have pets and have man-

aged to make some compromises so that both

are actually pretty compatible. If your goal is to

create an attractive pet friendly yard, here are

some tips that you may find helpful.

Landscape Ideas for Dogs

Paths around the perimeter of your yard or

winding through it provide a designated space

for dogs to get plenty of exercise. A 3-foot-wide

clearance is sufficient for most canines. Mulch the path with a

layer of cedar chips, which are easy on paws yet large enough so

they won’t cling to silky coats. Or lay smooth flagstones set in peb-

bles to form a comfortable hard surface to tread on. Plants near

the paths should have soft foliage but be sturdy enough to stand

canine rough-housing. An ornamental tree or a large piece of

driftwood gives a male dog a suitable spot to mark their territory.

You can plant a screen to hide a dog run. If you have an “escape

artist” consider installing an underground barrier under your

fence using rebar, chicken wire or poured concrete.

If you don’t want your pet using your lawn area or flower beds to

answer nature’s call, consider a designated area of your yard for

your pet to use. Cover the area with material that is comfortable

for your dog, and easy to clean. Flagstone, pea gravel, bricks, and

cedar chips are all good choices. But keep in mind some dogs will

ingest rocks or mulch that can become stuck in their digestive

tract. Also, avoid cocoa mulch as it contains

theobromine, the toxic element found in

chocolate.

Dogs enjoy laying in the sun, but they can

overheat easily, so it’s important to provide

shade and shelter from bad weather. Just

like us, they will happily appreciate shade

from trees, or access to an arbor, pergola or

other outdoor structure.

To discourage dogs from flower and shrub

beds, plant densely, consider raised beds or

mounds, and use temporary fencing or low

borders as a reminder to stay out. Consider

planting sturdy shrubs and perennials like

ornamental grasses to edge the beds. Avoid

thorny and spiny plants that can cause eye

injuries. Do not use metal lawn edging even if

covered with plastic, sharp edges can become

exposed and can cut your dog’s pads.

Make sure rain barrels have tight-fitting lids, for safety of pets

who may explore them, and also to prevent the creation of a mos-

quito breeding ground.

But perhaps one of the most important things you can do to en-

sure a pet-friendly yard is to control pests responsibly. Use inte-

grated pest management techniques, beneficial insects or bio-

rational products when you can.

If you must use chemical pesticides, be sure to read the product

label (even if you used a particular product in the past, since for-

mulas often change), and consider switching to natural alterna-

tives. Many will specifically state to keep pets off the lawn or away

from plants for a certain time or until the product has dried.

Some of the most dangerous types of pesticides include snail and

slug bait, ant and roach bait, ant and roach traps and mouse baits.

Eliminating the use of poisonous pesticides

and heavy fertilizers is the best way to make

your garden safer for your pets.

This is part one of this article. Next month,

part two will cover toxic plants and pet waste

management.

THE PET-SCAPED GARDEN By Linda M.

We are looking for ideas!

What type of articles would you like to see?

What would you like to read about?

Please send your ideas and/or suggestions to our Editor!

88

If you are interested in beekeeping or just curious about all that is involved, The Beekeeper’s Bible by

Richard A. Jones and Sharon Sweeney-Lynch is definitely a must have book. I received this book as a

Christmas present (in the hopes that I will eventually get over my bee-phobia). It is a gorgeous book

and reminds me of an old almanac. Wonderful photos and clear wording. It’s part history book, part

handbook, and part cookbook. There are great old etchings as well as very informative ‘how-to’ photos

included. Every aspect of beekeeping is covered, from how to manage hives safely to harvesting one’s

own honey. Detailed instructions are included for making candles, furnish polish, beauty products,

and almost 100 honey-themed recipes are included. There is one recipe for duck with a honey sauce

that I’m going to try soon (not to mention several beverages that sound absolutely decadent). You will

definitely enjoy having this book around whether you decide to become an apiarist or not. The book is

available in hard back or paper back. Considering the size of the book, I highly recommend going with

the hard cover. Oh, and for the record, apiphobia is the fear of bees.

BOOK REVIEW By Marg S.

A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE By Linda M.

Another unusual Spring for

us, but finally it has arrived.

Spring activities among our

diverse wildlife are in full

swing. Here are just a few

that you may enjoy.

Birds

Bobwhite quail next now

through September.

Migrant warblers concentrate on coasts after cold fronts.

Watch for hummingbirds feeding on

blooms of columbine, buckeye, and others.

Grosbeaks, warblers, tanagers, orioles, and

thrashers begin returning to North Ameri-

ca.

Mississippi kites return.

Great-crested flycatchers return. They use

shredded snake skin in their nests.

Endangered Red-cockaded woodpeckers

are year-round residents and next in living

pine tree cavities from April to June.

Mammals

Black bears begin moving after winter’s inactivity.

Long-tailed weasels, minks, and river otters will be born April

through May.

Endangered Gray bats return to Florida caves to raise young.

Amphibians

Pine Barrens tree frogs begin calling. Found in Florida only in

the panhandle, usually within about 100 yards of breeding sites.

Breeds in hillside seepage bogs.

Reptiles

Most Florida snakes begin mating rituals.

Beginning of Sea Turtle nesting season on Florida beaches.

Alligators begin moving about, seeking new territories and ma-

tes.

Fish

The cobia migration is in full swing in the Panhandle.

Tarpon enter inshore waters to feed before spawning from April

to June.

Insects

Plant extra parsley for black swallowtail

butterfly larvae to eat.

Courtesy of the Florida Wildlife Extension

UF/IFAS

99

RIDDLE ME THIS

What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?

You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What is it?

What goes up and down the stairs without moving?

What can you catch but now throw?

I can run but not walk. Wherever I go, thought follows close behind. What am I?

What goes around the world but stays in a corner?

I have holes in my top and bottom, my left and right, and in the middle. But I still hold water. What am I?

Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?

The man who invented it doesn’t want it. The man who bought it doesn’t need it. The man who needs it doesn’t know

it. What is it?

I run over fields and woods all day. Under the bed at night I sit not alone. My tongue hangs out, up and to the rear,

awaiting to be filled in the morning. What am I?

Throw it off the highest building and it won’t break. Put it in the ocean and it will. What is it?

What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?

No sooner spoken than broken. What is it?

You use a knife to slice my head and weep beside me when I am dead. What am I?

I am weightless, but you can see me. Put me in a bucket, and I’ll make it lighter. What am I?

An

swers to

last mo

nth

’s pu

zzle.

Riddle answers:

A towel

An ear of corn.

A carpet

A cold

A nose

A stamp

A sponge

A fire

A coffin

A shoe

A tissue

A river

Silence

An onion

A hole

1010

Your member site:

www.ocmgamembers.org

The Foundation for the Gator

Nation.....An equal opportunity

institution.

Have pictures or an idea for

an article?

Send it in!

Articles and pictures are

always welcome.

Okay, the groundhog may have lied

but it appears that Spring has finally

arrived. I would go easy on the rodent,

though. After all, his success rate is

about the same (if not better) than the

weather folks on TV. I’m still waiting

for the rain that they predicted for

today.

It is a bit funny though, all the fuss

about whether or not a groundhog

accurately predicted the arrival of

Spring. Granted, is was mostly tongue

in cheek, but the ongoing debate did

take up a great deal of air time, band

width and newspaper ink.

With everything else that is going on

in the world, Punxsutawney Phil defi-

nitely got more than the normal 15

minutes of fame. I think there was

even a prosecutor who was going after

the furry critter. So why did folks

care? Why did we pay attention to it? I

can understand the folks up north

who were probably more than sick of

seeing snow storm after snow storm,

but still...

But I ask again, why did we even pay

attention to it? Think about it. It is

just a rodent that somehow got stuck

with determining the length of a sea-

son. But, good old Phil isn’t the only

one who got stuck with predicting. If

you see a wooly bear caterpillar, don’t

you check to see how large his bands

are? After all, the larger the black

bands, the harsher the winter. We

yank a poor groundhog out of his bur-

row just so he can see his shadow (or

not). And admit it, don’t you still

make a wish when you see a shooting

star?

We’re all adults and we ‘know’ that

these things are just silly folklore.

We’ve all made the observations that

some folklore tales/superstitions

have practical purposes. Not walking

under a ladder for one...never know

what could fall on you.

Most of the old superstitions we shed

in childhood. We don’t pay attention

to cracks in the sidewalk (after all,

mom didn’t suffer back trouble when

we stepped on them did she?) We

know that breaking a mirror won’t

bring seven years bad luck and black

cats, while they may cause allergies,

they won’t bring bad luck.

But the tales for Spring. All the

things that either tell of Spring arriv-

ing early or late...we pay attention to

those even now. Even though we’ll

laugh about it, tell each other and our-

selves that it’s silly superstition...we

pay attention to them.

I think we pay attention to these

tales because what they really repre-

sent is hope. Hope that the weather

will warm up. Hope that the season of

re-birth will arrive in all its glory.

While we don’t have to shovel several

feet of snow in the winter, we still

know it’s sting. We await the time

when we can be outside again without

a jacket and see the new shoots break-

ing through the earth.

The peepers are singing at night and

the flowers are nodding in the breez-

es. Birds chirping and windows

thrown open to catch the warm winds.

Who wouldn’t be eager to have that

time arrive sooner rather than later?

We all have our secret sign of Spring.

Something that we see or hear that

lightens our heart a bit with the

thought that Spring is finally here.

As for me, even if the old tales are

silly and unscientific, I’ll keep count-

ing the bands on caterpillars and I’ll

stick up for the groundhog on the

years that the weather doesn’t cooper-

ate. After all, every time we plant a

seed, start a cutting, we’re planting

hope. And we could all use more hope

in this world.

Marg Stewart—Editor

Shari Farrell, Karen Harper

and

Linda Meyers—Co-Editors

LAST WORD By Marg S.