Helping to harvest fresh vegetables from the garden!

The most fragrant flowers
The most fragrant flowers
*How to print article's at bottom of newsletter.

Late summer flowering Caryopteris


 
 
Summer is the time of the year that most of us spend much of our free time outside enjoying our yard and gardens. I would like to tell you about a flowering shrub that is often overlooked for late summer to fall color; best of all, it thrives on neglect. This wonderful plant will look great in informal and more casual settings like around your patio, pool, or deck. The plant is covered with an abundance of bright blue flowers that will draw every butterfly in the neighborhood to your yard and garden. Are you interested in a plant that will allow you to cut flowers from it and give you hard-to-find blue flowers for table arrangements? If so, this is also a plant for you to consider.

Caryopteris will become a very valuable plant for your summer garden because of its wonderful soft gray-green foliage, or dark green, glossy foliage, or intense silver foliage--or even the new shiny yellow foliage the plant makes from the spring to the fall season. Even without the flowers, this plant will stand out in your landscaping beds. The plant will grow 2 to 3 feet tall and just as wide. It will stay nice and compact--a rounded or spreading mound, depending on the variety you select. You can also control the size of the plant with your yearly pruning in the spring to encourage more new growth and flowers. Each leaf will grow 1 to 2 inches long and less than an inch in width with small indentations on its edge.

The flower develops on the tip of the branches and on the new growth made by the plant during the early summer. This new growth is usually 10 to 12 inches long and the stems are strong, making them perfect for cut flower arrangements. These flower stems completely cover the plant from the soil to the top of the plant. The flowers come in small clusters 1 to 3 inches in diameter. The flower buds open a few at a time, making the plant colorful. The flowers last for many weeks on the plant, giving it much color from late summer until frost.

The flower is a spike-like bloom but much different looking than the traditional spike flower--unlike the snapdragon or gladiolus, for example. As the flower stem develops, two flower clusters form opposite each other on the stem, containing a dozen or more tiny 1/4 to 1/2" flowers. As these flower clusters begin to open, a new stem will form in between the two flower clusters. This new stem will grow right above the flower clusters and grow 2 to 3 inches tall before making two more flower clusters. This process will continue from early August right up until frost.

Caryopteris will grow in a sandy loam that is well drained and will do quite well for you. But if you condition the soil with compost, animal manure, or peat moss when planting, it will thrive and put on a flower show in your garden like no other plant in your yard has ever done. The plant will not do well in heavy clay-like soil where water can collect during wet weather. When you plant, also add Soil Moist granules to help hold moisture around the newly forming roots. During the first year in your garden you will have to water a couple times a week until the plant is established. Once the plant becomes well-established in your garden, water it regularly, especially if the weather gets to be hot and dry.

Fertilize the plant in the spring, with a granular slow-release fertilizer like Plant-Tone or Garden trust shrub fertilizer. If you want more flowers on the plant, feed the plant when it's in bloom with a liquid fertilizer like Neptune's Harvest fish and sea fertilizer or Blooming and Rooting Plant food every other week.

Because the plant makes the flowers on the new growth made during the summer, it is important for you to cut back the plant in late March to mid-April to stimulate this new growth on the plant; this pruning will also control the size of the plant at the same time. Using hedge shears cut back the plant by 1/3 to 1/2 of its original size and create the shape you desire. If you cut the plant flat on top, it will spread more--or you can leave more on the top and cut back the sides to create a plant that is more mounded in shape. Always prune in the spring and never in the fall or the cuts you make on the plant may not have enough time to scab over and seal before winter arrives. In a cold climate with a lot of wind you could have many branches that will die back on the plant.

The soil around the plant should be covered with 2 to 3 inches of bark mulch or compost to help control weeds, retain water in the soil during the summer heat, and protect the roots during the winter months. Stone mulch will dry up the soil around the plant quickly during the summer and is not recommended for this plant. The caryopteris will do best when planted in a sunny garden but it will tolerate a bit of early morning or late in the day shade. The plant is winter hardy and will tolerate temperatures down to -20 degrees when planted out of the direct wind, so place plant near a fence, evergreen shrubs, or a stone wall.
Insect and disease problems are minimal, making this plant maintenance free. Plant caryopteris near white fall-flowering hydrangea, such as the PG hydrangea, 'Vanilla-Strawberry' hydrangea, or the 'Pinky-Winky' hydrangea for great color contrast in your garden. In the fall plant flowering cabbage and flowering kale near the plant for great texture and color contrast in your garden. This is a plant you want growing in a garden where you spend time enjoying the outside. So sit back and enjoy your garden filled with flowers and lots of butterflies this year when you plant the caryopteris shrub in your garden.Enjoy!
 
  
A dozen quick jobs to keep up the garden!

 
You can cut the flowers when they are in full bloom and hang them from the rafters in your garage to dry. As a dried cut flower, they are wonderful and so is the foliage on the stem, as it alsOne of my favorite summer flowering perennials is the globe thistle. The flowers are steel-blue, a color rare to find in the garden during the summer. The globe thistle flower is in the shape of a blue ball one to two inches across and covered with hard-pointed flower buds silvery-green in color that open to reveal a deep blue flower. The flower is bristly--you would be wise to wear gloves to pick it for an arrangement for the kitchen table. As a cut flower, it will last for several weeks and in the garden for a month or two.August is a wonderful month for gardening--and if you do the following, your yard will stay colorful and productive. Don't let the hot sunny day drive you into the house to sit in the air-conditioning--get out into the yard early in the morning and then enjoy time at the beach, by the pool or even at the golf course. These twelve easy chores will keep your neighbors wondering where you got all your gardening skills this summer...and they may even ask you for advice.

#1 If you have any of the summer-flowering Spiraea like 'Anthony Waterer' with pink flowers, 'Gold Flame' with golden foliage and pink flowers or even 'Little Princess' with its wonderful mound of small pink flowers--and they have finished flowering for you, it's time to wake them up for a second flowering period. The summer-flowering Spiraea for most of you has finished flowering by late July, but if you take your hedge shears and cut them back by about 3 inches, remove all the faded flowers from the plant and feed them with Natural Alternative 5-5-5 organic or Plant Tone, they will come back into bloom in about 3 weeks and have as much as 75% of the flowers they had during the early summer. Prune them now for great late summer color.

#2 Butterfly bush is another plant that will bloom all summer and right up to frost if you keep removing the faded flowers from the plant. The first flowers made will grow up to 10 inches long before they fade, but if you remove them, the plant will make two new flowers to replace the one. Within a couple of weeks a flower bud will form on each side of the bud you removed and they will grow to 6 to 8 inches long. When they fade, remove those two faded flowers and 4 new flower buds will form in their place. They will be smaller 4 to 6 inches but there will be 4 of them to keep your plant colorful and attracting butterflies to your garden. Just keep removing the faded flowers and the plant will keep flowering.

#3 Do you have blue hydrangeas that are getting too tall for the garden? Well, now is the time to cut back any of the non-flowering branches to a height you would prefer. If you cut back the plant now--even by as much as 1/3--it will help to control the height of the plant and encourage additional new growth for next year's flowers. The newer varieties like 'Endless Summer' will also make additional flowers for early fall for you on the new growth they will be making. So get out the hand pruners and reshape your plants--one branch at a time.

#4 Rose of Sharon is one of the best summer-flowering plants we have but if the summer gets hot and humid, it is possible your plants could develop a problem with "spider mites," insects that will prevent some of the flower buds from opening. Early in the morning before it gets too hot out, spray your plant with Bonide All season Oil or Mite-X spray or Fertilome Triple Action Plus or Spider Mite spray. Do it now and your summer will stay colorful and problem free!

#5 If you're noticing a lot of Japanese beetles flying around your garden and your lawn is in full sun this is the time to think about applying Grub-X down to prevent possible grub problems this fall. Japanese beetles will lay 50 to 100 eggs each in a nice sunny lawn and these grubs will eat only the grass roots, not the weeds like crabgrass, clover, dandelions--just the good grass you have worked so hard to grow and keep green all year. Get it down now, and water it in to activate the product so it will kill the grubs.

#6 August is the month to start planting your fall vegetables like peas, beans, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, and kale. As soon as you pull out your spent vegetables replant for a wonderful fall crop that will last into October. Keep fertilizing your peppers, tomatoes, squash and root crops as August heat will help produce wonderful produce and help the crop ripen more quickly.

#7 By mid-August, pinch back every tip of your tomatoes to stop them from growing and encourage the plant to ripen what it has growing on the plant at that time. Any new fruit that forms on the plant after mid-August will not have time to grow and mature in time to ripen (if you really like green tomatoes, you can wait a bit longer). Keep the water on the plants to prevent the tops of your tomatoes from cracking from the hot and dry weather. Also be on the lookout for tomato hornworms, as they are due any day now. Treat plants with the new organic and natural Spinosad insecticide, it works like a charm, and it will keep your plant from being eaten by these big green worms that will grow to 4 inches long in just a few days.

#8 Now is the time to cut down all your Japanese bamboo to the ground along with its energy source, the foliage. The plant will now develop all new foliage and make small clusters of white flowers to signal that all the reserve energy is now being used to replace the foliage and begin the flowering cycle. When you apply a product like Kleen-up,  or Kills-All  to the foliage and flowers at the end of the month the plant will not be able to block the chemical from getting down to the roots and you should expect to kill as much as 75% of the plant this year. Next year repeat the process and you should be able to destroy it permanently. Two applications a week apart should do the trick.

#8 August is also the best time of the year to spray your Canadian hemlock to protect them against the "woolly adelgid," a small insect found under the new growth of the plant near its tips. This white cottony-looking pest is laying eggs now for next year and the fall applications of Tree and Shrub, from Bayer or Bonide will keep your trees safe for the next year. These pesticides are systemic and are mixed in a watering can and applied to the base of the plant. Use one ounce of product per inch of circumference of the tree at chest high and this pest will die out.

#9 This is also the "best" month to kill poison ivy and poison oak growing on your property. Use those nice sunny days of august, when there's no rain in the forecast, to apply Kills All or Kleen-up, to wipe out this toxic weed in just a few days. In large established areas, check back in a week or so and add a second application to plants not killed by the first application. Bittersweet is another vine that can take over quickly but the same application will destroy this plant before it climbs to the top of your trees and kills them.

#10 Roses need to be fertilized and treated for insects for the last time this month. Roses should never be fertilized after August. This will help the plant prepare for the arrival of fall weather in September. No food in September will toughen up the plant for the winter ahead of us and keep the plant strong. Use Bayer All-In-One Rose and Flower care products early in the month.

#11 This is also time to apply step 3 of your fertilizer program to help keep the grass strong during the heat of summer. Water it in well to activate the product and raise the height of your lawnmower blade to help relieve stress on the grass and help keep it green. Keep the lawn mower blade sharp so the cut grass has a nice clean and sharp edge to it to prevent lawn disease problems.

#12 August is also the best time to fertilize your fruit trees, and other flowering trees as they are now making flower buds for next year color and fruit. Rhododendrons, azaleas, mountain laurel, along with forsythia, lilac and bridal wreath are also making flower buds, so feed them now and do not prune them, as the flower buds are made on the new growth made this year--do your pruning when the flowers begin to fall from the plant in the spring.

#13 Sit back in your favorite yard chair with a cold drink and enjoy your yard, it's August and the summer is getting short now. Get out and enjoy it!

 
 
The Most Beautiful Flowers
The Most Beautiful Flowers

 
Ferns for a shade garden!

With September just around the corner, you might be thinking of fall flowers for your garden, and I want you to consider the Japanese anemones this year. Mums and fall asters are nice but when you see the anemones in bloom in your garden, you will say to yourself, "Where were these plants when I was looking for fall flowers all these years!" Anemones will begin to flower in early September and last for 5 weeks or more in your garden, or until a hard frost kills the plant back to the ground like other perennials. The plants are hardy to zone 4 with winter temperatures down to -30 degrees and with a 3 inch covering of bark mulch around the plant. The flowers of the anemones look like windmills on tall stems and you will enjoy watching them sway back and forth with the cool fall winds.We all have a place in the yard under tall trees where we have planted grass seed for years--and still the grass will not grow. Many of us have dug out the area and replaced it with bark mulch and a few shrubs just to make the area look presentable but it's not what we want, not another shrub garden to care for. If you have this problem then I have a suggestion for you to consider that you may like? How about a fern garden? Because ferns are perennial, so they return every year, and they spread and become larger every year. Ferns come in hundreds of varieties that will give you different heights, different colors, different textures, some are scented, with great fall color, and some even have flowers. Best of all there are no insects or disease problems and no MAINTENANCE for this new garden--just enjoyment.

The fern has been around longer than any other plant on our planet. Scientists say they have been around for as long as 220 million years and were growing under those tall shady trees even before the dinosaurs came into existence. The dinosaurs are long gone now but this plant, the fern, is still prospering from Antarctica to your yard--no matter where you live on the planet-but still, as Rodney Dangerfield often said, "They get no respect."

Ferns are soft plants with character; they look soft because of their texture as they creep across the once barren ground where only weeds once grew; their beauty in a mass planting will give you a calming effect as you walk between them. I think the ferns do for a shady garden what the grass does for the sunny lawn.

Let's compare the two and you will see what I mean: the lawn needs to be fertilized several times a year to keep it green and thick-growing. The lawn gets weeds that need to be removed or the grass looks less appealing. The lawn can have insect and disease problems which require costly chemical control to solve the problem; if not treated it will die or animals and birds will dig it up looking for these insect pests living in the soil. During the summer months you have to water the grass or it will turn brown, spoiling the appearance of your home and gardens. Your lawn must be cut weekly to look its best and that takes time from your busy day and creates more work for you in the yard. With all this negative information, our home is a better place because of the lawn growing around it.

Ferns once planted and established are self-sufficient! They need no fertilizer and their thick canopy will block all the sunlight from reaching weeds--and the weeds die off all by themselves. Insect and disease problems are rare to nonexistent with most of the ferns. Ferns adapt to moisture in the soil and can even survive a drought; some varieties even prefer a dry soil to grow in, while others grow on the side of the road and tolerate road salt during the winter months. Unlike most shrubs and trees, the ferns are not eaten by animals like deer who can destroy your plantings in just a few nights of feeding on them. One more thing...ferns are able to reproduce themselves without your help, as they are able to produce millions of spores each year to start new plants where some ferns have died out. It's a no-brainer, so let me tell you about some of the best ferns for your shady areas under those tall growing trees--and you can forget about planting grass seed this fall.

#1 MY favorite is called the Hayscented Fern; it will thrive in part sun to full shade. This fern will grow in moist to dry soil and will tolerate acidic soil under your pines and oak trees; also in rocky soil. If you have a large area to cover this is your fern, because it has the ability to spread quickly in just a few years. It got its name from the scent it releases when the foliage is crushed--fresh cut hay. It is aggressive and makes the perfect plant to control erosion problem areas, and it will also cover other plants growing in the same area, quickly taking over the area and creating a thick blanket of soft foliage. This feat is accomplished by its dense root system and the fronds it produces, choking out everything of its same size quickly. Don't mix this fern with other plants as it will spread over a foot in diameter every year and smother weeds and valuable plants at the same time. The plant is delicate and will break easily if you walk through it frequently. You can dig them up and divide them in the spring or fall in 12 inch clumps. Condition the hole with organic matter like compost, animal manure seaweed kelp and the new coir products for quick development. Plants grow 15 to 24 inches tall and 3 to 4 feet wide.

#2 The Maidenhair Fern is one of my favorites because it is so delicate-looking and has unusual foliage. Like all ferns they grow with underground rhizomes and spread slowly in damp soil and will even grow through thick moss clumps giving your planting area two levels of plants growing together in harmony. You will love the foliage because when it first develops it will have a pinkish-brown look; then it turns coppery bronze and then bright green before settling down during the summer months to a dark green color. This fern loves dampness and will do great near water or wet areas where it is difficult to get plants to grow. Keep the plants moist for the first couple of years to give them a good chance to get established in your garden. Plants can be divided in the spring. Plants grow 12 tall and 24 inches wide.

#3 Ostrich Fern is the fern that everyone must have in their fern garden as it grows 2 to 4 feet tall and will spread 3 to 6 feet wide. This is another fern that will naturalize easily and makes a great background plant for the garden. The Ostrich fern is the plant that many of us eat in the spring and is found in the vegetable case as the "fiddleheads"-- my favorite spring delicacy from the wild. If you never eaten fiddleheads, they are young ferns still curled up in a tight spiral and when steamed till tender and seasoned with salt, pepper, butter and a bit of vinegar, you are in for a wonderful once-a-year treat. The taste is like a combination of asparagus, spinach and broccoli blended together. The plant also does great when planted along the side of the house, as it does grow tall and helps to hide the concrete foundation of the house or plant it along a raised deck to hide the lattice work and what you store under the deck. The plant also produces many tall growing fronds that are filled with spores and are chocolate brown all winter long before breaking open in the spring to release the many spores to make new plants during the spring and summer months.

#4 Beech Fern is a wonderful wild-growing fern found growing in the woods of New England to a height of 12 to 14 inches tall and which spreads to 3 feet wide. The fern foliage will grow in the shape of a triangle on a strong dark brown stem, almost like individual plants rather than a clump like most ferns. It does not grow thick and full but rather in patches with spaces in between the individual leaves but it does smother weeds easily. This fern keeps producing foliage right up until frost and the ferns always look like it has fresh new foliage developing in the clump. It is easy to grow and it does very well in light to deep shade if the soil is moist. Divide in the early spring before it begins to grow fast. The foliage is pale green and it can be used in flower arrangements to give them a classy look.

#5 The Christmas Fern is the most adaptable of all the ferns and it grows in a nice tight vase shape like a clump. It is wonderful for gardens, as it will not take it over and smother everything in its way. It is also evergreen and stays upright until heavy snow fall. This fern loves growing under tall pine trees and even hardwoods like maples and oaks. It will grow in any type of soil from a loam to even clay type soil and is considered one of the best ferns for a mixed fern garden. Dry or moist and acidic to neutral soil--this is a must for your garden. The plant will grow 15 to 24 inches tall and just as wide. Because it is evergreen, you can pick some of the foliage for your holiday arrangement if snow does not cover the ground.

#6 The Massachusetts Fern is a great fern for part sun to full shade and moist to wet soil that is acidic. It will grow from 15 to 30 inches tall and spread about 2 feet wide. The fern foliage is unique because it looks like a "ladder" or a skeleton of the plant with small thin foliage growing in horizontal branches opposite each other; these branches have a 1 to 2 inch space in between them. The individual fern stems look spindly and have character to them. Most of its growth happens in the late summer and the plant is filled with a surge of new growth like green ladders. It is a long-lasting fern but spreads slowly compared to most other ferns. If you live in Massachusetts this is your State Fern, and a must for your fern garden.

Feed your ferns in the spring with Plant-Tone to help thicken the clumps of ferns. If your soil is on the sandy side, always condition the hole before planting with compost or coir fibers to help hold moisture during the hot days of summer (like this year). Once planted, cover the fern garden with an inch or two of bark mulch to help hold the soil moisture in and control the weeds until they become established. Enjoy.

"If you have a garden and a Library, you have everything you need"
Cicero
Top 10 Amazing Trees in The World
Top 10 Amazing Trees 
in The World

 

 


Order your garlic bulbs now for fall planting

 
If you have never grown garlic in your garden before, it's time to start this fall. Garlic takes up very little room in your garden, it is so easy to grow your children can even do it for you and the plants look beautiful. Begin by selecting the right variety for you, the right time of the year to plant, how to condition the soil, and when to harvest, cure, and store for a winter. It may sound difficult but it is actually quite easy--so let's begin by talking about the three types of garlic, hardneck, softneck and elephant garlic.

Softneck Garlic: the whole plant is green; the foliage will begin to turn brown at the base of the plant when it is ready to harvest. The main stem stays soft for braiding if you pick it before it fall over or it can be removed for storage. Softneck is the garlic you purchase at the supermarket, and grows best in a mild climate. The softneck garlic does not flower; it has more cloves in the bulb but the bulbs are smaller and can be very strong-flavored. The cloves will also keep longer but the plant is less hardy when planted in the fall in a cold climate like the Northeast and it may not even produce a garlic bulb--best grown in a warm climate.

Hardneck Garlic: the whole plant is green and has a stiff hard stem in the center of the foliage that will produce a beautiful flower and then a cluster of small bulbs if allowed to mature. The flower bud is called a "scape" and it should be removed before it begins to open. The flower buds form on stems that begin to twist and curl during early stages of development and it will make a wonderful cut flower with its unusual shape. As a cut flower, it will change shape every day and eventually turn upright and grow straight up before opening and producing purple-blue flowers. As a cut flower it will last for 2 weeks or more. The flower stems and flower bud have a wonderful mild garlic flavor when saut�ed in butter or olive oil. Either way, the flower stems should be removed when they reach 12 inches long so the energy is sent down to the bulb to help make it grow larger. Removing the scapes will help produce larger garlic bulbs. Hardneck garlic cannot be braided so remove the stem just above the bulb when the foliage turns brown during curing.

Elephant garlic: the whole plant is green; it belongs to the onion family and is not true garlic but closely related to the garden leeks. The plant produces tall-growing flat leaves like the leeks with a tall and strong flower stock in the center. The plant does produce a large bulb at the base of the foliage that resembles a garlic bulb made up of large cloves. The flavor is not quite like garlic but more like garlic than leeks in flavor. The flavor is milder than garlic; it can be eaten raw in salads and is easier to digest for many people than regular garlic. It does not keep as long as other types of garlic, so eat them first--they mature before the two other varieties do in your garden. You can also cook the entire bulb in the oven and eat each clove right out of the bulb, dipped in melted butter or seasoned olive oil, for a real treat.

Planting is very easy. It is done from mid-September to mid-October as the bulbs become available. Select a spot in your garden with full sun all day long. Clean the area of weeds or plants that have finished producing from this year's garden; condition the soil with compost, animal manure, seaweed kelp or the new garden coir fibers. Your soil should be loose and well-drained so if your soil is heavy or wet during the early spring, build up the soil into a mound to raise the planting area 4 to 6 inches higher than the rest of the garden to prevent root rot with wet soils. The better the soil is, the better your yield will be.

Now break apart the bulb into individual cloves and only use the outside row of cloves for planting, the inside cloves can be used for cooking or garlic bread. Place the clove in the ground two inches deep and 6 to 8 inches apart, rows 12 inches apart. The point of the clove of garlic faces up while the flat part is facing down in the soil. If your garden is small, you can space plants as close as 6 inches apart and also the rows. Before planting work into the soil a slow acting organic fertilizer like Garden Tone or Garden Trust vegetable fertilizer.

In the early spring, March or April, side dress each row of garlic with the same fertilizer and that is all your plants will need for food for the rest of the year. Water well and keep the soil moist until the green shoots develop in October. If you can cover the planting bed with 2 to 3 inches of weed-free straw, salt marsh hay or pine needles as the shoots begin to grow, it will help to give the plants additional time to grow in the fall, keep out summer weeds, and conserve summer moisture when it gets hot out. Water the plants only when the soil is dry a couple of inches deep in the garden soil.

Harvesting garlic depends on the variety you have chosen and the season as hot summers speed up the process while cool summer's increases the amount of time needed to harvest. The plant is ready for harvest when the lower leaves are turning brown but the upper foliage is still green and healthy looking. Unlike onions pick your garlic before the foliage falls over or the bulb will split apart and the cloves will not have the sheathes, needed to form a wrapper to cover the cloves. This will decrease the holding time for you to eat them.

Dig the plants with a garden fork or spade and dig deep and far enough away from the plant so not to cut into the bulbs do not pull the plant with your hands or it will break into pieces and you need the foliage to cure the bulbs. Shake off as much soil as possible, so choose a day when the soil is dry to make things easier for you, DO NOT WASH THE BULBS! Place the plant in your garage in a single layer on the floor and out of the sun until they are almost dry and then cut foliage for storage or braid them together before they are totally dry or the bulbs will break from the foliage. When the outer skin becomes papery looking, brush off as much of the remaining soil as possible but do not remove any of the protective covering, this keeps in the moisture and the bulb fresh and tasty. You can clean the soil papery covering when you're ready for using as this keeps it fresher longer.

Store your garlic in your basement in a basket on the floor where it is cool but does not freeze, 50 to 70 degrees is best. Store garlic bulbs with your potatoes, winter squash, and your tender summer flowering bulbs. Do not place bulbs in plastic bags or they will rot with mold and keep out of the refrigerator or they will begin to sprout.

 Grocery store garlic is not grown for seed production, nor is it certified, so why chance it? Use quality seed for a better crop. Order now while many varieties are still available and they will ship seed to you when it is ready for planting. I grow my own garlic--and so should you if you want better flavor than the store-bought type. Enjoy!

 

Cabbage Slaw with no Mayonnaise, are you kidding!


Here is a recipe that I thought I would hate because there is no Mayonnaise in it. Cold Slaw has to have Mayonnaise in it to make it taste good, Right? Give this a try and the days of Mayonnaise are over. This recipe come from a "Southern Bell", Donna Walters from North Carolina and this "Maine Yankee" loves it and so will you, so try it and see what your family has to say.

Ingredients:
1 nice firm head of shredded green cabbage about 4 firm cups.
1 large sweet or Vidalia onion minced
� a Green Pepper chopped finely
� a Red Pepper chopped finely

Marinade:
� cup sugar
� cup white vinegar
� teaspoon salt
� cup olive oil
� cup of water

Directions:
1# Place all the ingredients for the marinade in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves completely, 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from stove and let cool a bit.

2# Choose a large mixing bowl with a cover or use Cling Free poly wrap. Put the cabbage, onions, red and green peppers in the bowl and add your marinade. Mix well so all the ingredients are covered with the marinade and refrigerate overnight. 
 
3# Before you go to bed, stir it up again and sneak a little sample. In the morning stir again and sneak a bigger sample, no one will know. If there is any left serve to you family! Enjoy!

 


      

Garden Journal

        Garden Journal - A garden is a friend you can visit any time. Gardens require planning and cultivation, yielding beauty and joy. This garden journal helps make planning and organizing easy. This book makes a great gift for gardeners, family, friends, birthdays, Christmas, new home or as a self purchase.

 

Cover holds a 5 x7 or 4x6 photo, Heavy-duty D-ring binder

1. 8 tabbed sections
2. 5 garden details sections with pockets for seeds, tags....
3. Weather records page
4. 6 three year journal pages
5. Insect & diseases page - 3 project pages
6. 3 annual checklist pages
7. Plant wish list page
8. 2 large pocket pages
9. Sheet of garden labels
10. 5 garden detail sheets
11. 5 graph paper pages for layouts
12. 5 photo pages holds - 4- 4x6 photos in landscape or portrait format

Journal, Planning, Inspirations. 

 To Order call 207-590-4887

Regular price $34.95  Special Price $31.95!  special!        Supplies are now limited!

 

*How to print article's from our Newsletter -  Constant contact does not allow us to print articles one at a time
 

Do not use the "Print" icon unless you want to print the whole web page or email. Instead, follow the next steps.

Select the text you want on a web page where there is a story, paragraph, or a few lines that you want to print. Left-click on the mouse at the beginning and drag across to the end of the text you want and release. While the text is selected (highlighted), go to the top menu line and click "File" / "Print", in the print window that shows.  click on "Selection," and then click the OK or Print button. Some printers need you to select apply .

Do the same for emails. If you want to print a joke or article that you receive, do not click the Print icon. Select the text as above and use the "File" / "Print" menu and click "Selection", click OK or "Print".

Try another way to do a print job for text only. This involves selecting the text you want as above; then right click, copy and right click, paste to a word processor or even Wordpad (located in "Start" / "Programs" / "Accessories" / "Wordpad") and print from there. This method will produce a copy with no extra information. 


 
  
Telephone:
(855)660-4261 Sunday
Morning(6AM to 10AM)
 
Fax:
(207)985-6972
 
Regular Phone Hours:
(207)985-6972
(207)590-4887
Mon-Sat  9AM to 5 PM
Sunday:12 pm to 5 PM
  
 

 

 

 

St Gabriel  Organics.
Natural Guard