Dear Friends,

Enjoy!

The holidays are looming. But before you head to retail stores with your gift list, consider shopping some of our great nonprofit resources. This way, your money does double-duty with . . .

     * great usually-unique gifts and

     * contributions to those who make our communities far nicer places in which to live.

Here are just a few ideas. If we've missed some, send them in. I'll include them in future columns. Click on underlined words for direct links (some turned blue, some didn't!):

     * Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge Gift Shops. Two locations, each with fun gift options:

         - The Refuge Center, 4017 FM 563 in Anahuac.

         - The actual refuge entrance (where we like to watch alligators from the safety of the Shoveler's Pond levee). On FM 1985/Whites Ranch Road, 11 miles west of Highway 124 (between Winnie and High Island). 

 
      * Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, 4501 Woodway. Two great Christmas gift buying opportunities:

      * George Ranch Historical Park Gift Shop, 10215 FM 762 Rd, Richmond;

      * San Jacinto Battleground and Museum Gift Shop, One Monument Circle, La Porte.

      * Sea Center Texas Gift Shop, 300 Medical Dr, Lake Jackson; 

      * SFA Pineywoods Native Plant Center, Nacogdoches

Almost all area museums have really neat gift shops - visit those in your area.

      * Fri., Dec. 12 - Houston Federation of Garden Club's Holiday Extravanganza, 9:30am-1:30pm, White Oak Conference Center, 7603 Antoine. $20 includes a catered lunch. Tickets/details: recounts@aol.com or 713-895-8021.

      * Many Farmers Markets are run by non-profit groups with an array of handmade items and unique gift food options. Check the The Houston Chronicle's Best Farmers Markets Guide.

        -  Armand Bayou Nature Center, 8500 Bay Area Blvd., Pasadena.

        - Urban Harvest. This organization is so special, a gift membership would be an incredible gift for any gardener on your list.

      * If you really want to treat a serious gardener, give them a Master Gardener Course. (Many of these have numerous chapters. Links will take you to one that can suggest others.)

I'm sure I've left out some great sources and will be horribly embarrassed when (I hope!) you remind me which ones. Email: lazygardener@sbcglobal.net. In most cases, the newsletters produced by these societies and other groups are full of growing tips and advance notices of sales and other events.

One last idea. Although GreenPrints isn't a nonprofit enterprise, it is such a delight and so noncommercial in overall appeal, I'm going to both:

1. suggest this as a subscription gift and

2. congratulate Editor Pat Stone on keeping this gardening literary treasure alive and going for 25 years now. Pat dubs her magazines "The Weeder's Digest" and if you remember Readers Digest, that's just the sort of curl-up-&-read publication this is.

To quote Pat: "Only GreenPrints magazine shares the human side: the joy, humor, frustrations, and heart in fine prose and fine art." Best part, anyone can submit articles for consideration. A great place for would-be garden writers to try for that first pubication.Details: http://www.greenprints.com/

SPEAKING OF SHOPPING FOR GIFTS . . . 

In last week's column on Plant Swaps we promised a few tips on rooting plants, and what better source than some guys already starting their Mother's Day gifts?

Left to right, above, St. Thomas Episcopal School 7th graders Brandon Aultman, Harrison Garrett, and Andrew Grimley are using their knowledge of environmental and hormonal triggers from Mrs. Doerries' Life Science class on DNA expression of proteins to root antique rose cuttings each chose especially for Mom.

   1. Use a light rooting medium to stick the pencil-sized cuttings in. The boys used coco coir, which has a

natural rooting hormone.

   2. Keep the rooting medium moist at all times.

   3. Put the cuttings in an area with some sun such as dappled shade outdoors

or an east-facing window indoors.

P. S. I had to ask.  Turns out  "DNA expressions of proteins" refers to DNA's job of producing proteins needed to build the cuttings' roots, leaves, etc. The boys learned why, from a genetic point-of-view, roots grow under the soil and leaves grow above! Who else would tell you these things?

Organic Fertilizers and Nutrients - 18

 

AZOMITE

 

 

 

In horticulture and agriculture there is a principle called Liebig's "Law of The Minimum" which states that a plant's growth and health is limited by the nutrient in shortest supply.

 

For years our agricultural universities have told us that a plant only needs 16 elements to grow. However many doctors and sustainable horticulturists (organic farmers and gardeners) started questioning this advice since the human body has over 90 elements in it as do many animals. If these elements (nutrients) are not in the soil, then the plants cannot absorb them, and we do not get all the nutrients that we need to be healthy.  Today it is believed that hundreds of our health problems are caused and aggravated by the poor quality (nutrient deficient) of our food supply.  As our soils became depleted of trace elements, commercial agriculture practitioners  began hybridizing food crops to grow on these nutrients deficient soils. This practice has led many gardeners to start growing their own fruits and vegetables with heirloom varieties. 

 

We have several methods available to add these critical trace elements to our soil including fish emulsion and seaweed products, greensand, and some rock dusts. Today I want to talk about another product that is rich in trace minerals called Azomite.

 

Azomite has been mined in Utah for over 60 years as a mineral supplement . These mineral rich deposits were formed millions of years ago when a volcanic eruption dumped mineral rich volcanic ash into an ancient seabed which was also contained minerals. The name Azomite was coined from "A to Z Of Minerals Including Trace Elements". 

 

For the geologists that might be reading, mineralogically, Azomite is a rhyolitic tuff breccia, and chemically Azomite is a hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate that contains over 70 elements.

 

When Azomite is used in animal feed it greatly improves livestock's resistance to disease and leads to faster weight gain, better quality meat and reduced mortality. It also increases milk production and higher butterfat content. When added to poultry feed, it leads to thicker and stronger egg shells, increased total egg production and improved bird health.

 

Azomite is easy to use as it comes in a powder or granular form. A few typical applications are:

 

- 2.5 tablespoons per gallon of water for a soil drench

- 2 tablespoons per gallon for use in compost tea

- 1 tablespoon per 2 inch pot diameter sprinkled over a container

- 2-3 tablespoons per 4-6 inch diameter transplant hole

- one pound per 10 square feet of garden row

- one tablespoon per pound of food waste in a vermi-compost bin

 

 

SUMMARY: 

 

Azomite is another natural tool for gardeners to use in improving their soil. It is approved for use in organic agriculture and for use in animal feed from cows to aquaculture.

 

 

   WEEKLY GARDENING EVENTS &

CALENDAR

                                             

                                                ABOUT US

Brenda recently ended her decades-long stint as Production Manager of the Garden Club of America's BULLETIN magazine. Although still an active horticulture lecturer and broad-based freelance writer,  Brenda's main focus now is  THE LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS HOUSTON GARDEN NEWSLETTER with John Ferguson and Mark Bowen of Nature's Way Resources.

Regarding this newsletter, Brenda is the lead writer, originator of it and the daily inspiration for it. We so appreciate the way she has made gardening such a fun way to celebrate life together for such a long time.
 

Mary is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker United and an avid volunteer with the Montgomery County Animal Shelter. 

With respect to the newsletter, Mary came up with the idea for the Garden Tails column and co-writes it. Mary is the newest addition to our group of contributors. We will expand her bio as we go.